Since 1894 the reports of the Bureau have contained detailed returns from United States shipping commissioners, showing the monthly wages paid at our principal ports to the various ratings of seamen on American steam and sail vessels of various sizes engaged in trades to various parts of the world, as to Europe, Asia, South America, etc. Similar tables, issued by the British Board of Trade annually, have also been republished in this report. The returns for the past year may be found in Appendix C. Occasional returns as to the wages of seamen on vessels of other nationalities have been published from time to time.

The relative difference in the wages paid on vessels of various nationalities is more intelligibly illustrated, however, by taking the concrete cases of vessels of approximately the same size, speed, and description, and comparing their pay rolls. For this purpose an American, a British, German, Dutch, and Norwegian steamship, each of about 2,500 gross tons and about 10 to 11 knots speed, have been taken. The following details of the vessels chosen will show that they are as nearly alike in necessary general features as is practicable when five flags are to be compared:

British S. S.
Critic
(2,601 gross).

No. Wages. No.

Whether

The crew of the American steamship do not work cargo. the other crews are required to do so has not been ascertained. The steward, cook, and mess-room boy of the American ship provide also for passengers, and for this reason are above the average men on the other vessels, and accordingly receive higher pay than if passengers were never carried. The pay rolls of the vessels are as follows:

Comparison of officers' and seamen's wages.

American

S. S. Cherokee
(2,557 gross).

Wages. No.

The total sum stated as annual wages in each instance will be in excess of the actual amount, as at the completion of the round voyage the crew are usually paid off and discharged until the vessel begins the next voyage. While annual repairs are making the crew is also laid off. These matters will ordinarily reduce the total year's wages stated by about 15 per cent in each instance, so that the average annual wages per gross ton on the American vessel considered would be $5.52, compared with $3.40 for the British vessel, or $2.12 per gross ton per annum. A vessel of the description just considered will navigate between 35,000 and 40,000 miles a year, for which at the rate of 1 cent per 100 miles, the compensation would amount to from $3.50 to $4. A difference in initial cost of $12 per gross ton, with this difference in wages, would exceed the larger of those sums.

The four foreign vessels were all built in England, and in the minds of some these figures of difference in wages will doubtless raise the question: If this difference is an important factor, how does Great Britain retain her maritime rank? Through this very factor and others Great Britain is not developing her steam shipping as rapidly as others and is therefore relatively losing rank. During the past twenty-five years the steam tonnage of Great Britain has increased only 311 per cent, as was shown in earlier pages, while Norway's steam tonnage increased 1,410 per cent, Germany's 693 per cent, and Holland's 399 per cent. Indeed the pay rolls reproduced, except of the Cherokee and the Sonnenburg, were taken from evidence in the British Board of Trade report to illustrate the growth of the shipping of other nations at the expense of Great Britain's. It is by virtue of the facts shown in the table that Norway and Germany find a free-ship policy practicable, and that that policy would disappoint many of its advocates if adopted in the United States.

The assertion is sometimes made that the rates of wages paid on American vessels according to shipping articles do not stand for the actual wages paid owing to abuses practiced under the allotment system. There may have been force in this assertion a few years ago, but it is no longer valid. Under the British law, a seaman receives in advance one month's wages, which he is at liberty to spend as he chooses, the money, it is alleged, going to pay debts. Under the law which went into effect last February the American seaman, while not receiving money in advance, may sign a note for an amount fixed by regulation, the maximum for voyages around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope being one month's wages, and for shorter voyages a proportionately less amount. In voyages to near-by foreign ports any allotment is prohibited. If allowance is to be made for these advances or allotments, the American seaman under the new law is paid at the end of the voyage a larger share of the wages for which he signs than is the British seaman. In fact, instances have come to the notice of this office where British seamen have signed away all their wages but a shilling or two a month, an abuse which is impossible under the regulations governing American seamen.

A report of the British consul at San Francisco in 1898 to the Board of Trade states:

* *

*

Wages in Great Britain range from £2 158. to £3 per month, while from this port they usually average £4 per month for deep-water vessels. In the coasting trade wages run from $25 to $50 per month, and this difference offers a great inducement to men to leave their [British] vessels. The minor causes of desertion are the inferior way in which food is prepared on most British ships and the attractions of a large city like San Francisco. The food supplied to both British and American vessels is said to be very similar in character, but the cooking on board the latter is alleged to be far superior to that found on our ships. The men are also provided with fresh bread daily, and much prefer it to the old fare of hard biscuits.

PROVISIONS AND ACCOMMODATIONS.

The scale of living for seamen on American vessels is as much higher than that of seamen on foreign vessels as are the conditions of our laboring men generally superior to those abroad. The scale of living, both as to accommodation and food, has within the past four years been greatly raised by Congress. This legislation has involved appreciable expense to American shipowners, but, save in rare instances, there has been no complaint from them. By the acts of 1895 and 1897, American vessels are required to provide 72 cubic feet space for the quarters of each seaman, and in the case of sail vessels built after June 30, 1898, the space must be 100 cubic feet. The British law fixes the space at 72 cubic feet, and less space is allowed for Lascars, who constitute a considerable portion of the crews of British steamships in the Asiatic trade.

