The Titanic and SCI

Despite the efforts of SCI and other seamen's relief agencies, many of the Titanic's crew left New York on April 20th for England resentful at the way the White Star Line had treated them after the tragedy. Their complaints began while still in the icy water, with some calling attention to the "millionaire's boat," the lifeboat that supposedly held Mrs. John Jacob Astor and whose crew received a handsome bonus in gold upon rowing to safety. Other boats holding third-class passengers received no such compensation. A major issue for all of the surviving crew was that their pay schedules stopped the day the Titanic went down. This left many short on cash that they were counting on sending home to support their families. As AB Ralph White put it, "...It would have been better had we all gone down with the ship as in that case our families would have been provided for by the workingmen’s compensation law, and we would not have faced actual starvation as now seems to be our lot.”