Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-05-27 | Page 10 | Shipping Men Call Conference for Washington

SHIPPING MEN CALL CONFERENCE FOR WASHINGTON By Universal (service. WASHINGTON, May 26. Kepf esenta-tivca esenta-tivca of eig-htoon shipbuilding plants in Washington, Oregon and California say their industry -will be paralyzed if the United KLate-s shipping: board continues the suspension ui contracts, and succeeded suc-ceeded today in securing a call for a conference to be held before the shipping board and the senators and congressmen of tho Pacific coast states. Chairman J-Jdvard N. Hurley of the Shipping board lias been asked to have da La at hand and tho representatives of tiie shipbuilding plants will be given full opportunity to present their case. The shipbuilders have been in Washington Wash-ington since Thursday, but their conferences confer-ences with the shipping board have not proved satisfactory in that they have been unable to obtain definite assurances as to whai policy will be pursued by the board. This morning the shipbuilders met with the Pacific coast delegation in the house, with the result that a subcommittee sub-committee consisting of Representatives Nolan of California, MacArthur of Oregon Ore-gon and Hadley of Washington was appointed. ap-pointed. Late today this committee and the shipbuilders met. with senators from Oregon, Ore-gon, Washington and California in the office of Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington. As a result of this meeting meet-ing the conference to be held Wednesday was arranged. It is probable that several sev-eral national labor leaders --ill also participate par-ticipate in the conference. "We want to protect the shipbuilders of the Pacific coast from loss," said Senator Sen-ator Jones, "hut it is a matter which concerns the whole country, and we will thresh it out." The shipbuilders declare that 100,000 employees are directly concerned in the plants whose contracts have been suspended sus-pended and that i'0,000 employees are engaged en-gaged in allied industries. The majority of these men will be thrown out of work if the suspended contracts are not reinstated, rein-stated, it is said. Chairman Hurley says the action of the shipping board has been misunderstood misunder-stood and it has been the intention to rearrange the program so as to construct ships of types different from those contracted con-tracted for to meet peace demands. The shipbuilders rejoin that it will cost the government less to carry out the original contracts, for which materials are in large part already provided, than to cancel them and build vessels of a new design. !