Explanation N order to inform the members as IN fully as practicable on the subject submitted to referendum a carefully selected committee is appointed to analyze each question and report its conclusions. The purpose of the referendum is to ascertain the opinion of the commercial organizations of the country, not to secure the approval of the recommendations voiced in the report. The Board of Directors in authorizing submission of a report to referendum neither approves the report nor dissents from it. Only the vote of the member organizations can commit the Chamber of Commerce of the United States for or against any of the recommendations submitted by the committee and until such vote is taken the report rests solely upon the authority of those who have signed it. REFERENDUM THE REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE SEAMEN'S ACT STATEMENT OF QUESTION The Seamen's Act was unexpectedly taken up and passed at the end of the short session of the last Congress, and was approved by the President on the closing day of the session. The Board of Directors in June authorized the President of the National Chamber to appoint a Specal Committee, in order that the Seamen's Act might be carefully examined and a report prepared for the consideration of the organizations in the membership of the Chamber. The Board of Directors also decided that the report of the Committee when prepared should be submitted to referendum. The members of the Committee which was accordingly appointed are: R. G. Rhett, Charleston, S. C., Chairman J. Howland Gardner, New York, N. Y. F. A. Seiberling, Akron, O. Dr. Graham Taylor, of Chicago, and Mr. Ray Stannard Baker, of New York City and Amherst, Mass., were asked to become members of the Committee, but found themselves unable to accept. This Committee held several meetings and at a meeting in Washington on January 7, 1916, unanimously approved a report which, in accordance with the instructions of the Board of Directors, is hereby submitted to referendum. In order that each member of the Chamber may have before it some information about other points of view with respect to those parts of the Seamen's Act which the Committee finds at present objectionable, there is printed after the report a summary of the arguments which have been made in support of these provisions as they now stand. (Page 9.) Furthermore, at page 13 there is printed a summary of the history of legislation in the United States affecting the conditions of work among seamen and safety at sea, as prepared by an advocate of the Seamen's Act. A statement section by section, of the former law and of the law as it now stands under the Seamen's Act, together with notes which state the substance of rulings which have been made by the Department of Commerce in interpretation of the Seamen's Act, is printed as an appendix, beginning at page 18. This summary is followed by the complete text of the Seamen's Act. (Page 30.) IT IS TO BE NOTED THAT THE SEAMEN'S ACT COVERS A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS AND PURPOSES AND CAN SCARCELY BE CONSIDERED PROPERLY AS ONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION,-A FACT WHICH HAS FREQUENTLY BEEN OVERLOOKED BY ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS IN DEMANDING RETENTION ON THE ONE HAND AND REPEAL ON THE OTHER, OF THE MEASURE AS A WHOLE, THE COMMITTEE HAS DIFFERENTIATED AMONG THE DIFFERENT PURPOSES OF THE LEGISLATION AND IN SUBMITTING FOR ACTION BY THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL CHAMBER ITS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSPENSION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE SOUNDNESS OF MANY PROVISIONS AND THE GOOD PURPOSES BEHIND OTHERS WHICH THE LEGISLATION AS DRAWN FAILS TO MAKE EFFECTIVE, PERSONNEL OF COMMITTEE R. G. RHETT, Chairman: A banker of Charleston, S. C., President of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. HOMER L. FERGUSON: Naval architect and shipbuilder; for eleven years a naval constructor in the United States Navy; and now President of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Va.; director of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. J. HOWLAND GARDNER: Naval architect and marine. engineer, and operator of steam vessels; Vice President and director of the New England Steamship Company, with offices. at Pier 14, North River, New York, N. Y. RUSSELL H. LOINES: Manager of a department for the insurance. of marine liabilities, in Johnson and Higgins, New York, N. Y., a corporation conducting the business of marine adjusting and general insurance. FRANK A. SEIBERLING: Formerly a manufacturer of agricultural implements, and now a manufacturer of rubber; President of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company; Former President, Akron Chamber of Commerce (Ohio); director of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States: The enactment of March 4, 1915, known as the Seamen's Act, affects in an important manner our commercial relations with foreign countries, in that it imposes restrictions on American vessels engaged in international trade and upon foreign vessels when they enter American ports. These foreign vessels are, of course, free from such restrictions when trading between other ports of the world. For example, every American vessel carrying wheat from the United States to Liverpool is in competition with every British and Norwegian vessel carrying wheat from Argentina to Liverpool; and every American vessel which carries American products to China competes with every vessel under a foreign flag which carries British, German, or French products directly to China. To be on a commercial parity in international trade there must be a general agreement between the nations in regard to the commerce of their ports; otherwise, the nation imposing unusual restrictions upon its commerce handicaps its merchants in their efforts to secure a fair share of this highly competitive. business. Your Committee is heartily in sympathy with every movement which insures greater safety at sea and better conditions for seamen, and finds many