On 1 page 49, line 8, after the word "seamen", add "and officers." On line 9, after the word "fireroom" add the words "and engine rooms. On line 22, after the word "seaman" add "or officer". We make these suggestions because the seamen recently made an agreement with a great many of the steamship companies, and the companies are living up to the agreement to work the seamen 8 hours a day, and that is all the seamen have to work. But recently an officer from the American-Hawaiian Line came in to see us and he said that after he worked his 8 hours standing two watches he was forced to go out on deck and do the work that was ordinarily done by seamen, and he was putting in, 14, 16, and in some cases 18 hours a day. I do not believe it was the idea of the committee to eliminate the licensed officer from an 8-hour day. That is why I made the suggestions. On page 50, line 2, after "voyage", we would like to insert, "every master and officer shall receive at least two weeks' vacation with pay.' That is not an unreasonable request, because some of the American companies give the men at least 2 weeks' vacation with pay, and in the French, Italian, and other merchant marines, the men are able to have a vacation if they work a year. Line 9 on the same page, we would like to have the word "yachts" eliminated. We feel that the people who can afford to run yachts can afford to comply with the provisions of these bills in regard to the 8-hour day. which Beginning with line 13 on page 50, section 4551, we would like to eliminate all the rest of that page, all of pages 51, 52, and 53, deal with the continuous discharge book. The CHAIRMAN. Referring to your reference to the yachts, is not that change there due to the distance the yacht runs, that many of them do not run any considerable distance? Is not that the type of voyage? Mr. MILLIKEN. I know that just before I came to Washington, we received a letter from the yachtsmen's association over in Brooklyn, and due to the fact that there are so many of them unemployed at the present time they requested me to do what I could down here to see that yachts were forced to carry more men so that some of the idle yachtsmen could be employed. Mr. HART. Do you have any substitute for the provisions of section 805, which you desire to have eliminated? Mr. MILLIKEN. Only that we do not believe this belongs in this bill. The CHAIRMAN. What is that, the discharge book? Mr. MILLIKEN. The discharge book. I went to Europe for the Shipping Board in 1928 and made a study of the continuous-discharge book over there. We have no particular objection to the idea of an identification card. In fact, we would like to recommend to the Congress that everybody be forced to carry some kind of an identification card, and that this idea should not be limited to seamen alone. We do not like to be in a preferred class where we have to carry a book, and be put to the expense of buying pictures and paying for a new book in the event that the old one was lost. Nor do we think it is quite fair to have a book where if a man is discharged once it would always be held up as a black mark against him. It seems to me that that idea of putting a bad mark in the book against the seaman is a bad practice. A man can be a doctor and can kill a patient through making a mistake, but they do not put it in any book that he would have to carry around. We believe that if everybody in the United States had to carry an identification card, it would eliminate the 250,000 aliens that they say sneak into the country each year illegally. It would also assist the Department of Justice in stopping crime. But we do not think that this particular thing should apply to seamen. There is a tendency on the part of some people to treat seamen different than they treat other citizens, especially the members of the organization I represent. Many of them are home owners and taxpayers, and they are good citizens. They very seldom get arrested. It seems strange to us that it is necessary to belong to the Naval Reserve, for instance, before you can get a job. If you get to be over 45 years of age you are too old to be of any future service, because you cannot get into the Naval Reserve. The CHAIRMAN. That is getting to be true in almost every industry in this country. Mr. MILLIKEN. The age may be, Mr. Chairman; I do not know about that. But if they are going to fire them when they are 45, they had better lower that old-age pension limit to 45 years of age. We are the only people who are forced to join a naval or a military service to hold a job, and we do not like it; we do not think it is fair to us. This continuous-discharge book is another effort to saddle on us something that is not put on anybody else. We would be glad to carry one if everybody else were forced to carry one as well. Mr. HART. Pending the adoption for legislation for identification cards or universal identification, what substitute would you provide for the continuous-discharge book, which you desire to eliminate from the bill? Mr. MILLIKEN. I think that the way it is put in here, if everybody had to carry one it would be all right. Mr. HART. I say, pending that-there is obviously no such requirement, and it is likely that there will not be for some time in this country-pending the adoption of any such measure as that by the Congress, do you favor seamen being permitted to go from post to post without any identification whatever? Mr. MILLIKEN. I think it is only fair that they be allowed to do it if every other citizen is allowed to do it. Mr. HART. I just wanted to get your views on it, that is all. Mr. MILLIKEN. That is about all I have to say in connecton with the bill, and I will bring a brief down next week and file it with the committee. The CHAIRMAN. Bring it down or send it down, as you like. Mr. CROWE: We had testimony here this afternoon that one department, the steward's, I believe, claimed that there could not be found American citizens sufficient to man it. Do you have any information on that? Mr. MILLIKEN. I understand that Mr. Grange, who represents the stewards, is coming down here. Mr. CROWE. We can get that information then? Mr. MILLIKEN. I believe he