The New York herald., 1922-03-05
MORE LINES OPEN
OCEAN RATE WAR
Shipping Men Arriving Here
in Effort to Check Wide
spread Strife.

w. r. Keene assistant director or op-
erations for the Shipping Board. arrived
in New York yesterday, the advance
guard of a delegation from Washington
that hopes to avert the rate war threat
ened by the withdrawal of the United
American Lines from the North Atlantic
conference end OF the Fabre Line from
the Mediterranean conferences. The
gravity of the situation was empha sized
by series OF new developments, among
which the following stood out;
The lines operating TO Spanish and
Portuguese ports. at a meeting in the
r.araing, decided to declare open rates.
thus ronowltS the example set the pre-
vious day by the F1enah Mediterranean
and North African conference members.
With the Fabre Line. represented by ].
w. Elwell & Co. out of the group. ii was
declared there was little point in at
tempting 70 hold 10 an established rate
schedule
Robert w Boissevain. vice-presdent
of the United States Navigation Com
pany. American agents for the Reardon
Smith Line. charged in an interview that
the action % the United American Lines
had been the opening gun in war to
drive the Reardon Smith Line out Of the
Hamburg trade If this effort is sue
cessful, he predicted. rates will be sent
UP TAT dDbNt iEitIlL conference leNFlS.
The rate on provisions. the central
point in thr Hamburg controversy. fell
almost overnight from 80 cents hundred
pounds, the recent conference quota tion
TO % cents. according to a telegram from
a representative of the Chicago packers
which was shown TO Mr. Boissevain
-Angered by statements that the Reardon
Smith Line had embarked on a policy
of ruthless competition. Mr.. Boissevain
= - =
taken by his organization at less than
32la cents. and that it held a long term
contract with the packers calling for
this rate, which. he added. was amply
high enough to insure a reasonabl profit.
The Reardon Smith Line. he said, had
never cut the conference rates more than
10 per cent. and had recently been get
ting better than tie conference figure on
grain. Explaining the lines policy. he
said:
The ruthless competition which w.
are accused Of indulging in consists in
quoting rates sufficiently below the con-
ference level to absorb the insurance
diffential on cargo existing between
freight and passenger vessels, the pas
senger ships naturally taking lower
insurance than the freight. AS our com
pany operates the only regular direct
service between New York and Hamburg
solely with freiSht steamships IT Is OBJ
viously necessary for us to absorb this
insurance differential in our freight
rate"
Although open competition now pre-
walls in all the European trade routes
from Bremen and Hamburg on the north
down the coast and around to Genoa and
Naples. and including African ports, no
evidence was revealed yesterday of a
precipitate break in rates, with the sin
gle exception of the quotation on pro-
visions. Saturday, however. is usually
marked by little activity in the freight
markets.
Mr.. Keene said he could make no
statement on the matter in advance OF
the arrival of William j. Love. vice.
president of the Emergency Fleet Cor
poraton. who will be in New York early
in the week to take charge of the situe-
tion. Commissioner w. S. Benson OF
the Shipping Board, who as chairman
year ago engaged in a rate war with
the French Line in the Atlantic routes
was in town. but said that he was not
concerned with the rate matter.
W. A. Hartman. chairman Of the
United American Lines. said he did not
consider a rate war probable.