Douglas Island news., 1920-04-02
TRAFFIC EXPERT
 GIVES DETAILS
R. M. Scmmes Of Territorial Shipping Board Appears Before Senate
 Commerce Committee

sommoa. who ls now iu Washington with Governor Riggs. as traffic ad. visor for che Alaska Territorial Shipping Board. has beon at tho hearings during Che past week of Che Senate committee on commerce upon Che Jones bul and other U. s. Shipping Board legislation He ac- companies Maurice D Loohoy spec ! ial counsel for tho board. and they have just completed a niue-months detailed study of Che Alaska 'radlo |amauo1. They arc fortified witch several hundred pages Of statistics operating costs and other data. which Che U s Shipping Board officials say h Che most complete and caro- fully detailed traffic statement ever submitted Go chat body
 Mr. sommcs made Che rather startling declaration that a saving Of one million dollars per annum be made m Che operating costs Of Che Alaaka steamship lines if thc mfuc be properly coordinated on definite routes and handled on reg- ulor schedules He says this is im- possible. however. 80 long as SO per cent Of Che Alaska ship tonnage is in private service and handles Che -roam of thc uaGc for the larger Interests In tbc territory. who there by contribute practically nothing to thc vcar-rouud aory.co for Che com- mon benefit.
 Mr. semmo produced an Alaska
 uatoma statement showing chat Che ships Of more chan 900 tons which entered Alaska during 1919, regis- tered l5I552 net tons This does not include any boats operating eX- .usvelv m Aasto waters. but only .hoso which came from tho outside. The Canadian luoa operated A97O net tons and Che regular American Hines operated 3e.ff4 net tons The remaining i2O1sS not tons repre- sant ships exclusively in private service. practically an Of them either owned or chartered by Che larger mtoresa In Che territory Those ships operate much more
 heaply hau thc regular lines. bee ne free from Che requirements im- posed on passenger ships They pay much lower wages than Che regular lines and practically no overtime The result Us thcy operate so much more clcaply that they can well of- ford lo pay s3 per mnum license tax ou net tonnage which. according to Nr semmos figures. would mean am average Of about 900 cents per ac- maI tons of freight handled by these ships The net tonnage of ship ia computed on tho bas.r of loo cubic foct while freight is charged by weight or by measurement ton of iO cubic lcet which really makes Che tax lower than would appear
 from Ube simple statement He ox- 1lancd hat it was not planned to prevent the usc of private ships. but simply to require thc larger inter- cats who use them to make a fair contribution to the yoor-round serv. ico for tho benGt of Che entire terri- tory In thH way Mr. semmcs stated Che Territorial Shipping Board would be provided with a fund which it would bc authorized to dabursc on contracts to support regular service upon specified routes The purpose fig to keep thc po"en. ger shIns ou regular schedule ThH would eliminate Che evils which re
 ult from sonliug Che best ships into Isolated places. dsrcgcrdug routcI and m'crrununr schedules SO tha
 no dependence can be placed upor
 Che arrival or departure of ship al
 even tbc larger ports Regular schedules would also mean compli ancc wIth tho post oGIce require
 mcua so Che ships would get Che ad
 dionaI bcueft Of mail contracts
 Another saving would be in ma
 rue insurance which now average
 about 70 per cent because Of th
 practice of sending Che best ship
 into Che most dangerous water
 where Che bulk Of thc marine lossc
 occur The steamship companies nov pay nearly a million dollars In ma riuo Insurance premiums on th
 ships. while. Che insurance rates ol
 freight arc corrosDondinsly high.
 When those savings are effected
 both thc freight and passenger rate can bo substantially lowered to aI parts Of Alasbc But Che e.tuouo .s worry serious for unless these evil
 be corrected. Che steamship com pan.cs may bs permitted Go put Int effect another increase in rate which was proposed last fall, bu ] lnnnllrnnl nn parn al