New Britain herald., 1919-01-09

Wasnington
 der, of New YHf
 ing today in tllH the Shipping b6
 gency Fleet corp<
 in an unbusin esAlI
 parent disregard
 urged that conxr2
 boards general polf scope of it's activttfS1
 IS 8 m en1iber of the %
 committee which has F.
 ing shtpbuildng for naaH
 Charges Lack of Sf
 The Shipping board.ss senator Calder, has at no made Up of men with a know4 shfppins or shipbuilding pro7 There have been many changes iifa sonnel and consequently In it's r@i{4s cles. LA very large part Of the tin \ and the energies of the Fleet corporaL- ton has been given over to building up great and cum bersome system oe supervision with reports and statistics on every conceivable subject connect cd with the work rather than to tha
 
 measure.
 Labor Conditions Very Bad.
 Tn the policy toward labor, prac tfcally no effort has been made to en- force ordinary discipline or to indi cate to the working men generally that they were expected to render a fair return of work for the high wages paid. Tne records indicate that in many instances men being paid by the piece with the possibility of making from s2o to $50 q day did three times the quantity of similar work per formed by men on a per diem basis.
 No Regard for Expsnse.
 This condition ia due largely to the apparent disregard for expense. the grossly excessive office and super Flsory forces employed and the knowl- edge am ong the working men of the very high salaries being paid. It is an interesting fact that the Hog Is- land shipyards' overhead expenses are averaging today the sum of s1,70O,0OO & month and since the start of the work in this yard the overhead charges up to December have ex- ceeded $16,S00, 0,o00"
 Makes Several Recommendations.
 senator Calder recommended that the activities of the Fleet corporation in connection with the work of pri- vately owned yards having contracts for ships should be limited to the proper inspection of the work and to rendering assistance in the supplying of materials and facilities, and that the work in government owned yards should be carried on under the imme- i d1ate control and direction of the 1 Fleet corporation
 Work Proceeding Slowly.
 Statistics show, the senator de- 1 clared, that the shipping program is 1 progressing st approximately 40 per cent of scheduled speed" and that the final completion of the work un- der contract will probably take near Iy a, year longer than the time allowed 1 in the contracts
 Contracts for 35 per cent, or SIS ships of the total steel tonnage planned were awarded by the board. Senator Calder said, to five shipbuild- ing concerns only one of which had had experience in the work, at an es- timated cost of s745. .0o0,OoO but he said this cost would approach nearer $1 900, 900, 900. At this rate the aver age cost per ton was s275, he esti- mated, exclusive of the cost of super vision and control by the Fleet cor l. poration.
 Only Four Ships Delivered.
 Of the 5l3 ships. only four had been delivered up to November Ii out of N3 promised by that date, Senator Calder said. The companies receiving the contracts were the Hog Island Shipyard, Merchant Shtpbuildina cor poratfon, Bristol, Pa; Submarine Board corporation. Newark. N. J.; Bethlehem Shpbuilding corporation and the Carolina ShipbuiIding corpor- stion. of Wilmington N.