The Sentinel=record., 1914-08-15
WANT WAR RISK ASSUMED
By the Government During the Pres ent European War-Business Ken. resentatVes to Advise With Con. gress in the Matter,

insurance against war risks of Amer lcan register ships and their cargoes was the solution offered today by 62 representative business men for the stoppage of American over-sea com merce because of the European war. The proposal was made in definite form alter an all-day conference pre- sided over by Secretary of the treasury McAdoo, who called the meeting. Virtually ali the largest banking and shipping interests in the United States were represented.
 The conference appointed a com mittee of twelve headed by Seth Low, president of the National Civic Fed eratlon, to remain in Washington anG advise with the governmental depart ments and committees of congress curing the framing of legislation be- leVed necessary to relieve condi- tlons produced by the war abroad.
 The committee tonight began drafting a bill to be presented 10 Reagress immediately and pressed for passage with view to having a government insurance bureau in op. eration as soon as possible after the pending measure modifying restric- tons on American registration oe foreign built ships goes into effect.
 In addition to Secretary McAdoo. those who participated in the confer ence included Secretaries Houston and Redfield, all the members of the federal reserve board Senator Owen and Representative Glass, chairman of the senate and house banking committees, and Representative Al. amson, chairman of the house inter- state and foreign commerce com. mittee
 To insure freedom of discussion the conference was held behind closed doors, but resolutions adopted and some of the proceedings of the conference were made public in a statement tonight by Secretary Me Adoo. The statement declares lt tJ lave been the concensus of opinicn that with "enlarged registry of American ships and action by tho government suppiementing what private companies might do in con nection with insurance, the question of exports of grain and cotton and of foreign exchange would rapidly solve themselves"
 J. F. Morgan, James J. Hill and other tinanciers declared no ships owuld pass under the American flag with the passage of the proposed registry law unless their owners were assured of insurance under the Stars and Stripes. The result would be foreign monopoiy of sea trans portation, they predicted. and the fixing abroad of the price at which American meat and cotton would Le sold.
 The conference resolution on this point, which is the pivot of the relief plan offered. reads:
 Resolved, that this conference urge the United States government to establish a bureau of war risk in surance, to be administered under direction of a suitable government department which shall assume the risk of war on American vessels and American cargoes shipped or to be shipped thereon whenever it shall appear that American vesseis of shippers on American vessels are un- able to compete on equal terms with vessels or shippers of other nation alities by reason of the protection of fered such other carriers or shippers by arrangements for war indemnity though their governments"
 Early discussion showed opinion to be unanimous that problems to re faced divided themselves naturally y
 into three heads
 Restoration of a market for for eign exchange bills; the immediate acquisition of means of transporta | ton for American wheat and cottor to European markets and the wal | risk insurance.
 l A committee on war risk insurance appointed by the conference begaI
 work tonight on the preparation of | 1 measure to present to committees