is going to testify to the effect that he can supply all the stewards they want. The CHAIRMAN. Who is he? Mr. MILLIKEN. Mr. Grange, who is the head of the steward's association. The CHAIRMAN. Is he here? Mr. MILLIKEN. No; he is not here now, but he told me that he expected to come down and testify before the committee. The CHAIRMAN. Then he had better come on, because we are not going to keep these things running, you know. Mr. CROWE. That is one thing, Mr. Chairman, on which I think we should have information. The CHAIRMAN. Yes. I would be very glad to have it. Mr. MILLIKEN. I think the Grace Line for awhile had, and they still have, lady stewards. The CHAIRMAN. We are holding hearings to give them an opportunity to come. If they do not come Mr. MILLIKEN. It is their own fault, I realize that, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. But of course this is true, that if they cannot come and want to send a brief down before the hearings are closed, it will be proper. Mr. MILLIKEN. I will convey that information to him. The CHAIRMAN. If they cannot come, all right. (The following brief was submitted for the record:) BRIEF OF UNITED LICENSED OFFICERS OF THE U. S. A. IN RE: A BILL TO DEVELOP A STRONG AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINE, TO PROMOTE THE COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO AID NATIONAL DEFENSE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES The United Licensed Officers of the U. S. A., representing several thousands of ship officers, both deck and engine room, and which organization represents an amalgamation of the Neptune Association of Masters, Mates and Pilots and the Ocean Association of Marine Engineers, both of which organizations were in business for approximately 20 years, and whose membership is located in the principal ports of the United States, including the Atlantic, Gulf, and the Pacific principal ports, has always fought for the development and perpetuation of an adequate American merchant marine. Any legislation which would benefit the American merchant marine has always found the United Licensed Officers as one of its earnest supporters. Our organization is in favor of governmental aid to American shipping in the foreign trade. We realize and appreciate the necessity for such aid in order to meet foreign competition. We, however, insist that the American ship personnel be adequately considered in connection with the granting of any Government aid to the end that the American standard of living, as represented by wages and working conditions, be lived up to and carried out by the American ship operator receiving governmental aid in any form whatsoever, and that this be clearly defined in the declaration of policy contained in the proposed bill. Our organization has certain corrections which it deems necessary in the proposed bill, and an itemization of them will follow: There are also certain eliminations from the proposed bill which we deem desirable and necessary, and we also observe that the proposed bill nowhere makes any mention whatsoever concerning the licensed ship officer. A proposed addition to the bill will be hereinafter set forth providing for ship officers covering the suggestions of our organization with reference to the American merchant marine officer, and his connection with the American merchant marine, and in order to strengthen the provisions of the proposed bill. With reference to the proposed bill, the United Licensed Officers asks that the following corrections and amendments be made: (a) That page 2, line 12, be amended to read "States and manned with an efficient citizen personnel". (b) That after the word "personnel" beginning on line 13, page 2, there be added the following sentence: "and that said personnel be maintained on board American vessels in accordance with American standards of living, and be paid an American scale of wages, and enjoy American working conditions". (c) That on page 7, lines 5 and 6 be corrected to read "To study means by which through added efficiency and safety, the revenue of contractors may be increased by advertising", and that on line 8, the word "increased" be eliminated. (d) That on page 7, after line 18 there be added a paragraph 6 to provide as follows: "To establish and maintain a Board to be known as the Maritime Adjustment Board, which shall pass, study and determine wages and working conditions of American merchant marine officers, examining boards for merchant marine officers' licenses, and manning committees to study and determine adequate manning on American merchant vessels". (e) That on page 26, line 6, add "The Authority shall at all times have the right to investigate and determine whether the vessel is properly manned, both for safety and for upkeep". (f) That on page 33, line 8, after the word "operating" add "Company Union". At line 12, eliminate after the word "contractor' the remainder of section 513, from lines 12 to 14. (g) That on page 34, lines 1 to 11, eliminate in its entirety. (h) That on page 40, line 4, after the word "interests" there should be a period. The balance of paragraph (d), from between the lines 4 and 6, should be entirely eliminated. That there be added after line 12, on page 40, an additional paragraph (f) to read as follows: "That wages and working conditions of licensed officers shall be as determined by the maritime adjustment board, to be set up under the supervision of the United States Maritime Authority." (i) That on page 41, after line 16, there be added the following "That adequate provision for unemployment insurance and an old age pension fund be arrived at after study and determination by the Authority." That on page 42, after the line 14, there be added a paragraph providing that wherever the Authority finds that wages or working conditions or hours of labor of the licensed officer, pursuant to regulation, is being violated, that a fine be imposed on the contractor or operator. (k) That on page 46, line 8 to 12 up to the word "unless" be reinstated in the proposed bill in its original language. That section 801 as revised be eliminated, on the bottom of page 46, from line 20 to line 12 on page 