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6 | MARINE REVIEW. Lake Protest to the Frye Bill. Members of Congress and commercial organizations in all p the lakes will, within a few days, receive from the. Cleveland Vessel ers' Association copies of a most vigorous protest to the Frye bill, has already met with opposition from the United States board of super- vising inspectors of steam vessels, the Maritime Association of New York and shipping associations throughout the country. The protest of the Cleveland association deals especially with the effects of the proposed legislation on the lakes, and it will be followed later by petitions from all parts of the lakes calling upon members of Congress to defeat the bill. The measure, which was prepared in the treasury department by Capt. L. G. Shepard, J. A. Henriques and Lieut. C. H. McLellen of the revenne ma- rine, to whom all objections will now be referred, is based. on the recom- mendations of the International Marine Conference, but widespread objec- tion to it will certainly result in defeat in Congress, if not in the commit. tee on commerce of the Senate, to which it has been referred. The pro- arts of Own- which test of the Cleveland Vessel Owners' Association, which was prepared by a special committee, consisting of H. H. Brown, James Corrigan, M. A. Bradley, C. B Calder, Thomas Fitzpatrick, H. D. Goulder, Captains James Stone, William S. Mack and George P. McKay, and adopted by a unani; mous vote of the association, is as follows: _ . Bees Your committee has given the entire bill very careful study. So far as it relates to sea-going ships we do not express any definite opinion,not being sufficiently familiar with the practical details of the construction, -- equipment, handling, and business of vessels engaged in that service. We do not hesitate to say that there is manifested throughout the billa> like want of familiarity and experience on the part of its framers with the character of the lake commerce andits necessities, growing out of the quick - dispatch in port and the frequency of the trips made, the short distances between ports of safety and repair, as well as with the practical details of the construction, equipment, handling,' management and maneuvering of © the vessels now in use upon the lakes. Such an experience of many years has convinced us that there is need of less rather than of more regulation of these matters. In the main the present system of inspection works well, but there are many details of it which could be dispensed with with safety to the public generally, and with convenience and profit to the owners and managers of our vessels. This is especially true of the immense fleet of steamers and barges used exclusively in the freighting business carry- - ing bulk cargoes of grain, iron ore and coal. Cheap as the rates are for lake transportation the rate must depend to an appreciable extent on the freedom of these vessels from inconvenience, delays and expense which bring with them no compensation in added safety. In this connection it is plain that the kind of inspection provided for steam boilers in this bill would require at least two days for each steamer to be taken out of the busy season, and would require more than double the present force of inspectors to accomplish the workin such a district as our own. Our first ground of protest then is, that the bill interferes with tlie rights of the owners, officers and crews of every class of vessels employed - on the lakes in respects very much beyond the present requirenients of the government, and that in no particular is there need for such additional regulations or legislation. It adds unnecessarily and unjustly to the expense of operating these vessels, makes unreasonable and unnecessary requirements as to qualification in the men who gain their livelihoods on these vessels, puts unnecessary expense upon the owners, involves the government in an enormous annual expense, causes delay to our vessels, puts it in the hands of any disaffected person to bring about a breach of the law in some of its minute details, (as, for instance, with reference to the draft marks) creates a system of espionage, re-establishes the moiety system of dividing fines with informers, a system which was for good reasons long ago abolished in other departments of the government and so far as our lake commerce is concerned, it is our opinion that the provisions of this bill do not add to the safety or convenience of ally one directiy or indirectly connected with it. Your committee does not know and has been unable to find any reason for the inspection by the government of freight tow barges and sailing vessels employed on the lakes, or for regulating their draft of water. We are deeply interested in the safe navigation of our vessels,and owners are in the main quite as competent to determine the proper quali- fications in officers and engineers as would be the inspectors required. by this law, besides being infinitely more interested than they in the secur- ing of proper officers, engineers and men on board of the vessels. The officers and engineers on our vessels have grown up under the present system, and we venture the opinion that nowhere inthe merchant marine of any country can there be found a higher or better class of officers than those on our lake vessels. These men asa class are competent and effi- cient, have been and are doing their work well and satisfactorily to those having the deepest interest in it, and such requirements as this bill pro- vides would be in the highest degree oppressive and unjust to them, and A a large measure it would be prohibitory to their following their pro- ession. There are even requirements in this bill that to fill certain