good points in the new law. Corporal punishment on shipboard is practically unknown; consequently, the remedy given to an injured seaman of holding liable owner and vessel in addition to the master who has negligently failed to surrender the offending officer is of no great practical importance. The hours of labor on deck and in the fire-room prescribed by the Act are not substantially different from those that have been customary on American and foreign vessels on long voyages. Advance allotments of wages have rarely been made on American ships in recent years because of changed conditions. This practice largely disappeared when the steamer with its shorter voyage supplanted the sailing ship. The possibility of a court enforcing its order that a seaman pay part of his wages for the support of wife and children comports with public policy. Addition of a quart of water and an ounce of butter to the daily ration obviously meets with no objection. It is interesting to note, however, that American vessels habitually furnish more food and a greater variety than is required by law. The abrogation of the fellow-servant doctrine which formerly prevented a seaman recovering damages from a vessel or its owner when he is injured while working under the direction of another member of the crew accords with the trend of American legislation. Accidents on barges under tow on the high seas should be more accurately reported. The possibility of a master sending an incapacitated seaman to an American consul, without himself appearing before the consul when he is needed with the ship, may be beneficial. The cubic space required for each member of the crew on vessels con Competition in Foreign International Agreements No Indiscriminate Criticism Corporal Punishment (Section 9) Hours of Labor (Section 2) Advances, Allotments, etc. (Section 11) Attachment of Wages (Section 12) Water and Butter (Section 10) Fellow-Servant Doctrine (Section 20) Accidents on Barges (Section 15) Sick Seamen Abroad (Section 19) Crew Space (Section 6) Penalty for Non-Payment of Wages (Section 3) Inspection in Foreign Ports (Section 5) Vacancies in Crew (Section 1) Subjects for Independent Subjects for International Foreign Steamers Effect on American Exports Discrimination Particular Injuries to Statement of United States structed after March 4, 1915, is not larger than is required by British law upon foreign-going British steamers constructed since 1907, but the Seamen's Act omits a provision of the British law, in that it does not allow deduction of space in mess rooms, bath rooms, and washing places, with a minimum of 72 culic feet in the sleeping quarters. Increasing the penalty for non-payment of wages would appear to be just. That the majority of the crew, without the concurrence of an officer, should be able under proper circumstances to have an inspection made in a foreign port in order to determine the seaworthiness of the vessel before proceeding to sea is entirely reasonable and proper. To the provisions of the Seamen's Act which can reasonably result in maintaining the seaworthiness of a vessel, not only in physical respects but also in adequacy of crew, objection is not made by the committee. That a master must fill a vacancy with a man of higher grade than the man prescribed for the place, in the event that a man of the same grade is not obtainable but a man of higher grade can be had, merely reaffirms law already existing. The additions to former law which have been mentioned are appropriate for separate action by the United States without the concurrence of other nations. As regards other parts of the Seamen's Act the situation is altogether different. The provisions prescribing qualifications for able seamen and certificated lifeboatmen, the complement of crew each ship must carry, and the requirement of a language test are only appropriate subjects for consideration at a conference of maritime nations. Otherwise, there will be discrimination not only against American ships but also against American ports and the commerce passing through American ports. Foreign steamers are free from such restrictions when trading between other ports of the world and they will not carry crews holding United States able-seamen certificates all over the world merely because they may expect to carry a cargo to or from an American port on an occasional voyage; to do this would be an economic waste. It might well be more profitable for these ships to refrain from these occasional calls at American ports. This will restrict the world's shipping available for the carriage of our exports and imports with a corresponding injury to our merchants. Where American exporters are competing with the exporters of Great Britain or Germany for foreign markets, if the freight rates for ships entering and clearing from American ports are, by reason of restrictive legislation, higher than the rates quoted from British or German ports, where no such restrictive legislation exists, the American exporter will either have to overcome this difference or see the business pass to his foreign rival. Until these requirements can be agreed to by the maritime nations, to attempt to impose them upon both foreign and American ships entering American ports results in placing the ports of the United States at a disadvantage with other ports of the world through which competitive commerce moves. This discrimination against American ports and American commerce is particularly injurious: (1) At this time when 1,500,000 tons of merchant shipping valued in the neighborhood of $200,000,000 have been destroyed, over 6,000,000 tons have been requisitioned for military and naval purposes, and several million tons more are tied up by hostile fleets; (2) By placing in serious jeopardy our commercial treaties with fourteen countries, with all of which our commerce is of the highest importance; (3) In disregarding international comity, concerning which the Supreme Court has said, "By comity it came to be generally understood among civilized nations. that all matters of discipline and all things done on board which affect |