The Shadowy 'Sailor Boarding House' Racket
Diplomats gather in Tacoma to confront the exploitative system of boarding house masters who held a monopoly on crew procurement for Pacific ships.
The story, cleaned up
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A meeting of consuls, vice consuls and consular agents of Northwestern cities took place in Tacoma last night. It is the first of its kind ever held in the Northwest. The gathering was called by C. E. Lucian Agassiz, British vice consul in Tacoma, to discuss the evils growing out of the sailor boarding house system and how they can be remedied. As it now stands, ships sailing from Washington ports depend entirely upon the boarding house men for crews, paying $35 per head for every sailor furnished. It was the consensus of opinion that this price was excessive and that Washington should pass a law regulating the amount boarding house men shall charge, as has been done in Oregon. A committee, the names of which are kept secret, was appointed to gather data and report to a subsequent meeting in Seattle.
“Ships sailing from Washington ports depend entirely upon the boarding house men for crews, paying $35 per head for every sailor furnished.”
In the early 20th century, labor supply for the maritime industry was managed by 'boarding house masters' who often effectively enslaved sailors through debt bondage and high-fee recruitment. Today, while recruitment is heavily regulated, the struggle for fair labor practices and the dignity of port workers remains a core pillar of Tacoma's waterfront identity.
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