330 The Story of the New England Whalers 



mechanics are receiving now (1908) in New York 

 City. 



All that has been said about the "lay" system 

 of pay being the fairest ever devised for seafar- 

 ing men might be repeated here. The pay of the 

 common sailors on the Phelps was as good on 

 the average as that of seamen in any service 

 at that time, and their work was usually much 

 easier. Moreover, as already noted, the common 

 sailor had a better chance for promotion. 



Yet the fact remains that the owners of the ship 

 and of every ship of that day took more 

 than a fair share of the product of the labor of 

 the crew. 



This brings us to a consideration of what may 

 be called the forecastle view of whaling in the days 

 after the fishery had grown to a point where it 

 was no longer possible to man the ships from 

 among the young men of the ports and the vicin- 

 ity of the ports, when the refuse of all ports had 

 to be taken to fill up. The following statements, 

 written by United States Consul F. M. Ring- 

 gold, from Paita, Philippine Islands, and published 

 in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, must certainly 



