MARYLAND : OYSTER INDUSTRY. 435 



placed upon law-breaking, and a man is taught by bis employers that oyster laws are only made 

 to be broken, and that the greater the skill displayed in evading them the greater will be his pay, 

 it is scarcely to be expected that many will be able to resist the temptation. It is now rarely the 

 case that a dredger can be found who will admit that he believes there is any wrong in disregard- 

 ing the oyster laws, and such a thing as being disgraced among his fellow-workmen by imprison- 

 ment for violating the laws is totally unknown. In the above facts will be found sufficient reasons 

 why it has been impossible for the ojster police since' its first organization to enforce the laws. 

 Seven hundred well manned fast sailing boats scattered over such a large space as the Chesapeake 

 Bay are rather difficult to watch, and especially at night. 



All blame for violating laws does not, however, attach to the boat owners, as some of them 

 are prominent gentlemen of the most upright character. It is the misfortune of such men that 

 their captains have often been trained by less honest employers, and having once acquired a love 

 of ill-gotten gain, it is difficult to keep them from continuing in the same course. As he usually 

 has a share in the profits, it is of course to his interest to make his trips as quickly as possible; 

 and while the boat owner may te opposed to breaking any laws, his captain may think and act 

 otherwise. 



The nnscrupulousness of the captain is well assisted by the character of his men. These 

 men, taken as a, class, form perhaps one of the most depraved bodies of workmen to be found in 

 the country. They are gathered from jails, penitentiaries, workhouses, and the lowest and vilest 

 dens of the city. They are principally whites, many of whom are foreigners (almost every European 

 country being represented), unable to speak more tban a few words of English. When a crew, 

 which usually consists of about eight men, is wanted, the vessel owner or captain applies to a 

 shipping agent, who then gathers these men wherever they may be found, drunk or sober. As 

 one large boat owner expressed it to me, "We don't care where he gets them, whether they are 

 drunk or sober, clothed or naked, just so they can be made to work at turning a windlass." The 

 shipping agent having placed the crew aboard, is then paid $2 for each man furnished. With such 

 a crew as this, who neither know nor care for laws, the captain is of course able to work wherever 

 he desires to. As may be supposed, the life led by these men on board of the vessels is of the 

 roughest kind. When sleeping, surrounded by vermin of all kinds; when working, poorly clad 

 and with every garment stiff with ice, while the wind dashes the fast freezing spray over them, 

 hour after hour winding away at the windlass, pulling a heavy dredge; or else stooping with backs 

 nearly broken culling oysters. Returning from a trip, the men take their little pay and soon spend 

 it in debauchery amid the lowest groggeries and dens of infamy to be found in certain portions of 

 Baltimore. It is a gratifying fact, though, that even amid such surroundings as these, there are 

 some few respectable and honorable men. This is more especially the case on the boats owned in 

 the lower counties of Maryland. The crews of these are often gathered from the surrounding 

 neighborhoods, and even as a class are not as degraded as those on Baltimore vessels. 



There are two ways in which these men are paid ; the one most generally adopted at present 

 being to pay them a stated amount per month, although payment is usually made at the end of 

 each trip ; the amount, of course, being proportioned to the length of the trip. The other plan is 

 to allow the crew a share in the profits. When this is done, the vessel at the end of each trip first 

 pays the "grub bill," wharfage, and commission merchants' charges; then, of the balance, one- 

 third goes to the owner of the vessel and a small bonus, usually about $20, to the captain ; after 

 which captain and crew all share alike, except the cook, who receives something less than the 

 others. When the first plan is adopted the men receive their board and from $10 to $12, and 

 occasionally as high as $15 a month. Those working on shares will, during the season, average 



