INQUIRY INTO THE OPERATIONS OF THE HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION AUGUST 5, 6, AND 7, 1919 PART 2 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 INQUIRY INTO THE OPERATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD. COMMITTEE ON THE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, Washington, D. C., Tuesday, August 5, 1919. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. William S. Greene (chairman), presiding. Present: Members of the committee; also Mr. Robert A. Dean, legal department; Mr. George Eggers, director of supercargoes, Division of Operations, and other representatives of the United States Shipping Board. Mr. DEAN. I thought it a good idea this morning to go fully into this matter of supercargoes. Mr. Eggers, who is in charge of that department, is here, and he will show you how the whole thing works out and go into it in full detail. STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE EGGERS, DIRECTOR OF SUPERCARGOES, DIVISION OF OPERATIONS, UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD. Mr. EDMONDS. What was your business before you came here? Mr. EGGERS. Steamship business, 13 years with W. R. Grace & Co., about 2 years as supercargo; agent about 3 years on the Panama Canal, and agent about 3 years on Puget Sound, British Columbia, and the Columbia River, in charge of all the loading and discharging. I was the manager of the steamship department at San Francisco for not quite 4 years, or until October, 1918. Mr. EDMONDS. How long have you been down here? Mr. EGGERS. With the Board since last November. I was on the Gulf for six weeks and then came here. Mr. EDMONDS. What were you doing on the Gulf? Mr. EGGERS. Taking over the wooden steamers for the Division of Operations. First I think I had better touch on the supercargoes. On July 30 we had 646 supercargoes on active duty assigned to vessels in different trades of the world. Before the war we had a very small merchant marine, with very few officers. I have seen few cases where a man had risen as high as mate that he had to go back to second mate and then to third mate. After the Shipping Board got started we sent ships in different trades in all parts of the world, and we had no representatives there. Our representatives in most places were British or the natives of the port. We decided our ships were not being properly looked after, and that the next thing to do would be to put supercargoes on our vessels. To give you an illustration 417 of the duties of a supercargo, the following will enlighten you. I was the first one employed by Grace & Co., about 13 years ago. We used to time charter vessels-Norwegian, British, Japs, etc.-and send them down the West Coast. They had never been there before, and the supercargo had to familiarize himself with all of the papers, regulations, and so forth. For instance, in San Francisco he got his papers, and on the way down he would make up his manifests, intransit manifests, crew list, stores list, and things like that, in Spanish. The day before he got in port he would look around to see if the weather was all right, and if the weather was all right, he would say, "Here, we might just as well get this gear arranged." In those days they were paying about three shillings and six, and if we made a half to 1 per cent we were lucky. The profits were very small, and we had to get along as best we could. Sometimes the mate would not act on our suggestion, and I would tell the captain. "This is foolish; let us get our gear arranged and the lighter ropes placed and the slings at the hatches." The consequence was, when we got into port the ship was ready to work cargo. All these ports on the West Coast are what they call "surf" ports, or open roadsteads, and a new captain coming in on his first voyage is a little bit timid about getting close up to the shore. However, we, having been there before and knowing just about how far we can go in, give him our advice on it, and as a rule he takes our advice and anchors there. That helps in getting the launches alongside. They are rowed out, you have your papers all ready for the doctor first; you have his papers in one file, and then the papers for the captain of the port, and you get through with him, and then the customs. officer, and then the dock agent. In the meantime the gangs come out and get started. You work all day until about 4 o'clock, then figure that you will finish discharging about 6 o'clock; you will go up and see the captain and ask what time he figures to arrive at the next port. He says you ought to be there about 7 o'clock in the morning. Then we know we expect to get there about 7 o'clock, and that we will require six gangs or seven gangs and 8 or 10 lighters, or whatever the case may be, and we telegraph ahead to agent to have everything ready on arrival. That is just an illustration, to show how the supercargo helps in a trade like this. Mr. EDMONDS. You did this for Grace & Co., you say, in the past? Mr. EGGERS. Yes.. Mr. EDMONDS. That was one part of your west coast equipment? Mr. EGGERS. That is where it first started. Mr. EDMONDS. Did you put them on your steamers on the Atlantic seaboard, too? Mr. EGGERS. We had them on our steamers on the West Coast, and that is where I first got familiar with the idea. And then when it got down to the cargo, to the matter of loading cargo for discharge at San Pedro, San Francisco, British Columbia, and Puget Sound ports-a lot of the docks in British Columbia are only about 100 or 150 feet long; and in the stowage of the vessel, if you leave it all to the master, and he would figure, not knowing local conditions, say, on putting part of the 500-ton lot nitrate in No. 2 and the balance of it in No. 3, or dividing it between No. 1 and No. 4. If he did that, when he got up to the small docks the result would be you would have to work it out of No. 2 first and then haul the ship and take it out of No. 3, or first No. 1, then No. 4. And we, having the local knowledge, could tell the captain, "No; that won't do; you should put this all either forward or aft," and then when we got up to British Columbia we could put the forward side of the ship or the aft side against the dock and work two gangs instead of one, and save half of the time. Mr. EDMONDS. Did you use these men in South America, in all trades? Mr. EGGERS. We used them in all of the trades-in the trade to Australia, Vladivostok, and so forth. Mr. EDMONDS. Did you use them in your Atlantic trades, too? Mr. EGGERS. In the San Francisco office we have always had a supercargo on the ship for the last 13 years. Mr. CHINDBLOM. The Congressman asked whether you had them on the Atlantic seaboard. Mr. EGGERS. The New York office used to put the supercargo officers on board after their arrival at the first port. Later they changed that so that they used to take them for the round trip. We figured the Shipping Board needed a lot of supercargoes, and we went out and tried to get some, but couldn't. Mr. EDMONDS. You mean they were needed for the Shipping Board? Mr. EGGERS. They were needed for the Shipping Board; yes. Mr. EDMONDS. And you have found, on account of the inexperience, a lot of those mates you had to promote to captains? Mr. EGGERS. Yes. Mr. EDMONDS. And it would be necessary to have some kind of a manager Mr. EGGERS. Yes; or business representatives of the department on the vessels. And, as I say, in nearly all of the ports the agents were either British or native of the port at which the vessel touched, and we ran across very few American agents at any place. That was one of the things that we were up against. I venture to say if we had started these supercargoes two years ago, or when the Shipping Board first started, we would be able now to send at least 100 qualified men to different parts of the world to look after our interests, and that is one of the things we have suffered from mostthat we have no American representatives of the Shipping Board at foreign ports. Mr. EDMONDS. Do the consuls assist you in any way there? Mr. EGGERS. Yes; the consuls assist us to a certain degree, but none of them are practical steamship men. I won't say none of them, but, if there are any of them, there are very few who are practical steamship men. Mr. EDMONDS. I do not know whether this comes under your department or not, but if it does you can answer it: Have the consuls endeavored to assist the Shipping Board in the movement of vessels? Mr. EGGERS. Yes, sir. Mr. EDMONDS. As much as they could? Mr. EGGERS. Yes; as much as they could, and in special instances we have written letters thanking them for their cooperation, to kind |