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March, 1916 was followed and a number of vessels were fitted out as early as February. Additional inspectors were finally sent, however, but notwithstanding all that could be done there were scores of ves- sels that had not undergone inspection by the opening of navigation. It is quite clear that the steamboat inspection service is overworked and undermanned. Secretary Redfield’s plea for an additional appropriation and an added force should meet the earnest ap- proval of the association. The most important issue confront- ing the association is the operation of ‘the Seamen’s act, which went into ef- fiect on Nov. 4, last. Your directors met on Sept. 29 last to consider the bill in all its phases and it was decided to accept it as it stood and to put it into effect insofar as it was possible to do so. The bill was accordingly codi- fied, all the sections affecting the lakes being assembled in a small pamphlet and every master supplied with a copy of it. _The letter of Supervising In- spector General George Uhler to your president giving a ruling on, the sub- ject of coal passers, as well as the let- ter of Secretary Redfield to the super- vising inspector general of the steam- boat inspection service relative to the enforcement of the Seamen’s law on the great lakes, were also included. Keep Faith With Secretary Secretary Redfield took a very com- mendable stand on the whole measure. Recognizing the strain to lake com- merce during the closing month of the year, he made it a matter of good faith on the part of the owners to strive as best they could to comply with the provisions of the act, intimating that good faith would go a long ways to- wards mitigating any possible penalty. It was obviously impossible to comply with all the provisions of this extra- ordinary measure but notwithstanding every member of the association did what he could to put its provisions into HE human element is the most i important feature in a consid- eration of the relations between the employer and the employed. No enterprise in industrial life can ever make for substantial success for any considerable period that does not take full cognizance of the personal ele- ment. In the development of American industry, prior to 1860, we will say, the units were comparatively small. The number of men employed in any THE MARINE REVIEW effect. Thrust as it was upon the clos- ing month of the year, it projected an almost intolerable condition into the trade. The steamboat inspection service, al- ready overburdened, worked with great energy to issue certificates of able sea- manship to applicants. The marine hos- pital staff undertook the work of mak- ing the required physical examination of the sailors. Masters made it a prac- Registration in 1915 Masters First Mates Second Mates _ Chief Engineers Assistant Engineers Able Seamen tice to accompany their men to the steamboat inspection offices to aid them in getting their certificates, while. the coast guard service examined applicants for certificates as lifeboat men. The commissioners, too, gave all the time they could to the work, but notwith- standing all that could be done, it was a physical impossibility to comply with all the provisions of the bill. The commissioners were thrown into a perfect whirl of work. Many of the best men aboard ships left the employ altogether rather than to submit to the physical examination, while scores of experienced men who were anxious to continue in the service were found to be disqualified through some _ physical defect. The result was that the com- missioners were put under an enormous strain to get men to complete crew lists. How great the strain was can be ap- preciated from the fact that 23.6 per cent of the men shipped during the en- tire season were shipped after Nov. 1. Obviously the ships had to take what they could get and many men were, through sheer necessity, accepted for service who under ordinary circum- By J. H. Sheadle Chairman of the Welfare Plan Committee one enterprise were few, and in the nature of things an intimate acquaint- ance existed between the principal and the subordinate. Such acquaint- ance gave the employer an oppor- tunity to know the conditions sur- rounding the employe in his personal and family life, and consequently en- abled him to be helpful to the em- ploye in time of need, all of which made for a _ satisfactory understand- ing between the two _ individuals. This acquaintance, one with the 97 stances would not be employed at all. The first effect of the bill was to lower the standard of personnel. This is one of its most regrettable effects. The act, too, has met with considerable hostility from those in whose interests it was ostensibly framed. It is very gratifying to announce that the Dominion Marine Association has agreed to observe the separate courses on Lake Huron as laid down by the Lake Carriers’ Association, and -has in- structed the vessels enrolled in its mem- bership to follow them. In this con- nection also the Dominion Marine As- sociation has laid down courses on Lake Superior for vessels navigating to and from Jackfish Bay and Fort William, the upbound vessels passing to the east- ward and the downbound vessels pass-— ing to the westward of Caribou Island. The Dominion Marine Association re- quested that the American vessels also observe these courses on Lake Superior. The Association submitted the subject to the committee on aids to navigation as individuals, and on Oct. 5, last, your president, in a circular letter, requested that vessels generally observe these courses on Lake Superior during the balance of the season when the matter would be brought before the committee on Aids to Navigation as a committee. The committee at its meeting on Jan. 5, 1916, ‘formally endorsed the proposition. Increased Time Efficiency In point of efficiency the year 1915 exhibited a considerable improvement over that of 1914 and even that of 1913. Efficiency has reached so high a state in the ore trade on the lakes that little more can be expected than a slight re- duction in the time spent in port. Nev- ertheless the minutes continue to be clipped off. The operating fleet took on its cargoes and discharged them quicker than it did in 1913 by several minutes, but during the past decade the time spent in loading and unloading ports has been considerably more than cut in half. Lakes other, proved a safeguard in a gen- eral way against material misunder- standings, for differences among men are usually because of the failure of one, or both, to understand the point of view of the other. Following the Civil War began the real industrial expansion in this coun- try. The shoe and boot maker with perhaps one assistant in the hamlet or village, gave way to the larger factory where the goods were made in quantities by a large number of