In order to get some skilled men upon some of the other boats the skilled seamen were transferred from the Oregon and their places were filled with the unskilled men from other boats. In other words. the few skilled men had to be distributed around and spread out just as thin as it was possible to do. From the date of this decision down to the present the seamen have sought in every way to secure employment in other occupations. and the drift of Americans from the sea has been steadily increasing. until their places on the merchant marine of this country are being taken by foreigners. even by tise Asiatics. and the laws have been such as to drive men imbued with the spirit of free men away from the service. and it is turned over to a class of men who. should the hour of danger ever come. will turn our instruments of commerce against us. There are not available official statistics from which may be obtained accurate information with respect to the drift from the sea. The statistics given with the report of the Commissioner of Navigation upon the number of men shipped can furnish no accurate guide. for the reason that the same man may be accounted for ten or twelve times in the year. or even more.
Identified stereotypes
Turning instruments of commerce against us