The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-13
BENSON DECLARES AMERICANS LEAD
 IN SHIP TONNAGE
Annual Report Chairman of Shipping Board ExtoIS Re- suits and Gives Figures
 Showing Development
By Associated Press

By Associated Press Washington, December 12-With com
 pletion of the government shipbuilding
 programme by 1922, the United States
 probably will have as much ocean-going
 tonnage as all the other countries com
 bined, with the exception of Great
 Britain, Chairman Benson of the ship
 ping board declared in his annual report
 made public today.
 At the end of the last fiscal year, the chairman said American merchant ships, government and private-owned numbered 3,404, of 16,91S,212 deadweight tons, not including more than 100000 tons or shipping on the Great Lakes. The net programme of government-owned ships'
 Admiral Benson said, contemplated z'5io vessels of 13.675,711 deadweight tons, and
 at the end of last fiscal year, 2,o7o ships aggregating Il, 1,622, ,S61 deadweight tons. had
 been completed
 During the year 1,1s0 finished ships o1 ,S2S deadweght tons were deilVereu,
 exceeding all records. They were buiil
 without overtime or other aids to rapid promotion. Admiral Benson said.
 The shipyard workers of the United States have developed an expertn9ss
 which has raised the efficiency of the various crafts to high plane, and pro duction has kept pace accordingly, Ao- miral Benson said. The industry has ex-
 banded from 50,OO0 skilled mechanics to a force of 3S5 900 men available to the private .shipyards, he added. "The crepit for the accomplishment of the aims or the emergency fleet corporation is there fore due to these men, who have sur passed all previous performances in the shipbuilding of the world"
 MANY PROBLEMS American vessels are now sailing in 2zs separate services. They carried 44S per cent of the nations foreign commerce last year. as compared with 9.7 per cent
 before the war, the report said. The gov
 ernment fleet in operation June 30 con sisted of 1,294 steel vessels, plying to all parts of the globe, including sos to north ern Europe and, 126 to southern Europe. In the transpacific service there were 163 vessels and ill the South Ameri- can 13S.
 Forty-one direct service lines have been established to South and Central Amer ica from nine ports on the Atlantic coast, four on the gulf and two on the fa-. cific coast, the report said. | To cope with the formidable problems overseas Admiral Benson said the Eu- ropean organization of the shipping board with headquarters in London was es- tablished in June, 1919 Prior to it's creation board vessels in European ports
 had been attended entirely by the agents of the managing companies, the report said, whom either through inefficiency, indifference of dishonesty, allowed Amer ican ships to be mishandled and subject ed to delays and exorbltant charges. The new organization, through its con trol over movements, charter, cargoes, bunkers, supplies, repairs and similar ! matters, the report explained, has re- duced the average turn around of board vessels from 254 days for Great Britain and 19 days for the continent in Sep tenlber 1919, to 19.2 days for Great Brit ain and 11.3 days for the continent in May, 1920. Costs also have been ma terially reduced, Chairman Benson add ed:
 NUMEROUS SALES The board sold during the year 426 ships for total of $279,914.594, including lSl new steel cargo vessels, 34 new wooden ships and 33 former German cargo ships. Discussing the wooden fleet, Chairman Benson said the maximum number in operation was 240 during April. In June there were ITO at work.
 Demand for tanker tonnage increased
 during the year. The chairman declared l
 vice. chiefly between Mexican and Amer
 can gulf ports, and North Atlantic ports
 and American oil stations at St. Thomas,
 Virgin Islands, Brest and Bizerta On
 the Pacific the lines run between San
 Francisco and American foreign stations
 at Honolulu, Manila and Shanghai. Gov-
 ernment tank steamers carried S.641,362
 tons of oil during the year.
 Nearly all seized German cargo craft
 have been sold or chartered with op-
 tion to purchase while all but Il of the
 German passenger ships had been dis
 posed of during the year, the report said
 No disposition has been made, however,
 of the one Austrian vessel, the Martha
 Washington.
 The chairman urged that Congress pro
 vide machinery to adjudicate claims
 of other than enemy citizens against
 these seized vessels. in view of the delay
 in the peace treaties.
 Describing the activities of the boards
 department of investigation, the chair man reported that between April, 1918 and June, 1920, there have been 2,5O0 sep arate investigations conducted over tha
 country. Operations have been CO.,
 ordinated. he added. with those of the department of Justice, the naval and mill
 tary intelligence services and other agencies of the government in which there was joint interest.