Evening star., 1947-07-06

III
worlds shipbuilding race. Wnlle tne
ships being built for the united
Fruit Lines.
Maritime Commission offlcials said
IS of their ships are tied up in the
strike, in addition to at least 100
more under repair and construction
for private firms.
The Maritime Commission is
actually caught in the unenvlsoie
position of being faced with job
that can be done only with money.
but without enough money to DO 1t.
It must worry about the condition
of our merchant marine in case OF
another war-a lesson 1t learned
bitterly in 1910. After the First
World War ship construction de-
creased so that during one year only
two ships were built in the whole
Nation. Consequently the outbreak
Of war in 1899 found us with
merchant feet almost completely
obsolete.
Nonetheless important is the bus1-
ness of maintaining an active mer-
chant fleet under the American nag
control for contact with countries
without sufficient ships of their own.
In case of foreign war we may And
ourselves with the supply Of vital
commodity completely cut of.
Almost as important Is the Mari
time Commissions concern for
domestic shippers. Rising costs and
the increasingly strong competitive
position of railroads had brought
many of them face to face with
bankruptcy in 194l, 1t was those
ships that were pressed into Inn
mediate action on the war fronts
in the dangerous early days. A
major portion of them were sunk.
At the end of the war their oper-
ators served notice they would be
unable to resume operation unless
action were taken to give them at
least an even break with the rail-
road rates.
Advisory Group Active
Admiral Smith has agreed with
the shippers and requested the In
terstate Commerce Commission to
take action in adjusting railroad
rates.
It was all Of these factors. plus
the lack of a long term postwar
policy on the merchant marine.
that prompted President Truman
to appoint a special advisory
committee on the merchant marine
last February, headed by Kent r.
Keller, president of the Chrysler
Corp. OF Detroit.
The committee also had as mem
bers Marion B. Folsom, president
of the Eastman Kodak Co.; Andrew
w. Robertson, chairman of tho
board OF the Western Electric &
Manufacturing Co.. OF Pittsburgh;
James G. Black. president of ths
Pacific Gas e. Electric Co. of San
Francisco, and Vice Admiral Ed
ward L. Cochrane. former chief OF
the Bureau of Ships of the Navy
Department and president Of the
Society of Naval Architects and
Marine Engineers.
Last week the committee met
here to conclude its scheduled
hearings and set their next meet
ing in August in San Francisco. 1t
has been reported that the commit
tee considers issuing preliminary
report within the next two or three
months.
Layoffs We're Due
Bethlehem and the other Eastern
builders are as conscious of these
obstacles to a continuous ship con-
struction program as the Mari
time Commission. A spokesman st
Sparrows Point admitted, in fact,
that no new construction was in
sight after the completion of the
fruit boats and a single tanker for
the Gulf Oil Co.
A Maritime Commission official
predicted that the Eastern yards. in
view of the bleak future for the
next few months. may well let the
strikers stew in their own Juice"
Some of the yards have been
worrying about how to lay of crews
for which they already are out Of
work. he said. Now the strike Is
doing it for them"
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports $4,000 workers in private
American shipyards as of the first
Of May. A little more than 100000
of these are on the Atlantic Coast.
About 10000 are on the West Coast.
and the remainder on the Gulf
Coast and the Great Lakes yards.
Traditionally the CIO union has
controlled the East Coast and the
AFL International Brotherhood Of
Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and
Helpers has been in control of the
West Coast. Both have considerable
memberships on the Gulf Coast and
Great Lakes.
Struggle Ahead
The AFL group had no real
trouble in its contract negotiations
last month. Western builders and
shippers are racing with each other
and shippers of other nations for
the half million tons yearly once
carried in Japanese bottoms. There
was too much at stake for builders
and shippers alike to allow strike
now
So the eastern union has been
almost forced into its action In the
face Of the refusal of the builders
to make a counter proposal Of
wage increases.
Whatever their arguments about
the rising costs, the builders are in