Imperial Valley press., 1942-12-16
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

stores Ol SllDS ItlUl IllIlS ~ 49,
ports without cargo after having
carried war supplies abroad keep
bobbing ND now and then to proVide
one of the most troublesome ru-
mors that War Shipping Admins
tration officials have to deal with.
Here is the United States, strug-
cling along with shortages OF sugar,
coffee. pineappleS. bananas. spices
and all manner of foods which are
normally imported. to say nothing
of the shortages OF strategic metals
and materials like rubber, metals,
fats and oils. Therefore, why
should any ship return TO the Unit
ed States in ballast?
\ lot of these stories don't orig
mate in the United states, nut
are passed along from places ike
Cuba. Hawaii. Australia, where
Us. ships are easily observed
unloading their cargoeS OF war
supplies, then pulling out with
their holds empty. Cubans and
uaw.iianS with sugar TO export,
Australians with meats and wOOlS
TO export, naturally want TO know
how come and they start raising
cain about il.
There is considerable truth in
these stories, but shipping officials
say that explanations to such ru-
mors are bound up in one of the
most difficult of all the planning
operations which the federal gov
ernment war agencies are called
upon to perform. The answer is
supposed to lie in knowing for sure
where the ship was bound 10 alter 1T
lett foreign port, or where 1t came
from when it got back.
There isn't anything to haul back
from MurmanSk, for instance, SO all
ships which have carried Lend
Lease aid to Soviet Russia come
back in ballast.
Ships have come back empty
from Hawaii because OF the need
Tor a quick turnaround so they
could get back to U. S. ports and
carry cut other leads OF war sup
plies Holding the ship in Honolulu
for a couple of days to load it up
with sugar or pineapple. then TAX
Ing another couple of days to un-
load them in California would
mean a four day delay in getting
/ the ship back TO Hawaii with war
supplies.
Ships have taken machinery in
TO South American coffee ports,
then sailed empty-nOt back to
the United States, but to other
South American ports to pick up
manganese or chrome ores. rub
her or hides. oils and the like.
Ships have sailed empty from
Australian ports, but they have re-
turned by way of Chile, picking up
cooper or nitrates, before return
ing to the United States.
And so on.
Control over ship movements
and what vessel haulS what, when
! and where is fOur-headed mon
Ster now controlled by the Depart
ment of State, the War Production
Board. the Board of Economic War
fare. and the War Shipping .Ad-
ministratiOn. Their Job is admit
tedly intricate and mistakes have
no doubt been made.
In the first place, Board of
Economic Warfare decides what
can be exported from the cOun-
try, and buys the materials which
are imported for the government
war program.
WPB decides what should be i'm
ported, and has set up list OF some
200 items essential for war produ2-
ton, assigning a priority rating to
each one from Al down. Roughly,
the rule is that no item can be i'm
ported if there is available for i'm
port a cargo of higher rating. Most
ores and rubbers. for instance, rank
! above coffee and sugar
US. consular agents Of the De-
partment of State, working with
lew, VISA. and WPB. maintain
an available cargo reporting service
in all ports open to us. shipping.
AS these reports are received in
Washington. they are given TO War
I Shipping Administration. which as
signs the vessels TO runs and tells
/ them what loads to pick up.
VISA was set uD last February,
and is hea led by Lewis w. Doug
las, former director of the budget.
tf ne thought Re had troubles
then, he can honestly console
bimself with the thought that
they were nothing to the trOu-
hIes he has now.
Every ship under the US. flag is
/ now under VISA control and its
/ division Of operations must know
not only where every one of these
ships is. but where it is going and
| q hat for