A STEERAGE PASSAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1148, 29 November 1873, Page 12

A STEERAGE PASSAGE.

A Commissioner of the New York Herald has lately made a trip from Liverpool to New York in the steerage of an emigrant steamer, and has written an interesting account of it. The steamer selected for his passage was the Egypt, the great vessel of the National Line. Speaking of the number of passengers, he says, " On the voyage in question she had nigh one thousand emigrants in the steerage, with twenty cabin passengers. On the voyage previous she brought over 1800. Since the beginning of this year she has conveyed to the New World nearly ten thousand settlers." The appointments of this splendid ship are described minutely, but we have only to deal with those apportioned to steerage passengers. The following extract suggests much room for improvement in this department ; —

" The bunks or beds were ranged on both, sides of the ship, each compartment containing twenty, or two tiers of ten beds each, divided, by a single board. At a glance they bear very much the appearance of a casual ward in a poor house. Down the centre between these bunks were placed temporary tables, also of boards. This arrangement was the same for the entire length of the ship from stem to stern — half the length of the forward part being allotted to males, and the other half, abaft, being given up to the fair sex, or, as the tickets say, 'females.' In the dominions of the latter the rules and regulations of the Company allow none but married men to enter ; so it is in black and white. The married women's berths were separated from those of the unmarried, who are placed in rooms apart under the charge of a matron. There was a board division completely intercepting the male and female quarters, with a small door of admission on each side of the bunk ranges (the machinery of the engines being boxed up and intervening in the centre of the ship). Strictly speaking, these doors were not always kept closed or guarded. True, a guard is appointed to see that they are always closed against undue comers ; but I walked through from first to last without ever being disturbed or turned back, and I saw and met many engaged doing likewise. I took ample time for examination into what was going on, and whenever so examining I could always sec others — young men — having no stint of frollicking with the young women. Notably, the stewards and cooks appeared to be favoured among the favoured, and they were seen to indulge in no little hugging and kissing of the lassies, sans cdremunie, and without respect to nationality. In return, some of the lassies seemed to have the run of the kitchen, which is truly a great point for those who have a good stomach on shipboard, There •was a great deal of what might be set down as looseness of morals, but nothing appeared that was positively immoral in an obscene sense. The. opportunities for

immoral proceedings must needs be many and frequent in such a throng so placed ; on the Egypt they were assuredly not diminished by adequate supervision on the part of trustworthy keepers. The guardianship, as exercised, was by no means sufficient ; entrance was had, with or without pretext, and favouritism and tipping held sway there as with the cooks. " The bunks are so carelessly built that passengers could not protect their articles of light luggage from thieves, though the writer says, "a little additional care on the part of the ship's carpenter would afford this protection." He further says, "The company's handbills state that passengers are provided with as much as they can eat and drink, and this is a statement nearly correct. Only it is to be added they are offered much more than they can eat, for the simple reason that it is impossible to eat some of the provisions at all." The salt junk was " wretched fare," only eaten to prevent " the gnawing of hunger," and many " threw it wholesale out of the portholes;" "none but the most ravenous could feast on the meat or fish furnished." The coffee was wretched ; the fresh bread was fair, but insufficient in quantity ; the butter was good. The "oatmeal porridge and molasses," promised on the bills, was entirely absent ; "nobody ever saw either article." The soup was good ; " the beef bad all the time," "the pork was not seen;" the steerage passengers got the refuse of the potatoes after the stewards and crew had picked the best ; there was no bread of any description given at dinner ; "fish was given twice on Fridays, but it literally stunk, and was of the toughest cod that ever swam : it was nearly all turned away from in disgust." The pudding was bad ; the tea fair, but poorly sweetened ; the biscuit good, but insufficient in quantity.

" Considering the quality and quantity of the provisions," says the writer, " one is forced to conclude that six guineas must be a very small sum in the eyes of the proprietors of the Egypt. Of the 1000 steerage passengers, yielding six guineas each, the cost of maintenance would not exceed one shilling per head per day, at the most, or 3000 dollars for the whole voyage. At this rate the sum mentioned would have supplied the steerage passengers with considerably better food than was served out to them."

But the hardest complaint is the treatment of the passengers by the crew and stewards. The stewards shorten the meal-times by a full half hour to suit their own ease, and chase the passengers on deck with oaths and shouting. The commissioner writes :—: —

" As far as working the steamer nautically, it was clear that the management -was efficient. Captain Grogan and his corps of officers were each up to the marls, at their several posts, and no signs were visible of failure or negligence in this respect. The chief trouble lay in this — that they are not required by the Company directors to keep up a stricter discipline in regard to the dealing of the crew and the underlings with the steerage passengers, and are not held to see that justice is done to the wants and rights of the almost helpless passengers entrusted to their charge. Neither the captain nor the officers Avent below in the steerage except to pay formal visits of inspection every morning. They did not go around and look into the management below thoroughly, or to enquire into and observe the practical treatment to whioh the passengers had to submit. As a consequence, the subordinates had things ail their own way, and they not only continually insulted and pushed the emigrants about, but several of the sailors used still rougher treatment. Of the ordinary sailors who did the work upon deck, some dozen or fifteen hands did their work pretty steadily, but whenever brought in contact with the passengers, it was evident that they had not been taught to entertain any respect for an emigrant or a ' foreigner, ' The passengers lying or moving to and from the decks were ordered about as if they were so many dogs. Many of the hands seemed to belong to that class of men who never take any interest in their work, and whose motto i 3 ' Come day, go day, God send Sunday and plenty of grog along with it.'"

This is the old complaint, and one that has been ventilated before to-day. There appears to be an utter misconception on the part of steamship companies and their officials of their true relations with steerage passengers. To hear the officials talk, and to see such treatment as that above desoribedj would lead one ignorant of the facts to believe that the steerage passenger was carried at a loss or in a complimentary manner, that in fact he was a pauper being served by the company, and that he ought to be mighty grateful for any sort of treatment. ' ' The more "you do for them the more they want," is a favourite expression with the officials of emigrant lines. But this is all wrong, and it is only allowed to exist by the simplicity of the passengers and the strangeness of their

position. There is no reason why the emigrants on an ocean steamer should not be treated with as much care and courtesy as a passenger on our steam cars or river steamship lines. There is no good reason why the crews of steamships should not be as respectable and as well disciplined as the servants of a hotel. The steerage passenger pay his six guineas for his passage, and. he or she has as much right to respectful attention and care as the cabin passenger who pays twelve or twenty guineas. The writer of the article from which we quote, gives instances of sailors blacking the faces of the passengers "for fun," and many were struck, and all were shouted at and cursed by the crew and stewards.