100 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



all or part of their season's wages. That those in charge of the gang 

 are well aware of what is going on is patent when it is stated that the 

 men are not paid off until they return to the home port at the end of 

 the season, and that no considerahle claim on the wages due a worker 

 can he paid unless the contractor or his agent knows what it is for. 

 Sometimes when dealing with a canner who is insistent upon seeing 

 justice done to the memhers of the oriental gang, and the number of 

 these is increasing rapidly, an effort is made to camouflage these 

 gambling debts by charging them up on the books as clothing or 

 goods furnished the worker. 



As a result of these eyils, a numbei of the cannerymen have dis- 

 continued the practice of making Chinese contracts and deal directly 

 with their men. When this is done, it is but rare to hear of a strike 

 due to food supplied, as the cannerymen, when the matter is put 

 directly up to them, realize that the only way in which they can 

 expect adequate work from their employees is by seeing that they 

 are giyen the proper kind and quantity o^ food and that they operate 

 under decent working and living conditions. 



A few of the cannerymen who still retani the old system endeavor 

 to eradicate so far as possible the evils of it by a close supervision 

 over the food supplied the men and by having a representative 

 present at the season's pay-off in order to see that no attempt is made 

 to cheat the men out of their wages. Unfortunately, however, some 

 of them feel that tliey have dcme their full duty when they have 

 made a contract with someone, no matter what his financial responsi- 

 bility may be, and have paid him the agreed upon sum at the end of 

 ^ the season, doubtless feeling that the rest is the concern alone of the 

 men 



In a very few instances the members of the oriental gang are still 

 shoved into inadecjuate and insanitary quarters aboard ships, and 

 at the canneries are lioused in quarters which are a disgrace to any 

 modern packing plant, but, fortunately, these conditions, as stated, 

 prevail now with but comparatively few of the companies. The old 

 '"China" house, in which was housed the whole oriental gang like 

 rabbits in a warren, has been largely superseded by cottages, each 

 housing from 8 to 16 men, and these are numerous enough to permit 

 of the various nationalities flocking by themselves. Bathing facilities, 

 with hot and cold water, arc fairly common, and opportunities for 

 washing clothing are frequent. 



FISHERIES OF BOUNDARY WATERS. 



Waters which form the boundaries between States or between 

 nations, and in which fishing is carried on by the citizens of both, 

 have almost always proved bones of contention, and the Pacific 

 coast has been no exception to the rule. 



WASHINGTON AND OREGON. 



The Columbia River, which forms the boundary between Oregon 

 and Washington, affords a typical example of the evils which can 

 result from a division of responsibility ])etween two States. For 

 many years each State enacted laws regulating the fisheries of the 

 river with very slight regard usually to laws already in force in the 

 other State. As a result of this the fishermen tranjferred their 



