Federal Maritime Commission

“ Since maritime employers are permitted to bargain as a group, and since they are required to bargain about certain subjects, the resulting agreements must have some exemption from the filing requirements of § 15 and from successful challenge under the antitrust laws or under the substantive principles in §§ 16 and 17 of the Shipping Act. ”

“ The collective bargaining agreement involved in this case, with its Mechanization and Modernization Fund (Mech Fund) , cannot be evaluated properly without an understanding or maritime labor relations and technological developments in the shipping industry.
The history of maritime labor relations in this country has been punctuated with lengthy major strikes and continuous minor disruptions. [3] The maritime industry has long been faced with problems of instability-economic and managerial. Employment for maritime workers is generally both irregular and insecure. ”

“ Because the shipping industry is vitally important both to our national commerce and national defense, the Federal Government has maintained a special interest in trying to promote its growth and stability. ”

“ That section provides that there be filed with the Commission 'every agreement' among persons subject to the Act
'fixing or regulating transportation rates or fares; giving or receiving special rates, accommodations, or other special privileges or advantages; controlling, regulating, preventing or destroying competition; pooling or apportioning earnings, losses, or traffic; allotting ports or restricting or otherwise regulating the number and character of sailing between ports; limiting or regulating in any way the volume or character of freight or passenger traffic to be carried ”

“ We find it unnecessary to decide the questions sought to be raised in this connection. On June 29, 1936, Congress adopted the Merchant Marine Act. By section 204 (a) of that statute (46 U.S.C.A. § 1114 (a) it was provided: 'All the functions, powers and duties vested in the former United States Shipping Board by the Shipping Act, 1916, * * * and amendments, * * * and now vested in the Department of Commerce pursuant to section 12 of the President's Executive order of June 10, 1933, are hereby transferred to the United States Maritime Commission.' The Commission is created by the act. ”

“ To limit § 15 to agreements that 'affect competition,' as the Commission used that phrase in the present case, simply does not square with the structure of the statute. [23]
The legislative history offers no support for a different view. The genesis of the Shipping Act was the 'Alexander Report' in 1914. ”

“ It seems plain that the 'contrary to the public interest' test was intended to comprehend factors unique to the shipping industry as well as those embodied in the antitrust laws. Hence, I believe that under the Act the Commission may not place upon a shipping conference the burden of justifying an agreement until the Commission has determined that in light of both shipping and antitrust factors the agreement would be 'contrary to the public interest' in the absence of further explanation. ”

“ At the threshold we must decide whether, in a suit brought by the United States to enjoin a dual-rate system enforced in concert by steamship carriers engaged in foreign trade, a District Court can pass on the merits of the complaint before the Federal Maritime Board has passed upon the question. ”

“ Although we recognized that protecting commercial shipping is at the heart of admiralty jurisdiction, we also noted that that interest
"cannot be adequately served if admiralty jurisdiction is restricted to those individuals actually engaged in commercial maritime activity. This interest can be fully vindicated only if all operators of vessels on navigable waters are subject to uniform rules of conduct. The failure to recognize the breadth of this federal interest ignores the potential effect of noncommercial maritime activity on maritime commerce. ”

“ The Shipping Commissioners of the United States form a highly responsible body of officers with semi-judicial functions, who are directly responsible to the Secretary of Commerce, by whom they are appointed. The law provides one such officer for each port of entry which is a port of ocean navigation, and which in the judgment of the Secretary shall require the services of a Commissioner, and for whom Congress has made an appropriation. Generally speaking, the duties of the Shipping Commissioner are to afford facilities for engaging seamen ”

“ Maritime law is not a monistic system. The State and Federal Governments jointly exert regulatory powers today as they have played joint roles in the development of maritime law throughout our history. [43] This sharing of competence in one aspect of our federalism has been traditionally embodied in the saving clause of the Act of 1789. Here, as is so often true in our federal system, allocations of jurisdiction have been carefully wrought to correspond to the realities of power and interest and national policy. ”

“ Although the corpus of admiralty law is federal in the sense that it derives from the implications of Article III evolved by the courts, to claim that all enforced rights pertaining to matters maritime are rooted in federal law is a destructive oversimplification of the highly intricate interplay of the States and the National Government in their regulation of maritime commerce. It is true that state law must yield to the needs of a uniform federal maritime law when this Court finds inroads on a harmonious system. ”

“ The delegation of cognizance "of all civil causes of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction" to the courts of the United States, comprehends all maritime contracts, torts, and injuries. The latter branch is necessarily bounded by locality; the former extends over all contracts, wheresoever they may be made or executed, or whatsoever may be the form of the stipulations, which relate to the navigation, business, or commerce of the sea. ”

“ During my Administration I have sought to ensure that the U.S. maritime industry will not have to function at an unfair competitive disadvantage in the international market. As I indicated in my maritime policy statement to the Congress in July, 1979, the American merchant marine is vital to our Nation's welfare, and Federal actions should promote rather than harm it. ”

