Evening star., 1934-08-12
LEVIATHANBITTERLESSON
ON WHITE SEA ELEPHANTS
US. Staggering Under s5z,214,5l9 Outgo
to Maintain Subsidies and KeepUpWith
Super-Liners, and Now Behind Race.

proper attention to the little odds and
ends which total up heavily In ex-
penSe accounts, proper devotion Of her
income 10 her operations instead OF
to the upkeep Of . topheavy financial
structure and proper efforts to gain
the necessary volume OF business.
sIz0.39z Next Year Loss.
In the next year-the last OF her
operations as governmentaIiy-owned
vessel--she stun ped again. finishing
st20 3o2 So in tn red. the total Of all
three years leaving her $334. .966.54 the
loser. And during this period OF opera
ton we had spent an additional s276,-
652.l2 in further reconditioning.
About that same time, under the
settlement OF war claims act Of 1928, "
we allowed the German government
sl3 $50 900 for the Leviathan. Thus,
with reconditioning and loss in opera
tionS. the 9th day Of April, 1929, found
us s23 1853. .500i6 In the hole on this
ship.
Our next step was to sell the Levia-
than and a group OF other vessels to
the United States Lines. Inc, Ne
vada concern. The selling price was
mere So, ,762 900 for ship in which we
had an investment of nearly $24,-
900 900. OF this. and over a period Of
months, a total of s2.o34. 500 in prin-
cipal was paid; also interest of ap-
proximately s5l7.6o0.
Skipping over ensuing financial
transactions. late in 1881 this corpora
ton was absorbed by the United States
Lines Co., subsidiary af1liate OF
the International Mercantile Marine,
Inc. and in the absorption little
matter of $20l, ,764.50 in interest due
was canceled-at least for the mo-
ment.
At the same time-and since then
Controller McCarl has raised
doubt as to the legality Of this ac-
tion--the mortgage notes on the Lee
viathan we're scaled down some $2,-
e67, 400, presumably on the promise,
agreement or something, that the ship
would be operated a minimum OF
seven voyages year for. a period OF
five years
Under her new owners the Levia-
than again roamed the seas for a
while. But in 1912, the records re-
veal. these new owners appealed to
the Shipping Board for aid; they were
losing money; they asked permission
TO lay her up-this despite the fact,
officials assert, that the agreement of
purchase not only called for a mini
mum Of voyages annually, but pro-
vided. via the reduced sale price and
other concessions. for coverage of all
losses sustained therein during that
five-year period.
Laid Up During 1888.
The appeal, however. was granted:
the Leviathan was laid up during
1888. When the one-year lay-off
term ended, another and similar ap-
peal was made Two out of three
members of the Shipping Board Ad-
visory Committee are said to have
voted to grant it; the Secretary of
Commerce overruled them the Levi
athan was ordered back into service;
and is.
Now, then, in addition to all this,
the Leviathan received, as a carrier
Of mails TO Europe, some s30S,436.
So now let's look at our balance
sheet;
OUR INVESTMENT.
Allowed to German
Government ..... sl3, $50, 900. 90
Original Reconditioning
Cost ............... 1855, ,86l 20
Loss on u S. Operations 334,968.84
Subsequent Recondition-
ing .............. 276,652.I2
Interest Cancelled ~. S.
Lines, Inc) ..... 20l, ,764.50
Paid as Mail Carrier " 3oS, 90
------
Total Investment 24.373. 3.6s2.66
RECEIVED IN PAYMENTS.
Capital tPrincipaD Pay
ments Made ...... S2,034, 600 90
Interest Paid .... 3l5,67395
Total Received 49, S2,350, ,473 90
U. S. Net Investment .S22, ,023, ,20S.68
Under the present existing agree
ments, officials say, there is still due
matter Of 81. 780, 900 on the principal.
lno L.