The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-16
ADMIRAL BENSON ANSWERS CRITICS
 OF SHIPPING BOARD
Says No Wrongdoer Will Es- cape If His Wrongdoing Is
 Called to My Attention
By Associated Press

Charles ton. $. C., November 15.-Re- plying to critics of the shipping board
 and emergency fleet corporation, Rear
 Admiral William s. Benson. chairman
 of the board, declared in an address
 here tonight before the South Atlantic
 Ports association. that his fellow
 countrymen" could depend upon it that
 no wrongdoer connected with the board
 will escape if his wrongdoing is called
 to my attention"
 Not only have insisted upon the
 closest watch upon all matters said
 Chairman Benson. "but I have followed
 the work of the shipping board in every
 port of the world with the one thought
 in mind that we are now reaching that
 crucial moment which spells either the
 success or failure of a permanent mer-
 chant marine.
 There is no effort on our part to
 shirk whatever responsibility We have
 assumed. We have insisted that at all times the records are open to the pub lie. Every facility is offered to those
 who desire information.
 'It is an easy matter for anyone to pick flaws in organization like the
 shipping board. We had to train 300
 900 shipbuilders and in the manning of our ships we have had to train thous
 ands of men
 "Of course. in an organization of this magnitude. you will find here and there evidences of wrongdoing, and now and then you Will uncover < systematic effort to defraud. It was necessary for the shipping board to employ men whose sole responsibility was the uncovering of wrongdoing and these men were charged with a heavy responsibility The men who we de- pend upon to be checks upon those who might be tempted to do wrong bear a heavy responsibility if they failed us, but in an organization spending more than sS0o0,000,000, whereas. the largest steamship operator in the world, mil Hons Of dollars are expended from day to day and it would be impossible to prevent all wrongdonig or to do busi- ness without suffering financial losses from time to time"
 MEN OF VISION Men of vision will take into consid- H eration the whole picture presented by shipping problems" Chairman Benson said, recalling the work done by the American merchant marine during the war, and praising> the vision of Ed ward N. Hurley who as chairman of ! the board after the armistice went ahead with the shipbuilding pro- gramme.
 My predecessor, John Barton Payne. had heavy responsibility placed upon him when he stepped into the office made vacant through MT. Hurley's res ignation," Admiral Benson continued Thousands of claims, amounting to millions of dollars, the jobs of more than S00,00O men involved in the set tlenent of these claims, problems of reconstruction are only few of the ma gi \ fore him in a days work"
 \ Responsibility for the establishment \ of a permanent merchant marine rests \ with the American people, as well as \ with the beard" Chairman Benson de. \ clared, adding that "it is the respon- sibility of every newspaper publisher ' in America, and I have time and agair \ called upon the press and they have \ met me in a noble manner to spread ! this message before the world-that | America is now hip-independent.' Declaring that he was charged, as chairman of the board. with great re | sponsibility, Chairman Benson said ht would be cowardly if he refused tc exercise to the best of his judgment
 the powers vested in him.
 ''If mistakes have been made" ht | said. they were mistakes that na turally may be expected in su,h stupendous enterprise involving as i does the active employment of nor,
 than 1900 going vessels with tn,
 manifold rroblcms involved in ship
 operation, the completion of a mug,
 shipnuilding programme embracing tn, | payment of millions of dollars and tn,
 settlement of thousands of clqim
 which come as result of an effor
 to be fair to those men who. whei
 We needed them. placed their facilitie
 at our disposal and endeavored to q,
 everything within their power to hell
 this country in its shipbuilding pro
 grammc.
 | NO CHILD'S PLAY We are engaged in no child's play
 our effort is W world wide. our worl
 reaches into every part of the world ' 1t affects every interest. It is YOU \ business to watch this development an,
 to critically examine our work iron
 day to day. It is your business t,
 question what We do Ut is a goo, ' thing that men are awak to tn II splendid opportunity shipping affords | put while il is no child's play to bull, up this vast world wide organiza E tion I do say it is child's play on tn ! part of anyone who heedlessly spread
 erronous impressions which tend t.
 destroy confidence in our ability t, | maintain, support and develop a per
 manent merchant marine, privately
 owred, All we ask is constructiv \ criticism"
 The south is playing an imporean | part in the development of the mer
 chant marine. Chairman Benson tol,
 the association,
 %You men of the south have q pc
 cultar responsibility" he declared. An
 nounclns as I did in the port of Nev
 York that we would spread shippin, | throughout the country, it was witt | the hope and belief that when the las ' was pr. St nted to the men of the sout]