EARNINGS AND THE LAY 233 



%65 to /4i5, her seamen from /445 to Kso, and her boat- 

 steerers from Vio to /4oo. 



With these figures, however, the lay at length reached a 

 plane upon which it was destined to remain. Aside from the 

 normal variations between individuals of the same rank and the 

 minor fluctuations which always abounded in the industry, there 

 was no significant change in the fractional shares going to the 

 various ranks in a whaler's crew during the next thirty-five 

 years. The gap between the earnings of officers and men, 

 which had been opening steadily throughout the period of 

 stationary lays for the former and falling lays for the latter, 

 had now reached its widest extent, and thenceforth kept the 

 two groups separated by approximately the same distance. 



Several main tendencies may be distinguished in attempting 

 to account for both the half-century fall of the fractional lay 

 and its subsequent long period of virtual fixation. The gradu- 

 ally deteriorating character and efficiency of the crews was one 

 significant factor. It was natural and perhaps inevitable that 

 the lay should follow the downward path of the caliber of the 

 foremast hands. As an outgrowth of this same movement, 

 too, arose the temptation to exploit to the full the economic 

 helplessness of the inferior crews. The use of heavier and 

 larger vessels and of more elaborate equipment necessitated the 

 employment of more and more capital in the industry j and this 

 in turn created both a need and a desire to enlarge the propor- 

 tion of the net proceeds available as profits. By 1850, how- 

 ever, the major transitions had been effected. Thereafter, 

 speaking in broad terms, the crews became no worse, the vessels 

 no larger or heavier, and the equipment no more costly. Nor 

 were there any significant changes in the opposite directions. 

 As a result the size of the lay, which but reflected these fun- 

 damentally unchanging conditions, remained itself unchanged. 



The fall of the fractional lay was also interpreted, at times, 

 as the mere counterpart to the increasing size of the cargoes 

 secured by the larger vessels of the later years. It was held 

 to be necessary, as a means of preventing an automatic and un- 

 intended rise in whalemen's earnings, to vary the fractional lay 

 in inverse proportion to the quantity of oil and bone secured. 

 Thus a "long lay" of only M-so, if applied to a cargo of 80,000 



