The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-11-16
RIOT OF GRAFT UNDER
SHIP BOARD ALLEGED
GOVERNMENT is ROBBED OF
TREMENDOUS SUMS BY EN-
PLCYES AND OFFICIALS.
PADDING OF PAYROLLs

EXoIDltdnt OVeICldISSS 1OI NSpdH
Work and Materials, Loans on
Worthless Security. Payment for
Selling Liberty Bonds and Other
Rascality Alleged by Former Ship
ping Board Agents.
| WASHINGTON, D. C-Corrup-
ton of employees and officials of the
IShipping Board Emergency Fleet COR
poration, graft in purchasing supplies
for and in repairing government-own-
ed merchant ships, and the use Of po-
litical or other influence in obtaining
contracts for ship construction and the
|allocation of completed vessels to
Operating companies, are among
maze of charges made in report sub
mitted to the house committee on
shipping board operations by A. M.
Fisher and ]. F. Richardson, former
employees of the board.
Deals With Many Phases.
The report was made public to-
might by the committee, of which
Representative Walsh, Massachusetts,
is chairman. 1t covers more than 100
printed pages, and deals exhaustively
with many phases of shipping board
Operations as observed by the commit
tees investigators over a period OF
more than a year.
Mr.. Fisher who formerly was con-
Injected with the federal trade commits
sion, made a survey for the shipping
board as to record-keeping systems
in the office of the lumber admins
L. Il Il ~
years a newspaper man, was employed
for several years in the boards de-
partment of investigation
Taking up in detail seven general
phases of the boards activities, the
report charges gross waste os govern
ment funds, improperly drawn con-
tracts, which cost the government
large sums, and failure of the various
divisions of the board to cooperate
efficiently, and the almost complete
failure of some of the divisions to
function properly.
Padding the Payrolls.
| Padding the payrolls by firms re-
Ipairing shipping board vessels, owner
ship by companies operating govern
ment vessels of stock in companies
furnishing supplies to those craft at
prices ranging anywhere from 4O to
50 per cent above wholesale costs,
wholesale theft OF supplies and equip
ment from ships, and the loss of mill
lions of dollars through improperly
secured loans made to contractors
Ibui1ding government vessels also are
charged.
Investigation alleges that in some
cases the fleet corporation loaned mon
lev to contractors and accepted as Sc
Icurity bonds issued by companies in
corporated by the contractors, which
bonds have since been found to be
worthless"
Millions Lost on Materials.
Going into the matter of salvage OF
bodybuilding plants, uncompleted hulis
land materials and stores, the report
Ialeged that it was asserted by per-
sons in position to know" that the sale
OF the millions of dollars worth OF
materials" owned by the Heet corpo-
ration had netted no more than 1874
cents on the dollar at time when the
shipping board at other points was
purchasing the same materials IN the
lopen market at prices in advance OF
the original cost prices of the materials
sold
In MANY cases, it is asserted, the
supplies are purchased from brokers,
who add a profit of from Is to 40 per
cent give gratuities to masters and
stewards in the form of free lunches,
: free automobiles, free liquor, -free en-
tertainment, etc" and charge them in
,, with the rest OF the supplies
Corruption of officials.
Corruption of United States Ship
ping Board Emergency Fleet Corpo-
: ration employees and officials became
the tendency under this practice. Us
ually attempts are made by contrac-
tors, and in many cases apparently
are successful, to secure the favor OF
, the port construction and repair rep
resentative. who has the assignment OF
! work to the various contractors, and
! the local United States Shipping Board
Emergency Fleet corporation agency
: auditor. who has under his charge the
checkers and timekeepers.
/, 1t was charged that good men
were "heckled, insulted or even
; frightened off the work, where they
will not prove acceptable to corrup-
ton" The report claimed it was a
,, comparatively easy matter to acci-
; IDENTIFY drop a bar or wrench into
ships hold when straight timekeeper
or inspector was standing under"
Political Pull Got Ships.
1t is charged that through politi
cal influence ships had been assigned
to companies in which officials OF the
shipping board were or had been as
, sociated'' and that companies which
did not have "the standing or the n
nancial responsibility to insure safe
and proper management and opera
ton" got all tonnage applied for by
that means
Numerous are cases on record, the
report says, where doctors, veterinary
surgeons, BARRIERS, dry goods clerks
and Others of similar inept callingss,
were placed as inspectors over work
OF construction of both plants and
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