Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-05-01 | Page 15 | Draft Producing a Shortage of Sailors

JITPRODW OSTSGEjF SAILORS Owners, Officials and Shipping Ship-ping Board Hold Joint Conference. WASHINGTON. April 30. Spokesmen of organized seamen predicted a great shortage of sailors for the growing American Ameri-can merchant marine at a joint conference confer-ence today of the shipping board, shipowners ship-owners and union officials. The board was told that the army draft was taking seamen and that "intolerable' conditions aboard American vessels checked the recruiting re-cruiting of new men. The. result of the meeting was the uanimous adoption of a resolution authorizing author-izing the appointment of a committee of five to investigate the situation and to present a reqquest to President Wilson for such remedial action as may be necessary. nec-essary. Exact information will be sought as to the war department's draft rulings and the regulations governing the treatment treat-ment of men aboard ship, and consideration considera-tion will be given proposals for registering I seamen and seeking the release of those already drafted. Appointment of the committee was left to Robert P. Bass, former governor of New Hampshire, who is serving the shipping ship-ping board as a labor expert. Smouldering Smoulder-ing bitterness, arising from the dealings of union leaders with draft boards cropped out frequently during tiie conference and led to clashes between Victor Olander of the .Lake Seamen's union. Andrew Furu-seth, Furu-seth, president of the International teamen's tea-men's union, and Captain Francis H. Robinson, representing the army transport irice. After one of these clashes, Mr. 7Tander said: r ''It should be understood that we are not pleading for exemption for the sake v of the sailor. We ask what we ask only 1 ' .x tor the benefit of the country. This is national problem of great seriousness Sj we approach it only in that spirit." ' Aenry A. Griffin of New York, president presi-dent of the Marine Cooks and Stewards' association, said the war department Tiad not lived up to its agreement with merchant mer-chant sailors sailing on transports through the war zone. Other speakers said tiiere had been an understanding with the quar-termast quar-termast er general o t that time. Major General Sharpc. that commercial conditions condi-tions should prevail as to the feeding of the seamen, but tiiat instead they had not been given food of that quality. There was complaint also tiiat "red tape" had delayed (lie payment cf the $100 indemnity , promised to sailors of torpedoed vessels to compensate for the loss of their effects. ef-fects. "The men are afraid to go aboard -quartermaster corps transports," asserted W. L. Cartlcdge of New York, representing the union of marine cooks. "The treatment treat-ment is awful men jailed, their pay taken up in fines, ordered around by dry goods clerks."