Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-17 | Page 1 | Enlisted Service the Only Remedy

ENLISTED SERVICE THE ONLY REMEDY Recommendations Are Made in Annual Report of Quartermaster General Gen-eral Sliarpe. WASHINGTON, Dec. IS. Immediate legislation to bring the crews of transports, trans-ports, mine layers and other army vessels ves-sels Into the military service is urgently recom mended by Quartermaster General tiharpo in his annual report, made public tonight. General Sharpe's report yays the chief difficulty encountered for several years was with the constant chancing of crews as men were drawn away by offers of higher pay In the merchant service, interfering inter-fering with the speed and precision of such Important duties as harbor mining and troop movements. The general's recommendations follow: "It poems absolutely essential: "FlrKt That the crews shall he of the best type of AmaH'-an cMW.ens a.vailable, who are ept-enced in the work. "Second That, the services of such employees em-ployees cannot be terminated at the will of the employees. "Thlrd-That all members of the crew shall ho subject lo military discipline. "No pla n other than .an enlisted ser- i e can possibly be snsrgesied under which crews of vessels of the army transport trans-port service th mine planrers and the harbor boats run Ia controlled, with fixed ra tea oi pay in different grades, and It is urgently recommended that in vie.w of the unusual conditions now Existing that n law be enacted along the lines heretofore proposed for the commissioning, commission-ing, warranting and Listing of the ltrws of i he entire service." The report shows that at a conference between w ar depa r (.merit, shipping board and steamship officials charter rates were tt vert at $12 pr registered eross ton per month for papsener craft taken over and $10 for freight :-hlps.