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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1922)
THE MORNING OREGONIAN, TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1933 SHIPPING INTERESTS, OFFER CONVINCING ARGUMENTS BEFORE SHIPPING BOARD COMMITTEE AGAINST ENFORCING ' MERCHANT MARINE LAW SECTION. - A 1 -w& INTERESTS ACCUSED TV',-' ' '-'v. , George E, Chamberlain Says :Trouble Is Being Made. $1725 i '4 FORE 1 II SHIPPING B0RD BACKED Ej-Senator Blames Japanese and British and Declares Xaval Iiimitation Pact Mistake. Charges that English and Jap anese interasts are fomenting trou ble in the United States, .with a view of embarrassing and crippling the American merchant marine, were made yesterday at the lunch eon of the members' forum of the Chamber of Commerce by George E.- Chamberlain. ex-United States , senator from Oregon and now a .member of the United States ship ping board. An open attack on the Washing ton conference and the "5-5-3" agreement also were contained in Mr. Chamberlain's address. Eng land, he-said, won complete mastery- Of the -sea when tne, aiiieu biu tnen at Washington adopted the Arms 'limitation programme. Senator Chamberlain's address .was fiery and patriotic. He spoke to defense of the American mer chant marine and the shipping tvoard,. scored "those. Americans who ld, business wlthi foreign shipping .oompanles because of lower rates, end called on his audience to sup port a programme that would put the American flag in its rightful , place- oarthtr high -seas. ' BtoreigifcJiiterestsv Blamed. Xxm-not-attacklng Great Britain, pecan se m axe. the- descendants of the English people, but I speak as an American who wants to see the American flag in its rightful place-on theeeven seas," said Mr. Chamberlain. "We have had trou 11b here in Portland and; in other ports. That trouble has been ad iiuBted. But scratch the backs of those who are-causing mis irouuio and .you will find invariably that they are the representatives of British and Japanese Interests. "England, as a result of the dis armament agreement, is the com plete mistress of the eas. Of aljt the ships of a tonnage of more than 2000 and capable of a speed of -more than 22 knots, we own 22 per cent and. Britain owns the remainder. By arming her great liners she Could wipe the American merchant marine off the sea whenever she chose. No wonder that British Statesmen, smiled -when "they-signed the agreement." 1 f Ex-Senator Wildly Applauded. The ex-senator's ottefances were greeted with storms of applause. The conventional hand -clapping gave way to crtas of "Go on, George," and the rrfain dining hall, filled with one of the largest crowds in its history, echoed back the spon taneous enthusiasm of the audience; Following the routine Introduc tion of new members, Admiral W. S. Benson, chairman of the shipping board, was presented to the mem bers. The admiral discussed Port land, its port, its beauty and its roads. He declared that the great shipping problems of the future lay on Ahe Pacific, and that the develop ment of the local harbor showed that Portland was prepared to meet the problem. he admiral stressed the fact that the shipping Industry required ex ecutives with a different line of knowledge than is acquired in other professions; that Its problems are international and not domestic, that a. ship on leaving a harbor im mediately enters into close compe tition with foreign interests and that America, unfortunately, does not possess a trained class of ship ping executives. Merchant Marine Vital. Admiral Benson spoke in behalf of merchant marine legislation and outlined the difficulties confronting the shipping board. Meyer Lissner, Los Angeles' repre sentative on the board, spoke next. Mr. Lissner's remarks paralleled those by Admiral Benson. He dwelt otf the necessity of a merchant ma rine, the difficulty of securing trained men to direct the energies ofthe American fleet, the. necessity of- creating a better balanced fleet with fast freighters, passenger and refrigerator ships. ..When Mr. Chamberlain took the floor at the close of Mr. Lissner's address, he was greeted witX pro longed applause. He began by il lustnating trie difficulties that con front the shipping board and the many baseless charges of favoritism made by every port in America. The board, he declared, tried to be fair with all ports, favoritism was not a part of its programme and Portland was receiving as fair a deal as any city in America. . Board Hampered by Congress. The speaker related more of the difficulties that arise between con gress and the shipping board. Ad miral Benson, he said, was the only member who had previous expe rlence in shipping. In order prop erly to direct the American mer chant marine, the board had reached out and engaged experienced men from private corporations, paying them salaries commensurate with their abilities. Congress immediate ly cut these salaries and it was only the patriotism of the men that kept them with the board. Then the speaker began his at tack on foreign trouble-makers. After he had charged English and Japanese interests