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How much business have you booked at present for movement? Answer. 400,000 feet.

How much additional business could you take if space were available? Answer. 600,000 feet.

How much of your present space requirements are you able to secure? Answer. 50 percent.

Has the diversion of coastwise carriers to the intercoastal route hurt your business? Answer. Yes.

If so, to what extent?

Answer. 20 percent.

Have you curtailed employment as a result of the space shortage? Answer. Yes.

If so, how much? Answer. 10 percent.

Do you expect to curtail employment if space shortage continues?

Yes.

If so, how much?

Answer.

Answer. We would curtail up to 20 percent, then be forced

to shut down entirely. Since time is the essence of the situation, please supply what factual data you can, promptly. Whatever information is furnished will be handled in such a way as not to reveal anything of a confidential nature that it may contain.

In addition to the above, it is entirely in order for you to make direct representations to the United States Maritime Commission and to representatives in Congress, urging immediate action to place the laid-up fleet in intercoastal operation. Very truly yours, PACIFIC NORTHWEST SHIPPERS' EMERGENCY COMMITTEE. S. S. WATERMAN, Chairman. KENNETH KENNELL, Secretary.

To Whom It May Concern:

EXHIBIT E-4

AFFIDAVITS

BELLINGHAM, WASH., April 9, 1940.

Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills of Bellingham, Wash., is engaged in logging and lumber manufacturing. It operates six logging camps, three sawmills, two shingle mills, a box factory and a sash-and-door factory. At the present time it has approximately 1,700 people in its employ and its weekly pay roll amounts to about $55,000.

At its two mills in Bellingham, Wash., it produces about 11,000,000 feet of lumber per month. In order to maintain such a production it must move an average of 65 percent of this product by water, or approximately 7,000,000 feet. This means a movement of 4,000,000 feet monthly to the Atlantic coast, the balance of Gulf ports, California, and the Hawaiian Islands. Due to war conditions and preferential tariffs the company has practically no export business. For many years the company has relied upon the American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. for such space as it needed for the Atlantic coast, and upon Swayne & Hoyt for space to Gulf ports. Swayne & Hoyt have sold their ships and have retired from business, leaving the company with no means of serving its Texas trade. American-Hawaiian advise the best they can promise is about a million feet per month to Atlantic coast-about 25 percent of the company's requirements. California space is rapidly becoming scarce and unreliable.

The company has maintained its operations so far this year on the basis already noted, but without relief very soon it will be obliged to curtail its operations probably 40 percent, which would mean a loss in wages of $22,000 per week. Ample business can be obtained to maintain its operations at present levels, but without shipping relief it is not only a financial but a physical impossibility to keep going.

F. E. FROST, Secretary-Treasurer.

STATE OF WASHINGTON,

County of Whatcom, ss:

I, F. E. Frost, being first duly sworn, on oath do depose and say: That I am secretary-treasurer of Bloedel Donovan Lumber Mills of Bellingham, Wash.; that I have read the foregoing, and that the statements made therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 9th day of April 1940. [SEAL]

F. E. FROST.

S. B. TIPLIM, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington, Residing in Bellingham.

EXHIBIT E-5

ST. PAUL & TACOMA LUMBER Co.,

Tacoma, Wash., April 5, 1940.

Mr. JAY MCCUNE,

Tacoma Chamber of Commerce, Tacoma, Wash.

DEAR MR. MCCUNE: Replying to your questionnaire:

1. Our normal space requirement on the intercoastal route is 3,000,000 feet per month.

2. We do not book business in excess of space which we have available.

3. We could handle about 1,500,000 feet per month of additional business if space were available.

4. We have been able to obtain space for about half of our intercoastal requirements.

5. The diversion of coastwise carriers to the intercoastal route has not injured us up to the present time, as we own a vessel in the coastwise trade.

6. We have not curtailed employment as a result of the space shortage.

7. If the space shortage continues we may be forced to do so. The extent will depend upon the amount of space we are able to obtain. Please treat this information confidentially.

Yours truly,

S. S. WATERMAN, Assistant Sales Manager.

EXHIBIT E-6

MONARCH DOOR & MANUFACTURING Co.,

Tacoma, Wash., March 29, 1940.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST SHIPPERS' EMERGENCY COMMITTEE,

Care of Tacoma Chamber of Commerce, Tacoma, Wash.

(Attention of Mr. Kenneth Kennell.)

GENTLEMEN: Replying to your letter of March 27. Before answering your questions specifically, suffice it to say that we feel the present situation regarding steamship space is very critical and we are now beginning to feel its effects. It has been necessary for us to adjust our entire policy, and we are now only accepting orders that can be shipped on or before May 10. After that, we don't know how we will be able to operate, for, unless many of the sawmills can secure ample steamship space to move their normal cut, it is quite likely our sources of lumber supply will be so greatly curtailed that we will not be able to operate our plant at capacity. At the present time we are finding it more difficult every day to secure a normal supply of lumber; and, since it is impossible to secure future commitments, it is not possible for us to make plans for future operations after 30 days.

