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who, stripped to the waist and covy- ered with soot, are feeding the fur- naces, with an eye constantly on the gages to see that the steam pressure is maintained. The same is true in breakdowns. The engineers are the men chiefly relied upon to make the temporary repairs to enable the ship to reach port; and when I go over our season's record of operation and note how small has been the delay to our ships on account of machinery, I am impressed with the skill, efficien- cy and attention to duty displayed by the men on the after end. Our Form of Appointments. I now want to say a few words with reference to our form of appoint- ment, Or, aS .itsis amore: commonly called, "The «Engineers... Contract," The statement has been made that it is objectionable to some engineers "inasmuch -as it required them to dis- criminate against other employes of the steamer,' and also that "it required them to work with inexperienced and incompetent men in their department." and that "those who have signed it had decided to cringe and crawl to their employers." Let. us read_ the so-called "Objectionable Clause" and see what it does say. It is-as fol- lows: "As we have decided upon the policy of Open Shop, you will be expected to, and by your acceptance hereof will agree to, fully co-operate in this policy, and in keeping off from the ship any represen'atives of interests cther than the ship and owner so far as your department is concerned; and also to work with any employe of this company regardless of union or other affiliations." Is there anything there requiring you to discriminate against any other employe of the ship, or that requires you to work with inexperienced and incompetent men? There is not .one word about discriminating against any employe of the ship. On the other hand, it expressly prohibits you from discriminating against eny employe be- cause of union or other affiliations, Why should we ask you to work with inexperienced and incompetent men? We are paying the highest scale of wages ever paid for like service. If we had two scales of wages for the same work, one for experienced and competent men, anda lower scale for inexperienced and 'incompetent men, there might be some force to the ar- gtiiment. You know. our system of employing men. You select your assistant engineers, who must be ap- proved by our chief engineer, and upon you rests the responsibility of "TAE Marine REVIEW hiring your other subordinates subject to the general rules of the company. | I assume there is no man in this room who will question the right of the Management tO inSist upon you, a3 the head of our department, keeping off from the ship any representatives of other interests than the ship and Owners, so far as your department is concerned, any more than you would question my authority to insist upon the heads of depar.ments in our gen- eral office to keep out of the office book-agents, solicitors and peddlers. This leaves nothing to the "Objection able Glause> but) -4he.; "Open cshop - policy, and.I guess after all that is the "Nigger in The Wood-Pile." Now, gentlemen, that clause means just what it says, and says just what it means, leaving nothing to read be- tween the lines. You all know how unbearable 'conditions became on board our. ships ,both to you and every other officer: prior to 1908. Three years ago when working under the Closed Shop you almost begged me not to turn over to a few irre- sponsible delegates the authority to determine who should, and who should not, be your subordinates, claiming it was not conducive to good discipline. , The officers on: the forward end otf -the ship made the same request, and, in fact, the same statements were made by officers of ships to every manager and owner on the Great Lakes. A year ago the Lake Carriers' Association decided to return to the "Open Shop" policy, and at about the same tithe you men_ requested I should go back to our old method of individual written appointment, which I did. Last fall you asked us to sign up your assistants under a similar form, which was a'so done, all of which I firmly believe is a step in the right direction--towards drawing us closer together and making a more compact, loyal organization. Open Shop to Stay. So far as this company 1s concerned, we shall not recede from the position we have taken, and no licensed officer will be employed by us who does not subscribe to the "Open Shop" policy when requested to do so, and stands ready to show his appointment to the management at any time as an evi- dence of good faith. The statement has been made that if this policy is allowed to obtain you will quickly find yourselves work'ng for a like wage and similar conditions to those existing 10 or 15 y<ars ago. The answer to this statement:<ist). You all remember the little unpleasantness ~ with the captains five years ago..and 123 with the mates three years ago, and the awful things prophesied would happen if they did not get what they thought they wanted. I venture the statement that 'the great majority of our captains and mates are better sat- isfied with conditions as they are to- day in this employ, and I know there 'is no more loyal and efficient body of men sailing on salt or fresh water than these same captains and mates. Then again, the statement has been made that what we require is unlawful. I shall dismiss this by saying that we not only do not desire, but positively forbid, any violation of the laws by any of our employes. Bee Lake Carriers' Welfare Plan. You have been furnished with a copy of the pamphlet dealing with the Lake Carriers' Bureau:cof Registra- tion and Welfare Plan for the benefit of employes of vessels. I hope you will study this over very carefully, as it is my desire that all our employes © _should be enrolled on its' books. After the Lake Carriers' Association -- decided to return to the "Open Shop" principle some of its most influential members felt that some plan should be devised for a closer relation be- tween officers and men and owners of vessels, and that all the employes on ships should have some avenue of reaching the executive commi!ttee of the Lake Carriers' Association with any complaints of violation of the de- clared principles of the association. A committee was appointed who did much good work and who gave much earnest thought to th's subject, the result of which is stated in the pamph- let I have referred to, and which has been approved and adopted by 'the association. I have noticed that 'it has drawn out considerable comment and criticism, which naturally was to be expected, and which shows that it is receiving a good déal of considera- tion. : Briefly, the plan provides for assem- bly rooms in such principal ports on th® lakes as the executive committee from time to time decide.. These rooms shall be assembly rooms for the sailors, furnished with newspapers | and magazines, places for writing let- ters, eté., the charge for which shall be one dollar a y:ar to seamen who will be furnished with a certificate from the association. Officers- of ships will also be furnished with certificates with a somewhat larger charge. "With this certificate will a'so be furnished a record discharge book, except as 0 masters and chief~-engineers, -bearing the' same number as» the -.certificate, which: will be..put invthe "hands: of