with causing ma rine troubles, he opened his attack on the Washington conference. He said: s l do not favor war and I am in.' favor of anything that will pre vent war but go back to the be ginning of time and voir- will find that wars always have existed. As long as greed fills men's hearts, we will have wars. a ""Historic Humiliation Recalled. "We practically disarmed .after the revolutionary war. In 1783 congress gave the remnants of our navy to the king or France. You know what happened. The little state of Algiers seized two of our ships and cast 150 of our seamen istui . prison. We made a dishonor able treaty with that little state, paying $1,000,000 in ransom for our sailors. Other powers on the Bar- bary coast followed suit and levied tribute against us, an unarmed nation. "A few years later we engaged in a fwo years' naval engagement with . France. Then came the war of 1812. Congress did appropriate a little money to build a fleet, but it twas the American merchant ma rine that kept cue. flag on the seas." The attack veered to Britain and the speaker gave his opinion of the victory that England had won In the "p-5-8" agreement A plefolIowed for united sup- 7 I L Scene in federal court. Seated on port of a merchant marine that would keep the American flag on the seas and act as a proper aux iliary to the fleet in time of war. The senator concluded his re marks by reading statistics purport ing to show that Portland had not been discriminated against, that American ships were not the only idle ships, and that every maritime nation was suffering as a result of depression in the shipping industry. During 1921 lines operating out of Portland lost $350,000, the senator said. For the present year losses per voyage run from $1940 to $13,369. Seattle lines are losing more, he declared, though at the time the passenger steamer lines were started out of Seattle business was good and money was being made by op erators. Since that time a slump has struck, the shipping industry, and Seattle lines now are losing more than those of Portland. FOREIGN SHIPS ARE FEN SECTIOX 28 OF MERCHANT MARINE ACT FOUGHT. American Service Is Declared Needed to Carry Goods Han dled by Port. (Contlnqed From First Page.) some foreign lines. He explained that the position of Portland was that it was entitled to have its passenger requirements considered by the board in determining the adequacy of service mentioned as to section 28. 'We have the local population, extensive railroad service and busi ness with the orient, so we cannot accept the decree that -Sassenger service from Portland with chipping board vessels is not to be," said Mr. Dodson. "We have no fast service with the heavy commodity type of ships, yet it is vital to the district and to the United States that we SAMENT POINTS YS POBT iLAJiD'S CASE AGAINST SECTION 28 AS PRE- -SENTED YESTER DAY. Existing shipping board serv- , ice held inadequate with one sailing a month to orient. Three sailings declared nec essary. Fast combined freight and passenger service advo cated. Lack of facilities here com pel shippers to book flour for new season on steamers plying from Puget eound. San Fran- -Cisco and Puget sound) have three shipping board vessels sailing each month, with Los Angeles one every 20 days, the Portland schedule being monthly.'' Application' of section 28 as to westbound rates would drive vessels from Pacific to Atlantic trade is foreseen, and committee is reminded that sentiment is opposed in other districts as well. Witness would repeal act, and points out other laws pro hibit discrimination against any port. Law declared to have been framed as club originally. Question whether interstate commerce commission would accept certification as to ade quacy of service without mak ing own investigation. have that type. As a result we get no appreciable part of the oriental mail or express business, sucn as silk, which is attractive." There were 13 commodities of the class embraced in the list of freight which speedy and frequent service were held to control, not alone be cause of the early delivery," but as well the insurance feature. "I think the board needs no other figures than the record for the last two years, yet in spite of the show ing we are losing rapidly, as we are down to four steamers in tne orien tal fleet of the board, the service having . fallen from 11 carriers,' Mr. Dodson. Foreign fleets have climbed both in the number of ships and of heavy commodity types. So there is an inadequacy of service for the character of cargo offering here, and as to the orient, the serv ice does not approach adequacy." In presenting a brief Mr. Teal said the tariffs mentioned in con nection with section 28 were not import and export rates, but equali zation rates, and that they have no relation to domestic rates, having been made to give the railroads a haul on trans-ocean business. Enforcement Is Opposed. - He said the enforcement of section 28, at least as regards westbound rates, would force foreign vessels out of the Pacific trade and into the Atlantic. From 76 to 80 per cent of traffic to be affected originates