Answering your questions specifically:

1. Our normal requirements for space on the intercoastal and Gulf routes are approximately 300 tons.

2. We discontinued accepting orders for water shipment about 30 days ago, but we still have approximately 225 tons for which no space can be secured. The steamship companies refuse to accept any firm bookings for sailings after April 30; and for the month of April we have only been able to secure firm space for 75 tons.

3. If space were available, we would and could book 60 days normal watershipment business, which would be 600 tons.

4. We are unable to secure any space requirements for future business.

5. The diversion of coastwise carriers to the intercoastal route has not affected our business directly; but, indirectly, it is curtailing our sources of supply for lumber.

6 and 7. It is difficult to estimate the extent to which the above diversion has affected our business, for it is just now becoming serious; but one sawmill has reduced its shipments to us approximately 50 percent. On our total shipments, this is about 10 percent of our requirements.

We have not as yet curtailed employment as a result of steamship space shortage; but, unless the situation changes before May 10 to 15, it will be necessary for us to eliminate one short shift of approximately 15 men, which is 161⁄2 percent of our employees.

8 and 9. Relative to curtailing employment if the space shortage continues: We are able to move the bulk of our product by rail regardless of the steamship space situation, but this does not hold true with our lumber suppliers. Therefore, unless more space is made available to the sawmills on whom we depend for our raw materials, we expect a further decrease in our production and operation which will make it necessary to reduce our crew. Our total reduction will be about 40 percent. Any reduction beyond that would be a total shut-down, or 100 percent.

The serious aspect of this entire situation is the fact that business operations depending on water shipments cannot now make any plans for the future, and the uncertainty and doubt of what the future may hold is, perhaps, the greatest handicap to successfully maintaining complete operation.

For your confidential information, we are now withdrawing from the market, and will not accept any business that cannot be shipped on or before May 10 to 15. Orders will be of no consequence unless they can be shipped; and shipments cannot be made if the normal supply of raw materials such as lumber cannot be secured.

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Executive Secretary, Pacific Coast Association of Port Authorities,

Care of Commission of Public Docks, Portland, Oreg. DEAR MR. CARROLL: Because of the fact that the pulp industry of the Northwest operated at only about 50 percent of its capacity in the latter part of 1938 and most of 1939, the comparison of shipments since vessels began to be diverted to the intercoastal service to the present time with corresponding months a year ago would be misleading. All factual data therefore to show our space requirements when the industry is operating at normal capacity, as at present, consist of the tons actually shipped by water from October 1939, when water shipments were normal, through April 1940.

The actual shipments by all of the pulp companies in the Northwest to the Atlantic coast by water during that period were as follows:

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These figures indicate that with the present service our industry is short 15,000 tons of space of the normal 25,000 tons required each month and the tendency is toward further reduction of space.

There would have been a perceptible reduction of available space in January had it not been for the impossibility of loading vessels in San Francisco while that port was tied up by labor troubles. This resulted in more space being filled in the North Pacific to take care of the space usually filled in San Francisco.

We wish to call the attention of your committee to a fact that is very important to the pulp industry. We refer to the necessity, under normal marketing conditions, of moving this pulp into the Atlantic coast markets at reasonably low rates to enable our industry to compete with the heavy importation of European pulp. When world charter rates are on what may be considered a normal basis in peace times, competition for our own eastern pulp market is very keen, even on the basis of rates that have prevailed up to the present. Freight rates from Scandinavian countries to our Atlantic coast are always considerably lower than our intercoastal rates.

Looking ahead then beyond the present abnormal marketing and shipping situation, a large part of our domestic pulp market will depend upon the availability of low-priced tonnage which will enable intercoastal carriers to transport pulp at rates comparable with those on which these markets have been developed. This would be utterly impossible with new Government vessels costing between two and two and one-half million dollars each. It will be equally impossible if the old vessels presently held by the Government are sold to foreign buyers or to American citizens at prices based upon the present inflated world tonnage prices. The only solution for pulp and low-priced commodities such as lumber and pulp, viewed from the long-pull aspect, is for the Maritime Commission to withhold further sales of the laid-up vessels now under their jurisdiction, or later to be under it, until it can be determined how many vessels will be needed to adequately tonnage this intercoastal trade.

We hope your committee will give serious consideration to this viewpoint in your correspondence and negotiations with the Maritime Commission.

