Senator BOURNE.
They vitalized the action or recommendation?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
They confirmed his action.
Senator BOURNE.
He could not have taken the action, but for their authority, could he? He would not have done so, as a matter of fact?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I do not think he would have done so.
Senator BOURNE.
No. Was there any direction or request sent from the management or anything connected with the International Mercantile Marine or any of the subsidiary companies to try to make a speed record on the Titanic?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Not the slightest, and never would be in the first voyage. She never would be pressed.
Senator BOURNE.
From the experience incident to the Titanic disaster, have you or your associates come to any conclusion as to laws, policies, or regulations which, if internationally adopted, would minimize the possibility of repetitions of such a catastrophe?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I think the fairest way for me to answer that question is this: That since the accident to the Titanic we have been absolutely overwhelmed, first in distress matters, to do everything we could for everybody, and the only precaution or action that we have taken is that Mr. Ismay authorized, last Friday, and instructed the managers abroad to immediately equip all of the I. M. M. Co.'s steamers with lifeboats and life rafts enough to carry every passenger and every member of the crew. Further than that we have not gone.
Senator BOURNE.
Those new instructions were based upon your conclusions, I assume, that it was impossible to make a nonsinkable ship?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Based upon a conclusion that nobody ever for one moment realized that an accident of this kind could have happened. There was nothing further from the minds of everybody than that an accident of this kind could take place. We never thought, until we got Capt. Haddock's message in the first place, that the ship could go down, and, in the next place, that there would be any material loss of life. This has demonstrated an entirely new proposition that has to be dealt with - something that nobody had ever thought of before. These steamers were considered tremendous lifeboats in themselves. This vessel was constructed as only three other ships have been constructed, and they are all owned by the White Star Line.
Senator BOURNE.
Have you come to any conclusion in your own mind that any individual was responsible in any direction or in any manner for this catastrophe?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I do not see how you can blame anybody. You have the best commander; you have everybody aboard that was interested in the ship; there is no reason to feel that every precaution would not be taken. You had no instructions to force the ship; you had nothing for which you can blame yourself at all.
Senator BOURNE.
You say the Titanic cost, complete, one million and a half pounds, in round numbers. What was she insured for?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
She was insured for, in round numbers, £1,000,000, the balance being carried by the I. M. M. Co., under our own underwriting scheme.
Senator BOURNE.
You say Harland & Wolff builds your ships on a percentage basis. They construct plans and submit them to you, and you determine; and then your representatives, I presume, oversee the construction of the ship, and they get an added percentage of the cost? So it is to their advantage to make the ship, from a dollar standpoint, cost as much as possible, is it not?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Right, sir.
When you say that I do this, you mean, of course, that the company, in its ramifications, does this. The owner of the ship does this; the owning company.
Senator BOURNE.
Yes.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
There is every reason why Harland & Wolff would be very glad to put anything under heaven on the ship, because the more they put on it the more they would make.
Senator BOURNE.
What percentage is it customary for Harland & Wolff to receive on the cost?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I think it is 5 per cent. It is covered by an agreement.
Senator BOURNE.
Have you any knowledge as to whether precautionary measures were taken by the officers of the ship after word was received of the vicinity of icebergs and ice floes?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I have no doubt of that, because of what we have gotten from the testimony before you. As I say, I have not had any talk about the matter with any of the officers and men. I have not had any conversation with them about the matter.
Senator BOURNE.
Have you or your associates come to any conclusion as to improvements that can be made in legislation that would minimize the possibility of the repetition of a catastrophe of this nature?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
No, sir: because, as I have just said, we have had no time to thoroughly discuss that.
Senator BOURNE.
You have not had the time?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
We have not had the time to do it. We can only say this, that everything we have is open, and we will give you every assistance that we possibly can, in every way. If there are any suggestions that we can make, or any matters in regard to which you desire our opinion, or anything of that kind, we will get our experts to give it to you. We are not experts ourselves. That is what I would like to have you understand.
Senator BOURNE.
The only deduction you have made is that it is impossible to build a nonsinkable ship?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
It looks so today, from this experience. If you had asked me that a week ago I would have said no. I would have said we had them.
Senator BOURNE.
You gave the minimum costs of the first, second, and third class passage on the Titanic. What are the maximum costs?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
That would run up to anything. It depends entirely upon the circumstances and conditions.
Senator BOURNE.
It depends upon the furnishing of the rooms, I suppose?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
A man might want a room and a bath and sitting room for himself and his servant. Another man might come along and say: "I want these two rooms and bath and sitting room, and I want to put five people in them or four people in them." Each of the rooms has two single beds in it. It is entirely a question of what taste each person has and what his requirements are, and what accommodations they want in the way of space.
Senator BOURNE.
And the length of purse would also be a factor?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
We could not determine that. We like to get all we can, of course.
Senator SMITH.
Before you leave the stand, Mr. Franklin, are you able to answer whether this ship was equipped with searchlights?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I do not think it was. I never heard of her being equipped with searchlights.
Senator SMITH.
Is it customary to equip your vessels with searchlights?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I never heard of a trans-Atlantic liner being equipped with searchlights.