at Chicago and eastward, he said, so the natural outlet is the Atlantic One favorable expression as to section 28 came from R. D. Pinneo, traffic manager of the Port of Astoria, who read a communication to the committee. In which he said: "We have always advocated sec HmMeMMMMW SmiilUUMaHi bench Meyer "Limner, George E. Chamberlain and Admiral W. S. Benson. presentation on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. tion 28 and, at the proper time, its application, unless something more effective could be brought forth for the protection of American ship ping. My idea is that section 28,. which is the only weapon ever pro vided by congress that could be used to equalize the advantage of foreign ships, he invoked on the Pacific coast at this time and that there are ample American ships to handle with dispatch all business affected by it. The success of the applica tion would depend entirely on the strict enforcement of all co-ordinate legislation and the co-ordination of all government commissions so they would all work together in a broad way, for if the interstate commerce commission used Its avowed powers to protect all rail roads in the United States, including those ' owned by foreign interests, and the great transcontinental rail roads would refuse to grant differ entials wide enough to meet foreign ship competition, the American merchant marine would dwindle to nothing in ashort time." - New Act Is Praised. Mr. ' Pinneo continued that he regarded the new merchant marine act of 1922 as offering the best solution to provide aid in meeting foreign competition. Mr. Mann said the question of adequate facilities at Portland had not been fully discussed as reports showed local tonnage far exceeded the interstate business on which import and export rates would apply. He said facilities must be adequate to carry all, not alone the preferential freight. "It seems to me you must consider all business of the port and the relation of alt ports to foreign business," he said. "I cannot see from arguments pre sented here today why foreign ships would hesitate to come should sec tion 28 be in effect, any more than in the past, since there is nothing moving here under the preferential rate," observed Admiral Benson. ArlBhborinjt Ports Used. 'Tour board, in declining to take low-grade freight here, says it is unremunerative and that forces us to send it to neighboring ports that answers your question," interposed Mr. Dodson. "Isn't it inevitable, in the face of that, that we are to struggle along as a slow-freight port?" Chairman Chamberlain said he was trying to find out if the establish ment of a fast passenger line from Portland would build up new busi ness here or serve to take away business from Puget sound and San FTancisco, where "they are already losing money." Admiral Benson said he was one who had much to do with the assignment of passenger ships and that Puget sound was re garded ag a strategical location for such a line as far as the northwest figured. He said b.e thought that was the best way to' start In serving the seeds of the great northwest. As to the. south, he said Los An geles was seriously considered as against San Francisco. Increased Service Sought. Frank L. Shull, of the Portland Flouring Mills company, testified as to efforts during the last few days to have the shipping board service to the orient increased, telegrams being sent to Washington. He said much space had been booked on ves sels from Puget sound because of Inability to get space here and, that already three to four times as much flour has been booked there for shipment, than wa closed for by his company'at Portland. He said Port land should have at least three ships a month and preferably faster ones than were operated. Mr. Ganong said Kerr, Gilford & Co. - had . refused oriental business only yesterday because of lack of space. "I think it is a shame that Portland is so discriminated against," he Bald. There are ships tied up here, yet we cannot get space on those operating and it is coming on the busy season with the orient and there will probably be a big increase this year." William H. Payne of the Pacific Export Lumber company, also told of difficulties In getting space for parcel shipments of lumber. Mr. Moser made the closing ar gument for the port bodies and in a foref ul way accentuated important points that had been taken up. The morning session was de Headqrmrte r'fe for Oregonians while in Port land. Smpenal iotel Manager . voted to presentation of data and j briefs on behalf of the commission of public docks and Port of Port land commission and discussion at different stages of the presentation, which was made by Manager Hud son of the joint traffic bureau." Chairman Chamberlain announced at the outset the purpose of the hearing, saying the sub-committee of the shipping board was ap pointed to conduct hearings On the Atlantic side, in the gulf region and on the Pacific coast to ascer tain if there were sufficient Ameri can documented ships serving ports on those shores, and that the hear ing was subject to provisions of section 28 of the