Evening journal., 1921-08-15
.BIGLAWYERS To
AID ship BOARD
Some to Serve Free, Others
Will Leave Question of
Fees to Lasker
P. & ]. co. CASE CITED
AMONG INTRICATE

WASHINGTON. Aug. 15.--organ-
ization of legal department Of suf-
ncient size and ability adequately TO
protect the interests OF tho Govern
ment in the 100000. 600 to s4Oo.-
100000 involved in Shipping Board
litigation Is one Of the tasks which
A. d. Lasker, chairman. and Elmer
schlesinger, general counsel, are
concentrating on.
Agreements already have been
reached with some OF the biggest
law firms in the country, including
that OF which Elihu Root is the
head, TO act rs counsel for the Gov
ernment in sine OF the larger and
more difficult court actions.
This cooperation. which win en-
able the Government to have legal
talent as able, II NOT more able, than
the claimants who want TO collect
millions from the Government, was
arranged at a recent conference
which Mr.. Schlesinger had with rep
resentatives Of the leading law firms
1
obtained at that time from several
OF those firms that they each would
undertake TO defend one or more
suits for the Government and that
the fee private individuals or cor
porations would have to pay thou
sands Of dollars a day should be
governed by what Attorney General
Daugherty and the chairman of the
Shipping Board thought fair Some
of the lawyers concerned pledged
themselves to do the work for the
Government free of charge.
In the meantime Mr.. Schlesinger
is busy trying to draft men for the
permanent service that he is build
ing up. The legal division which
the board inherited is thus described
by Mr Lasker:
THE smallest business has a law
department that would make the
one that we inherited look silly and
shameful, and If the Government and
Congress do not want this made eff
cient It is going TO cost such a world
Of money it will react in a tremend-
Gus way"
The solution which Mr.. Schlesinger
has proposed is the formation Of FIVE
legal sections; namely, litigation,
admiralty. claims, contract and col
lection departments. Among those
the routine work OF approximately
$500 cases would be subdivided The
larger and more important cases
will go to the leaders Of the bar
whose services have been sought and
granted.
One of these larger cases which
the Government hopes to win is the
7 one brought by Pusey & Jones foI
1 S14,O0O.OOO that the Gloucester N
j., shipbuilding concern says Is du'
it. With all OF his other duties Mr.
Schlesinger has been unable to &,
very far into the case. but what fact
he has learned are startling.
"As they told me the facts I'm New
York" Mr.. schlesinger said. Il un
/, derstand the United States Govern.
ment put $4,000 900 into the com.
pany for the erection Of a plant and
the construction of boats, and 1 am
told there is not the stroke of pen
or a contract OF any kind to show
what our rights were in the premises
or what our contract for the con-
struction OF those boats was, and
now we are being SEED for $14,-
600. .O0O.'
Haven't you any records in the
Shipping Board that show?" Mr..
Schlesinger was asked.
81 have not been able to find
them, but I was told by the man
who had charge OF It for the Ship
ping Board, that there was a stroke
Of the pen TO show what passed be-
tween them and the Government
He says a Mr.. Hannevig, a Nerweg-
ian. was the incorporation OF that
company. He consolidated three
plants and organized this company
and then he organized separate out
side companies. and the outside com.
panies would make contracts with
, Pusey & Jones. One OF the outside
companies was the Manse Compan,
The Manse Company, which wal
also owned by Mr.. Hannevlg, woult
make a contract with Pusey and
Jones to have a ship built and prob
ably they would swell the price o
!, that ship as high as they could
Manse would order a ship built 70
$4,000, 900, and while that ship wa
. being built by Pusey & Jones unde
a contract for $4,000 900, Manse wa
supposed to pay Pusey & Jone
money for that ship as the worl
!; progressed. An English compan
took over a contract for certaii
ships which Manse made with Puse
L & Jones. They were told by Mans
that there had been $1,000, 600 NOR
paid to Pusey and Jones than ther
"A really was paid.
- in other payments, they misrep
resented the payments. so that tn
English company overpaid Mans
S5,OOO.OOO for tho work which wa
- - supposed to have gone into thos
- boats.
Then the Shipping Board cam
along and cOmmandeered thos
d boats from the English company an
ne we paid them that $1,000 900. an
ne now the Pusey & Jones people an
y trying 10 get another S5,0OO,000 o
Il. top OF that. The situation is so ir
- volved and so complicated in eac
one Of these tremendously big mai
ters that no one single human min
can even try TO comprehend thei
all. But I am going to try and q
back TO that $4,000, 900 II Il can I