Senator, have you cleared up as much as you want to in regard to this Cedric matter? A good deal has been said about that, and I think there has been a terrible mistake made, an awful mistake made there; and I would like to clear it up if you care to go into it further.
Senator SMITH.
Right now?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
If you wish; yes.
Senator SMITH.
We will take it up after luncheon, or now.
Senator BOURNE.
I suggest that the gentleman clear up the matter on his own statement, stating what he thinks is necessary to do.
Senator SMITH.
Now?
Senator BOURNE.
Let him state where the misunderstanding is and what he thinks is necessary to clear it up.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Criticism has been seriously made to the effect that those messages were sent entirely with the idea of getting the crew away, and of Mr. Ismay's also getting away on account of what information might come out from the crew.
I want to say that that was not in Mr. Ismay's mind. Everybody realizes the importance of getting these members of the crew away from the country at the earliest possible moment. We were not sailing a White Star steamer for another week, but we did change the schedule of the Lapland on Tuesday and sent her to Plymouth to take the mails. We thought we could get them out by Saturday.
As far as Mr. Ismay personally is concerned, he left his own personal movements entirely to us.
As far as the crew are concerned, it is the duty of everybody connected with the steamers to get a crew, under such circumstances, out of the country just as quickly as it can be done. We have always tried to do that.
Senator SMITH.
On that point, have you cabled your London office any directions regarding the crew?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
You asked me on Saturday night to get for you the name and address of every man going home on the Lapland?
Senator SMITH.
Yes.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I told the manager of our steamship department yesterday morning there to assure himself that he had that and would send it down, or to cable over so that it would be gotten before this ship gets there. Is that what you are driving at, Senator?
Senator SMITH.
That is what I want in the record.
I would also like the statement in the record of your offer to furnish for this committee any surviving officer, any officer or member of the crew whom we may desire to examine.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
We assure you that we will give you all the information you desire, and we will see that anybody under our control that you desire to appear before you does so appear.
Senator SMITH..
That is my understanding.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
If that is not as strong as you want it -
Senator BOURNE.
That is a voluntary offer on the part of the company?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
We made that offer to Senator Smith the moment we saw him at the gang plank of the Carpathia. To the best of my knowledge and belief, I told you that we would cooperate with you in every way, and be very glad to have anybody you wanted appear before you.
Senator SMITH.
Then there has been no attempt by your company or any officer or subordinate of your company to spirit away any member of the crew or any surviving officer of the Titanic?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
To the best of my knowledge and belief, no.
Senator SMITH.
I think you had better put into the record your motive in wanting to get these men out of the country.
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Men arriving under these extraordinary circumstances, not being on articles, are very difficult, at times, to control, because a great many people are running after them for stories, and making them presents, and taking them out in the street. They stray away, and they get into endless trouble; and they are not controllable as are seamen and firemen ordinarily from a ship when it is in the dock under the command of an officer, and everything of that sort. It is the duty of every owner or representative of an owner of a steamship, under similar circumstances, to get those men out of these temptations, and to get them away to their own homes and their own people, and where they can go back again and sign on another ship, and go to sea.
Senator SMITH.
Is that the sole motive that you had in wanting to get them out of the country?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
That is the only motive I had. I never thought anything about anything else.
Senator BOURNE.
In a case like that, if you have a sister ship, or a ship of the same company, it is used as the home of your employees, and the method of transporting them to their homes?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Yes. As quickly as we can get them back.
Senator BOURNE.
That is quite the custom?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Yes. If we have a steamer coming in from the Mediterranean, and we do not need the crew, we send them on somebody else's line, or get them to Boston; we get them away. We do not want to have them a minute longer than we have to.
Senator SMITH.
So far as you know, are these men who are survivors of the Titanic to be reemployed by your company?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
They will certainly be reemployed if they appear for service.
Senator SMITH.
Are they still in your service?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
No, sir, technically speaking, they are not, for the reason that the moment a ship goes down, the men's wages cease. But we, of course, take care of them. There is one other thing I would like to say, and that is this: I think you gentlemen will realize that, under the conditions of this fearful disaster, no man in the crew could tell any story that could do us any harm. Here were all the passengers, and everybody else, who were there, and what difference would it make to us what the crew said? The worst thing they could say could not remedy the matter; could not help the matter, in any way, shape or form.
Senator SMITH.
You consider that anything they might say would be simply cumulative?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
Yes; as far as I am personally concerned, I can say that I did not care a bit what the members of the crew said.
Senator FLETCHER.
You said that as soon as the ship went down, the wages of the men ceased, but that you took care of them. Is there not an English law that gives them a remedy, and provides for the payment of so much a week under such circumstances?
Mr. FRANKLIN.
I am not clear on that without looking it up. We have to return them, and do all these things. They would have to go to the British consul in regard to that. I could not give you all the ramifications on that. The articles end when the ship goes down.
Senator SMITH.
I will ask you to hold yourself in readiness to resume the stand after the recess, Mr. Franklin: We will now take a recess until 3 o'clock.