INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA. 291 



THIRD SUBCOMMITTEE. 



"Questions contained in paragraphs 6, 7, and 8 of 'Questions before the conference.' 



"1. Establishment of uniform code of general requirements. 



"2. Possible inclusion in the 'National certificate' referred to in Section (a), paragraph 

 4, of 'Questions before the conference' of items which will cover the specific requirements 

 as to hull, machinery, fittings, etc., which may be adopted by the conference. 



"3. In large new passenger steamers, engineering considerations will possibly control and 

 compel duplication of propelling machinery. General rules for duplication of pumps, dyna- 

 ■ mos, steering engines, and other auxiliaries to be considered." 



Earnest and intelligent cooperation in the consideration of the whole subject of safety 

 of construction, including the questions above enumerated, produced the desired results. 

 Definite conclusions were reached. These conclusions do not, of course, represent the high- 

 est attainable standards ; such is hardly to be expected in work of this character which in- 

 volves ultimately so much modification of previous practice, development of details and ad- 

 justment to many and varied local conditions in the countries represented at the conference. 



Distinct and great progress has been made, however, in securing greater safety of con- 

 struction in vessels hereafter built. Standards of efficiency have been fixed and these stand- 

 ards will be enforced by enactment of the necessary laws upon the ratification of this con- 

 vention by each of the signatory states. In other words, the ratification of the work of the 

 conference by the signatory states will impose upon all of the principal maritime countries 

 an obligation to enact into law requirements which will establish standards superior to those 

 previously prescribed or prevailing, even in those countries which had taken the most advanced 

 position in such matters. This in itself may be regarded as an important and most desirable 

 achievement without even entering into the merits of the standards adopted. But the con- 

 ference did not stop when it fixed certain minimum requirements as to the construction of 

 vessels. It went much further and provided the international machinery for further investi- 

 gation and improvement. By specific phraseology (Art. 17 of convention and Art. X of 

 regulations) it is also provided that for vessels whose degree of safety, through more ef- 

 ficient subdivision, is greater than that prescribed by the convention for vessels of their size, 

 this increase of safety shall be indicated on the "Safety Certificate" of the vessel by the 

 proper Government officials. Here is a direct and powerful stimulus to shipbuilders and 

 shipowners to exceed the requirements of the convention, for there is little doubt that a 

 discriminating traveling public will give greatest encouragement to those steamship com- 

 panies which show a strong desire to increase the safety of their vessels. 



It will be noted that the language of the convention so far as concerns the chapter on 

 "Construction" is unusually concise and, in many instances, gives only a general idea of 

 requirements which are set forth at greater length in the regulations. This more or less 

 brief reference in the convention was not due to any failure on the part of the conference 

 to realize the importance of the subject. On the contrary, the original tentative draft of 

 the convention by the "committee on redaction" placed in the convention itself a large part 

 of the matter now found in the regulations. Such an arrangement, however, obviously inter- 

 fered with the natural and orderly sequence of the articles covering the subjects considered. 

 It was therefore subsequently decided unanimously to arrange the articles in the conven- 

 tion and the regulations as they now appear and to incorporate in Article 1 of the convention 

 the following proviso : 