47. (1) That on page 48, lines 8 to 17 be amended to provide that the Secretary of Commerce, with the approval of the President, is hereby authorized and directed to establish a merchant marine college for the extension of training of licensed personnel on vessels documented under the laws of the United States. (m) That on page 48, line 20, section 803, that the word "academy" be changed to read "college". (n) That on page 49, section 2 be amended to include officers, both deck and engine room, wherever reference is made to a seaman pertaining to the 8-hour day. (0) That on page 50, line 4, after the word "work" add "and every master and officer employed for one year in the same company, shall receive at least two weeks' vacation with pay". At line 9, eliminate the word "yachts". (p) That pages 50, 51, 52, 53, with regard to continuous discharge books, be eliminated entirely. That the United Licensed Officers propose: In view of the fact that the merchant-marine officer is a vital factor in the maintenance and development of safe and adequate merchant marine, and in view of the fact that the proposed bill fails to make any provision for the licensed officer, we suggest the following officers' section to be included in the proposed bill: AMERICAN LICENSED OFFICER First. That in all merchant vessels of the United States of more than 100 tons gross, except those navigating rivers, harbors, bays or sounds, exclusively, no ship officer regularly employed on the vessel shall be required to work more than 8 hours in 1 day, either at sea or in port; except in the performance of work necessary for the safety of the vessel or of cargo, or of the saving of life aboard other vessels in jeopardy. While such vessel is in a safe harbor, no licensed officer regularly employed on a vessel shall be required to do any work or stand any watch on Sundays, or the following-named days: New Year's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Christmas Day. Every master and every licensed officer, employed for 1 year or more with the same company, shall receive a vacation of at least 2 weeks with pay. Whenever the owner of any vessel shall fail to comply with this section, and the regulations issued thereunder, the owner shall be liable to a penalty not to exceed $500 for each offense, and the licensed officer shall be entitled to discharge from such vessel and to receive the wages earned. This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or vessels engaged in salvage operations. Second. It is proposed that the Revised Statute 4131, June 26, 1884, section 1, as amended May 28, 1896, sections 1 to 3, be amended to read as follows: The word "officers" shall include the master, the chief engineer, assistant engineers, refrigeration engineers, electricians, deck engineers, and all deck and engine room officers as well as doctors, pursers and chief stewards, on vessels propelled by sail or machinery, or both. It be further provided that the Department of Commerce be empowered to issue licenses under its jurisdiction to those persons who heretofore have not been licensed as officers on American vessels included in this amendment. Third. That there be established a maritime adjustment board under the supervision of the Authority similar to the maritime board now in existence in England. The function of this board shall be to adopt a proper manning scale for all vessels, to regulate wages and working conditions, and to stop any abuses which might be existent in the industry and to arbitrate disputes between owner and employees. In connection with arbitration, the maritime adjustment board shall make such rules for arbitration and follow the practices set down by the American Arbitration Association in its proceedings pertaining to arbitration of disputes. Fourth. That there be established a board, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce, to be known as the "Board of Examiners for Merchant Marine Licenses", which board shall be composed exclusively of five licensed masters and chief engineers, together with deputy examiners who shall be licensed officers, and who shall be located in the principal ports of the United States. The duties and function of this board shall be to establish rules and regulations and questions to be propounded to applicants for licenses as merchant-marine officers. They also shall conduct the examinations at the principal ports of the United States. They shall be compensated at a reasonable yearly salary, and the deputy examiners shall also be compensated on a yearly salaried basis, and shall be allowed the usual expenses for traveling and incidentals. It shall also be the function of this board to conduct the trials of any merchant-marine officer against whom charges have been placed with respect to his license. It shall be the duty of the function of the board, either through its own body or through its deputies to work out plans and means for the conduct of trials of licensed officers on any charges which may be preferred against them. It shall be within their jurisdiction to determine the time and place where said trials may be had, and the person or persons before whom the trials shall be held. On any ruling made with respect to charges against a licensed officer made by this board an appeal may be made to the Secretary of Commerce. (A table of payments made to officers on various lines will be found in the files of the committee.) FURTHER STATEMENT OF JOHN L. MOREWITZ, ATTORNEY AT LAW, NEWPORT NEWS, VA. Mr. MOREWITZ. The other day when I was testifying I did not go into the question of the power of the Shipping Commissioner on issuing continuous discharge books, as stated in the act. As I understand it, his power is final. In other words, if the Commissioner confirms the action of the captain in regard to the sort of marks he wants to give the man, there is no appeal. As the law stands now, I have been in two or three cases in which the courts have held that the Commissioner's action is not final, even though he wanted to attempt to make it so. I just wanted to make it clear if the act goes through the way it is now, it would change the existing law in that respect. No reason |