By the act of December 21, 1898, which went into effect last February, a minimum scale of provisions for seamen on American merchant vessels was fixed by law. That scale is as follows:

One pound of flour daily may be substituted for the daily ration of biscuit or fresh bread: 2 ounces of desiccated vegetables for 1 pound of potatoes or yams; 6 ounces of hominy, oatmeal, or cracked wheat, or 2 ounces of tapioca for 6 ounces of rice; 6 ounces of canned vegetables for one-half pound of canned tomatoes; one-eighth of an ounce of tea for three-fourths of an ounce of coffee; three-fourths of an ounce of coffee for one eighth of an ounce of tea; 6 ounces of canned fruit for 3 ounces of dried fruit; one-half ounce of lime juice for the daily ration of vinegar; 4 ounces of oatmeal or cracked wheat for one-half pint of corn meal; 2 ounces of pickled onions for 4 ounces of fresh onions.

When the vessel is in port and it is possible to obtain the same, 1 pounds of fresh meat shall be substituted for the daily rations of salt and canned meat; one-half pound of green cabbage for one ration of canned tomatoes; one-half pound of fresh fruit for one ration of dried fruit. Fresh fruit and vegetables shall be served while in port if obtainable. The seamen shall have the option of accepting the fare the master may provide, but the right at any time to demand the foregoing scale of provisions.

The foregoing scale of provisions shall be inserted in every article of agreement, and shall not be reduced by any contract, except as above, and a copy of the same shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the galley and in the forecastle of each vessel.

There is no statutory scale of provisions for the crews of British merchant ships, the matter being regulated by agreement, which virtually enables the master or owner to establish it. The scale fixed by the British Shipping Federation, an association of owners, in 1892 regulates provisions on some British vessels. It is as follows:

Without entering into details, it will be noticed that in quantity the American scale is in many articles from one-half to three-fourths greater than the British, while it offers much greater variety. But even the federation scale is not obligatory. On many British vessels the old scale of 1854 is still employed, which is as follows:

Coal and provisions, of course, are purchased both in foreign and domestic ports, and the assumption in some quarters that the flag does not affect these items is natural. It is true as to coal, but Congress has elected to impose expenses for provisions of crews on American vessels greater than are borne by foreign shipowners. It is estimated in Great Britain that the provisions of the optional federation scale, as actually served on board, cost about $9.50 per man per month, or 30 cents a day. The statutory American scale evidently must cost fully one-third more when served on board. At wholesale prices on shore the articles cost about 22 cents.

SAIL VESSELS.

Of necessity the references to Great Britain's predominance as a shipbuilding nation have been frequent in this report. The construction of sail vessels in that country, however, has virtually ceased. Only

one large vessel, the Iverclyde, of 1,634 gross tons, has been built there in more than a year, and the entire sail tonnage built during 1898, namely, 3,867 tons, is not much greater than one ship, the Arthur Sewall, 3,209 gross tons, built at Bath this year. Our registered sailing tonnage on June 30 was 469,948 gross tons, an increase of 26,000 tons during the year. Comparison between the cost of building sail vessels in the United States and Great Britain at this time is not practicable, because the industry is extinct in the latter country. Of that construction generally Lloyds' return for 1898 remarks:

In France the construction of large sailing vessels, almost abandoned elsewhere, has continued to flourish under the influence of the bounties granted by the State. Twelve such vessels of 2,000 tons and upward have been launched during the year.

While the French law, giving a larger bounty to sailing than steam vessels, appears to be counter to the laws of maritime development, there is impartial evidence in support of the recognition of sailing vessels by the Government in any project for the promotion of the marine. Thus the report of the British commercial attaché at Berlin last January states:

The large falling off in the sailing tonnage of the German mercantile marine is considered to be unsatisfactory from the point of view of training crews for sea service, and it is partly on account of this consideration that the Government now do a great deal to develop the fishing fleets of the Baltic and North Sea.

The part which the sail vessel plays in the education of the navies of the world is generally conceded. At Annapolis and at foreign naval schools seamanship is acquired through a practical knowledge of such vessels. The great majority of the officers of merchant steamships and the deck departments of their crews have had similar training. The number of sailors, as distinguished from engineers, firemen, etc., is decreasing, but the responsibility, especially in case of accident, is enhanced. Even on sail vessels the use of machinery for making sail and other purposes is decreasing the number of able seamen. There are special reasons therefore, for considering sail vessels in any general programme for the merchant marine.

Even the commercial opportunities for the sailing vessel, through becoming restricted every year, are still considerable, and should not be ignored. In the development of the islands of the Pacific, in the transportation of coal to the West Indies, and in the sugar trade between Hawaii and the Atlantic coast of the United States there will for many years continue to be opportunities for fore-and-aft and square-rigged vessels.

The scheme of the bill under consideration is to allow sail vessels in foreign trade 12 cents per gross tons for each 100 miles for the first 1,500 miles and 1 cent for each 100 miles thereafter. It is not proposed or expected that this rate will reverse the commercial law which has decreed the decline of sail vessels. In so far as national navigation fills public purposes, sail vessels have a distinctive claim to the regard of Government. Our laws require the officers of merchant vessels to be citizens. Officers are best trained on sail vessels, and the requirement of law thus affirms the propriety of some sufficient provision for the sail vessel.

The relative difference in wages on American and British sail vessels is much less than on steamships. There is no actual difference in cost of construction, as the British have virtually abandoned the industry. The rate of compensation proposed is thus even more favorable to the sail vessel than to the steamship. The American sail vessel, however,