Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

percentage of the American foreign trade was carried in American Hearty and overseas trades, say, for the last dozen years'

* it is compare with the percentage carried by British ships in this percentage of the total foreign passenger trafle was carried by

entage of the trans-Atlantic passenger traffic was carried by forte same period'

largest American-built ship operated in the trans-Atlantic Vase shija economical to operate and do they get a fair share of the 1 the Minhattan and Washington compare in size with foreign ships

attic services”

verse's it, excess of 25,000 gross tons have been built by foreign

eva demand for ships following the World War?

st year fociowing the World War did ocean freight rates begin to var time, shipbin'ding program of the United States Government •gi. g of the armistice?

of the war-time shipbuilding contracts canceled after the masta kreis were laid during the years 1918 to 1921 for Government

avetips were built from 1922 to 1928 in American yards for service fre.gr trade?

was the vde steam and motor tonnage of the world in 1922?

[ocr errors]

has the steam and motor tonnage of the world increased since

eam and motor tonnage of the I nited States show an increase or tas peru?

Game of world trade justify any increase in ship tonnage during

orld tonnage of ocean go.ng tankers?

e princ.pai tanker owning countries?

tuese countries rark?

at : reer tage of the tanker tonnage 10 years of age or less does each

in the United States compare with Great Britain and Norway in speeds of 12 anots and upward?

erty has been stated by foreign critics that the United States is for the excess ship tonnage in the world today. Is there any

[ocr errors]

testan ipoint of value of the water-borne foreign trade of the tes compared with the rest of the world, do you consider that the merchant marine of today competing in the international carrying [ressive in size?

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

House of Representatives.

MR BLAND I am in receipt of your letter dated March 14, 1935, e that voor come tee would hear witnesses on the subject of the * 1 f age, i qurs into merchant-marine matters, and receive as to the legislationi necessary to provide a new merchant marine Mar 1, 19, 1965, at 10 am, and enclosing a questionnaire which you

[ocr errors]

Kari A. Crowley, the Solicitor for the Post Office Department, will be as rung orated by you.

Your questionnaire contains 59 questions. Most of the questions which you ask can best be answered by the Secretary of Commerce. I assume that you have sent a similar questionnaire to that Department. I shall only attempt to answer the questions upon which we have information secured as a result of the investigation and hearings conducted by this Department pursuant to the Executive order of the President dated July 11, 1934.

Your questions are numbered and the following answers are numbered to correspond with the number of the question.

8. There are 282 American-flag vessels certified for operation on ocean mail routes that made one or more voyages during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1934. 9. These ships actually received as ocean mail pay for the fiscal year 1934 the sum of $29,611,481.99.

10. Two hundred and twenty of the ships receiving mail pay were purchased from the United States Government.

11. The purchase price of the vessels was $41,411,665.10.

12. The original cost of the ships was $516,174,249.48.

13. The world market value of the ships at the time they were sold was $64,972,895.

14. There have been constructed, under the construction-loan provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1928, 29 vessels which are now in the ocean-mail service and which have a tonnage of 226,218 tons. There are two other vessels that were constructed under that act that were not in the ocean-mail service. The cost of the vessels that were constructed was $137,642,789.86. The Shipping Board loaned the greater part of the above amount to the contractors at interest rates ranging from one-eighth of 1 percent to 3% percent, but as you have made no request for detailed information as to the amount of these loans, repayments that have been made, the actual investment of the companies and the total amount of mail pay, I assume that you already have or do not desire this information.

15. In this question you ask what percentage of the tonnage certified to operate on the routes is more than 10 years old. This Department has secured from the Department of Commerce a statement of the number of all passenger, combination, and cargo vessels of 2,000 gross tons and over under the American flag as at June 30, 1934. This information is not secured as to mail contract vessels alone.

There have been built in the United States about 9 cargo vessels of a gross registered tonnage of 53,000 tons within the last 10 years. There have been built 53 passenger combination vessels in the United States during that time with a gross registered tonnage of 515,000 tons. Twenty-nine of these vessels, with a tonnage of 226,218 tons, have been constructed under the ocean-mail contracts.

16. The vessels purchased from the United States Government certified for operation under the mail contracts are practically all of them vessels that were constructed during the war or immediately thereafter. There are, however, many much older vessels certified to operate on the mail contracts that were built before the war. I am sure that the Secretary of Commerce can give you the details of this.

23-26. This information was secured by the Department at the time the hearings were held on the ocean-mail contracts and is shown on the table attached hereto marked "Exhibit A."

Very truly yours,

W. W. HOWES, Acting Postmaster General.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Age and tonnage of freighters 2,000 gross tons and over (excludes Great Lakes tonnage) as at June 30, 1934

[blocks in formation]

. first ask Mr. Crowley to take the stand.

STATEMENT OF KARL A. CROWLEY, SOLICITOR, POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.

[ocr errors]

CHAIRMAN. We have before us, Mr. Crowley, the recomat-in of the Post Office Department to the President with to his ship subsidy message. In the message of the Presiis stated that the quasi-judicial and quais-legislative duties the present Shipping Board Bureau of the Department of Comshould be transferred for the present to the Interstate ComCommission. Are you prepared to say what whose quasive and quasi-judicial duties are?

M▸ Crowley. I am prepared only, Mr. Chairman, to state to wah facts as were developed at the recent hearings that were 1 by the Post Office Departinent. I assume the President means a-judicial and quasi-legislative functions of the Shipping aria. I am not familiar enough with the Shipping Board to 1st what they are.

Chairman. Does that recommendation come from the Post Department as to the transfer of those quasi-judicial and imative duties?

ROWLEY. No, sir; that comes from the President.

„ Chairman. I did not know whether it was made by the Post Department or not.

M CROWLEY. Why, the Post Office Department is not interested a:ministration of these ocean-mail contracts, or any subsidy e mer hant marine. I mean by that, it is not a normal function - Pst Office Department to attempt to administer a ship subsidy. CHAIRMAN. You are interested in building up the merchant of this country, are you not?

Mr CROWLEY. They are, of course, as stated by Mr. Farley in his

T-CHAIRMAN. That is stated and after a very full investigation ag for a number of days; but has the Post Office Department any on to make as to how we can build up the merchant marine minate these ocean-mail contracts, or what the subsidy shall ve of them? MCROWLEY. The Post Office Department feels that the adminof this subsidy, if it is to be continued, should be placed in :s of some other Department that is better equipped to ter a subsidy than the Post Office Department. We have experts there who know the reeds of commerce, or who are ar enough with shipbuilding, the cost of maintenance and nand, of course, the Post Office Department, not being so ; to properly administer a subsidy, ought not to have control at has had in the past in connection with the Shipping Board. The CHAIRMAN. Well, has the Post Office Department given any ration to what form of subsidy shall be substituted for these -: ail contracts”

CROWLY. I think not; because as I stated to you, we are not ar with the needs of commerce. These subsidies have been -i as mail contracts and called mail contracts when, in fact, re not mail contracts. Very few of these routes have any

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »