Insuring skill in the handling of lifeboats. Section 12 of the proposed substitute corresponds to sections 14 and 15 of Senate bill 136. I think. if the friends of the proposed substitute will be entirely frank. they will admit that the provisions in section 12 of the proposed substitute requiring that 75 per cent of the crew in each department shall understand the orders of the officer is not so much intended to promote safety at sea as it is to affect wages and to secure the employment of other than Asiatic seamen on the Pacific. As to safety by reason pf knowing the language of the officers. I am not so much impressed with the provisions in Senate bill 136 as I am with the provisions of the proposed sqbstitute.