2.0.2.5/22/24. TO AMEND SECTION 28 OF THE MERCHANT MARINE ACT COMMITTEE ON THE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Thursday, April 3, 1924. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock, a. m., Hon. William S. Greene (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing this morning is on H. R. 8091, introduced by Mr. Newton of Minnesota, and I will call on him to present his case first. Then we will call the members from the Shipping Board to present their views and then, as far as we can, I would like to alternate with those who desire to be heard. We will be as patient as we can, but we want you to be as brief as possible, because we might be called over to the House about 12 o'clock. (The bill H. R. 8091 and sections 8 and 28 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 are as follows:) [H. R. 8091, Sixty-eighth Congress, first session] A Bill To amend section 28 of the Merchant Marine Act, an Act of 1920. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 28 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 be amended to read as follows: "That no common carrier shall charge, collect, or receive for transportation subject to the Interstate Commerce Act of persons or property under any joint rate, fare, or charge, or under any export, import, or other proportional rate, fare, or charge which is based in whole or in part on the fact that the persons or property affected thereby is to be transported to, or has been transported from, any port in a possession or dependency of the United States, or in a foreign country, by a carrier by water in foreign commerce, any lower rate, fare, or charge than that charged, collected, or received by it for the transportation of persons, or of a like kind of property, for the same distance in the same direction and over the same route in connection with commerce wholly within the United States, unless the vessel so transporting such persons or property is, or unless it was at the time of such transportation by water, documented under the law of the United States. Whenever the board is of the opinion, however, that adequate shipping facilities to or from any port in a possession or dependency of the United States or a foreign country are not afforded by vessels so documented, it shall certify this fact to the Interstate Commerce Commission and the commission may by order suspend the operation of the provisions of this section with respect to the rates, fares, and charges for the transportation by rail of persons and property transported from, or to be transported to, such ports for such length of time and under such terms and conditions as it may prescribe in such order, or in any order supplemental thereto. Such suspension of operation of the provisions of this section may be terminated in whole or in part by order of the commission as to any rates, fares, charges, rules, regulations, or practices for or in regard to the transportation of persons or property or any special commodity or commodities to or from any port in the United States, in the discretion of the commission, either on its own initiative or after full hearing whenever the board is of the opinion that adequate shipping facilities by such vessels to such ports are afforded and shall so certify to the commission." 1 |