OPERATING PROBLEMS OF THE AMERICAN SHIPOWNER. 27 
The first is, that at that time most of the ship operators actually superintended the building 
of their own ships. If a captain wanted a new vessel, he either dealt with a builder who was 
thoroughly familiar with his trade or he stayed right on the job and got what he wanted. 
Secondly, when it came to trading, most of the captains at that time, as far as I can 
find out, did their own buying and their own selling. For instance, they sailed their ships to 
China with a cargo from the east coast, traded it out there and brought back a cargo which 
they sold on this side; the point being that at that time the captain of the vessel, who was in 
many cases the majority owner, was in touch with all phases of the shipping business, the 
building and the operating and the trading. 
I think that one of our troubles today is that we have got very far away from that. I 
speak as a shipbuilder, and one of the biggest problems we have to deal with in the ship- 
yard is to find out what the ship operator really wants, or what the trade really demands. In 
many cases we cannot come to any agreement of minds. Something that the captain of the 
ship wants or the owner thinks he wants is something that is extremely expensive to build, 
and while I am not competent to speak from the operator’s standpoint, I must say that often 
I cannot see where the capital expenditure involved will ever return any adequate percen- 
tage on the investment. 
Of course there are exceptions. One of the most successful lines that we ever had on 
this coast, a concern that for five years earned something over 40 per cent on its capital in- 
vestment, came to a shipyard and absolutely put the design and construction of the vessel up 
to that yard to work out to suit the operating conditions, as well as the construction details. 
The result was that the personnel of that shipyard got on the job, and among other things 
invented new methods of handling cargo, the net result being that the vessel carried every 
voyage 1,000 tons more cargo than a similar vessel of the same size and speed owned by a 
competitor. That thousand tons of cargo each voyage meant 40,000 tons more cargo a 
year, and made the difference between 5 per cent that other operators earned and 40 per 
cent that this particular line earned. 
I merely cite that as an outstanding case, where to my mind all parties got together to 
achieve a result. I have no complete solution to offer, but I do think it is necessary to bring 
the three branches of the business closer together. (Applause. ) 
Mr. ALFRED GILBERT SMITH, Associate:—In order to possibly encourage others who 
can, I am sure, speak intelligently and very interestingly on the various subjects that have 
been covered by the paper, I will start and say two or three things, just for the sake of say- 
ing something. : 
You have heard at our dinner from our very able congressman, Mr. Edmonds, some- 
thing with regard to the consular reports that he had read. He said he had many consular 
reports, tending to show that the fault was very largely—I am alluding to the troubles that 
ship operators and owners experience with their crews at times—the fault of the captains. 
I have no doubt that what he says is absolutely true; he has those reports and the 
reports are doubtless correct; but I want to point out that the consular reports do not give 
information with reference to the troubles that occur on board the ships either going or com- 
ing, with which officers themselves deal, leaving the matter to be settled when the ship returns 
to the home port and where the owner or operator, based on experience, handles the thing 
by simply discharging the crew and getting another, or dismissing the offending man and 
getting another. Those things are not matters of record, and that is very unfortunate, be- 
