MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 1425 A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE SALE OF CERTAIN 71770 PART 2 APRIL 19, MAY 2, 3, AND 23, 1945 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1945 CONTENTS Land, Vice Admiral Emory S., Chairman, Maritime Commission. Roth, Almon E., president, National Federation of Shipping... Taylor, Frank J., president, American Merchant Marine Institute.. Gardner, Col. Kenneth, representing the twelve subsidized lines__ Dundon, Gerald A., vice president, McCormick Steamship Co... Bull, E. Myron, president, A. H. Bull Steamship Co- Garner, W. B., executive vice president, Waterman Steamship Corp. Mystic Steamship Division, Eastern Gas & Fuel Associates (colliers) . 856 POST-WAR DISPOSITION OF MERCHANT VESSELS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON THE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D. C. THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1945 The committee met at 10 o'clock, the Honorable Schuyler Otis Bland (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. We have present this morning the Chairman of the Maritime Commission, and we will be very glad if he will proceed. STATEMENT OF VICE ADMIRAL EMORY S. LAND, CHAIRMAN, UNITED STATES MARITIME COMMISSION Admiral LAND. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen: There have been prepared a number of statements and supplementary statements, which have been distributed, but I would like to say as a preliminary remark, to indicate the great difficulty the industry has, that this committee, the Congress, the Commission, and the people of the United States have, with a subject of this character, and to explain that I can do it in one sentence, namely, that there are some shipbuilders in these United States that will be very happy if all these surplus ships were scrapped. There are some operators in these United States that will be very happy if we gave them the ships for nothing. That respresents the zenith and nadir of what this committee has to do, and it therefore is absolutely impossible to satisfy everybody concerned. The CHAIRMAN. The committee realizes that. It merely wants to do what is in the best interests of the country. Admiral LAND. Shall I read this statement, Mr. Chairman? The CHAIRMAN. We will be very glad to have you proceed in your own way. Admiral LAND. Your committee has before it H. R. 1425, a bill whereby it is proposed that the Congress shall prescribe the policy under which the war-built fleet of merchant vessels presently owned by the Government may, so far as possible, be transferred to private ownership. The bill is known as the Merchant Ship Sales Act. It deals solely with the matter of disposing of Government-owned ships. Inevitably it deals with the problem of the extent to which American ships shall be sold foreign. Inevitably also it deals with the residue of ships which for national defense purposes should be put into reserve as insurance against a future emergency. 699 |