Evening journal., 1918-03-27
HURRYING ship
BUILDING PLANS
Hurley Says s Per Cent. OF.
Vessel Program is
Completed
SAYS LABOR MUST
GIVE ALL AID


which Uncle Sam Is getting down nnal-
ly 70 ihe an Important work Of turn
Ing out ships 10 carry foodsiuns, men
and munitions 20 our Allies abroad was
set forth last night by Edward n. IIur-
ley. chairman of The United States
f Shipping B0erd, ia expert fashion ia a
lengthy address delivered st Delmon-
lco's at the annual dinner Of the Ma
lonal Marine Leaguo of The u. S. A.
SIR. lluTloy's speech contained much
that was nows 90 tho general public IN
the matter OF new shipyards and
' launching ways, either finished or un-
der construction, and IN regard TO the
kinds Of ships planned and their ton
mage There was nothing IN tho adj
dress to indicate that the somewhat
exirovagant promises of 100000 tons"
IN next TO no time will bo carried out
with the speed 30 freely propheslod
by certain officials at Washington last
year; but the head Of The ship con-
slructlon work pointed with pride 10
what has been done and tho work That
Is under way now
s Per Gent. IN Service.
The shipping chairman raised The
hopes Of The marine engineers. ship
ping men and others crowdlng the ban
que. hall when he said ihat the govern
ments mammoth steel shlphu!lding pro-
gfam OF 100000 tons on March / was
"28 per cent. on ITS way 60 compile
ti0n." But Immediately he qualified
this with The explanation that he did
not mean that % per cent. or the ton
mage planned had been completed. not
by G. lons shot. Only 3 per cent. or
the vessels have been put into service
% seems, but 2S per cent. according 10
Mr.. Hurley's figures, OF the whole con-
slruction work planned ".s'on rs way
20 completion"
The nation will have soon said the
speaker, 730 steel and wooden ways
turning out ships 20 cOunteract the L.
boat menace. In jumping 10 10 COM
bat the menace the country found H.
self compelled. Mr. Hurley said 10
create an entirely new industry here"
owing to the sag IN shipbuildns In
america and the fact that the Few
yards In existence here were SO aled
with orders that they could not take
a s.nsie order OF magnitude from Wash
ington.
"The total amount or our steel con-
structlOn pr0gram On March 4 was
s.205,70s deadwsght tons" said Mr..
, Hurley. after he had outlined lhe DIFF
ficulties the government had faced in
taking up the mi-hty task "This Is
. made up of 5.i6030O deadwelght tons
: under contract with the Emergency
4 Fleet Corporation and 8.0i5.t06 dead.
weight tons of reQuisiuoned vessels.
, "Of this total steel construction g.
) i2i5 56S deadweight tons, OF approx
mately rs per cent. has been c0mplet
a ed. That means that In addition q
4 the building of our big new yards, we
have also been building ships That Is
: The program Tor steel ships has ad-
- vanced 2S per cent toward completion
. or tho amount of steel ships under cOn-
tract and under requisiii0n. 655. .l6G dead
- Woi-ht tons. or approximately 5 per
) cent. were actually completed and Ia
service on March 1 Of lhls year, nearly
, month as0. This amount ~ r-s i0-
/ tonnage exceeds or .O,ol Oulput ID
: 1916, including steel. wooden and sail
ing vessels. by approximately so cent.
b "I believe labor has begun to realize
that fact but J want 20 drive 70 home
1 to them. for there are some. / regret
20 say, who do not yet sense their re-
, sponsibility. There are many who are
, not working TO their full capacity.
4 There are many who because OF the
, hlsh wages they are earning are prone
/ To- take Too many holidays. Labor gem
a orally throughout our shlpyards Is re-
cciving today the highest rate Of
81 wages ever Tald f0r similar work In
, the history II the world The addi-
tl0nai cost or our ships. due % increas-
ed wages In shipyards covering the
p prosram we Lave mapped out, VIII be
, in excess of :. 100000 We have o right
/, TO expect that labor VIII render for this
= increase OF wages a corresponding IN
/, crease IN pro luction OF ships.
2 "An has nDt gone smoothly IN the
labor situalicl and there have been
times when Ills phase of the problem
was enough % cause dlsc0ufagemcnt.
The vast majority OF laboring men arc
patriotic; the leaders whom ] have
known throur1 close contact in Wash
inston, especi ily Mr. Gompers and his
y immediate as oclates. havo my coma
Z dsnce and the country recognizes their
patriotism. y tn only one exception
u. the leaders OF The shipyards crafts
- generally hav. shown a spirit ~ co..
= operation"
" Chairman II rley had words Of praise
Tor the labor 2 iiusimen. board and The
+, scale OF was established which he
/ called most heral" The board has
not blamed Ia or, he said, for the re-
duced average output IN various yards
~ but tho board would like 90 see banlsA-
ed some OF the abor restrictions AGAINST
, output so tha labor would put forth
its maximum fort 90 win the war. As
the prosfam IS progressed the gov
p ernment has O ne al % could 20 weed
! out employers lot getting the best re-
suits, ihers ng inefficient shipvard
, owners. said 'e chairman. as well as
: inefficient wor nen.
/. In 1916 the were less than 45.O00
4 men employed in all the shipyards Of
. the country" said Chairman Hurlov.
p. "and on March 'o'S $3.50
n this number % -l.---. ~ Nairn No.
( $50 were working on actual ship con-
= siruction and the remainder in ya-d
- construction and other branches Of the
Z industry Thousands of others are en-
e ployed In taking out the timbers for
F. our wooden construction and AZ the
scores OF inland steel plants which ara
+ fabrcatins ihe parts FOR steel vessels.
Z MASONIC MASTER VISITS.
J. George b. Hynson. Grand Master OF
the Grand Lodge OF Delaware. A. F.
and A. NJ, and A. Y. Hughes, Grand