Evening star., 1934-08-05
ALL NATIONS PERPLEXED
BY PROBLEM OF SHIPPING
Merchant Marines of World Now Have
Bread Line of Their Own i'm
Form of Subsidies.

. onlmending Of legislative cure for
! merchant marine Ills.
The third is the intercoastal ship
( ping inquiry just being concluded by
+ the present Shipping Board Advisory
( Committee In series Of hearings held
in New York and other cities and de-
signed 10 erase many alleged irregu-
larities in freight traffic and rates.
The fourth is just getting under
way. II came July II In the form OF
an executive order from President
Roosevelt 70 Postmaster General Far
ley authorizing complete investiga-
ton Of all A. ocean mail contracts,
giving the contract holders so days 10
prepare for public hearing tthey be-
gin October u and requesting a re-
port by January II, 1888. Mean
while. post office inspectors who at
tended the hearings Of the Black COM
mittee have filed individual reports. it
is said, concerning many Of the con-
tracts and conferences are under way
between the legal lights Of the Post
once Department and officials of
other departments familiar with the
situation.
Something to Happen.
Out Of all this should come some
thing And when 1t comes, one can
imagine huge sigh Of relief waiting
around the spacious corridors of the
Post once Building.
For officials there make no bones
about these ocean mail contracts.
They're subsidies TO them, pure and
simple. And a stink is just a smell
under another name.
An interrogation cannot miss the
somewhat wry grimaces which greet
questions as to several of the more or
less factual revelations of Black COM
mittee testimony. One cannot help
but sense a feeling among them that
the Post Office Department has been
made the goat" for a lot of things,
and In their own knowledge Of their
own sincerity in formulating these
questioned contracts, with their many
regulations and requirements, they
feel they are being unjustly criticized;
that they really tried to do what Con-
greSs, in the Jones' White bill, made
And when they hear and read the
widespread criticism of the existing
situation, or hear and read sly COM
parsons that the $4,000. 900 of yearly
mail contract subsidy might pay the
extra cent postage on 2,700,000, 900
letters to which a Scent instead of a
2-cent stamp now must be attached
when they think of the gigantic extra
task of keeping track of these multi
farious mail transactions, we'll
The A existing ocean mail con-
tracts, from standpoint of actual
mail service for the money paid out,
are ridiculous, Of course.
Money, But No Mail.
Let's look at the past fiscal year, for
instance, as reported yesterday by the
post Office statisticians:
On contract No. So (American Dia-
mond Lines, Incl the steamship West
Eldara on october IA, 1888, sailed
from Baltimore to North Atlantic ports
with no mail at all on board. Uncle
Sam paid 1920 for the trip.
On contract No. 5 (the Export
Steamship Corp) the steamship Ex-
mouth sailed for Mediterranean ports
on March 81, 1884, with no mail on
board. Uncle Sam paid $l1, 900 for
the trip. Incidentally, this branch of
this line carried only three pounds of
letters the entire year. but handled
fairly heavy traffic in parcel post.
On contract No. 81 dykes Bros
Ripley Steamship Co.. two vessels,
sailing from Gulf ports TO the Med
iterranean, each carried a pound of
newspapers as mail cargoes. Uncle
Sam paid SIS, 5,9S7.50 for the two trips.
For the entire year this line carried
mail cargoeS at a poundage rate of
only S193 90, but collected, under con-
tract, S2,567 ,927 SO.
But enough of individual instances.
In the fiscal year 1933-34 273 voyages
to foreign ports were made wherein
the mail cargo on each ship came to
less than 81. poundage rates For
this service, actually totaling $l7009,
we paid out $3,628,748.
In the same period 339 voyages to
foreign ports were made wherein the
mail cargo on each ship would have
cost Uncle Sam between 81 and $40,
poundage rates. a total of 81 1,260.33.
Instead he paid, under contract, $4,-
285, ,101.50.
Count also the 319 voyages made
during the year wherein each mail
cargo was between $40 and 500,
poundage rates (total, $358,017.36)
and for which $2,485, ,083 80 was paid
under contract. Or the 502 voyages
wherein the mail cargoes ran from
$10o to $1,000 and for which Uncle
Sam paid S5,938, ,774.32.
Just in this one category Of from
no dollars to 81 900, actual poundage
rates, We find that we have paid out
for ,433 more or less unimportant
and obscure voyages the neat little
sum of $l6,3S7, ,707l4-more than half
Of our total expenditure for the year.
more SO than a hundred other in
stances which could be quoted.
But so much for figures. Any one
can criticize; few can construct. What
is the solution, if any?
One Broad Plan.
Wen, sir. Care1ul survey OF all
sorts of informed opinion reveals a
definite capitalization of sentiment in
favor Of one broad general plan:
/. Abolition of the present shipping
set-up in the Department of Com
merce and creation of an oceanic
commerce commission, similar in
makeup and operation to the present
Interstate Commerce Commission.
The membership thereof to be nom
partisan. non-political; men of high
character appointed on a long-term
basis. The commission would exer-
else general supervisory and regula-
tory powers over all American ship
ping. private and or governmentally
owned and operated, and would be
empowered TO fix passenger, freight
and other rates In the event that
Congress decides a subsidy is neces-
~, -. for fho uuaifora of fha Ap,arra ',