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CHAPTER XI, 
becessary. With regard to the payment of wages on discharge, the 
Indian Merchant Shipping Act provides a maximum period of five days 
after discharge or three days after the cargo has been delivered, which- 
ever first happens. We have been informed that seamen sometimes 
leave for their villages before the expiry of this period and, in consequence, 
the final payment is much delayed. The possibility of reducing this 
period should be considered by Government. Stress was laid by the 
union on the importance of signing on taking place in the Shipping 
Office. We recommend that this matter also should be examined. 
Seamen’s Welfare. 
Finally, it is necessary to draw attention to the absence in ports 
of welfare organisations which cater for the needs of Indian seamen. We 
are glad to learn that in Bombay the foundation stone was recently laid 
of a sailors’ home in memory of the Indian seamen who lost their lives 
in the war. The need for such institutions is great, and we hope that the 
example of Bombay will be followed by the other major ports of India. 
We recommend that the matter should receive consideration and we 
trust that it will be accorded the generous support of employers and the 
public. 
Inland Steam Navigation. 
The important provinces for inland steamer traffic are Bengal, 
Assam and Burma. Elsewhere the development of railways has greatly 
reduced the volume of this traffic, and the only other province with steamer 
services of any importance is Bihar and Orissa, Inland steam navigation 
is now confined mainly to the Brahmaputra, the lower reaches of the 
Ganges, the Irrawaddy and some of their tributaries and connected creeks 
and canals. Almost the entire steamer traffic of Bengal and Assam 
is in the hands of two important steamer companies, namely, the India 
General Navigation and Railway Company, Limited, and the Rivers 
Steam Navigation Company, Limited. Tt is estimated that the crews 
engaged by these two Companies exceed 16,000 in number. In Burma 
the bulk of the organised steamer traffic is in the hands of the Irrawaddy 
Flotilla Company, which employs crews numbering about 4,500 and in 
addition some 3,500 workers in its dockyard at Dalla. The higher as 
well as the lower ratings of the inland steam vessels come from the same 
area as seamen, namely, the Noakhali and Chittagong districts of Eastern 
Bengal and the Sylhet district of Assam ; the majority, who come from 
the vicinity of Chittagong, have shown through generations keenness and 
aptitude for this kind of work. 
Conditions of Employment. 
The leading ratings employed on inland vessels are serangs and 
drivers in charge of the deck crews and the engine room respectively. 
As a rule they are engaged directly by the steamer companies and are 
responsible for the navigation of the steamers on which they are employed, 
but on the larger vessels in Burma they work under the commander 
and the engineer by whom they are engaged. In accordance with the 
provisions of the Inland Vessels Act these men are required to obtain