Mr. BALLANTYNE:
From eighteen to twenty.
Mr. DECHENE:
Are all of these men receiving bonus?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
The bonus is given only to those who are not getting the prevailing rate of wages, but we are readjusting matters now and shall pay them all a certain wage which will be equal to their former scale of wages together with bonus.
Mr. DECHENE:
During the winter are these men laid off completely?
Mt. BALLANTYNE:
They are laid off
during the winter months.
Mr. DECHENE:
They do not get any salary?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
No.
Mr. CAHILL:
Are all these dredges on the St. Lawrence?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
On the St. Lawrence only.
Mr. J. H. SINCLAIR:
What do the men do in the winter season?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
They are laid up at Sorel?
Mr. CAHILL:
Are they not on the payroll in winter at all?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
No.
Mr. DECHENE:
Why do you make a difference between men engaged on dredges and those who work on steamers. The men on the steamers are paid half wages in winter, and I do not see why the men on the dredges should not be treated in the same way.
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
I am sorry to have conveyed the impression that the entire
crew of the steamers were given half-pay [DOT]during winter. Only the officers and the chief engineer receives half-pay. The rest of the crew do not draw any pay.
Mr. DECHENE:
Is that the same on the dredges?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
No. The officers and engineers on the dredges do not get anything in winter.
Mr. DECHENE:
Why the difference?
Mr. BALLANTYNE:
Because the officers on the dredges are entirely in a different category from the officers on the steamers. The captain on the dredge does his work quite well, but he does not need to know as much about navigation as the captain of a ship.
Mr. DECHENE:
Some of the government steamers do not go very far from shore, and it does not need any great knowledge of navigation to man them. Two ships stationed at Quarantine do not go very far from shore. They sail between Quebec and Quarantine, some thirty miles, and the dredges have a good deal of hard work to do. The engineers on the dredges have to keep their engines in good order, and they do probably more work than those on some of the steamers. I do not see therefore why there should be such a distinction between men who are doing practically the same kind of work.