TRANSPORT SERVICES. -183
certificates of competency, which are granted by the local Government
bo persons qualifying by examination. The lower ratings are supplied
by the serang or driver, who is responsible for their recruitment, and
through whom wages are paid. The companies thus have no direct
dealings with members of the crew. Unlike seamen on ocean-going
ships, the crews are not supplied with rations, the normal practice being
for the serang to provide a joint mess for which a fixed amount is subse-
quently deducted from each man’s monthly wages. Where men who are
comparatively low-paid, such as serangs and drivers, are given full
responsibility for both the engagement and payment of workers, there is
always a danger of abuse, even though there is the safeguard that the
smploying agent comes from the same village as his men, many of whom
may be relations or friends. It was stated in evidence by the Irrawaddy
Flotilla Company in Burma that the indirect system of engagement 1s
unavoidable by reason of the indiscriminate changes among the lascars who
form the crew. Men may leave the vessels overnight, leaving substitutes
in their place and, though a register is kept by the commander to show
the names of all the crew, the names are not always those of the men
actually serving at the time. The Indian Seamen’s Union and the Bengal
Mariners’ Union have been insistent in demanding direct engagement.
Complaints have also been made by these two unions of abuses in recruit-
ment and the lack of security of service. In Burma, the wages of lascars
are Rs. 25-8-0 a month, paid through the serang. In India, it was
alleged by a union that men sometimes get only Rs. 8 or Rs. 10 a
month from the serang who may provide the messing, while statements

furnished to us by a union and by one of the principal companies
show that, generally speaking, for the lowest ratings the minimum pay
is Rs. 20 a month. The hours of work are necessarily irregular, as they
depend on various factors such as tides, fogs, the length of trips and the
time taken to turn the vessel round at the end of the trip. In Burma,

she Irrawaddy Flotilla Company in evidence gave the average hours
worked per day as nine. In India, according to the statement furnished

bo us by the Rivers Steam Navigation Company, Limited, the men work
on an average 7 hours a day and 49 hours a week. We regret that the
evidence which we have obtained is insufficient to justify our reaching
any definite conclusions regarding the conditions of employment in this

industry, which require a more detailed investigation than we were able

to give. We recommend that such an investigation should now be under-

taken by the Governments of Bengal and Burma. Among the questions

to which attention should be directed are the working of the present

system of recruitment and discharge, the possibility of direct employ-

ment and direct payment in the case of lower ratings, wages, hours, con-

ditions on board and the arrangements made by the steamer companies

for members of the crew who have been put ashore owing to sickness while

away from the place of engagement.
Docks.
The important docks of India lie within the ports of Calcutta,
Bombay. Rancoon. Karachi and Madras. The control of these ports