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ee iS eee ty es Sa ee Ne ae ye SL ASS Pe Or OM peer oe an Ble Kate oe FO as aay, f ; : : 2 xy a ; February, 1919 discussed the seamen’s act, and up- held it in its entirety, and after stat- ing wages paid seamen by the various countries prior to its passage, said that foreign shipowners by it have been compelled to equalize wages on ships coming into American ports and moreover have increased wages out of their own ports, Great Britain included. Also he discussed in de- tail other navigation laws not only of this but of leading maritime nations of the world, with the statement that aside from certain provisions of the seamen’s act, our laws are sub- stantially like those of England, Nor- way, Japan’and Germany. It is a fact, he maintained, that our laws are not as strict as some of those of the DEFINITE suggestion to build A the American merchant ma- rine upon a sound basis has been made by the leading ship oper- ators at. the port of New York. Private ownership is the first essen- tial and unless that is conceded by the government the general impression. is that it is useless to go further with suggestions. A program for the sale of the ships built for the Emergency Fleet corporation has been prepared for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States by E. H. Outerbridge to be placed before the officials in Washington. This suggestion has the hearty support of all the leading American shipping ~ authorities >in- cluding P. A. S. Franklin of the In- ternational Mercantile Marine who has been so closely allied with the shipping board during the war emer- gency. Among these shipping men, hope that their suggestion for the sale of the government’s ships will be acted upon, is not based merely upon senti- ment. They have reason to believe that the proposal is in sympathy with the intentions of the shipping board. At the same time that the recom- mendations were drafted and _for- warded to Washington, ship oper- ators in New York received notices from the board informing them that the government is ready to sell the wooden ships built for the Emer- gency Fleet corporation at $200 per ton. As a further inducement to the operators to purchase these ships the board declared that permission would be given to transfer them to any flag the purchasers would seiect. This offer to sell the wooden ships thas not met with a hearty response from the shipping people because they consider an investment thine other maritime nations just named. “It is true that our labor charge may be a little higher,” he declared, “but we have contended heretofore, and I think very reasonably, that the increased efficiency of American labor makes up for the added cost. Does it not seem reasonable that we ought to build ships just as cheaply in this country as they can be built any- where? If that is true, then we eliminate any difference in the cost of construction. “Now, with reference to the mat- ter of operation, if we can equalize the labor cost—and that of itself covers but a small difference in cost —if we do that, ought we not to be on practically an equality with other Y YAY ‘ropose in ships of this class not advisable at this time. The British, it has been learned, are offering to sell to Amer- ican operators steel ships for $110 per ton. The British require that any of their vessels purchased by Amer- ican operators shall be operated under the British flag. While negotiations have not as yet progressed to the point where the Emergency Fleet corporation has been able to dispose of any of its ships, a step in that direction has been taken. The Outerbridge recommendations therefore have a most important bear- ing upon the trend of events. In substance these were as follows: 1.—The Emergency Fleet corpora- tion chall offer for sale’ to American owners, personal or corporate, ships based upon a per ton price corre- sponding to the price at which ships of similar size, class, and description can be purchased or built in standard foreign yards at the time of sale. 2—The government shall receive 25 per cent of the purchase price in cash and shall take a mortgage on the ship for 75 per cent of the sale price at 4%4 per cent interest, the mortgage to run for a period of 15 years, the purchaser to make pay- ments into a sinking fund in such installments as may be agreed upon so as to extinguish the mortgage by the completion of its term. . 3—At the expiration of five years from the date of purchase, but in no case later than Jan. 1, 1925, the pur- chaser shall have the privilege of ‘calling for a reappraisal of the prin- cipal of the mortgage, the remaining unpaid amount to be based upon the ascertained cost at that time of build- ing a similar ship in standard foreign yards less proper deduction for de- preciation in the expired time. THE MARINE REVIEW 55 countries? If, for instance, the cost of operating under the British flag was higher than it was under the American flag, the shipowners of England fhight have operated under some other flag; but her people were patriotic enough to fly the British flag even though it did cost them a little more to operate British ships than they would have paid under some other flag. I THINK we ought to appeal a lit- tle to the pattiotism of our Amer- ican shipowners. Even if the cost of operating is a little bit higher, they ought as a matter of patriotism to keep their ships registered under the American flag.” Ship ‘olicy 4—Any purchaser shall have the privilege of anticipating the maturity dates and of paying off the mortgage in full on any annual interest date, and shall have the right at time of purchase to have the _ reappraisal clause omitted from the contract. 5.—The law of mortgages on ships should be amended to make the mort-_ gage a proper lien so as to furnish sound security. HIP operators. generally are anx- ious to have the business of ocean shipping returned to private hands. They insist that unless this is done the American merchant ma- rine may be placed at the mercy of political favoritism. Grounds for such belief are found in the occasional re- ports of such influence with regard to a few contracts let by the Emer- gency Fleet corporation, or in the allocation of ships to American ship lines and shipping companies. Shipping men have instances to cite where all the ships of one American line have been commandeered and are now retained in the war service. Another operator may have had but one vessel commandeered, but more tonnage has been allocated to the one-ship man than to the big line. . ’ Yet another case spoken of is that ot a ship owned by a subsidiary cor- poration of an important exporting company. This ship was ‘com- mandeered and allocated to another ship operator. John H. Rosseter, in charge of the division of operations for the shipping board, has materially improved conditions and American ship operators are inclined to believe that allocations will in the future be made with more equity. E. F. Luckenbach, head of the insists that the Luckenbach line,