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

ra Ci © Reductions in Freight Charges Add to Uncertainties of Exporters and Shippers—Release of Ships from Government Control Urged MONG the many outspoken criti- A cisms of the ocean rate cuts authorized by the British and by the shipping board were the state- ments recently made by R. C. Thackara, vice president of the Luckenbach line, George F. Trowbridge, president of the Strong & Trowbridge Co. and head of the American Exporters and Importers association, Frank C. Munson, president of the Munson Steamship Co., and A. H. Bull, president of the A. H. Bull Steamship Co. Mr. Thackara said that the export situation had become so _ hopelessly tangled that an application was made to the shipping board recently for permis- sion to sell 18 vessels belonging to the Luckenbach line. This was refused. He continued: “We have 12 ships in opera- tion and 6 building, and we can neither operate them successfully under the mandatory methods of the shipping board, nor can we obtain permission to dispose of them to prospective pur- chasers who are anxious to possess them. Crippling Export Trade “Uncertainty and demoralization are killing the country’s export trade. What we want more than anything else are rates so stabilized that we can afford to ‘engage in business on a prewar basis. Our idea as to stable rates is to have the shipping board retire from the field. entirely and give way to free and open competition. Only in the sense of. the survival of the fittest can America’s ex- port trade assume any importance at all. “We have been engaged in the busi- ness of shipping for 50 years, and we think we know something about it. “To illustrate the export situation on the Atlantic today, let me say that to France there are ‘three distinct rate tariffs in force, namely, privately owned ships carrying cargoes at $60 a ton, ves- sels operated by the French govern- ment, with a $27 rate, and shipping board vessels with a $28 rate. There is very little cargo space available on the: French ships, and those vessels con- ‘trolled by the shipping board, as a re- sult of which we are glad to accept the higher $60 rate. In fact, the situation has reached a point where we should be perfectly satisfied with even a higher rate provided such action does away with the demoralization of fluctuating scales. “Another thing. There is much talk just now of the freedom of the seas. The American shipper is denied this by the shipping board. If we desire io make shipments to a certain port abroad we are told that we cannot do so be- cause some other line is shipping to that particular destination. Our course over the world is outlined by the board, and we must follow instructions. It seems that if we are to engage suc- cessfully with foreign competition these millstones should be removed. “What we need most today is intelli- gent and constructive effort on the part of the shipping board to assist the ex- porters and the shippers. International- ization of the world’s shipping will not help the situation any more than will government ownership, to both of which we stand opposed. Without urgent action the entire export trade of America stands in grave peril.” Situation Not Understood “T am in receipt of information from reliable sources that the British are con- tinuing to make freight cuts,’ Mr. Trow- bridge said. “So far we have been un- able to meet British competition, due to laxity, inability or incompetence at Washington. Nobody seems to want to do anything down there until Mr. Hurley returns from abroad. In my belief the trouble is that nobody in Washington appears to understand the export situation. We have been hold- ing conferences, but nothing comes of them. “The recent cut instituted by the ship- ping board affects only cross-Atlantic trade. From our viewpoint this is but a tithe compared with world trade, which the United States is more interested in just now. We are exporting very little to France, and we are having trouble in getting export licenses to that coun- try. British trade with us is just open- ing up. The great bulk of exports, however, is to the world in general— to Australia, China and Japan and South America. Here we are unable to com- pete with British freight rates. “Furthermore, the British have prom- ulgated discriminatory rates against our exports by cutting the rates out of Liv- erpool for Australia and maintaining the same old schedule of higher rates out of New York. This has placed us at a disadvantage. Moreover, many American exporters were already signed up for “some » time ~ on the old rates when suddenly these were cut, leaving the exporters subject to the higher schedule. This simply goes to 157 show the sharp competition to which the American exporters are being put to place their wares abroad. “The British freight rates were cut from 25 to 331-3 per cent after the signing of the armistice and they have been gradually going down since. It appears that the intention is to keep these rates always a bit lower than the American schedule.” Retards Manufacturing “Manufacturers of the country are shutting down their plants because they do not know what the policy of the gov- ernment is in connection with steamship rates or whether its policy will place them in a position to compete with for- eign manufacturers. As a result tens of thousands of positions which other- wise would be open to our returning soldiers are being abolished.” This statement was made by Frank C. Munson, president of the Munson Steamship Co., in summing up the present state of America’s export trade. His company operates 100 chartered ves- . sels to all sections of the world. Mr. Munson also for a year was a member of the war trade board. “Few people in the United States,” he continued, “realize how intimately connected are the great labor problems of today with the export and steamship business. The government can largely help to rectify this difficulty by promptly doing away with all of the war time re- strictions on shipping. “This will lead to a continuance of manufacturing by plants that otherwise will shut down because of the uncer- tainties. : “T have been in favor of proper meth- ods of government control during the war period, but believe that now every effort should be made by the officials to remove the restrictions. Then our merchants, exporters and manufacturers will be able to take care of their busi- ness in the old established ways. s“The rates issued by the shipping board were to meet the published Brit- ish rates, but they are only a temporary measure, as the British will again cut their rates, which we must meet after considerable delay in waiting for gov- ernment officials to consider the matter, accumulate facts and then take action. “A great work has been done by the various government departments during the war time, but we are a great re- public founded on individual liberty, (Concluded on Page 161) EERO CRE OAS BNO Ee ee on ee ee = asa