Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-11-14
||SAYS DELAY COST
| SHIP BOARD MONEY
R. E. Kline Tells Investigators
of kilograms Sent by
Representative.

NEW YORK, November 10 (by the
ASSOCIATED Press) 1.-The name of Rep
Preventative James A. Gallivan of
Massachusetts was brought into testi-
mony offered here today in the Walsh
COMMITTEE inquiry into the affairs of
the United States Shipping Board
Robert E. Kline, special representa-
tive of the boards supply and sales
methods used in disposal of surplus
material In the course of his testi-
mony he described an effort on the
part of his department to procure
contract for disposal of scrap ma
'terial. A bid for its sale on a six
months supply basis at rate of
90 cents ton over the market price
was accepted, rejected, accepted again
and once more held up because an
had acted without authority. he said.
! Another Form OF Bid.
In the interim another form of bid
should be offered. The second bidder
alleged he had been Disseminated
against and. according to the witness,
the board secured from Mr.. Gallivan
a telegram complaining that this
bidder. one of his constituents, had
not been treated fairly. This first
telegram, the witness added. was soon
followed by another. which he termed
SHARP" demanding an investigation
and threatening to take the matter
to the floor of Congress.
| The insistence of Mr.. Gallivan, the
witness said, no doubt caused the
home office of the board to give the
controversy over the"scrap contracts
quicker consideration" At any rate.
complete file of the case. The delay
in determining the successful bidder
however. cost the government money
he declared. for at that time-las st
Jcne and July-the market for scra q
material was much higher than it
now is
! Scrap material sold by the hoard
was disclosed by the witness testi-
mony to include everything from un-
used parts. bolts. asbestos packing for
steam pipes to even discarded uni
forms of the guards used during the
war to protect shipyards and plan =
He also described details of how tn s
material was assembled, invoiced and
eventually sold.
Drifted to Operations.
/ From shipyard materials AID o..
| tests over contracts for SCRAP" the
hearing. in it's closing hours today.
! dr1fted back to operations.
Capt. James A. MacGergor of Balti-
more. now general manager for the
South Atlantic Maritime Corprrat'"r
but formerly district agent for the
Shipping Board at Savannah and
| Wilmington, was called.
He related instances. of delays to
Shipping Board vessels. alleged inter-
locking operating organizations de-
| lays in repairs to ships and congest ed
harbors. which. he said, cost the Ship
ping Board money. He admitted. how
ever. that incidents similar to those
he described had occurred with pri-
vate companies. but not to such an ex-
tent as they did with the government
| operations.
| He told of a shipment of resin from
Savannah to Havana which could not
be unloaded at the latter port be-
! cause of congestion. Its ccnsignee
raised vigorous complaint. and he
was paid for the resin by the steam
| ship company which carried it with q
check on Shipping Board funds
! Cotton Tie-Up Caused.
The resin went with the ship from
Havana to Ruanos Aires thence back
to New York. thence to Baltimore and
back to Savannah. where it was sold
at a loss. The Shipping Board was
reimbursed. but the point of the wit
ness was that its funds were used
without proper authority.
Methods of Shipping Board opera =
; tons holding cargo for their own
vessels when board vessels operated
by another line were available, was
! criticised by the witness. He alleged
that this system caused a tie-up of
| cotton at Savannah last fall.