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Show UNCLE SAffl TO SEIZE AMERICANTONNAGE SHIPPING BOARD TO COMMANDEER COMMAND-EER VESSELS UNDER AUTHORITY AUTHOR-ITY GRANTED PRESIDENT. Coastwise Tonnage and Vessels Taken Off South American Runs to Be Put to Carrying Supplies to Be Replaced Re-placed by Neutral Ships. Washington. The imperative need of ships in the transatlantic service was disclosed on Thursday in indications indica-tions that the shipping board is preparing pre-paring to commandeer all American tonnage and in an order issued by President Wilson, which has the effect of cutting off steel exports to Japan unless Japanese vessels are diverted di-verted to war uses. The shipping board probably will announce an-nounce a commandeering program within a few days. It will call for the requisitioning of ships under authority recently given to the president by congress, con-gress, and probably will include arrangements ar-rangements for turning the vessels back to their owners for actual operation. opera-tion. The government, it is said, has no desire to operate the vessels itself, hut- through control of charters can direct di-rect trade routes and at the same time can lower ocean freight rates. Coastwise tonnage and vessels taken off South American runs to be put to carrying supplies to Europe probably would be replaced in large part by neutral ships. Both Norway and Holland Hol-land are ready to release a large amount of tonnage for allied use in return re-turn for food shipments. A resolution pending in congress, drawn by administration admin-istration officials, would permit vessels ves-sels of foreign registry to ply between American ports. The British and American governments govern-ments have about reached an agreement agree-ment for a joint control of all the world's tonnage, and the shipping board's move toward commandeering is a preliminary step in that arrangement. arrange-ment. Under the plan the United States would operate most of the neutral neu-tral tonnage and Great Britain would have under its control allied ships. The arrangement would be used, also, to bring down freight rates. The president's instructions, which will bring Japanese ships into the Atlantic, At-lantic, were issued to the division of export licenses, and provide that no steel or iron products shall go to .allied .al-lied countries unless they are to be used for actual war purposes or will contribute directly to the prosecution of the war. Japan has been a large buyer of American ship plates and has been building up a great, merchant fleet. About 4 per cent of her tonnage ton-nage is in the Atlantic and the remainder re-mainder is carrying Pacific cargoes at extremely high rates. |