72 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



who responded only to sharp commands backed by unques- 

 tioned authority. But in practice firm and effective discipline, 

 tempered by uniform justice and fair dealing, was too often 

 replaced by blundering brutality and indiscriminate abuse. In 

 consequence the means defeated the end; for instead of giv- 

 ing willing and eager effort, the crews responded to inescap- 

 able commands with a resentment which at times amounted to 

 hatred. 



And so it was with other matters as well. A reasonably 

 careful supervision over the activities of outfitters and land- 

 sharks would have removed the most flagrant of the imposi- 

 tions which sent whaling hands to sea with burning indigna- 

 tion. A less grasping financial policy — including slop-chest 

 prices based upon cost or nominal profits, lower interest rates, 

 the abolition of minor charges such as that for a medicine- 

 chest, and a slightly better rate of wages — would have re- 

 moved serious causes of low crew morale without adding 

 heavily to the owners' burdens. And the provision of some- 

 what better and more varied food, a slightly larger and much 

 cleaner forecastle, a reasonable amount of reading matter, and 

 adequate medical care would have prevented a vast amount of 

 discontent and resentment. In all these respects the attitude 

 of the whaling merchants would seem to have been penny-wise 

 and pound- foolish. 



But was it so in reality? Undoubtedly such changes, slight 

 as they were, would have been admirable from the standpoint 

 of humanitarianism; but their probable effect upon profits is 

 not so clear. In fact, it is quite possible that the shrewd 

 tradesmen of the whaling ports, whose emotions seldom inter- 

 fered with their acumen, and who appreciated the value of a 

 dollar as much as any class of persons in America, knew full 

 well what they were about. 



For American whaling, throughout the period of its domi- 

 nance and decline, had all the essential characteristics of a 

 sweated industry. The mere composition and character of 

 the crews were sufficient to insure that. And then, as now, 

 the only hope of securing profits out of a sweated industry lay 

 in reducing the labor costs to a point which was even lower 

 than that of the workers' efficiency. But inefficient workers 



