New-York tribune., 1921-01-18
$4,000 Graft
IN Oiling One
Ship Charged
witness Tells Walsh Com.
mittee L. 5. Board Paid
IS a Barrel for Fuel
That Really Cost SI.38
Losses Run Into Millions
lnvesiigators Also Bare
Enormous Overcharges in
New York Docking Rates
'bisses Run Into Millions

row rhe government ove.paid $4,000
= rsuuply.ag oii To- o..e ship aloAs was
q, te the Walsh committee .: Con
.rsss invest; eating the United States
Sap.ing Board when the committee
-,sun,eJ It's sessions IN tais city. afte-:
nrstracted hearings a. Washington, yos-
psday.
The witness who tod the co@.laisee~
.stais graft was byron {. Baker, dis
t,ks controller of the Shipping Board
ssBosson, who, in his testimony, dweis
-afgsss upon the lax accounting meth
ods preyailing III the board. which arc
-ssponsihle, he said, for losses extend
;sr into hundreds of millions OF dollars.
Ar. Baker told Of the case os the
Blre Star vigatioa Company, which.
sesaid, was authorized by the Shipping
Beard to purchase oil, for a Shipping
Hosrd vessel it was operating, at the
urice Of SIS barrel. The oil WAS au-
;horizedl to be purchased from the
Mexican Petroleum Company. Of Phila-
delphia. Mr. Baker testified that the
Blue Star Navigation Company re-
csfyed bill from the Mexican Petro-
sqm Company for $1.33 barrel. The
rpsernment, however, the witness test
led, received bill covering the pur-
chase at the S5 rate and was thus
overcharged $4,000. The Shipping
Dqrd, Mr.. Baker testified. paid the
Advised as to Testimony
sDid the Bile Star Navigation Com
barrel on the oil?" asked Senator
Walsh.
z cannot say" was the reply of the
witness.
tHave you been advised by any one
IN the Shipping Board as to the char
sster Of the information you should
rive to this committee asked Sen
atar Walsh Of the witness.
= have been advised to allow cues
Hans Of policy to be handled from the
general Office" replied Mr.. Baker.
On further questioning by Senator
Walsh the witness said that this advice
vas given him by Alonzo Tweedale,
gsneral controller Of the Shipping
Board.
Charges for docking steamships in
New York were characterized as exorbi-
ta1t by Captain o. W. Parker, marine
superintendent here for the Shipping
Board, in testimony before the COM
mitter Captain Parker told the COM
mittee that the state rented piers to
private companies at g. very low cost
aud the ,easors obtained from ship
Companies what they pleased.
High Docking Charges
The state rate for docking ships, the
vitness said, was two cents a net
tor for the first 200 tons and one and
= hasf cents ton thereafter. The wit
tess mentioned the case of one vessel
on. which the dockage charges for one
day by private concern was $3.50.
This he said was $40 in excess Of the
state rate. The witness advocated
goysrnment operation, at least to the
extent Of having captains and engin-
eers in the pay Of the government on
board its own ships to protect prop
ery, IN preference TO the bareboat
charter plan.
other witnesses yesterday included
jam .. Pigot, formerly a checker for
ne shipping Board in local shipya rds.
Pikot told Of alleged threats against
cnapping Board checkers by men in the
yssd, bat said the only act Of violence
hsnew Of was when he was "beat up"
etthe streets Of Brooklyn. He said he
ecs!d never discover who his assailants
vGe.
Checker Found Dead
He related one instance in which a
easeker was found dead in the hold of
snip. 1t developed, however, that
gs mans death was accidental and
sgaiued no element OF foul play.
Three members Of a subcommittee
"a Congressional select committee on
MG Department expenditures met at
s Pennsylvania Hotel yesterday to
enmine several witnesses regarding
sa award made for the reconditionine
9 vessels chartered by the War De-
psstment during the war. The sub
sommiftee members are Representative
ssmes A. Frear, of Wisconsin,; Albert
senerls, Of Nebraska, and Clarence
Lea, Of California. The only wit
cess c examined was Captain T. E.
oullivan, Of the Judge Advocates De-
ytnent, who described in detail and
sassented reports regarding the requi-
sisoning of ships.
peIh the Walsh committee and the
lsae-eomm;ttee will reconvene this
n'ng at the Pennsylvania Hotter.