OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 233 



concerned with Mr. McKernan's report to Senator Saltonstall's state- 

 ment allegedly giving the reasons for the deactivation of the ship. 



Chairman Miller. I don't know that we have a copy of that. 

 Would you make sure we have a copy of it? 



Captain Hiller. I have a copy here. 



Chairman JNIiller. Who was it addressed to ? 



Captain Hiller. It went to Mr. John McCart, legislative director, 

 American Federation of Government Employees, and I think a copy 

 was sent to you. 



Chairman Miller. Will you see that we get a copy of it, or will you 

 summarize it for us ? 



Captain Hiller. There is too much in it to summarize. It was in 

 answer to the report made to explain the reasons for the deactivation 

 of the ship. To a layman that was a full and complete answer, but 

 to those of us who worked on the ship and men in the fishing industry, 

 there were statements which were not true inserted. They were on the 

 cost of operating the Albatross^ the increased cost of operating the 

 ship and questions of the seaworthiness of the vessel. 



I have written letters, and many other people from allied industries 

 liave written letters to Senators and Representatives. All the replies 

 are in the same cat ego ly, they can't understand it, and there are no 

 reasons given to show why the ship was laid up. They were told it 

 vras due to lack of funds. I know from my own experience the Woods 

 Hole operation has always been short of funds. We have had advice 

 from Washington that there is moneys available. That may or may 

 not be true. 



I have heard also because of conditions on the ship, the ship became 

 unionized, and that was one of the reasons why the ship was laid up. 

 I know from working with the management in Woods Hole they have 

 been disturbed by reason of the fact the union got on the ship. I was 

 briefed before I went on the ship that the union had moved in, caus- 

 ing management some concern ; they were asking for exorbitant wages, 

 and there Avere a lot of hard feelings. I felt during the 3'ear I was on 

 the ship it was my job to act as an impartial liaison between the 

 employer and employee because there were feelings between the crew 

 and the management. 



When we took scientists out on the ship there was also bad feeling 

 between the scientists and management. This surprised me very 

 much because the people I did business with at Woods Hole were ven^ 

 nice, but I understood from the crew, who had been on tlie ship longer 

 tlian I, and the scientists, there was considerable discontent. I did 

 feel during the time I was on the ship that they went along as well as 

 could be expected. The men on the ship were excellent fishennen, and 

 as such excellent fishermen you don't find other qualifications. They 

 had always done their work this way, and they didn't want to do it the 

 other way. This was a research boat, and there is quite a bit of diifer- 

 ence between the way you do tilings on a research vessel and a fishing 

 boat. 



I realized they were excellent fishermen who knew more about the 

 job than I did, and I felt toward the end of the year tliat they were 

 coming around to the view of operating the ship different from a fish- 

 ing vessel. I was encouraged. 



Another thing I didn't understand was the abruptness with which 

 the ship was laid up. The men were given a pay raise in one breath 



