Treating Men as Savages.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6145, 18 August 1891, Page 4

Treating Men as Savages.

Tfl_f evidence taken by the Committee on the Transatlantic cattle trade shows that the treatment of the cattlemen who bring - over the cargoes is worse than the animals in many oases, and though thoy are undoubtedly a very rough lot, still it is impossibje t to hope thafc they will treat, dumb animals Recently if they themselves are looked upon .as savages. One of these men was examined at Montreal, and the following evidence is sufficient- to condemn the system : — WHers do the cattlemen gefe their food 1 They generally get is in what is called a * 4 kid," and they go to the galley and get potatoes and meat, and so forth in it. When the man gets the stuff from the galley they sit ou the hatch, or in cold weather they eat it in some warmer place in the alleyway. "' ■ What is- a " lad T— lt is a round basin, made out 1 of tin, with 'a~ handle on each end. And th_5 T all sit down and eat out of that "kid ?"— Yes. Is all the food mixed up in that ?— They make a mixture night and morning that generally goes by the name of " seousc " ; that is composed of potatoes and water and sometimes a little meat, but most times you cannot find the meat. There is supposed to be meat in it, but veiy often I heard complaints thafc the men could not find at:y. Where did you say they ate this " scousa " ? — lf it is fine weather they eat it on the hatches, and if it is cold thoy have to go to some warmer place. There are no plates supplied to them 1 On some ships they give them a plato and a knife and fork ; but on most ships they do not get anything of that kind. How were the men treated on the Sarmatian ?— The men complained all the time about being hungry, and the chief steward refused to give them any more food. I asked the purser if he could not use his influence to get them something to eat, but it was of no avail. Is there any regulation by which the men are to be given a certain amount of food, or is that entirely in tho discretion of the cook ?— lt i 3 entirely lefo in the discretion of tho cook. So that if a man can buy over the cook he might get something bettor? — If the crowd impresses him any way favorably, they get better treatment ; but if the gang do not impress him favorably, they do not gefe very much. I suppose an English shilling would make an impression upon him ? — Yes ; there is a good deal of that going on, too. Was that served to them all mixed up in a pail I— ln the morning they had nothing else except the "scouse " and some coffee, which they carried in another pail. And I suppose that was all they expected ?~-They did not expect anything else. "What meal did they get at noon ?— Salt beef and potatoes, or salt pork. How was thafc food carried to them % — In a pail. And they got no knifes nor forks '( — ]JTpthing of -that kind. I suppose they had to eat it with their hands \ — Some of them were lucky enough to have pocket knives. But they did not carry pocket forks ? — Thatfe'a luxury they did not know anything about. What do they get at supper time ? — They would get this preserved meat can and pass the stuff around according as they wanted to drink out of it. Thoy got tea. Did they get any sugar ? -Tho sugar 11 and everything else is supposed to be mixed up in the tea. And that was all tho supper consisted of?.— Yes. When they served out this quantity of butter at four o'clock in the afternoon that was supposed to do them until the next day at four o'clock. Where did they keep that butter during the day and night I—That1 — That is a question 1 cannot answer you ; I do nofe know where they put ife. They generally hid it, and I very often saw the gang keeping it in all parts of the steamer. There was no particular place to store it, as a matter of fact I—JN'one1 — JN'one whatever.