merchant marine act, also known as the Jones act. Later Chairman Chamberlain re iterated that the hearing had to do with- all ships documented under the American flag, not being re stricted to shipping board carriers alone. At one point In the presentation it was sot lorth that the shipping board service from San Francisco and Puget sound to oriental ports was three sailings a month from each, Los Angeles having a sailing every 20 days and Portland one ship eveTy 30 days; also that the Columbia Pacific Shipping com pany, operating government vessels at Portland," had dispatched 1 steamers across the Pacific since January 1, 1922, representing . deadweight capacity of 125.4&0 tons, while the entire amount of cargo sent to the orient in the same time was 495,353 tons. Some Questions Raised. Mr. La Roche raised a question as to whether, in indicating that the 14 steamers mentioned had an actual deadweight of 125,400 tons, there had been subtracted, the dif ference represented in fuel oil and other capacity for supplies, which, it was said, had not been taken into consideration. Allowing 10O0 tons ior each steamer, that reduced the total handled by shipping board vessels in the six months to 115,000 tons, leaving more than 380,000 tons taken care of In foreign bottoms. Mr. mann asked for data on. im ports and exports at Portland, in cluding shipments originating in local territory as well as bevond transcontinental lines. About that time a discussion was precipitated involving adequacy of shipping ooara tonnage available here at Umes, and it was declared tha.t business had been drawn to Puget sound from Portland, also. It was said, because of lower rates in some instances quoted on shipping board steamers from . the northern har bor. . Admiral Benson asked to what extent rates had influenced condi tions on the Pacific and how such preponderance of cargo had moved westward via foreign lines or tramp steamers. The reply was that such influence had not been material. Admiral Benson asked if MELACHRINO -The One Cigarette Sold the World Over .. : f: Standing; J. N. Teal, making the shipping board had not allocated sufficient tonnasre to meet reauire ments, as Mr. Hudson said ifad been the case several times. As to rates, it was held that the shipping board should meet competitive rates to get the business, which brought from the committee the declaration that the board coujd not afford to shoulder such heavy losses as would often follow. Local Investment Cited. Mr. Hudson drew attention to the investment of public monev in the river and harbor to the extent of $17,000,000 and said the loss to tax payers would be considerable if they could not take advantage of the service of foreign vessels. "If the shipping board Is breaking even here and losing on Puget sound and at San Francisco, we want to know it, said Chairman Ciamber laJn. "It is true that Puget sound losses on shipping board vessels reaches , large amount, but taking into consideration the time' when they made money and comparing it with the present, they are breaking even. Portland took up the opera tion of shipping board tonnage after the period when considerable money had been made on Puget sound and our figures show the loss in 1921 here was $312,360, which does not include figures on five voyages and in 1922 so far, not taking into con sideration figures on six voyages, the loss has been $45,346.17. It has been said the shipping board is dis criminating against Portland, and if it is we want to know it. The rea son I say this is because I read be lt tween the lines in thia presentation that we are discriminating and we, want to correct that." Mr. Lissner asked if the data as to ship losses took into considera tion also depreciation, interest and insurance, and it was said it did not. so he replied that an additional deficit of about 18 per cent must be included in the calculations. Mr. Lissner remarked that it ap peared to him from the statistics given that the preferential rate cargo, such as would be effected by the application of section 28, was already being taken care of on ship ping board steamers so that the sec tion would not operate to the detri ment of the port. Mr. Teal directed attention to the fact that silk from the orient moves on fast vessels, also tea, not being carried on slow freighters, and asked how the service could be held adaquate or not to be affected by section 28 when the port has no such facilities as fast combined passenger and freight carriers. 