New-York tribune., 1922-11-12
Ship Officers
Say Conditions
AT Sea Are Bad
Milliken Charges Owners
Overwork Mem and Force
Wages TO Unjust Levels;
Endorses the Subsidy Bill
Coast Guard Is Praised
Commander Reed Tells Ma
rine Show of Lives and
Property Saved ON Ocean

Declaring that conditions at sea for
officers and men are the worst they
have been for twenty years, Captain
John f, Milliken, secretary-treasurer of
the Neptune Association, told visitors
at the marine show yesterday that
wages have been forced down TO an un-
just level and that officers are worked
all hours of the day and night without
compensation. He added that this sit
nation has resulted in dissatisfaction
among employees which is costing the
steamship lines thousands OF dollars.
Another. speaker at the marine expo.
si,tion was Commander B. l.. Reed, of
the United States Coast Guard, who
cited figures to show the thousands Of
lives and millions Of dollars in prop
erty saved each year by this branch of
the government. Other addresses
scheduled for the afternoon were called
off
As an evidence of the popularity of
the show at the Grand Central Palace
figures were made public yesterday CIV
ing the attendance at more than 10000,
which has been exceeded before only by
the automobile exhibit. Admissions
Friday night established new high
record Tor the bu1ldlng.
Gives Coast Guard Duties
Commander Reed outlined the multi
tude of duties performed by the Coast
Guard. As an indicator of results, he
said that since the organization Of ;he
guard on its present basis in 1915 it
has saved persons numbering 1919,
cared for SIPS persons in distress,
rendered assistance to 22941 and aided
vessels valued, with their cargoes, at
$239, 100000.
"Off1cers are now being forced to do
the work Of ordinary seamen without
extra compensation said Captain Mil
liken in his address. "It is against the
laws of the United States to work an
officer more than nine hours in port
and twelve hours at sea. And yet IN
defiance Of the law men are compelled
to work overtime without pay, and they
are afraid to complain for year that
they will lose their positions. But, while
they doE't complain, there is an ever
growing feeling Of resentment that
augurs i'll for the future success Of our
merchant marine.
Asks Cooperation
operate with the men by making an
agreement and living up to it, While
it Is true that the supply greatly ex
ceeds the demand at the present time
the owners should not take advantage
of it as some of them have done. 1t
is equally true that we get q dollars
worth for a dollar and anyone who
tries to get 81 of value for 30 cents
is bound sooner or later to get stuck
We usually get out of things what we
put into them. We all know that the
steamship owners engaged in the for
eign trades have keen competition and
must be subsidized and more than
that must be protected by law. The
present laws discriminate against the
American steamship owner and must
be changed if he is TO compete sue
cessfuily against the foreigner. But
the coastwise laws of the country pre-
vent any foreign competition and i is
a fact that at the present time the
protected coastwise steamhip compan-
les are paying from $40 to $40 month
less than the ocean ships which we
| hope to subsidize.
There is no reason why these coast
wise companies should not pay an
American wage.
"The Ocean officers have been trying
to cooperate with the companies for
the past Year without success. We
have shown our willingness to help
them get square deal from Congress
by our stand on the pending Ship Sub
sidy bill. We intend to do all we can
to better the industry from which we
derive living But the owners must
have vision enough to know that con-
ditions as they now exist cannot exist
forever.
Some of the oil companies have re-
fused to lower the pay of the men.
The Standard Oh is one of these COM
panies and recently paid 400 per cent
dividend The United Fruit Company
split melon but were not so generous
with their sea-going personnel. The
Shipping Board may have made few
| mistakes but on the whole they have
been much more generous and more
fair than the private companies to the
officers. But we do not believe it Is
fair for the government to be COM
petitor in the shipping business when
they do not compete with private own
ership in any other industry"