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chairman of the house merchant marine and _ fisheries committee, which are designed to discourage foreign ship- ping companies from engaging in American trade which is not to or from ports of their own nationality and he asked the conference to endorse the bills which Mr. White has introduced. This endorsement was given through passage of a resolution offered by H. B. Walker. Cargo Handling Efficiency ee ees of labor efficiency in cargo handling were discussed by Dr. Boris Stern, special agent of the de- partment of labor, and Joseph P. Ryan, president of the International Longshoresmen’s association. Dr. Stern called attention to what he described as unnecessary suspicion of the government on the part of employers, the union and the stevedore companies to such an extent that it makes it almost impossible on the part of such an im- partial body as the United States bureau of labor sta- tistics to procure the necessary data which might lead to a better understanding of conditions as they exist in the industry. Mr. Ryan, on the other hand, asserted that there is no particular suspicion of any body so far as the union is concerned and that he felt that in all in- stances where employers were working on agreements with the union all of their affairs were carried out with the friendliest feeling of co-operation. Mr. Ryan averred that in some instances such as that of the port of Lake Charles, Texas, the leading stevedoring company refuses to employ union men. The result has been that inefficient men are doing the work. The agreements for stevedoring work, he declared, bind the union to guarantee the ef- ficiency of the men. In connection with this subject, Chairman T. V. O’Con- nor of the shipping board, who presided at the conference, appointed a committee to study the problem of safety of marine workers. This committee will consist of Robert F. Hand, vice president of the Standard Shipping Co.; Frank C. Gregory, safety engineer, United States em- ' ployees’ compensation commission; S. D. McComb, George A..Marr, Admiral J. G. Tawresey, B. O. Pickard, R. J. Baker, J. A. Ryan, Victor A. Olander, and J. W. Magill. Both Mr. Hand and Mr. Gregory read papers on the sub- ject of “Safety of Marine Workers.” Merchant Marine Officers cs J. F. Milliken, secretary-treasurer, Neptune as- sociation, discussed the training of merchant marine fAS ae OE COME BPO 22 officers. He described the two methods by which men become officers, namely, through promotion and through graduation from one of the several nautical schools. Expe- rience has shown, he said, that men who have had their preliminary training aboard ship generally make the best officers. Capt. B. B. Libby, of Washington, D. C., who also discussed this subject, suggested that a way to pro- vide efficient training for merchant marine officers would be to enlarge the enrollment at the naval academy by add- ing one appointee to each state’s quota and then assign- ing the surplus from each graduating class to merchant vessels. A committee on training of merchant marine officers was appointed by Chairman O’Connor. Those appointed on this committee are as follows: Admiral H. I. Cone, H. B. Walker, James H. MacLafferty, George A. Marr, N. Sumner Myrick, Capt. B. B. Libby, C. W. Sanders, W. F. Yates, J. F. Milliken, Andrew Furuseth, Capt. J. M. Tomb, Robert C. Tuttle, and J. W. Magill. In a discussion of inland water ways of the United States, Congressman S. Wallace Dempsey of New York, chairman of the house committee on rivers and harbors, urged the conference to endorse the plan for deepening the Erie canal so as to permit certain classes of ocean-going vessels to proceed directly from New York to Great Lake ports. On motion of H. B. Walker, the conference gave its endorsement to the measure. Dr. Roy S. MacElwee of Cambridge, Mass., also spoke on this subject and fa- vored both the Erie canal project and the St. Lawrence water way plan which has been discussed for several years. Satety at Sea Conference The final speaker of the conference was Admiral J. G. Tawresey, who was the representative for the shipping board at the London conference on the safety of life at sea last year. In his address, Admiral Tawresey urged the conference to support the convention which was drawn up at the London meeting and Mr. Walker pre- sented a resolution covering such endorsement. Objection to this resolution was raised by Mr. Furuseth who con- tended that the convention, if ratified by the United States, would work a hardship on American shipping and would have the effect of nullifying the seamen’s act. The conference, however, adopted the resolution offered by Mr. Walker and adjourned, after having accomplished more in a practical way in real co-operation between the various interests than at any previous meeting. Third National Conference on the Merchant Marine—Held at Washington, D. C., April 23 and 24, 1930 MARINE REVIEW—June, 1930 21