The Wrangell sentinel., 1947-11-14

hearings as consultant for the AL aska Development Board.
 Alaska has had it's long deferred day i'll Ourt" to protest steamship rates which went into effect last May 21. Since the rates on freight represented an increase of 66 per cent over those in effect before the war, the Territory had requested hearing last spring as soon as the tariffs were filed, but the United States Maritime Commission had refused to suspend the tariffs al that time or to permit a hearing until the one which has just been concluded at Seattle.
 The carriers who are respond ents in the case and whose ratesI are at issue are the Alaska Steam ship Company, the Nothland Transportation Company and the Alaska Transportation Company All were represented by able cOun- sel who demonstrated that the companies had made careful prepar- alton for the hearing Similarly, the Territory was most ably repre- sented by Attorney General Ralph J. Rivers and the special rate at torney, Malcolm D. Miller of Wash ingtoG, D. C., who had been re- tained under a special appropria- tion voted for the purpose by the l947 legislature Donald J. o. Conner, a former oPA price exc cutive at Juneau and now econom- ist in private practice at Washing tho, D. C., served as the Territory's chief witness.
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 In addition to the main issue be- tween the three carriers on the one hand and the Territory on the other over the level of rates, there were a number of interesting and significant side skirmishes One of these was a set-to between the car riers and the maritime unions, who sent representatives to a rate case for the first time to maintain that Labor is not to blame for every thing that goes wrong on the waterfront and that the companies themselves are guilty of highly wasteful and inefficient operations. They said they were tired of being made scapegoats by the operators Another battle which cropped up repeatedly throughout the hearing was that between the Alaska Transportation Company and Alas ka Steam and Northalnd. The smaller conern has filed a petition charging Northland with having violated the interim contract un- der which the three companies are operating vessels to Alaska.
 The salmon industry appeared to oppose a contention by the Terri tory that cannery cargo was fav- ored by preferential low rates as compared with those on town freight. The mining interests were there to see that rates on commod- itieS and to areas in which they are interested got suitable atten- ton.
 It was obvious from the begin ming that the Maritime Commits sion was feeling somewhat uneasy about the way in which the inter- i'm shipping program for Alaska had been administered. The Com mission is under fire in Congress on several scores and Rep. Alvin E. Weichel of Ohio, Chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine, has been ondemning the Commission particularly on the Al aska issue.
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 Gilbert W. Skinner, President of the Alaska Steamship Company, explained that all the capital stock of the Alaska Steamship Company has since 1914 been own ed by Skinner & Eddy Corpora tion, of whose stock he owns 55 per cent, with the balance being principally in the Skinner and Ed dy families. He said that salmon brokerage was the main business of the corporation. Skinner admit ted also that he was one of three partners in the Northland Trans. portation Company, and others be- ing his son, David Skinner and II. G. Anderson. Each of the men owns one-third of the company. Anderson is also Vice-President of the Skinner & Eddy Corporation. Skinner said that he owned about three per cent of the stock of the Alaska Pacific Salmon Company and that this was his only inter- est in salmon canneries in the Ter ritory. Later he admitted that the Skinner & Eddy Corporation also had some stock in Alaska Pacific
 Albert E. Stephan, attorney for the Alaska Transportation Com