The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-11-30
SEATTLE IS CUT GUY IN
 SHIP CASE
Chester, Governor Make Plans for New Move
 ment, Food Supplies

|, SEATTLE, Nov. 3o.-Reief ships | for food-short Alaska will be loaded
 at Portland, Oregon, instead ot Seattle as a result of dispute be-
 tween Seattle waterfront employers and maritime unions over the mum Der Of vessels to be cleared from strikebound Puget Sound ports for the Northland Seattle now loses it's ! headquarters for Alaska relief ships ; It. Comdr E. P. Chester, Jr. Aide ! to Alaskas Governor, announced i the switch here last night and told linterviewers, T feel the blame for failure of our program lies square i ly in the lap of the waterfront em-
 ployers who voted down the first adequate relief plan we were able to devise"
 ! Taking the 820 a. m train for , Portland today, Chester announced that two 10,000-ton Liberty ships 1 would be loaded there to call at Ketchikan, Juneau, Seward, Cor dova, Valdez. Kodiak and other ports with dock facilities capable of handling large freiehters. Alaakans Fed ID" i He told newsmen .aa. Alaskans were fed up" with Seattle after months of maritime labor hickering and Alaska will look for other
 trade routes in the future.
 This igee,it syikc was t'ss lasf straw in a long series of shipping delays" he said. When your belt gets tight enough. you've got to look elsewhere for supplies
 We Alaskans cant understand why the waterfront employers arc still trying to use the Alaska re- lief situation as wedge in break ing the strike, Chester said The AFL Marine Trades Council. the Chamber of Commerce and Mayor William F. Devin all approved five ship relief plan. with some of the vessels sailing from Tacoma.
 Then Ringenberg (M. G. Ring enberg, head of the Washington Waterfront Employers telephoned me last night and said we might as well move activities to Portland Well, we moved
 Ringenberg was not available for comment today and friends reported the had gone to Portland. Smoke Screen Ed Coester President of the Ma rine Trades Council, said the qucs- i ticn of a possible jurisdictional dis pute with Tacoma workers, raised by the waterfront employers. was a , smoke screen" AFL -longshcremen swcrk Tacoma ships and CIO-long- shoremen work here.
 Our plan called for loading three ships in Tacoma and two in Seattle simultaneously" Coester declaltd I'm convinced the CIO would agree to the suggested relief program.
 He said he called AFL-Marirc
 unions in Portland today to re- quest their cooperation with Chest CT in the Alaska relisf program They assured me of their 100 per cent cooperation. he added. Orders From Governor His transfer of the relief shipping program to the Oregon port was carried out on telephonic instruc- tions from Alaska's Governor in
 Washington, D. C., mot to waste any more time in Seattle i Chester also said that Alaskan merchants in Seattle buying supplies for relief shipments undoubtedly will make their purchases in Portland i hcnceforth.
 l An impasse was reached yesterday when the Waterfront Employers
 Association offered to grant wage increases to striking members oi ! the Checkers and Foremens union for loading two relief ships in Seattl,
 but declined to permit three union cleared vessels to be loaded in Ia coma
 The Association said it feared jur-
 isdictional trouble would develop be- l tween CIO and AFL waterfront en-
 ployees by transferring Seattle cargo
 to Tacoma The AFL controls Ia coma dock work while longshoremen
 here are CIO
 Chester's statement last night ac-
 cused the Employers Association of
 restricting the emergency program
 after it had been accepted by all
 others concerned
 We are fully aware there is much
 more at stake than merely the cash business involved; such priceless
 values as goodwill and friendship,
 he said
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