Evening star., 1923-09-26
PRESIDENT. SEEKS
ADVICE Of LASKER
Former Ship Board Head
Called to UnraveI New
Snag in Policies.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.


q President Coolidge today asked Al
bert d. Lasker.5 former chairman OF
the United States Shipping Board, for
his advice and Judgment as to the
best way to handle the shipping prob
lem. The President sent for the for
nier chairman because OF the latters
familiarity with. the history Of the
present system of operation and his
eleae sontaet with the lstea President
Harding. $he devoted 20 much time
to- informal discussions of the ship
ping Question with Mr. Lasker,
Il Il The sAtppink sitgation 1t the NOR
M hest iss iltsraJiy uD In the air.;< The
recent. opiaios, OF Attorney General
Daugherty not only, declared Illegal
the proposed scheme of setting. up
subsidiary corporations under state
laws with the stock to, be owned In
entirety by the United States govern
ment. but argued that the Shipping
Board could not delegate Its powers
to- amy agencies thus casting Doubt
on the Legality of the prfsept ethod
by which ships are handled by man
The opinion of the Attorney Gem
eral; objects chiehy TO the idea of
transferring the title of Ownership OF
the government feet to the sub
sidiary corporations, but II revealed
that the board did have the right to
lease it's vessels ''on terms satisfac-
tory to the board This loophole
will afford Chairman Farley and the
board an opportunity to put into
operation their plan Of subsidiary
companies Just the same, but with
the vessels leased to the corporations
instead of sold to them,
- Farley Author. of Plan.
Mr.. Farley is the real author OF the
plan. having suggested 1t to Mr..
Lasker when he was still chairman
of the board.,s and 1T was largely
through the influence of, the latter
that President Harding approved the
policy. The new chairman Of the
Shipping Board is warmly supported
therefore by his predecessor, who, 1t
Is understood, told the President to-
day why the consolidation of estab-
lished shipping lines into subsidiary
companies would be advantageous TO
the government and enable the board
ultimately to get more for the ships
and the collateral organisation than
would have been possible through
leases or charters on q commission
basis to private citizens. 7
One of the curious phases OF the
Attorney Generals opinion is his rul-
ing that the United states is not q
citizen of the United States. The point
arose IN connection with the proposal
to sell the ships to corporations owned
by the United States. The law says
the vessels may be sold to citizens OF
the United States only. and the At
forneyI General argues that transfer
of title or sale by the government of
its own ships to companies in which
1t holds all the stock is not sale to
American citizens. This point will be
disputed, and the Attorney General ad-
mfts 1t is technical, but nevertheless
until 1t is cleared up there win be con-
siderable doubt as to the powers of the
Shipping Board. -...
New Suggestion Made.
The latest suggestion Is that the
companies be organized as planned, but
that the ships be allocated to the com;
panieS under leases or charters, just
as if the leases had been made to out
side companies 5ts.s ~. q t.--a,,- ~
The board would retain the rfEh,
to- revoke the leases IL II wished to
dissolve the corporations and would
retain control over the l'officers and
directors of the corporations through
its right to. vote as the majority
ed by Mr.. Dausherty's opinion that
the officers and directors would not
be amenable to government discipline
would thus be met. !
President Coolidge has told some
of his callers that he believed In the
Farley plan and wanted to see II
put into operation. He did not com.
rendered his opinion, but is said to be
expressing disappointment now over
the snag which the plan has struck.
80. fCopyrixht, 1922. } sS-s.3-,f