The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-25
THE AMERICAN
 MERCHANT MARINE
(By Arthur E. Keating.)

is one of national interest and con cern, not only as a means of advanc- ing our standard upon foreign shores, but also as a means of self-p protection and defense against the aggr essions of foreign foes. In fact, it is only through A merchant marine that our Salvation can be erected againsf the powerful derogatory. influence of cer- tain trans-oceanic rivals working to deplete our national prestige, and en- croa ching upon our national pros perity.
 Recent magazine and newspaper ar tie1es have bewailed the manifest lack of super1attVe marine, but they have inexp1icab1y failed to portray it's ex- treme1y decadent sstate-to clearly des fine the present status of our marine.
 It is a 1amentable fact, that the ar rival of an American freighter in a. foreign port is to-day a rare occur renee; that often certain world-porrs flag for as long space as twelve years! And little wonder, for our en- tire oceanic marine comprises to-day less than twenty ships! Contrast to this insignificant handful the mer- cantiIe naVies of Great Britain and Germany: the former consists of seventeen ships, the latter of two thousand and ninety-one.
 But what, you say, has become Of that. matchless feet of thirty years eff ciency ?-of those we1l-nigh invin- cible ships whose beautiful lines and record pages once excited the admir- ation of tie world? Gone! And why
 Is it that there is no longer none tary profit in carrying produce? Yet our foreign neighbors derive an an nual income of more than $200, ,OOO,- 900 from the control of our com merce alone.
 Is it that the spirit of adventure is dead among Americans to-day? Has the quest of the Almighty Dollar en- tireIy superseded the quest for glory on the high seas? No! Between Port sands of the finest and most daring sailors the world has ever produced. but they are left. by the vagaries of a harsh fate and an indifferent nation to eke out for themselves but a miserable existence upon the Newfoundland fishing banks.
 Or is i: that we hack the proper per mol Raw, material is readily aecessi- ble to-day, and perhaps no shipyard in the world Is better equipped than Cramps Of Philadelphia.
 What, sthen.e has caused this almost complete cessation of our mercantile activities?
 Briefly, the advent of the iron steamship dealt the American marine it's death-blow. While other nations were replacing their sailing vessels with the surer and safer steamer, America, under the dual handicap of no cheap source of iron and steel, and a Congressional act forbidding the l.operation of foreign built vessels un- lder the American ens1gn, though l.oWned and manned by Americans, was tunable to make this substitution, and
 Superiority of the new type, gradu- l;alIy transferred their allegiance to
 the foreign vessels, leaving the Ameri-
 can marine to slowly sink into ob-
 Free Ship policy is almost uni lVersaIIy regarded as extremely detri- of any country, but surely at that time Tho better policy could have been ladopted in America, for unuuestion- ably just as soon as Yankee ingenuity ltriumphed in it's efforts to underbid ] the European iron and steel market, I;shipbuilding would have sprung up
 again with increased vigor- Another prime cause of our decline | at sea vas the withdrawal of the
 ocean mail subsidies just before the Civil War. Under national protection, our marine had prospered and grown am azing1y but immediately upon the lconsummation of this cowardly act
 by those vindictive Southern. Con- | gressmen desirous of rufning North Tern commerce, it began to shrink, un- l til to-day only the merest skeleton
 remains, mute testimony of the abuse of congressional power.
 The question inp ediately arises, is | the establishment of our marine a problem worthy of consideration .What advantages will accrue there
 In the first place. strong business
 reasons demand the existence of an | Am nGT1CaHs u1STCdnLll6 navy 0aPPOSS
 that Great Britain and Germany, the principle carriers of our produce,
 should engage in war. By present
 freightefs would be placed at the dis i posa1 of either government as trans l ports. Consider the effect upon our
 ommercc-upon our prosperity | With foreign markets inaccessible,
 many American industries would suf- 1 fer inca1culable injury, and in all 1 probability a general panic with all | it's attendant evils would enSue. Why
 should Am erica's prosperity be thus | dependent upon the capr1ces or Tor eign rivals, whose only interest in us 1 is to obtain a. share of our wealth | But most striking of all, and most i deploEing, it must be confessed, is l the spectacle of the great and impos- | ing battle fleet of the United States,
 undermanned by raw recruits, and
 totally without reserve, either of ships l or of men-au because the disap j. 1 pearance of the merchant marine has | carried with it the inevitable dispers- lion of the bravest and hardest sea- faring population in the world, which l should to-day form the very back bone of American independence and
 prosperity.
 Furthermore, if international com plications should plunge America into l war under present existing conditions | the unfortunate events of the Spanish lleled when more fell from the ravages l of disease contracted through the in l efficiency Of the transport service thar from the bullets of the enemy, al though the home country was scarce