Yours very truly,

Mr. H. W. HUNTER,

H. E. KERRY, Secretary.

EXHIBIT F-1

PUGET SOUND PULP & TIMBER CO.,
Bellingham, Wash., April 9, 1940.

Bellingham Port Commission,

Bellingham, Wash.

DEAR MR. HUNTER: Since your commission has consented to be represented at a meeting to be held in San Francisco on April 11 for the purpose of considering what may be done to relieve the acute shipping situation confronting the Pacific Northwest industries; in fact all industries on the coast; we wish to outline for you the position of our companies and in general the Pacific Northwest pulp industry.

Normal monthly shipments of wood pulp from the Puget Sound region to the Atlantic seaboard average 25,000 tons per month and with the European situation as it now presents itself, this total should increase during the balance of this year.

The Puget Sound Pulp & Timber Co. at Bellingham and Anacortes is already short approximately 2,000 tons per month of intercoastal space and a check with the balance of the Puget Sound pulp mills indicates that there is already a shortage of space equal to 15,000 tons per month for shipment to Atlantic seaboard ports. It is further indicated that with the continual sale of ships by the remaining operating lines, this situation will become acute before the middle of the year which may result in curtailment of the mills and loss of employment on that account. Such curtailment means a close down of logging operations where the large item of employment is involved in supplying the raw material for the pulp industry; thus the logging industry will be affected.

We appreciate that the lumber industry is even more severely hit than the pulp industry and both commodities cannot bear any higher freights than at present and keep in competition with the Canadians who are exporting large quantities of lumber and wood pulp into the United States aided by the advantage of 20percent appreciation in the American dollar when converted to Canadian dollars; thus in terms of wood pulp the Canadian Government gets 10 percent of the sales price and the Canadian manufacturer 10 percent all through the medium of devalued exchange. The 20 percent thus gained is equal to approximately $12 per ton of pulp and $7 per thousand of lumber which advantage the Canadians can pass on to the American buyers and shut off equivalent purchases from American producers.

Already pulp imports from Canada have almost doubled in the last 6 months over the period before the war and lumber shipments to the Atlantic seaboard

have materially increased so that with the present cost of freight to the Atlantic seaboard the lumber industry is almost faced with extinction to be able to sell in our own Atlantic coast market unless ships are made available and at rates that will permit west coast producers to compete with the Canadian producers. I trust that you may be able to convey some of these problems to this meeting and that such action may be taken that will impress upon our president and the Maritime Commission the need for allocating in this emergency any ships that may be available, to intercoastal carriers with the provision that they must be maintained in operation for this service to permit lumber, wood pulp and other Pacific coast products to be marketed as heretofore.

Very truly yours,

O. ANDERSON, President.

EXHIBIT F-2

Mr. S. S. WATERMAN, Chairman,

ST. HELENS PULP & PAPER CO.,
St. Helens, Oreg., April 8, 1940.

Pacific Northwest Shippers' Emergency Committee,

Tacoma, Wash.

DEAR SIR: Referring to your letter of March 23, we are enclosing copy of letter which we have written to the St. Helens Chamber of Commerce regarding the space situation.

We induced the St. Helens Chamber of Commerce to take the matter up, and they are sending a petition direct to the Maritime Commission, together with statements from the industries affected by lack of space. They have also taken the matter up with the labor unions, and if possible will send you copy of the petition from the chamber of commerce as well as the labor unions.

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DEAR MR. CARROLL: The continued development of industry on the Pacific coast is dependent on a continuation of the low cost of transportation service provided by intercoastal ships. We are very much concerned regarding the increasing seriousness of the situation with respect to cargo space on intercoastal carriers. The essential raw materials used by Pacific coast manufacturers are handled by the intercoastal lines. It is important that these materials be delivered without interruption and in the required volume.

Equally important is adequate cargo space for the continuous flow of manufactured products from the west coast to Atlantic ports for distribution to established markets.

We are faced with the possible loss of markets, which we have developed on the Atlantic coast, as a result of the present shortage of eastbound cargo space on intercoastal carriers. We are also threatened with the interruption of raw material shipments moving westbound from Atlantic ports, which might result in the curtailment of our operations.

We are very much interested in the efforts being made to augment this service by the operation of ships owned or controlled by the United States Maritime Commission, and at the suggestion of Mr. Smith M. Wilson, of the Seattle Port Commission, we enumerate some of the commodities carried by intercoastal ships for us and the total tonnage moved by us during 1939.

Paper and paper articles to Baltimore, 121 tons; to Philadelphia, 103 tons; to New York, 1,118 tons; to Port Newark, 82 tons; to Boston, 283 tons.

From Savannah, we received 4,000 tons of clay; from Philadelphia and New York, we received 110 tons of paper, and from various Atlantic coast ports we also received a total of 75 tons of machinery and equipment.

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