“ In 1903 the matter was taken up with greater vigor, by President Roosevelt. In his annual message to Congress December 7, the President, "deeply concerned at the decline of our ocean fleet and the loss of skilled officers and seamen," recommended the appointment by Congress of a joint commission to investigate and report at the next session, "what legislation is desirable or necessary for the development of the American merchant marine and American commerce, and, incidentally, of a national ocean mail service of adequate auxiliary naval cruisers and naval reserves." ”

“ No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.'
The petitioner contends that to permit a statute to have such application to articles intended for foreign export is to place a burden on the exercise of this right, because, before the shipper can lawfully send his goods abroad, and before the carrier can lawfully accept them, there must be a compliance with the established rate on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission. ”

“ Does the statute confer upon the secretary of the navy, acting alone or by direction of the president, the power to declare a particular service to be shore service, if, in fact, it was performed by the officer 'when at sea,' under the orders of the department, and on a vessel employed by authority of law? By the navy regulations of 1876, it was declared that 'duty on board a sea-going vessel of the navy in commission, on board a practice ship at sea, or on board a coast-survey vessel actually employed at sea, will be regarded by the department as sea service.' Page 85. ”

“ The through rate is obtained by adding the ocean rate to the inland rate. There is no contractual relation between the railroad carrier and the ocean carrier. The ocean rate is uncertain and variable, depending upon time of sailing and available space. The accommodation for ocean shipment was obtained by the shipper and by it made known to the inland carrier. We think the language of the statute, read in the light of the manifest purpose of its passage, shows the intent of Congress to bring interstate commerce within the control of the provisions of the law up to the time of ocean shipment. ”

“ Throughout the past five decades, the dedicated men and women of this agency have worked to improve the competitiveness of our maritime industry in world markets and to strengthen our ability to respond swiftly and effectively in times of crisis. On behalf of a grateful Nation, I salute these outstanding public servants for their commitment to the U.S. Merchant Marine and to the shipbuilding, repair services, ports, and intermodal water and land transportation systems they need to function efficiently. ”

“ It seems to be settled in our jurisprudence that, so long as congress does not interpose to regulate the subject, the rights of material men furnishing necessaries to a vessel in her home port may be regulated in each state by state legislation. State laws, it is true, cannot exclude the contract for furnishing such necessaries from the domain of admiralty jurisdiction, for it is a maritime contract, and they cannot alter the limits of that jurisdiction ”

“ Strenuous efforts have been made by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, and the Committee of Lloyd’s Registry to instruct the officers of the mercantile marine in the use of the International Code. The Admiralty has ordered that all men belonging to the Royal Naval Reserve shall receive instruction in its use ”

“ Through the cooperation of the Post Office Department and the Shipping Board long-term contracts are being made with American steamship lines for carrying mail, which already promise the construction of 15 to 20 new vessels and the gradual reestablishment of the American merchant marine as a private enterprise. No action of the National Government has been so beneficial to our shipping. ”

“ Your Committee are of opinion that, so far from being an impediment to the proper increase of the Navy, the prosperity of the ocean steam packet service must operate in favor of an enlargement of the naval force, the necessity for which is increased in proportion to the extension of our commercial relations with foreign countries. ”

“ The United States Government fleet is transporting a large amount of freight and reducing its drain on the Treasury. The Shipping Board is constantly under pressure, to which it too often yields, to protect private interests, rather than serve the public welfare. More attention should be given to merchant ships as an auxiliary of the Navy. The possibility of including their masters and crews in the Naval Reserve, with some reasonable compensation, should be thoroughly explored as a method of encouraging private operation of shipping. Public operation is not a success. ”

“ There can be no doubt that the Committee was amply alive to the primary purpose of the dual-rate system. But it did not, in subsequently discussing (id., at 304-307) the 'Disadvantages of Shipping Conferences and Agreements, as Now Conducted,' make any reference to the system as such, although it dealt extensively and disapprovingly, on the basis of evidence put before it, with such practices as deferred rebates, fighting ships, and retaliation against shippers for airing grievances. ”

“ Some additions are also necessary to our navy-yards, for the repair and care of our large number of vessels. As there are now on the stocks five battle ships of the largest class, which cannot be completed for a year or two, I concur with the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy for an appropriation authorizing the construction of one battle ship for the Pacific Coast, where, at present, there is only one in commission and one under construction, while on the Atlantic Coast there are three in commission and four under construction ”

“ The first of these qualifications can rarely be called into requisition at the present day, since, for more than 20 years past, all the principal maritime nations of the world (at least, those whose vessels navigate the Atlantic ocean) have concurred in adopting a uniform set of rules and regulations for the government of vessels on the high seas. ”

“ Our citizens engaged in the legitimate pursuits of commerce have enjoyed its benefits. Wherever our national vessels have gone they have been received with respect, our officers have been treated with kindness and courtesy, and they have on all occasions pursued a course of strict neutrality, in accordance with the policy of our Government.
The naval force at present in commission is as large as is admissible with the number of men authorized by Congress to be employed. ”