The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-06


 Age Herald Birmtn gham, Ala;
 Dear Sir My attention has been called to an editorial from the August 22 issue of The Age Herald under the caption, River Traffic Endangered. The situation to which this editorial refers is one in which l am parucu- larly interested, and l wish to take this oppor tanity of furnishing you with the exact detaIs regarding the con struction ty the government of float ing equiprl6nt for operation -on the Mississippi and Warrior rivers.
 Il quite appi eCiate the reflection in your edftorlAl Of the feeling of com mereial interests in the territory trlbu- tary to the Warrior river as we'll as the entire Mississippi valley section. also understand the natural incliha- tion to attribute the delays which have been encountered in securing and plac- ing in opera ton the floating equip ment now under construction to bu- reaucratic inefficiency. Since this is ln no sense the case, however, l feel the necessary for placing. before you the ! actual facts in this connection.
 INITIAL PROGRAMME "'rhe initial programme undertaken ] by the United States railroad admins 1 oration for floating equipment Tor oHS eration on the Mississippi ana Warrior 1 rivers included an aggregats ol sev- l enty four distinct units. The majority of these contracts were entered into prior to the arm,stice, and the re- { mainder within three months after that 1 date. | "It will he recalled that during ] this period every pinnt capable of % | turning out vessels Ot any dcscrip- ! tioni was working to capacity in trux i0n of deeD sea tOn- | mage. This situation naturally re- | noted unfavOrabIy against the 1 construction of vessels for service 1 on inland waterways. The demand for n more extensive utilization or ] water routes in the relief of r"ii- road congestion was. however, most 1 imperative.
 Since emergency conditions abso- 1 lutely precluded the construction or necessary floating equipment helns undertaken by corporate interests, the one alternative was for the federal gov ernment, which had the power to ac- ouire though priorities the necessary 1 fabricating materials. to undertake the | construction of q fleet sufficient to meet existing conditions.
 1 While it is a fact that the govern ment was able to secure basic ma
 terials required for the construction i of these boats, it was unable to com mand the services of experiehceu snip 1 builders. As result. number or the contractors who undertook the con struction of these waterway units had | had no pre- vious experience in vessel l building; with one exception, none was I possessed of yards with proper faclli- | ties for such work.
 | Another factor which has seriously | interfered with the orderly progress ol l these contracts is the fact that the plans and specifications under which | the work was undertaken were pre- | pared with excessive haste Inese 1 boats include number ot detail uniuue in western river practice, the l lack of precedent with regard to sucn | difficult and often complicated con l struction would have been test Tor ! even more expe rienced builders. Fur 1 thermore the cNigencies under which 1 this work was undertaken apparently | made necessary the curtailment ot the | time which, under normal pracuce' l should have been given bidders Tor the | preparation of their estimates, tnerepy resulting in numerous additions ana alterations and much consequent delay'
 TIME LIMIT EXCEEDED 1 ''As d result of the general unsaus factory conditions surrounding the in- itiation of Mis building programme by Jthe United States railroad administra l ton. in all but one of the contracts the l time specified for delivery has been greatly exceeded, and d majority ot the builders claim to have lost money 1 on their contracts.
 | ."In accordance, with the provisions
 of the transportation act, the war de- 1 partment took over the completed equipment. as we'll as the unfinished contracts of the railroad administra 1 ton as of March l, 1920. One of the first steps taken by the department in this connection was to call a confer ience in Washington of representa- tives of each of the contractors engaged on unfinished contracts. At that time the
 necessity for speed in completing these several contracts was forcibly i'm jpressed on all concerned, Since then the war department has actively ant
 theoretically co-operated with each in. IdividuaI contractor in expediting his
 work Rail shipments of building ma
 teriais have been vigorously traced
 technical assistance furnished and sim liar assistance given Tn the prosecution of this work.
 "During the six months in which
 these activities have been under 1 my jurisdiction. the several uncom-
 pIeted units designed for opera
 ton on the Mississippi and War l rior rivers have been advanced ap-
 preximateiy 15 per cent toward
 completion. Monthly deliveries
 have been promised on the self
 propelled barges for the Warrior (COntinued on Page Two)