The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

tion, "the men behind the gun," the men to whom we look to handle the property entrusted to their care with skill and in- telligence, with brains; with brains and ability. Very much is expected of the master is these modern times, particularly so with the growth and increase of ton- nage on the lakes during the past decade, the result being that owing to the con- tinuous meeting of vessels in congested and narrow channels, it requires that the master should be keen and alert every instant, with decision, judgment and nerve, to decide on the spur of the mo- ment what is the best course to pur: sue in each case of the many emer- gencies which are constantly arisng in our crowded channels, and it is to their great credit to say that in the very large ma- jority of cases they are both ready and prompt to meet every emergency as it arises. _ I know of no other vocation in life where the relations that exist between the employer and employe are so strong and of such a confidential character as be- tween the master and the owner of a vessel. The powers which are vested in the master of a vessel are beyond those «cf any other vocation in the world. I presume that every master present here tenight thoroughly understands the pow- ers vested in him and the great respon- cibilities in connection with the large value of the property entrusted to his care. It may not be amiss, however, at this time to particularize somewhat by mentioning some of the general obliga- tions which are recognized and held good in every port in the world, and which liave their foundations in good morals and legal principles. The master is the agent of the owner in everything which pertains or relates to the business of the ship, whether in port or out of port. He is not only the navigator of the ship on her voyage, but he has absolute, unconditional control of her. As far as responsibility and au- thority are concerned, he is practically the owner during the-voyage. He must not, however, attempt to promote any- thing or the interests of any person or persons which conflict in the least de- gree with his owner's interests. Therefore, his loyalty to his owner must be pure and undivided. He must neither support nor countenance any Or- ganization or any scheme of any person or persons which may, by any possibility, conflict with the interests of his owner. More than this, his loyalty must be ac- tive, positive, and not merely negative. The duty of entire loyalty to his owner springs from his contract, and if he fails in this respect he violates his contract, and commits a breach of good faith. The general rule which requires every TAE Marine REVIEW agent to do everything which he can legally do to promote the interests of his principal, applies with peculiar force to the master of a vessel: Therefore, it cannot be unreasonable for the owner to feel, owing to the fidu- ciary relations which exist between the master and himself, that he should have no affiliations which should interfere with any instructions or orders that may be given him, and that nothing should be allowed in the remotest degree to come between his interests and the interests of any other person or organization. In fact, it would be unreasonable to expect that the owner would reason otherwise, and at the present time it is a gsreat pleasure to note that it is the exception and not the rule when a master is not thoroughly loyal and devoted to his owner's interests. I have had occasion to think some- times, owing to reports which have come to my ears, that in the minds of some there was a misapprehension as to the purposes of the Lake Carriers' Associa- tion, from the fact that it seemed to pre- vail in the minds of some that one of - its principal objects was to control the wage question, and I beg leave to en- tirely differ from this belief wherever it may exist, and to say that in my judg ment the reverse is the case. For instance, we fix a minimum price for the master's wages for the different classes of boats. In other words, we fix a price for the respective classes of boats which owners shall pay, and must not pay less; but we fix no maximum. There is nothing in our scale of wages which prevents any owner from paying as much more than the minimum rate as he sees fit. As a matter of fact, I think the ma- jority of the masters present here to- night receive more than the minimum rate fixed by our association. This applies not only in the case of the Pittsburg Steamship Co., but in many other fleets. Therefore, as a matter of fact, the scale of wages established is a benefit instead of a detriment, because it places an amount under which no member of the association, were he disposed to, could go, and I take advantage of this occa- sion to endeavor, at least, to make this point clear. In this connection I may add without fear of contradiction that there are but few, if any, vessel companies, large em- ployers of labor, as the Pittsburg Steam- ship Co. is, that are so liberal and that so fully recognize the worth of their men, as the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. Its president and general manager is a man of affairs, broad gage, of great executive and business ability, a firm be- liever in the Burns doctrine that "a man's a man for a' that," eminently fair, al- ways ready, in making a decision, to put 23 himself in the other mans place and reason from that standpoint, and in addi- tion to this, has the courage of his con- victions and is always ready to "stand up and be counted," and you are to be congratulated on having at the head of this great steamship company, a man so eminently qualified for the position as H. Coulby, your president 'and general manager. I want to take this occasion also to thank the masters of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. for the uniform courtesy and kindness that I have received at the hands of all of them whom I have come in contact with. I fully recognize that you are the prac- tical men, the men whom we have to look to for the best wisdom and experience, for aids to navigation, for rules and regulations governing the narrow and congested channels which you daily have to traverse, and I am indebted to many of you for aid and suggestions, and I sincerely trust, and will esteem it a favor to receive at any time from each and all of you, any suggestions looking to the betterment of aids and the best interests of navigation, and I want to compliment the masters of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. by saying: that in all of the difficulties we have had, for instance, at the Lime Kiln crossing, Detroit river, St. Mary's river, and other congested points, that it has been the very rare exception when I have received a sin- gle complaint against a master of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. In this connection J desire to call your attention for a moment to the fact that extraordinary caution will have to be used during the present season at some points, the Lime Kiln crossing the most prominent of all. Owing to the fact that the channel is not yet completed on ac- count of the contractors working on the east channel, used for up-bound boats last season, it will be necessary to use the one narrow channel for both up and down-bound boats. This makes it an absolute necessity that the most rigid rules should be enforced, and I find that sometimes a few masters think this is a hardship, but I beg leave to call their at- tention to this fact, that a chain is only as strong-as the weakest part of it. The rules have to be made, not for the highest order of intelligence, but for the ordinary, average intelligence. The- mas- ter of many years' experience has to meet the master who, perhaps, is sailing his first boat, and in the great rush and de- sire to make time in these days of quick trips and loading and unloading, each master eager and anxious to keep up with the procession and chafing at delays which interfere with it, in many cases thinks he can pilot his boat through the