and that most of the conditions which the Seamen's Union desires to have required by legislation are already equaled or excelled by the conditions on these vessels. The men are employed under written contract, which is read over to them when they sign it, and coastwise vessels find little difficulty in securing help. The sailors are engaged by the month, but may leave at any port immediately after the ship lands. The shipping articles contain a provision to protect the sailors against unfair results from too strict enforcement of contract on the part of the employer. These witnesses also assert that sailors have ample remedy in the courts for any violation of contract or abuses.

The wages of common sailors in the coastwise trade are stated by these officers to be usually $25, those of firemen $40, and of coal passers $30. The representative of the Seamen's Union also says that wages are about $25 for seamen as compared with $20 in England. Under the law of the United States, only American citizens may be employed as officers, but it is stated that the lower grades of employees on vessels are usually foreigners, especially Scandinavians, and that the sea life has less attractions for Americans than formerly.

One witness suggests the desirability of amending the laws of the United States as regards larceny committed on vessels.1

The representatives of these coastwise lines state that the work of loading and unloading the vessels is done wholly by stevedores and not by men employed on the vessel. In the South most of the stevedores are negroes. Wages in Norfolk and other more Southern ports are about 15 cents per hour, and in Boston and most Northern ports 20 cents per hour, although in New York the Old Dominion Company pays 25 cents per hour.

2

Labor on vessels on the Great Lakes.—Mr. Penje, the secretary of the Lake Seamen's Union, asserts that the members of that organization, about 3,000 in number, are chiefly employed on schooners, the organization having little control over the employees on steamers on the Great Lakes. On the schooners the members are mostly all officers and skilled seamen. According to this witness most of the work on these vessels, and even on steamers, is done by deck hands, who are far from being skilled laborers, and who are more and more replacing the old skilled seamen. The conditions of labor on the lakes are so bad that competent men have sought other occupations. The deck hands are largely men who can find no other employment, and who remain on the vessels only as long as they are forced to, often quitting at the first port they touch. This witness asserts, further, that the wages of seamen under this competition of deck hands have declined. Ten years ago they sometimes reached $4.50 per day toward the end of the navigation season, but in 1900 they began at $1.50 and ended at $2.75 per day, the average income for the season being about only $300. The wages of deck hands have increased from about $15 to $20 per month. The hours of labor are stated to be excessive, both for seamen and deck hands. It is said that men often have to work 24 hours at miscellaneous labor and afterwards 6 hours at the wheel.

Mr. Penje complains, further, that the quarters of sailors and deck hands are too crowded, especially on the older vessels, and that in practically all cases they are so dirty and ill kept as to be entirely unfit for human occupation. The food is also said to be very poor. The contracts call ordinarily for a cost of 7 cents per meal, and the supply is insufficient if the vessel is detained beyond schedule time. This witness also asserts that both sailing and steam vessels on the lakes are very generally insufficiently manned, and that smaller vessels are recklessly overloaded, these practices resulting in great danger to employees and to passengers when they are carried. Longshore work on the Great Lakes.3-The conditions of labor on the docks of the

1 Hayne, pp. 414, 415, 421; see also his supplementary statement, p. 824.

2 Penje, pp. 400-402.

3 Barter, pp. 306-317.

Great Lakes seem to be very much more satisfactory than those on vessels. Mr. Barter, the secretary of the International Longshoremen's Association, which has its strength chiefly along the Great Lakes, declares that there has been a very great improvement in the condition of longshoremen there during the past few years, and attributes it almost wholly to the development of that organization. The association has about 20,000 or 25,000 members on the lakes, while there probably are not more than about 1,500 nonunion men engaged in longshore work. This witness thinks that wages have risen 50 per cent since the organization was formed-in 1892. It has won the respect of the dock managers, and is more and more replacing the old system of contract work in loading and unloading vessels by a system under which the local unions undertake to do the work cooperatively. Under the old system the boss stevedore or contractor was often a saloon keeper, who expected the men to spend much of their wages on liquor. Wages were extremely low, and there were many serious abuses. At present the International Longshoremen's Association has an annual agreement with the managers of the ore and coal docks on Lake Erie, providing for uniform rates of wages and conditions of labor for the loading and unloading of vessels directly by the union. This agreement also provides for the arbitration of disputes.

The wages of longshoremen are stated to range from 30 to 60 cents per hour, the work of course being confined chiefly though not wholly to the navigation season. Under the agreements with dock managers the hours of labor are usually limited to 12. The secretary of the Longshoremen's Association maintains that the character of the men has greatly improved under the influence of the organization. Formerly there was a great deal of drunkenness, and physical contests between gangs under different boss stevedores were frequent. The union now has strict rules against the use of intoxicants during work, and the men enforce these rules vigorously; while the recognition of the union and its scale of wages has done away with the broils which formerly occurred.

MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE.

A considerable amount of evidence regarding other than transportation matters is submitted by various witnesses in this volume. For a summary of their evidence regarding most of these minor topics, reference should be made to the digest, pages CCLXXIX-CCLXXXVII. A few of the more important subjects may be briefly discussed

here.

