Nearly all of the new and most of the improved ocean steamers have a spar deck, which is above the main deck.  The main deck was in the old style of steamers the only uppermost deck.  The spar deck is a comparatively new feature of the large and costly steamships, and is now practically the uppermost deck.  Below this spar deck is the main deck.  Because of the misuse of the words “uppermost deck” instead of the use of the words “main deck” by this act, the result will be to exclude nearly all of the large steamships from carrying passengers anywhere but on the main deck and on the deck below, which is the steerage deck, and to leave the orlop, or lower deck, heretofore used for passengers, useless and unoccupied by passengers.  This objection, which is now presented in connection with others that will be presently explained, will, if this act is enforced as it is now phrased, render useless for passenger traffic and expose to heavy loss all of the great ocean steam lines; and it will also hinder emigration, as there will not be ships enough that could accept these conditions to carry all who may now wish to come.

The use of the new and the hitherto unknown term “uppermost deck” creates this difficulty, and I can not consent to have an abuse of terms like this to operate thus injuriously to these large fleets of ships.  The passengers will not be benefited by such a statute, but emigration will be hindered, if not for a while almost prevented for many.

Again, the act in the first section, from line 31 to line 35, inclusive, provides:  “And such passengers shall not be carried or brought in any between-decks, nor in any compartment,” etc., “the clear height of which is less than 7 feet.”  Between the decks of all ships are the beams; they are about a foot in width.  The legal method of ascertaining tonnage for the purpose of taxation is to measure between the beams from the floor to the ceiling.  If this becomes a law the space required would be 8 feet from floor to ceiling, and this is impracticable, for in all ships the spaces between decks are adjusted in proportion to the dimensions of the ship; and if these spaces between decks are changed so as not to correspond in their proportions with the dimensions of the vessel, the ship will not work well in the sea, her sailing qualities will be injured, and she will be rendered unfit for service.

It is only in great ships of vast tonnage that the height between decks can be increased.  All the ordinary-sized ships are necessarily constructed with 7 feet space in the interval between the beams from the floor to the ceiling.  To adopt this act, with this provision, would be to drive out of the service of transporting passengers most all of the steamships now in such trade, and no practical good obtained by it, for really, with the exception of the narrow beam, the space between the decks is now 7 feet.  The purpose of the space commanded by the act is to obtain sufficient air and ventilation, and that is actually now given to the passenger by the 7 feet that exists in all of these vessels between floor and ceiling.