MONDAY, APRIL 13, 1914. COMMITTEE ON INTEROCEANIC CANALS, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m. Washington, D. C. Present: Senators O'Gorman (chairman), Thornton, Chilton, Shields, Walsh, Thomas, Simmons, Brandegee, Crawford, Bristow, Perkins, and Page. Also present: Senator Reed. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Is Dr. Huebner present? Dr. HUEBNER. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed, Dr. Huebner. Senator SIMMONS. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to say in behalf of Mr. Chamberlain that he is very anxious to give his testimony as soon as possible, because he has some important matters that he wishes to attend to in his office this afternoon. The CHAIRMAN. Will it be convenient for you to wait, Dr. Huebner? Dr. HUEBNER. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Commissioner Chamberlain will then be heard. STATEMENT OF MR. E. T. CHAMBERLAIN, COMMISSIONER OF NAVIGATION. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Commissioner, what is your official position? The CHAIRMAN. How long have you occupied that position? The CHAIRMAN. Will you describe for the purpose of the committee the operation of the navigation laws, giving the rules for registry in the foreign and coastwise trade in a general way? the Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. In a general way, vessels can be admitted to American registry, using the word "registry" for the moment in comprehensive sense, only if they are built in the United States, if they are owned by American citizens, including in that term corporations organized under the laws of any of the States, and if their watch officers are American citizens. That was the law up to the passage of the Panama Canal act. By the Panama Canal act, section 5, vessels that are built abroad may be admitted to American registry provided that they are not more than five years old. Then there are certain other qualifications. If they are owned by a corporation, the officers of the corporation, as I recall it, must be Ameri can citizens. The CHAIRMAN. Have any foreign-built ships taken advantage of section 5 of the Panama Canal act? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. None up to this time. There have been several inquiries, but none have actually taken advantage of it. The CHAIRMAN. Have you completed your answer to the previous question? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. That is, as to the general limitations. Now, as to the distinction between coastwise and foreign trade vessels. The CHAIRMAN. Yes; over-seas vessels. Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. The word "registration" is used sometimes in a broad sense and sometimes in a more restricted sense. Unlike the laws of most maritime nations the documents that we give to merchant vessels are of two classes. In the registry strictly so-called, the register is the document that is designed to cover vessels in the foreign trade. For our domestic or coastwise trade we have a distinct document known as the enrollment. The papers, in general respects, in their forms, etc., are practically similar, but we have always made a distinction between the two kinds of papers. A vessel under enrollment, for example, can not engage in the foreign trade without being subject to the penalty of forfeiture. I should make one exception to that, namely, on the Great Lakes, where voyages, of course, are very short. Where the distance across-the distance from an American to a Canadian port, or between American ports-is oftentimes very short, vessels can not be going to the customhouse two or three times a day, or every day or two, to exchange an enrollment for a register. Accordingly, on the Great Lakes the enrollment authorizes a vessel to engage either in the coasting or domestic trade or in the foreign trade. On the seaboard, of course, there is somewhat similar legislation. A vessel, for example, may be going from New York to Galveston having cargo incidentally for Habana. Of course, that vessel would be simultaneously engaged as to part of its cargo in the foreign and as to part of its cargo in the coastwise trade. To meet a situation of that kind Congress has, years ago, provided that there should be one paper, namely, the register, which would authorize a vessel to engage in those two forms of trade simultaneously. Senator SIMMONS. Mr. Chamberlain, an enrolled vessel has no right to engage in any but the coastwise trade, has it? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. It has no Senator SIMMONS. That is, merely a license to do a coastwise business? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. I should have said in addition to the enrollment there is an annual license which authorizes them to engage in the coasting trade. That is, in the transportation of cargoes or in the fisheries. The license has to be renewed annually. The enrollment lasts until there is some substantial change in the ship, either in ownership or through a change of build. The CHAIRMAN. Will you state for the purpose of the record what is meant by the coastwise trade of the United States? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. The coastwise trade is the trade between domestic ports. Senator THOMAS. Does that include transportation between continental and insular ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Congress has provided that the trade between the mainland of the United States and Porto Rico shall be coastwise trade by specific acts and has provided the same for Hawaii. It provided the same in regard to Alaska at the time of annexation and at the time of the purchase of Louisiana, or a year or two afterwards, it provided the same for Louisiana. Senator THOMAS. How about the Philippines? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. The Philippines have never been coastwise and are not now. An act was passed shortly after the acquisition of the Philippines saying that after a certain period-I have not the date right in mind-the coastwise laws should apply to trade in the Philippines. A year or two later, because there were no ships to do the business-that was one reason at all events; there were doubtless others-Congress provided that that application should be postponed for several years more, and as the end of that interval neared they repealed that section altogether. So that the Philippine trade is open to foreign ships as well as to American. The CHAIRMAN. Vessels engaged in the coastwise trade are confined to the coast line of continental United States, with the additional right of entering the ports of Porto Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And not the Philippines? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. And not the Philippines. Senator SIMMONS. Is not what you are saying confined to enrolled vessels Suppose a vessel is not enrolled, but is a registered vessel, would not that vessel engage jointly in coastwise and, incidentally, in the foreign trade? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. To what extent is the coastwise and foreign trade combined by vessels dealing with South American ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. I could not say as to that. It can not be to any considerable extent, because, of course, there geography would control. The vessels that would have favorable opportunities for that would be those going from the Atlantic coast ports destined to Gulf ports, or vice versa, and passing near the West Indian ports. I do not know of any at the moment. I can not recall any vessels at this time that are engaged in the business. There may be occasionally a ship that does, but there is no regular business of that kind. In the same way that could happen on the Pacific coast, in the case of vessels that start from the mainland of the United States and pass along the coast of British Columbia, destined for Alaska, for example, going or coming. Of course, there the register would be used, and there are quite a number of vessels engaged in that form of trade under register. The CHAIRMAN. On the Atlantic seaboard, as I understand your statement, you know of no coastwise vessels engaged in trade with Cuba and West Indian ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. That also go to Galveston; yes, sir. We have vessels engaged in trade with Cuba and West Indian ports, of course. The CHAIRMAN. On their way to Galveston? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Not on their way to Galveston. That qualification must be put in. Senator BRANDEGEE. I do not understand your answer to the Senator's question. Have we no vessels in the coastwise trade operating only under enrollments which go to the West Indian islands, either by Galveston or Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. They can not operate under enrollment to the West Indias. They are subject to forfeiture. Senator BRANDEGEE. I understand you to say they could operate to Porto Rico and certain other islands? Senator SIMMONS. That is, if they were registered. Senator BRANDEGEE. No; enrolled. Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. To Porto Rico, yes, under enrollment, in the coastwise trade; to Cuba and the West Indian Islands under register. Senator BRANDEGEE. Let me ask you this: Have you any statistics which will show what proportion of our vessels in the foreign trade also stop at domestic ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. NO. Senator BRANDEGEE. That is another way of asking, as I understand it, what proportion of our vessels are engaged in foreign and coastwise trade combined. You say you have no information on that? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. I have no information on that subject although I do know this, that there must be a number on the Pacific coast that go from the mainland of the United States to Alaska, and stop incidentally. I say a number, but how large the number is, whether large or small, I would not undertake to say. Senator BRANDEGEE. Are there no vessels on the Atlantic coast engaged in the foreign trade that go around Cape Horn and then to Asiatic ports, stopping at San Francisco and other Pacific ports, and are there no vessels on the Pacific coast that go around Cape Horn and touch at any Atlantic ports of the United States, and then on to European ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. There are a very few. Of course that line of business has dropped out with the disappearance of the sailing ship. There used to be more. The CHAIRMAN. At this time do you know of any coastwise vessel engaged in the trade described by Senator Brandegee touching at foreign ports? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. I could not give you the names of any, and yet I know there must be occasional ships of that kind. The CHAIRMAN. Commissioner, how many ships flying the American flag are now engaged in the over-seas foreign trade? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. At the request of yourself and Senator Simmons Senator SIMMONS. Before you go into that would you not permit me to ask the commissioner one or two further questions along the line --- The CHAIRMAN. I assume it will take only about 10 words to answer that question. My information is that there are 16 ships flying the American flag in the over-seas trade. Do you know whether that statement is correct or not? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN. Not so limited as that. There are six of the American Line crossing the Atlantic, one of the Great Northern Line crossing the Pacific, three of the Oceanic or Spreckels Line crossing the Pacific to Australia, and five Pacific Mail ships crossing the Pacific to Asia and the Philippines. |