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EEA Hn IN = SAMA hat the Goverm Rulings on Marine Matters YD GQ? AV, ons Hints to Navigators Improvements to Waterways is eee eee ee => i aul NDER the guise of a plan for l | developing naval auxiliaries, the administration’s shipping bill was introduced in congress a few days ago. The bill is substantially the same as the measure defeated at the last session of congress. The principal exception is found in. the emphasis placed on the naval auxiliary feature. The events of the past year have served to bring the need for these auxiliaries prominently before the public and advocates of the new bill apparently hope to use this ad- vertising to win support. The bill is now in the hands of the merchant marine committee. Hearings will be begun shortly, it is said, and the administration forces hope to have the bill before congress for early consideration. One of the arguments against the bill last’. year, that is the failure to provide definite- ly for the withdrawal of the govern- ment from the shipping business, has been ignored in the revised draft. No government official at Washing- ton will venture to state just where the government will secure the ships provided for by the pill. With «the country’s ship yards flooded with de- mands for merchant tonnage from private investors, and deliveries, in some cases, postponed until the mid- dle of next year, the question of actually securing the boats provided for in the bill, has apparently been disregarded. Text of Revised Ship Bill The full text of the bill, which was introduced by Chairman Alexander, of the merchant marine committee, follows: Following is the full text of the bill introduced in the House by Chairman Alexander, of the Merchant Marine Committee, entitled “A bill to estab- lish a United States Shipping Board for the purpose of encouraging, Gee veloping and creating a naval auxiliary and naval reserve and a merchant marine to meet the requirements of the commerce of the United States with its territories and possessions, and with foreign countries, and for other purposes”: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that a board is hereby created and established, to be known as the United States Shipping Board (hereinafter referred to as. the board) with powers and duties hereinafter enumerated. The board shall be com- posed of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of Commerce, as members ex officio, and three commis- sioners, to be appointed by the Presi- dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; one of such commissioners to be designated by the President as chairman .of the board and one as vice chairman. The chairman of the-board, subject to its supervision, shall be the active exe- cutive officer. The first commission- ers appointed shall continue in office for terms of two, four and six years, respectively, from the date of their appointment, the term of each to be designated by the President, but their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the commissioner whom he shall succeed. _No commissioner shall engage in any other business, voca- tion, or employment, and any com- missioner may be removed by the, President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. A vacancy in the board shall not im- pair the right of the remaining mem- bers to exercise all of the powers of the board. The board shall have an official seal, which shall be judicial- ly noticed. Sec.’ 2.. -That- each. member, of. the board, except ex officio members, shall receive a salary of $10,000 per - annum. The board shall appoint a secretary, who shall receive a salary of $5,000 per annum, and it shall have the authority to employ and fix the compensation of such attorneys, off- cers, naval architects, clerks and other employes as it may from time to time find necessary for the proper performance of its duties and as may from time to time be appropriated for by the Congress. The President may authorize the detail of officers of the military and naval services of the United States for such duties in connection with the board as may be deemed necessary. With the exception of the secretary, a clerk to each commissioner, the attorneys, naval architects and such special experts and examiners as the board may from time to time find necessary to employ for the conduct of its work, all employes of the board shall be a part of the classified civil service and shall enter the serv- ice of the board under such rules and 109 regulations as may be prescribed by the board and the Civil Service Com- mission. All the expenses of the board, in- cluding all necessary expenses for transportation, incurred by the mem- bers of the board or by its employes under its orders, in making any in- vestigation, or upon official business in any other place than in the city of Washington, shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the board. Until otherwise provided by law, the board may rent suitable offices for its ‘use, The -Auditor for. the State and other departments shall receive and examine all accounts of expenditure of the board. $50,000,000 for Ships Sec..3. iThat the . United; States, through the board and with the ap- proval of the President, is authorized to construct in American ship yards and navy yards, as their capacity will permit, or elsewhere, or to purchase or charter vessels of a type, as far as the commercial requirements of the marine trade of the United States may permit, suitable for use as naval auxiliaries and army transports, or for other naval and military purposes, with a view to chartering, leasing, or selling such vessels to, any corpora- tion, firm, or individual, a citizen or citizens of the United States, desir- ing to use them in the transportation of the commerce of the United States with foreign countries, or with Alaska, the Panama Canal Zone, the Philip- pine Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, or the islands of Porto Rico, Guam, and Tutuila, and for this purpose the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the request of the board and the ap- proval of the President, may from time to time issue and sell or use for such purchases, chartering, or con- struction any of the bonds of the United States now available in the Treasury of the United States under the Act of August fifth, nineteen hundred and nine, the Act of Feb- ruary fourth, nineteen hundred and ten, and the Act of March second, nineteen hundred and eleven, relating to the issue of bonds for the con- struction of the Panama Canal, to a total amount not to exceed $50,000,000: Provided,. That any Panama- Canal bonds issued or used under the pro- visions of this section may be made payable at such time after issue not exceeding fifty years as the Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion, may deem advisable and fix, instead