20 Statements Embraced. The presentation on behalf of the dock and port . commission em braced, in addition to the brief, 20 statements' in which were embod ied comparisons on import andi ex port commodity rates moving via Atlantic and gulf ports as against Pacific ports, tonnage subject to im port and export transcontinental rail rates, passing through the port for two and a half years as-handled MAN is marked by his manners and desires to smoke Melachrino Cigarettes has always been an evi' dence of refined taste a signofsuperiorjudgment MELACHRINO Ggarettes body an unusual selection of the rarest and most delicate of Turkish tobaccos obminable only by Mela chrino, and shared by no other cigarette in the world. on all vessels, cargo moved by all classes of vessels to the Atlantic seaboard and foreign lands, also ex ports from' Portland under the American flag other than shipping board steamers. It also touched on foreign exports on all vessels from here with the percentage of increase In, two years and the lumber move ments via various railroads reaching Portland; the interchange of traffic between Atlantic and gulf ports to the orient, Panama canal business with reference to the . same trade, the movement of rubber, cotton goods, sailing schedules of the gov ernment and' privately owned fleets, backed by nine exhibits in the way of maps, annual reports of the har bor bodies and railroad tariffs. The compilation had been under way during the last few weeKs. There was a history of the Columbia river project on which the army engineers had directed expenditures at the entrance up to May, 1922, of $15,886,535.96, to which the ports of Astoria and Portland had contributed $500,000, of that $475,000 being from Portland. Also, it was said that want: FOR RAILROAD These men are wanted .to take the place of men who are striking against the decision of the United States Railroad Labor Board, and their status, and the FULL PROTECTION GUARANTEED, are . explained by Mr. Ben W. Hooper, Chairman, in his statement of July 1: ' "In this case the conflict is not between the employer and the oppressed employes. The people of this country, through an act of. congress, signed by President Wilson, established a tribunal to decide such disputes over wages and -working conditions, which - are submitted to it'in a proper manner. It is the decision of this tribunal against which the shop crafts are striking. "Regardless of any question of the right of the men to strike, the men who take the strikers places are merely accepting the wages and working conditions prescribed ' , by a government tribunal and are performing a public service. They are not accept ing the wages and working conditions which an employer is trying to impose. FOR THIS REASON PUBLIC SENTIMENT AND FULL GOVERNMENT POWER WILL PROTECT THE MEN WHO REMAIN IN THEIR POSITIONS AND THE NEW MEN WHO MAY COME IN." Apply ' W. J. HANLON, , 410 Wells-Fargo Building, Portland, Qregon or A. C. MOORE, 513 Oregon Bldg., or Superintendent's Office, Room 29 Union Station Until you ride in it yourself, you cannot possibly realize how remarkable the good Max well is in its riding qualities. Cord tires, non-skid front and rear; disc steel wheels, demountable at rim and at hub; drum type lamps; Alemite lubrication; motor driven electric horn; unusually long springs. Prices F. 0. B. Portland: Touring Car, $1060; Roadster, $1060; Coupe, $1625; Sedan, $1725. Covey .Motor Car Washington at 21st Broadway 6244 $6,433,469.51 had been spent In the channel above the estuary by the government, while $24,319.82 had been contributed besides. The work was carried on In the river proper with the co-operation of the Port of Portland commission and that the latter body, in that work as well as in the property maintained for channel work, tow ing, pilotage service, drydocks and the like. $8,188,706.40 had been ex pended between 1891 and the open ing of 1922, the funds being all from the taxpayers of the port district. ' As to the commission of public docks, it was shown that during 11 years it has been in existence in the construction and operation of terminal properties, which the ship ping board commissioners are to inspect today, a total of $9,630,154.17 had been spent up to November 30, 1921, with an additional sum of $1,124,352.63 for the new 15,000-ton drydock. Dry Law Offenders Fined. ROSEBURG. Or.. July 10.-(Sl)e- cial.) Earl Rowe and John Falr- UNION PACIFIC SYSTEM hofm: SERVICE AND AT WAGES AS FOLLOWS: Machinists .......70 cents per hour Boilermakers . .71 cents per hour Blacksmiths 70 cents per hour Electricians ....10 cents per hour Sheet metal and other workers in this line .... . 70 cents per hour Freight car repairers ....63 cents per hour Car inspectors 63 cents per hour Painters, freight cars.... 63 cents per hour Helpers, all crafts ........ ..47 cents per hour Co. childs, jSroprletors of a pool hall at Reedsport, today paid fines of $300 each in the Roseburg Justice court after pleading guilty to charges of possessing intoxicating liquor. The charges followed a raid July 4, when several quarts of liquor were found in their place of business. Both were sentenced to 60 days in the county Jail, but the jail sentences were suspended during good be havior. 5Iob Surrounds 50 Workers. HOXIE, Ark.. July 10. (By the Associated Press.) A mob of strik ing shopmen today surrounded about 50 men, a number of whom were armed, brought here by the Missouri Pacific to replace strikers, and chased them out of town after disarming them. The strikebreakers were picked up by a Missouri Pa cific passenger train en route to Poplar Bluff, Mo. There was no violence, as- the strikebreakers of fered no resistance. Read'The Oregonian classified adis. EN IB A