December 



1015 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



31 



attending a meeting of Japanese business men in Japan when the 

 news of the passage of the La Follette bill was received in Japan. 

 He says the news occasioned an enthusiastic demonstration in the 

 meeting, the Japanese believing that the legislation leaves them 

 free to capture the trade in the Pacific." The New York Evening 

 Post says that the only way to compete successfully in the Pacific 

 with the Chinese and Japanese lines is to employ Oriental crews. 



The Brooklyn Eagle says: "It is useless to talk about buOding 

 up an American merchant marine with such a law to dominate naviga- 

 tion laws and block competitive freight carrying. ' ' 



The PUiladelphia Hecord remarks: "The driving of American 

 steamships out of business provides no employment for American 

 sailors. ' ' 



No American capital will operate their ships under the American 

 flag under these competitive conditions, but will operate under for- 

 eign registry, and they will not invest their capital in new ships to 

 operate under such a law under such fierce competition. 



The Spokane Spokesmans Kevieiv says that the farmer of the 

 inland states, and this would include all other products of the inland 

 states which we can designate as the Mississippi Valley is being vital 

 to us regarding the importance of the American merchant marine. 

 Before the war it was impossible to arouse in their minds — meaning 

 the inland states — a maintained interest in the American merchant 

 marine. 



The war has tied up a large part of the shipping of the world, 

 and when farmers see the ocean freight rate on a bushel of 'nheat 

 jump from eighteen cents to fifty-four cents they begin to realize 

 the need of more ships — American ships that will fly the Stars and 

 Stripes, carry our products abroad when foreign ships are with- 

 drawn, and by force of competition hold down the freight rate in 

 time of peace. 



The San Francisco Chronicle says: "The Pacific Mail Steamship 

 Company, a $20,000,000 corporation, will dispose of its ships, although 

 it had raised the money and let the contracts for four great steam- 

 ers to sail between San Francisco and New York, and was planning 

 eight more for that and other routes. It was estimated that imder 

 the new law, the total yearly running expenses of these thirteen 

 ships would be increased by $802,042. 



Robert Dollar, in his personal letter to me, said that "so far 

 the ship owners have been blamed for trying to stop the operation 

 of the Seamen's Bill for their own personal end, and now it is up to 

 the merchants of the United States to take up the fight." 



For lack of time, I will not attempt to discuss the rights of 

 survey of ships, whereby one disgruntled seaman can make a com- 

 plaint and tie up a ship. I have merely touched on this portion of 

 the situation on the Great Lakes. It would be more serious on ships 

 to foreign countries. 



It is conceded that the space pro^-isions for men were amply 

 provided for before this law. The safety provisions also except 

 under very unusual and extreme cases, where it has been proven 

 that no matter what provisions were made, they were of no avail. 



The allotm.ent of wages under Section No. 4, whereby a seaman 

 can demand one-half of his wages which he has then earned at 

 every port where such vessel stops on the voyage to load or deliver 

 cargo, and all stipulations in his contract to the contrary shall be 

 void, provided such demand shall not be made oftener than once in 

 five days; and no redress on the part of the master of the ship 

 as against a seaman from having the opportunity to place himself 

 out of commission, or in any other way enable him to violate his 

 part of the contract. 



This section also provides that this shall apply to seamen on 

 foreign vessels while in the harbors of the United States, and that 

 the courts of the United States shall be open to such seamen for 

 its enforcement, regardless of the terms of the contract made in a 

 foreign country between foreigners. 



Waiving the consideration of the ethical principle involved in 

 the right accorded a foreign seaman to use the legal machinery 

 of the United States to enforce a claim contrary to the terms of 

 his contract, in violation of the international comity — or in com- 

 mon terms, the rules of the game— this thesis fails to take into 



account that these foreign deserters would be liable to imprison- 

 ment or other punishment upon return to their native country; and 

 in case of the Japanese, by virtue of the convention between the 

 United States and Japan, Japanese seamen are not granted pass- 

 ports to remain in the United States. 



Without going into detail, this opens the question of an induce- 

 ment to foreign crews to desert their ships in American ports. It 

 would be impossible for the officers of such ships to maintain dis- 

 cipline where crews knew they could leave a ship at the first port 

 with the right to demand half their wages, and the use of the 

 courts of the United States to> recover their wages if this is not 

 complied with. 



I quote from a noted authority: "The shipping of the United 

 States, mostly domestic, but of such large volume as easily to rank 

 this country the second maritime nation of the world, surpassed 

 alone by Great Britain, is of so diversified a character, embracing 

 features to be found in no other country, that it is in many ways 

 incomparable to that of any other simple maritime nation. 



"Considering our coastwise trade alone, apart from that with 

 our dependency and territories, our shipping covers a tremendous 

 amount of seaboard on both the Atlantic and Pacific, and on the 

 Great Lakes, with bays extending inland for many miles. The 

 commerce conducted on these waters differs radically in its nature, 

 and these variations necessitate a corresponding diiferentiation in 

 shipping on the Atlantic seaboard. The type of steamers operating 

 between New York and the New England states through Long 

 Island Sound, and on our bays such as the Chesapeake, and be- 

 tween the United States and Nova Scotia and the other maritime 

 provinces of Canada. 



"And the requirements of the service in these sections bears 

 slight resemblance to the type of steamer plying between New 

 York and South Atlantic and Gulf ports and the requirements of 

 the service there, while both have little resemblance to the type 

 of steamers operating on the Great Lakes. The steamers and the 

 shipping conditions on the Great Lakes themselves differ radically 

 from each other, while those engaged on the Pacific Coast are in 

 many important respects dissimilar to the others. 



"Blanket legislation therefore with inflexible regulations, re- 

 gardless of their application in each case, and which fails to give 

 due consideration to diversities, is sure to be suicide; and is a re- 

 flection on the practical proclivities with which our nation has 

 heretofore been credited in all matters pertaining to the develop- 

 ment of the commerce of the country. Yet this is practically what 

 the Act does, and it has already disturbed the business of Ameri- 

 can shipping with disastrous consequences." 



Vegetable Glue Is Coming 



The manufacturers of vegetable glue, who have been carrying on 

 an educational campaign for years with the idea of showing that 

 their product is capable of doing the things which hide glue has been 

 relied upon to perform, seem to be making a lot of headway, for 

 plants which appeared to be wedded to the old-style material are com- 

 ing out in favor of the comparatively new substitute right along. 



Not long ago the writer was in the plant of one of the most prom- 

 inent panel manufacturers in the country and noted that some changes 

 in the glue-room equipment were being made. Inquiry revealed the 

 fact that this concern will be using vegetable glue exclusively in 1916, 

 although it has been featuring its use of hide glue heretofore. That 

 may indicate inconsistency, but the chances are also that it suggests 

 progressiveness. The mossback who never changes his mind nor his 

 methods seldom gets anywhere. 



The vegetable glue people have an interesting and suggestive ar- 

 rangement, too, whereby, when they convert a consumer to the plan 

 of using their product, they supply the special equipment needed to 

 apply it. This shows that they have the courage of their convictions, 

 and that they are willing to assume the burden of proof; for if the 

 material failed to make good, they would not only lose an account, 

 but also would be out the considerable expense of making an installa- 

 tion of equipment in the factory of the customer. 



