Evening star., 1936-12-15
SHIP LAW FIGHT
FACES PRESIDENT
Two Departments at Odds
Over Method of Settling
Costly Strike.
by BLAIR BOLLES.

One of the first problems facing
President Roosevelt on his return to
Washington will be how to arbitrate
the difference Of opinion between the
Labor and Commerce Departments
over the method of settling the $780,
100000 Pacific Coast shipping strike.
The two agencies are widely split
over the report that the Labor De-
partment Is determined to seek post
ponement of the effective date of q
shipping law for three months beyond
its December 26 deadline, despite q
press conference denial by Secretary
Perkins that she contemplated this
step.
The law is administered by the
Commerce Department through the
Maritime Commission. The point at
issue Is the discharge book section Of
the Copeland Bland act, signed June
Is and effective six months later. 1t
Is designed to- give the Government
some control over the personnel Of
the men who 60 to sea on American
ships.
Provides Discharge Book"
The act provides for issuance Of
continuous discharge books" to every
seaman on United States liner in
tntercoastal or foreign trade, to be
filled in with the following informa-
ton every time the books owner is
discharged from a berth.
Name of the vessel, nature of the
voyage, class Of vessel, date and place
Of shipping" and discharge of the sea.
man, and the rating Of the seaman.
Pasted in the book is the seaman s
picture, but no fingerprints are re-
Quired.
The entries are to be made BY
United States shipping commissioners
II the discharge occurs in port where
there Is sea service bureau presided
over by q commissioner. Otherwise,
the book is to be filled in by the sea-
mans master.
Meanwhile, because Of dissensior
within the Commerce Department,
postponement Of the law at issue
seemed certain anyway. For five
AA2O4k3Lo, o11lPplllS III S6CIes
tary Roper's agency refused to COM
pose their differences on rules, regula-
tions and methods for the admins
tration of the law. Only now have
they reached an agreement.
Opposed by Leader.
The most determined foe of the dis
charge book provision of the act /,
Harry Lundeberg, San Francisco sea.
man leader, who made the request fol
the postponement of its effective date
In a pamphlet which described the
whole Copeland act as a ''dog-collal
law" Lundeberg once had this 10 say
Of the discharge section:
1T means that every man who goes
10 sea will be fingerprinted and mugged
like criminal. 1t means that after
you have shipped from your union
hall you will have to 60 through q
clearing house or a sea service bureau
to have some political appointee pass
on whether you are fit to 60 to sea
in short, with this book you will have
fink halls established in the guise oi
sea service bureaus"
Since there are only IA shippine
commissioners in the country, most
Of the entries would be made by the
master and thus, in the opinion of the
seaman, put their regulations at the
mercy of the ship owners. Once be-
fore all seamen had to carry books to
be filled in by the master and black
listing Of untractable sailors was de-
veloped.
New Books Omit Character.
The new books, however, will re-
quire no reference to the sailors
character, as was the case with the
old books, which were not supervised
by the Government.
About $4,000 of the books have been
printed at the Government Printing
Once, but pamphlet containing in
formation about the books, regulation