The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-09-23
 Modeon$ $500 Investment
 Government Left
 At Mercy of Group,
 Casey Testifies

(UP)-One of 19 shipbuild- ing companies whose wartime profits are under investiga- tion made S2,080,000 on a $500 investment, the House Merchant Marine Committee was told today.
 The St. Johns River Ship building Corp, was named as the profting firm by Commit tee Counsel Marvin Coles as the group opened an investi- gation of wartime shipbuilding profits.
 Coles also said that the Henry J. Kaiser group earned fees and profits totaling $192 ,237 ,284 from the opera ton of Government-built yards.
 Commission Under Fire
 The St. Johns firm, he said, ac- tually made capital investment Of only $500 while the Government in- vested $16,029,11 in facilities.
 All of the 19 companies under investigation earned an estimated total profit of $356,006,612 on a capital investment of only $22,979.- 275. The facilities which these conn., panies operated cost the Govern ment S424, ,25O, ,694.
 Coles said the figures were SUD- piled by the Maritime Commission, which came under fire from one of the first witnesses-Ralph E. Casey, attorney for the General Account ing Office.
 Casey said that in many cases the commission relied on contract- ors' figures to make decisions about profits.
 Few Accumulate Huge Sums
 Denouncing contract practices of wartime Shipbuilders, Casey said that never before have 50 few men made so much money with so little risk-and all at the expense of tax payers not only of this generation but of generations to come"
 Casey charged that shipbuilding frequently changed a contract in the midst of an operation, leaving the GAO, with no way of checking on profits. He said this practice left the Government "at the mercy of a handful of individuals in transac- tions involving hundreds of millions of dollars"
 Coles said some of the profit fig ureS he listed were before renego- tiation.
 This committees basic problem, he said, lis to determine whether or not, under all the circumstances in- volved, these profits and fees were reasonable or whether they consti- tuted unreasonable fees and profi- teering."
 Kaiser's Six Investigated
 Coles said that while the nations industry is entitled to reasonable profit even in wartime "unreason- able wartime profits and war profi- teering must be condemned"
 Of the 19 companies, six are in the so-called Kaiser group. Henry J. Kaiser, head of the great industrial empire which bears his name, sat in the jam-packed committee room waiting to testify.
 Coles introduced into the record these figures on fees and profits earned by the shipyard operators:
 Barrett & Hit Shipyards-Facil- ities cost $2,430,833, company's cap- ital investment $3,611 ,664, estimated profits $874, ,636; Bethlehem Fairfield ShipyardS, Inc.-Facihties $31,3O3.- 7l8, investment $1,000,OO0, profits S53,906, ,980; Consolidated Steel Corp, Ltd, SIS, 32,308, $6,396,011, 16,445,- 861; Delta Shipbuilding Co. Inc $12,S04,009, $750, 900, $12,171,8 ,811; East Coast Shipyards, Inc-$31 ,313, TAP, $143, 800, S800,000.
 J. A. Jones Construction Co.,, Inc. Brunswick Yard and Panama City YarO-$27, TAG, 759, $2,000,O00, $9,O26,- 38S; Marineship-$16,43 1885, $500, ,o00 Sl1,871, ,84; New England Shipbuild- ing Corp. - S23, ,233, TAO, S1,02s, 900, $11,097,112; North Carolina Ship building Corp.-S20,3 ,360, PAS, $3,OOO.- 900, S27, ,645 ,029; St. Johns River Shipbuilding Corp.-$16,029, ,112, $500, $2,080,000l Southeastern Shipbuild- ing Corp.-S11, ,078,522, $500, ,OO0, $3.- 4oO,OOOs AOOO-I1OuSUO1 SO11IDUllllQlIlR Corp.-$14,1 ,008, S689, 200, $1S,678,- 303.
 The Kaiser group:
 California Shipbuilding Corp.- facilities $25,213,117, $60o,000, invest. ment profits $44,423,014
 Kaiser Co.,, c-Facilities for Portland Yard $26,509,879 for Rich- mond Yard No. $53, ,381 ,944, and for Vancouver Yard, S34, ,920 SIT; Kaiser's capital investment in the three yards totaled S1O0.0O0; estimated profits in each yard, respectively. $23, ,939.715. $6,185 ,O00 and $13,632,3l1.
 Kaiser Cargo, facilities $1 1923, SIT, investment $500,000 profits $1 ,345 900
 Oregon Shipbuilding Corp-$22,- 684, ,157, $550,oO0, $40, ,930,564.
 Permanente Metals Corp.-$35,- 31o,231, $460, 900, $58,840, 1885.
 Walsh-Kaiser Co.,, Inc.-$25, ,047,- 253, $3O0,00O and $3,050,,7
 The list also showed that Mo- Closkey & O., invested $750,000 in its San Jacinto and Tampa yards while the Government spent $10,- 860, ,955 for facilities. The company's profits totaled $1,036, ,368.
 Kaiser is scheduled to testify to-