Capitalization and promotion of corporations.-Mr. Greene, of the Audit Company of New York; Mr. Rice, a promoter of corporations, and one or two other witnesses discuss this subject somewhat fully. Mr. Greene asserts that earning power is in general a proper basis for capitalization, and that there is a "good will" in connection with every prosperous business which makes it worth more than the mere tangible value of the plant and property. Tangible value may properly be represented by bonds or preferred stock, and the remaining certain or possible earning capacity by common stock. At the same time this witness thinks that it is a mistake for a corporation, because of unusually high earning capacity, to water its stock. It would be more desirable that it should simply increase dividends. Mr. Rice thinks that the amount of capitalization of a corporation, so long as it is in stocks, is unimportant, since the market will discover its real value. Overcapitalization in bonds, however, leads to bankruptcies.

These witnesses also discuss the subject of publicity in regard to the organization and promotion of corporations. They think that some legal regulation would be perhaps desirable, but assert that business men themselves are taking more and more pains to protect themselves in their investments in corporations. These witnesses

1 Greene, pp. 476, 482-491; Rice, pp. 732-735, 740; Woodlock, pp. 466.

scarcely think it necessary that the reports of corporations at their inauguration should show separately the costs of promotion, which must necessarily vary greatly according to the conditions.

Mr. Rice refers especially to the exploitation of patents, with which he has been intimately connected. He says the capitalization of a company based on an undeveloped patent must necessarily be fixed solely on the basis of the anticipated profits. The preferred stock should be issued to obtain cash for actual development, and the common stock should represent the estimated value of the patent as such. The witness thinks that the granting of patent monopolies is a great benefit to the public. He alludes especially to the experiences of the Consolidated Rubber Tire Company regarding patents.

Publicity of corporations and protection of stockholders.-The witnesses1 just referred to discuss also the desirability of requiring greater publicity of the affairs of large corporations generally. They are all inclined to agree that some added legal requirements as regards publicity, both at the time of the establishment of corporations and from year to year thereafter, would be desirable, although they do not favor making public too much information, especially regarding corporations engaged in competitive business. Mr. Greene, in particular, thinks that in many cases the best way to protect the public would be by requiring the examination of corporations by expert auditors, who should make only the general results of their examinations public. This witness also discusses in some detail the precise nature of the information which might properly be set forth in public reports.

Mr. Greene and Mr. Woodlock (of the Wall Street Journal) likewise discuss the rights of stockholders in corporations. They assert that in general the rights of stockholders, even those of minority stockholders, are relatively well protected by existing laws and court decisions. They see no reason why a bona fide stockholder should not at all times be permitted to see lists of all the stockholders; but they assert that stockholders should not have the right to demand access to all of the financial accounts of corporations, because this would give competitors and enemies of corporations the opportunity, by buying and becoming holders of a small amount of stock, to get information regarding their affairs.

Export prices.-Mr. Greene and Mr. Howes (of the Boston Chamber of Commerce) think that the practice of American manufacturers in selling goods abroad at lower prices than at home, in order to get rid of a surplus, is entirely justifiable, and that the same practice is followed by manufacturers in all countries.3

Reciprocity with Canada.-Mr. Howes presents a somewhat extended argument in favor of a reciprocity treaty with Canada. He declares that Canada is even now the very best customer for the products of the United States, and that the two countries are naturally almost an economic unit. He maintains, however, that because of the existence of tariff barriers against the sending of Canadian goods into the United States, Canada not only retaliates with other protective duties, but is in general disposed to carry on trade with England and other countries as much as possible in preference to the United States, and that a greatly increased trade with this country would result from a reciprocal reduction of duties. Mr. Howes thinks that free entrance of coal from Nova Scotia and British Columbia would be of great benefit to New England and the Pacific coast States, while our Middle States could export large amounts of coal to Canada. The lumber interests are those which are the most strongly opposed to letting down the tariff barriers, but this witness thinks that it would be a great advantage to New England especially if she could get free lumber from Canada.

Grain elevators and inspection. The subject of grain elevators and the alleged

1 Greene, pp. 492, 479–492; Woodlock, p. 466; Rice, p. 736. 3 Greene, pp. 484, 487, 494; Howes, p. 716. 2 Greene, pp. 477, 478; Woodlock, pp. 466, 467. Pages 713-718.

monopoly in some of the Western States was discussed with considerable fullness in the first report of this commission on transportation. (See Vol. IV, pp. 77-88 of Digest.)

In the present volume Mr. Teisberg, of the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commission, enters somewhat into the subject. He does not think that there is anything in the nature of a combination of elevators in Minnesota, or an agreement to fix the prices of grain. He says that by virtue of the law of that State, giving any person the right to take land on a railroad right-of-way by condemnation for the purpose of building an elevator, many independent elevators have been established, and that moreover farmers can often load their grain directly into the cars. This witness also discusses the system of grain inspection under the Minnesota law, as well as the practice of mixing different grades of grain.'

1 Pages 367-371, 372.