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December, 1918 available in the actual ships." Washington officials are not antic- ipating any reduction in the tonnage demands of the world, even with peace assured. The present world tonnage is below the peace require- ments and construction will continue until this shortage is overcome. The present program of the Emergency Fleet corporation calls for 15,000,000 deadweight tons of merchant ships. American yards have so far finished but one-sixth of this work. "T can say with frankness," declared Mr. Hurley, "that our shipyards will be kept going to their capacity and they must not let up. Efficient yards will 'be encouraged, and supported be- cause we can depend upon them to carry out their promises and pro- duce ships economically. The work ineficient yards cannot do will fall to other plants with better facilities." output of THE MARINE REVIEW be ae by the end of. 1919 as we are making no contr into 1920." Pp pig A slowing down in the building of steel ships will make possible a re- distribution of the steel supply of the country, permit a _ readier re- construction of industrial facilities and a replacement of the rolling stock of the railroads. Furthermore it will relieve the labor shortage materially. The shipbuilding yards are now employing some 400,000 workmen and it was estimated that 50,000 more would be needed next year to carry out on time the con- tracts already let for ship construc- tion. - Sifting Out Inefficient Yards "In building new shipyards during the emergency of war," said 'Mr. Hurley, "it is to 'be expected,. in view of the fact that the shipbuild- 527 Mr. Hurley points out, "labor prob- lems in the yards will not be so serious. Many of these men will be absorbed back into the mining, trans- portation, milling and fabricating in- dustries, and their addition to the Strength of industrial America will relieve the difficulty that now is ex- perienced in getting materials to the shipbuilders. With the ending of the war we will be assured, therefore, of €asier, more efficient operation than during the past, when our difficulties have been so numerous and so per- plexing. "This does. not mean that there will be a great reduction of the effi- cient labor in the yards. The demand for the expert worker will be greater than ever, because the large part of the task of completing our pro- gram of ship construction is still be- fore us. More riveters, shipfitters, chippers, caulkers, bolters-up, riggers Wooden Ships Criticized by Federal Committee (Special Wire to The Marine Review) San Francisco, Nov. 8.--All wooden vessels now on the ways or awaiting engines' are to be converted into barges, according to an official announcement made here. This decision follows on the heels of a rapid and effective survey of the seaworthiness of the steamers in this port which is developing the fact that few of them can put to sea without extensive repairs. The wooden steamers, admittedly built hurriedly -- and of green timbers, were intended as a _ supple- mentary supply fleet for the Atlantic. The BrLacxrorp and Coos Bay started on their voyages via the Panama canal but foundered in Mexican waters last September. None of the other wooden steamers have been sent to the Atlantic since. Of the 32 wooden steamships commissioned by the government, seven are in dry- dock or are undergoing repairs here. Two are being towed to this port from offshore and three are being repaired in the north. The fleet as a whole has been giving considerable trouble. A committee of shipping men and construction ex- perts, appointed by John G. Rosseter, director of operations of the United States shipping board, and headed by Capt. Charles W. Saunders, superintendent of the Matson Navigation Co., started their exhaustive examination of wooden ships by recommending the - 'FIELD of permanent value for long voyages. + inspected. condemnation of the steamer MaRSHFIELD as unsea- worthy. Slack water created by the propellers caused steering trouble and the committee is reported to have decided that the contemplated lengthening of the vessel and other changes might not make the Marsu- The builders have decided to go ahead with the alterations when a second inspection will be made. The Rosseter committee. expects to spend five weeks in the survey and will report the exact condition of the' vessels Capt. John F. Blain, director of construc- tion for the shipping board in the northwest, where some of the boats undergoing a second inspection were turned out, does not attach blame to the government inspectors who did the work in the first place but says that the steamships are as good as can be built with the material at hand and under high speed construction conditions. In addition to the two boats which foundered the fol- lowing wooden steamers appear in the government's record of accidents, rebuildings and repairs: CocoNimo, QuINAULT, BELoIT, ABRIGADA, QuipNic, BRoMEDA, Ma- KASKA, WAKAN, NEEOLAH, Daca, KINEo and ForRESTER. The rapidity with which steel vessels are being turned out is believed to have had some part in the govern- ment's decision to convert new wooden hulls into . barges. While government contracts will ing industry of this country had been reduced to a minimum, and draftsmen, that many tives will be needed after the war. foremen and execu- tuh on through 1920, there will be Nevertheless an easing up in_ this work. Private shipyards have known all along that this must come and after studying the problem they will undoubtedly be glad to learn that the easing up process will continue Over a length of time, thereby mak- ing possible a readjustment without an industrial upheaval. Permanence the Keynote _.- What we are striving for now," Mr. Schwab said, "is economy and Permanence of production." _ _. "The time has come," -continued to ease up. This easing-up process must be applied to. steel ships as well as to wooden ones but as the Mumber of wooden ships already. com- Pleted, added to the number con- tracted for and which shall be con- Structed, will fill the demand for Ships of that kind, we are curtailing Production beyond that point. There- ore, the wooden ship program will Mr, Hurley, "when we must begin. yards would be started with men of very limited experience in that par- ticular line; and it is also to be expected that many of these men with their inexperience should, in a measure, fail to develop efficient or- ganizations to produce ships promptly and economiclly. The officials of the Emergency Fleet now _ know which yards are building ships at fair prices and those that are not doing so, as well as the yards that are not keeping their promises; and they are prepared to take effective. measures to bring about the neces- sary results." ; Inefficient shipyards require labor that might have been more econom- ically' used in the efficient yards. Even though all the yards may not. receive contracts, the man-power of the yards will be sorely needed for. a long time to come. "With the return of thousands of able-bodied, disciplined and hardened men who were called to the colors," "An enormous repair and overhaul- ing activity will spring up in con- nection with the shipbuilding indus- try. Our merchant marine will, as a matter of course, suffer from nat- ural depreciation, wear and tear, and inevitable accidents which will give employment to thousands of men in drydocking and repair yards." An Important Adviser While it is undoubtedly true that Mr. Hurley assumes full responsibility for the curtailment or the realloca- tion of the shipbuilding program, whichever it may be called, it must not be forgotten that Mr. Hurley has some advisers, and one especially, to whom must be attributed in part re- sponsibility for this outcome. P. A. S. Franklin, chairman of the shipping control committee, has been the real factor behind the operation end of the 'American merchant marine. Mr. Franklin was one of the most suc- (Conciuded on Page 550)