Evening star., 1949-04-07
Ship Shortage Seen
For Student Trips 10
Europe This Summer

Several thousand American stu
dents who have made plans to
travel in Europe this summer may
be disappointed, unless the Gov
ernment takes action to provide
them with berths at price they
can pay. ..
This was the opinion Of legisla-
tors, officials from the Maritime
Commission. shipping lines. travel
agent associations and the Com
merce Department. and of the
students themselves who testified
at a hearing this week before the
Senate Interstate and Foreign
Commerce Committee.
The committee was conducting
a hearing on a bill to provide
shipping space for students in
troduced last month by Senator
Flanders, Republican, of Vermont.
The committee heard from SEN
ator Flanders on his proposal, but
also went exhaustively into the
prospects Of summer travel for
American students.
1900 Seek Passage.
The picture, briefly, is this:
Students have been applying for
summer trips to Europe in ever
increasing numbers since the war.
The number who want to go this
summer is variously estimated by
Government officials, travel agents
and student travel organizations
at up to 1900.
According to statements made
by Admiral w. w. Smith of the
Maritime Commission at yester-
days hearing, there are enough
ships with low rates and definite
student priorities to accommodate
3,700 Of them from here to Eu-
rope. and $500 on the return
voyage.
These ships CONSIST Of two CA
type transports. recently chartered
by the Maritime Commission to
the United States Lines for stu
dent use. and the liner Volendam,
which has been made available by
the Ho1fand-Ainerican Lines.
AS demands for summer travel
poured In ard no more ships be-
came availa ole, the pressure for
some kind OF congressional action
In the matter started to grow.
Asks Use of Laid Up Ships.
Senator Flanders bill asks that
the President be requested to pro-
vide for the return to active serv-
Ice Of as many 1aid-up merchant
vessels as necessary to carry the
student traffic "at rates rejecting
costs to the United States" Sen
ator Flanders estimates the num-
ber Of students conservatively at
$500.
The bill also suggests that the
ships be used on return voyages
in the spring to transport dis
placed persons from Europe to the
United States.
The main question about Sena-
tor Flanders proposal at yester-
days hearing is whether he plans
to have these ships run by the
Army or chartered to private pas
senger lines.
The Senator himself said the
bill Is not specific about this. But
he urged its passage on the
grounds that it would provide q
threat of Government competi-
ton" to the shipping companies
and encourage their interest in
providing an adequate student
ship program.
Student Rates Held Too High.
In general the witnesses, in
cluding two students from the
Massachusetts, Institute Of Tech
nology. opposed the idea Of Gov
ernment-operated passenger serv-
ice. One of them, Earl Eanes. also
charged that present rates on stu
dent ships are too high to meet
the average students budget.
He said that the lowest rate now
for one-way passage lis SITS
which is $40 more than rates
charged for third-class passage on
the Queen Mary. He added that
1t is impossible for most students
to get passage on the Queen Mary,
which has no passenger priority
system.