The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Elements of U.S. Policy n Returs Various and often successive use of chartered vessels by Handled by tHe United States Navy, Ship- government, through ping Board its different agen- Ships Were and Army-- || cies and under dif- £ f f Many New erent: 1.6 f M.S. 0 : charters renders Admiralty 'the understanding of the operation of each vessel a rather intricate and' in- Law Points Are Thus Introduced : respect of the legal rights and_ obliga- tions of the government, arising out of such operation. To a degree more em- phatic than seems to have been un- derstood during the prosecution of -the war, the rules of admiralty and maritime law persistently control. A proper understanding, however, of the rights and duties of the United States toward a particular chartered vessel with respect to her charter, her disas- ters, and her redelivery requires that a proper consideration be given in each particular instance to the pos- sible effect of laws, rules and stand- ards other than the familiar rules of admiralty and maritime law. The conceptions of international law, the provisions of treaties, interallied comi- ties and control, military and naval rules, regulations and orders, federal laws, new standards of care and charges of fault, executive and legis- lative rules, proclamations and _poli- cies, may all have a varying 'effect upon the decision respecting a par- ticular occurrence. The operation of vessels tor of Se TTTTTUTTTTLTTTLUTTLTLUTAULLUCUUUUeUULUTOCOUOUOUUUUTCCUUCCUCUIHOUULOCUUCNOCUUHOUULTOUUIOUUTMONUTUTUMNTUUUUMMUUUMONMTO CUO UIUUEQUQQQUUUOTUNATUULASOUOGTUUUU OU EATO UOTE TULLE A TTTTTTTTTHTTTPOSUAVGOQOOOUeUOnUUUOUUUOLU UCU CUCU UUTHUTOHTOOOTOOOOOTOTOOUOOUOUOT u % volved problem in' by the United States under time or bare boat form of charters, by the original owners or their agents, or by the army transport service, or the navy, or the shipping board, or the shipping control committee, and the operation of the same vessel in turn as a mine planter, a cargo transport, and a troop transport, with a possible conclusion of service under the char- ter as a merchant ship, carrying car- goes in foreign trade under the su- pervision of the shipping board, and all of such operation carried on un- der the stress of virtually' new or- ganizations, in many cases with chang- ing policies, always with a necessary strain for "results," with little time for thought of the day of reckoning, makes the solution of a given prob- lem possible only by those familiar with actual war operations. The niceties of charter. accounting, which usually control in the merchant service, and the exactness which usu- ally controls public officers in the handling of public funds must both, to some. degree be foregone. The great maze of obligations outstand- ing between ship owners and _ the United States should be disposed of by an intelligent, equitable and speedy. program which deals fairly with the owners, and fairly with the tax payer, and with keen appreciation of the opportunities for our merchant ma- rine. By authority of acts of 'congress 'and executive orders of the President United States, the shipping board shortly after the declaration of war became the agency of the United States for the acquisition of of the aM umneranmnmamnnmnmieymnnnnntrani@ 518 -after,. the The government must deliver ves- sels to their owners free and clear of liens. As it is impossible to sue the government, liens against ves- sels while doing war duty are known as sleeping liens. awakened as soon as the vessel ceases to operate under govern- ment charter. all vessels needed for the prosecution of the war. Vessels were quickly requisitioned. In practically all cases, however, within a short time there- owners and the United States had substituted voluntary char- ters of one form or another for that requisition. By far the most gen- erally accepted form of charter is the form known as_ United States Shipping Board Charter Form No. 2. An understanding of the fundamen- tal conceptions of this form of char- ter is the basis for an understanding of other types and special forms of charters. ; Under this'. charter,.at the option of the United States, a vessel may be operated either on .a time or a bare boat-basis. -1n many cases, the vessels were first actually operated by the owners for the government upon the time basis, and later when the organization of naval forces be- came more fully completed, the op- tion was exercised and the vessel was taken over by. the United States upon a bare boat basis and operated Dy a2 "avy crew to'.army account. Under the time form, the owner pro- vides the crew, bears the marine risks but not war risks, and receives neces- sarily a greater charter hire. Under the bare boat form, the United States assumes all risks and all duties and the charter hire of the owners covers a fair return upon the investment and the wear and tear on the ship, prac- tically all other burdens being borne by the government. It is with re- spect to the operation of the vessel under the bare boat form that the bulk of obligations is outstanding. HVUDUYUEUTELATUUEUEOEUUUUUTUEU OUCH that have caused. disaster These liens are SUUUUTTUAULULUUQUUANSNE0UTEUUAUOUUUUQOQOONONNNNLLU LUG OULU UOO0UN UNUSUAL UULUUUULUUONOOOUOTDUULULUUUUUOUOOQOUENOOOOCUUOGOUUOQOQUOQUOOOOOUOEOEOUUUUOUQUGUUUUUIEN