positions of 2.000 indicated horse power, or less, must have served at least three d -------- on a lake steamer a man should have had training on a sea-going ship for example, in the case of engineers, as shown in section 150. If tha section means what it says, that a man to be chief engineer for machiner years or five years in a sea-going ship. according to the ess powe® oe her engines, under such a law there are but few en ee who served last season on lake steamers who could qualify, no matter how conipetent they might be. Nor is there any body of men now serving 1 lower capacity (whose promotion would have to be strictly according to this from which chief engineers could be recruited. Yet this class includes 'al of our lake steamers with only a few exceptions. The going into fore of such a requirement would actually paralyze our lake business by throy & hundreds of steamers out of commission through denying employmeti on them to entirely competent and efficient men. ae " ¥ Another objection to'the bill is that it puts it in the power and direction = of an officer to be appointed under this bill to declare finally and irrevoc- a ably how many men shall be employed on a steamer, as well as the 4 qualification. of those men; for,as we read the bill, the 'inspector, general has the ultimate disposal of that question. We do not believe. that any other business of individuals and corporations, with millions of dollars invested in active legitimate business, in the care and safety of -- which they. are more deeply interested than any others can 'be, is put under such dictatorial power in an officer of the government. Our experi- ence has taught us that a man who has learned a trade connected with. engine building, or who may be able to construct and properly setup an. entire engine, is not always a better engineer to operate the engine than one who has been brought up in the engine room of a steamer in the operation of that kind of machinery. On the other hand, some men who have learned and are masters of the trade of machinist or engine builder have proved unsuccessful and inefficient in charge of the operation of ma=_ rine engines. The members of this committee could, if necessary, instance: cases in which this has been true. On account of the accessibility of ports. of repair on the lakes, where the tools and facilities for all kinds of repair work are available,our vessels are not provided with facilities for repairing" _ any serious or considerable breakage in machinery: Ifa machinist wete on board competent to rebuild an engine or repair a serious break-down, it would involve a great loss of time and» much ad- -- ' ditional expense to hold the vessels while he should repair it, -- instead of quickly getting her to a place where repairs could be made with good facilities and with quick dispatch. Itisunusual for, vessels on the lakes,where customary courses are pursued from point to a point,to be even out of sight of some passing-craft which can render assist - ance in towing to a port of safety and repair, and your committee can; not now recall an instance where a.vessel which hds suffered a break-down of her machinery has subsequently been lost or met with further disaster of serious character on that account. Such an instance-we believe is un- known on the lakes. We call attention to the above matters as indicating the essential difference between the subjects of sea-going navigation-and. the use of vessels on our lakes. The two subjects can only be _ properly: dealt with as distinct subjects by separate legislation, if legislation is to? reach to any of the particulars and details of their equipment for navi; gation. : 2 .. to See Calling attention now to some specific objections to this bill, they are that section 6 requires regulations for the -inspection and equipment of -- lake and coastwise freight barges being towed and lake sailing vessels, and the officers of such vessels As a matter of experience and judgment upon experience, we say that this is wholly unnecessary, involving -- expense, annoyance and delays to the owners of these craft, and a vast an- nual outlay by the government to no purpose. os ae a That section 33 provides for the marking of the draft of our lake yes: This is unnecessary. The provision is essentially uncertain, no. standard being fixed. The law might be apparently broken in this re- gard through the malice of anyone who would interfere with the marks, an incentive to causing annoyance and expense being furnished by the divisision of the fine, one-half to any informer, a. oat The effect of sections 47 and 85 would be, that substantially all the boilers in use on the lakes which have been built in strict accordance with existing laws and regulations, and have been regularly inspected and have been performing well, would be cut down in their working pressure 20 to 30 per cent., a result which would so impair their usefulness 4 as to a practically require their abandonment and the substitution of new boilers, a which could under the proposed legislation be allowed the necessary ---- working pressure for the type of engines in vogue, and in substituting new boilers of the character required a largely increased weight would . have to be carried. The expense and inconvenience of making the change -- 1s in itself a sufficient objection when it is considered that the boilers which we have been and are using have proved sufficient and safe in opera- tion. eh ke oO ~eoter sels. In the inspection district of Cleveland for the past twenty years, acccording to a statement from the local inspectors, not a boiler gave out in the riveted seams when being tested. all c Pr : gtk The board of supervising inspectors of steam vessels'in its report t ws \ ' 4 F .