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January, 1914 nation; "That a copy of this resolution be sent to the committee having cogni- zance of merchant marine legislation in the senate and house, and to the secretary of commerce." Stevenson Taylor:--In _ seconding this resolution of Mr. Nixon, I wish to add that, further than the destruc- tion of our merchant marine on the ocean, that if this bill is carried out in its full extent as passed by the sen- ate it will destroy in a great measure, not only all attempts at improvement in our ocean service, but will destroy absolutely many of the lines engaged in our sound, bay and river. service. I have been looking to this matter and paying considerable attention to it lately, and I presume the majority of those present have done the same, and I heartily endorse the resolution, sincerely hope that it will be passed unanimously, and that it will be sent to the proper authorities today. E. P. Bates:--Before we can vote intelligently on this resolution, it seems to me we should know more than the text of the bill. Stevenson Taylor:--I - presumed everybody knew the text of the bill. Briefly, it establishes a class called A: B. S., meaning able bodied sea; men. To be an able bodied seaman, and to receive a certificate that one is an able bodied seaman, a man must have been three years on the deck of a steamer The law provides, also, that no person in one department, of a ship shall be taken to do the work in another department. It provided that every lifeboat must have at least two so-called able bodied seamen. It provides that there shall be lifeboats on ocean steamers, and incidentally on the sound and bay steamers, to carry every passenger and every per- son in the crew on board the ship. There are other provisions, but I think I have already named sufficient of them to show the character of the bill. No Able Seamen We all know there are no seamen, as the term "seamen" used to be un- derstood, on our steam vessels--that the persons on deck are merely deck scrubbers, brass polishers, painters of rust spots, and similar work of that sort. The old seaman, the man who could furl a sail, splice a rope, tie a bowline, take his trick at the wheel and steer the ship, has passed away. There are not such on our ocean, sound or bay steamers. We depend on the entire crew of the vessel to man the lifeboat; in other words, the stewards, the firemen, the engineer, THE MARINE REVIEW are all part of the crew, and have to man the lifeboats, and are drilled in the handling of the lifeboats, and therefore the boats are well pro- vided with crews at the present time. If you prevent one man in one de- partment from going into another de- partment, except in 'case of dire ne- cessity--that is the wording of the law--we will have no right to demand that stewards and firemen, or any other member of the crew, but the deck crew, shall take part in the life- boat drill or fire drill. Vicious Legislation "I think I have said sufficient to this body, the members of which are well acquainted with the needs of vessels, especially vessels at sea, to in- dicate that the bill is a piece of vici- ous legislation, purely class legisla- tion, in the interests of what is called the Seamen's Union. I feel very strongly on this subject, and think any one who has given it any attention whatever will feel the same, and to my mind this society should take a stand against legislation of that sort. "Tf there is any other point about this bill not clear to the people here, I shall be glad to elucidate the mat- ter or answer any question in their minds. The bill is a vicious bill, and passed simply in the interests of the Union, a union of men that practical- -- ly does not exist, that is to say, there -are no seamen in the old time sense of seamanship. I hope this resolution will pass unanimously. -- William E. Waterhouse:--I am in hearty. sympathy with what Mr. Tay- lor said, and Mr. Nixon preceding him, and I would like to cite a spe- cific case of the results of this bill. Three weeks from tomorrow con- tracts will be signed for three boats to operate between the Battery and Glen Island, and at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute the attorneys for the bankers who are underwriting the project called attention to Bill S. 136, and said that under a strict in- terpretation of Section 12 of that bill these boats would be a losing propo- sition. F. B. Smith:--There is another point the gentleman did not bring out in regard to the A. B. S. We might take the definition of an A. B. S. according to this bill--they must have served three years on the deck of a vessel -- Stevenson Taylor:--Ocean or lake. F. B. Smith:--They might never have been in a lifeboat in three years, or handled a small boat in any shape or manner. A man brought up on 'in the handling of a lifeboat. 27 the banks of Newfoundland, brought up in small boats, would not be ac- cepted as an A. B. S., and would not be considered competent to take part A fire- man, no matter how well skilled he is in the handling of a small boat, cannot act as a part of this life sav- ing crew--he must have simply served three years on board of a ship, and then he is competent, whether he has ever been in a lifeboat or not, accord- ing to the bill. Those are the prin- cipal points of the bill as it stands -- now. The resolution was unanimously carried and sent by wire to the Com- mittee on Merchant Marine of the house of representatives. Isherwood System of Ship - Construction The Isherwood system still con- tinues to make rapid progress and the number of vessels contracted for on this system to date now totals to 276, representing almost a million and a quarter gross register tons. The number of vessels built during 1913 shows a considerable advance over 1912. During 1912 52 vessels of 234,615 tons were built, and during 1913 79 vessels of 384,372 gross tons were built. : Included in this number are ves- sels of all types and descriptions, and apart from ordinary ocean-going ves- sels, it is perhaps of special interest to note that three other large ore- carrying vessels have been completed for service on the Great Lakes of America. In the development of the oil tanker, the system has played a prominent part, no fewer than 39 of this class of vessel having been launched this year. The San Fra- terno, the 15,000 tons d. w. tanker built on the Isherwood system, prob- ably created more interest than any other vessel built in the current year, and is the first of 12 similar steamers building on this system, other four of which have now been launched. At the present moment about 85 per cent of the total oil tank tonnage building throughout the world is on the Isher- wood system, and up to date 103 ves- sels of this type are already built on or are being built on this system. Vessels have been constructed to the highest classification of Lloyds Register, British Corporation, Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, Norske Veritas, and American Bureau, and the system has been adopted by the governments of Great Britain, United States of America and Italy.