The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-06-11
Entered as second class mail mat
ter 1t the Postofiice Of Morgan City,
L..
sHIPBUILDING NEWS
REMAINS UNCHANGED

There have been no new develop
ments the past day or SO in the
shipbuilding line, so far as Morgan
City and Berwick are concerned.
Representatives however, are
here pending advices, and are OPTIC
mistic in their belief, that results
will be favorable, for both Morgan
City and Berwick, when final de-
kisions are made as to contract.
Press advices the past two days
however, from Washington have
:.een quite interesting. It is probable
that Congressional inv stigatioff Of
&he whole shipbuilding middle aris-
ing out of the controversy be-
tween General Goethals and the
Shipping Board, will result accord
ing to newspaper reports today.
General Goethals attribute of the
ships construction question has
strong support from Congressman
Fred A. Britten of Chicago, men,
Der of the House Naval Committee
who says he is familiar with the
details of the question because Of
close association with General
Goethals. Goethals, said M. Brit
ten, refused to let the United States
treasury be looted. The trouble is
caused by a money grabbing pro-
position. Certain influential men Of
the South are tying to hold the
Government up for big contracts.
Contracts have been let for 80 ships
to he constructed of the Douglas
Fir at the shipyards in and around
Seattle and Portland. The stipulated
price is 100000 and the western
iumbermen were willing to build
ships and take their chances on
profits. Groups Of influential men
in Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile
and other Southern ports are try
ing to force General Goethals ITO
give them contracts, at at q s*ipula-
ted price Of five hundred thousand
dollars but on the basis of cost plus
, percentage that would insure =
profit Of $4,000 on each ship.
These Southerners are not ship
builders, they are simply trying to
get bunch Of contracts from the
government with which to finance
companies Of them own.
In an editorial today The Calves
ton News has this to say about the
shipbuilding proposition:
Maybe steel ships are to be pre-
terred, but assuredly wooden ships
ere not to be despised, and so the
ordinary mind will find it difficult
to understand why there should be
any controversy whatever between
General Cocktails, whose preference
Is for steel ships, and those less
celebrated members of the Emer-
gency Fleet Corporation, whose pre-
terence seems to be for wooden
ships. Steel ships can be built with
Jut interfering with the productions
o. wooden ones, and wooden ones
can be built without entailing any,
reduction in the building of steel
ones. Therefore it should seem that
the proper disposition of this con-
troversy would be to build both
Kind to have limit Of our capacity
This controversy seems to have been
provoked by General Goethals, and
i is not easy to repress the suspic-
ion that he was betrayed into pro-
sek'ng it by rather petty motives
Perhaps General Goethals acquired
autocratic habits down at Panama
which instinctively prejudice him
against any ideas or proposals
which do not originate with himself.
At all events, It is q notable cir
cumstance that about the only seri-
Gus friction which has arisen inI
the tremendous war work is show,
in that part Of the task on which
General Goethals is engaged. 4
Shipbuilders Of Galveston and
other persons who have contracts to |
build ships for the United States
government in this city or vicinity |
are to receive the assistance Of al
Of ten members of the
National Chamber of Commerce Of
he United States, appointed to CO.
'perets viii American shipbuilding
interests during the present crisis.
A committee of five, headed BY
Y. R. F.lipps, Vas appointed Satur-
|ay afternoon by President E. R.
,heesborough Of the Galveston
Commercial Association to carry out
be york in his vicinity. v. A. Aus
IN, G. I. Gillespie, H. A. Black and !