ALASKA WATER TRANSPORTATION. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1920. UNITED STATES SENATE, The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10.30 o'clock a. m., in the committee room, Capitol, Senator Wesley L. Jones presiding. Present: Senators Jones (chairman), McNary, and Chamberlain. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. This meeting is called for the purpose of having a hearing on Senate bill 4012, introduced by Senator Chamberlain, a bill to provide for the improvement of transportation by water to and from and within the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes. I will place a copy of the bill in the record at this point. (The bill referred to is here printed in full, as follows:) [S. 4012, Sixty-sixth Congress, second session.] A BILL To provide for the improvement of transportation by water to and from and within the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board, as composed of the governor, the treasurer, and the secretary of the Territory of Alaska, is hereby constituted and empowered to execute the provisions of this act in the name and on behalf of the Territory of Alaska. SEC. 2. That the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board is hereby authorized to require all carriers who shall have transported cargo or passengers to or from any place in the Territory of Alaska to file verified reports or statements in the office of such bcard, showing in detail the places where such cargo and passengers were received and delivered, the number of passengers, the quantity of cargo by tons, the rates or charges, and the revenue received therefor, and such other facts as may be necessary to compile and maintain a complete statistical record of the trade and commerce of the Territory. Such reports shall be made upon forms prepared by the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board and approved by the United States Shipping Board, and may be required for each voyage of any vessel, and not oftener than monthly from any common carrier operating vessels upon definite routes and schedules. SEC. 3. That all carriers who shall have transported cargo or passengers between any place in the Territory of Alaska and elsewhere in the United States or any foreign country within any calendar year shall file with the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board an annual report for such calendar year, or for the fiscal year of such carrier during which it may have transported any such cargo or passengers, which report shall show in detail such facts and figures as will exhibit the capital invested and the reasonable value of vessels and property engaged wholly or partly in Alaska commerce, the revenue and net earnings derived therefrom, the cost of operation, including insurance, maintenance, depreciation, traffic, and general expense, and all other charges, the profits and losses, and such other facts and data bearing upon the justice of the rates and practices of the carrier as may be pertinent in the judgment of the United States Shipping Board, to which board any forms prepared by the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board for such annual report by carriers shall be first submitted for approval. 3 SEC. 4. That a license shall be required for each vessel of more than twenty net tons which shall receive or discharge cargo or passengers upon or across the tide or shore lands of the Territory of Alaska, whether or not received or discharged over or upon any wharf, pier, or other artificial structure, or by means of lighters, trams, or other artificial equipment used to convey such cargo or passengers to or from such vessels from or upon or across such tide or shore lands. Such license shall issue upon the payment to the collector of customs of a license tax of $3 per ton per annum on the net tonnage of such vessel, customhouse measurement, upon the first entrance of such vessel in Alaska in each calendar year, and the official receipt issued therefor shall constitute and be accepted thereafter during such year as the license of such vessel to receive and discharge cargo and passengers over such tide and shore lands at all places in the Territory. No vessel shall be allowed to make entry until such license tax has been paid. This requirement shall include vessels engaged in salvage operations, but shall not include vessels in distress or other vessels engaged solely in the relief of vessels in distress or in the protection of life and property, and shall be waived in the case of any vessel upon the declaration of the governor of the Territory that such vessel is not engaged in business or trade but solely in the relief of distress, or solely in educational, charitable, or scientific research work. Vessels engaged only in the taking of fish shall not be subject to this requirement in order to deliver catches, and in no case shall any vessel be subject to this requirement while calling at any port in Alaska only to obtain equipment or supplies solely for use on board such vessel. SEC. 5. That no collector of customs shall clear any vessel of more than twenty net tons under special permit for any place in Alaska, except upon payment of the license tax imposed by this act or exhibit of the license for such vessel required by section 4 of this act. SEC. 6. That no United States certificate of inspection shall be issued in the Territory of Alaska for any vessel of more than twenty net tons, except upon exhibit of the license for such vessel required by section 4 of this act. SEC. 7. That all license moneys collected under this act by any collector of customs shall be remitted by such collector directly to the treasurer of the Territory of Alaska, who shall issue and deliver receipts therefor in such form as may be required by the Secretary of the Treasury. The moneys thus received by the treasurer shall be kept in a separate fund to be known as the "maritime fund," and shall be used only for the betterment of water transportation and transportation conditions to and from and within the Territory of Alaska, including the improvement of harbors and river boat landings. No portion of such moneys shall be used, directly or indirectly, in the purchase, construction, charter, or operation of any vessels, but the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board shall have the entire control and disbursement of such fund, within the limitations imposed by this act, and subject to the authority which is hereby conferred upon the Legislature of Alaska to make further provision by law for the disbursement of such fund, but only for the purposes and within the limitations contained in this act. SEC. 8. That the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board is hereby empowered, in the name and behalf of the Territory of Alaska, to enter into contracts with common carriers by water to provide and insure an adequate service upon definite schedules on such route or routes to and from and within the Territory of Alaska and to pay in aid of such service, from such maritime fund hereby created, such sums upon such terms and conditions as it shall see fit, but no contract shall be for a greater period than four years. A duplicate of all such contracts must be filed with the United States Shipping Board, and the same shall become effective immediately upon approval by the United States Shipping Board, and shall also become effective thirty days after such filing unless the United States Shipping Board within that period issue notice to the Alaska Territorial Shipping Board of the suspension of such contract for hearing thereon at a time and place to be stated in the notice and under such general regulations as the United States Shipping Board may prescribe to determine whether such suspensions shall be made final or revoked, in which latter event the contract shall thereupon become effective unless in the meantime either party thereto shall have given notice in writing to the other of his withdrawal therefrom. SEC. 9. That the term "cargo" as used in this act shall include freight, mail, and express, and every thing transported upon any vessel and not intended for actual use upon such vessel. The term "passenger" as used herein shall mean all persons transported upon any vessel, except members of the crew to the extent required by the navigation laws, and shall also include all persons transported but not required by law to man such vessels, even though signed upon the ship's articles as members of the crew, if in excess of the requirements of the United States Steamboat-Inspection Service. The term "carrier" as used herein shall include the owners and operators of any vessel transporting cargo or passengers, whether for hire or for the use or |