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Last Shred of Dignity Is Lost Public Confidence In Shipping Board Shattered MPHASIZING technicalities of the mer- chant marine act, the shipping board has set itself up in defiance of the President in his efforts to frame a policy for the mer- chant fleet. In taking this action so much strife has been stirred up within the last month that to all appearances the way. is now paved for a most radical change which may mean. the wip- ing out of the board altogether. Henry G. Dalton, of the firm of Pickands, Mather & Co., Cleveland, who has been named by President Coolidge as his personal represen- tative in a survey that will result in practical recommendations for a solution of the govern- ment shipping tangle has been proceeding with his task. In this he has had the cooperation of Chairman T. V. O’Connor, who did not vote on the resolution to oust Admiral Leigh C. Palmer -from his post as president of the Emergency Fleet Corp. Mr. Dalton will make no statement of his procedure until his investigation is com- pleted and is in the hands of President Coolidge. It would be no surprise, however, if his recom- mendations suggested a decided course in urging congress to make broad changes in the present management of the fleet. The desire of President Coolidge to hold the shipping board’s budget estimate down, possibly as low as $15,000,000 for the next fiscal year, and Admiral Palmer’s zeal in acting upon sug- gestions of the President, aroused the ire of the majority in the board. The board has asked for a budget estimate of $22,000,000. Admiral Palmer succeeded in bringing about economies which resulted in cutting down appropriations from the annual figure of $50,000,000 to below $30,000,000. This was done by paring high sal- aries and reducing the number of ships in op- eration. Coolidge Wants To Stop Waste Unfortunately the shipping board is so con- stituted that President Coolidge has had to pur- sue a rather round-about course in attempting to achieve economy and one-man efficiency in execu- tive direction of shipping policies. Under the regional divisions provided in the merchant ma- rine act, the shipping board must have represen- tation from the South, Pacific coast and other 427 will be acceptable. sections, and shipping board members in the past have sought to obtain extra ships for routes from ports in which they were interested. Resignation of Commissioner Frederick I. Thompson of Alabama was in protest to the prob- ability that changes may be made in the ship- ping law looking to the abolishment of this re- gional representation. Commissioner Bert E. Haney’s conflict with the President in regard to opposition to Palmer was based on the adminis- tration of western routes by Palmer. Incidentally, a number of sections of the coun- try feel that no one-man direction of the board This is true of the South, and it is true in Oregon, which is supporting Haney. Cincinnati’s chamber of commerce re- cently adopted a resolution calling upon its rep- resentatives and senators in congress “‘not to per- mit the shipping board to be divested of its au- thority.” Get Out of the Shipping Business While some officials listen with sympathetic ears to the demands of the West and South for shipping, the tendency is to disapprove of the whole idea of the government being in the ship- ping business. This sentiment is growing. No reason is seen for a useless drain on the treasury to supply certain ports with services that are not justified. On the other hand, the President has his supporters for a one-man management of the board for the sake of efficiency. In fact, the conviction strongly obtains that eventually the board must recognize that the President has a right to be consulted as to the handling of such a vast amount of government property as lies in the hands of the board. It is believed strongly that the situation with regard to the operation of the government ships will not be stabilized until that principle has been firmly established. Due to the muddled state of affairs, a deluge of resignations has occurred. Resignation of . Sidney Henry as trustee of the Emergency Fleet Corp. has been accepted, and George K. Nichols was elected to succeed Henry. The new head of the Fleet corporation, Elmer E. Crowley, Massachusetts shipping man, and who has held previous posts under the shipping board, has ap- pointed Mr. Nichols as assistant to the president.