Barton County democrat., 1914-09-18

tween IL and ZU per cent are Oer-
man. Uncle Sam is credited with
10 per cent; but when you know
that at this present moment he has
exactly six ships engaged in Allan
tic trade, it becomes apparent that
even 9 per cent is too high. Of
the remaining 21 per cent the
ships fly the flags Of Russia, Nor
way, Belgium, Holland, France,
Italy, and Spain. Eliminate Rus
sia, France and perhaps Italy, and
there are not enough cargo ships
left on the entire Atlantic to take
care of Uncle Sans shipping for
a single day.
The suggestion has been made
instantly to mend the neglect by
permitting the purchase of foreign
built ships and their registry un,
der the United States neutral flag
Independent of the five-year
clause. Look at the suggestion.
Is it likely that the United States
can afford the price for these neu-
trail ships for cargo purposes
which the belligerent nations will
willingly pay for war purposes?
This is the case of the Boer War
over again. Shippers would will
ingly have paid fabulous prices
for cargo room then; but war paid
more.
Who is to man the ships? Be-
low ships officers, almost every
man of the deep-Sea crews is a
foreigner. Almost every nation
in Europe subsidies her mer-
chantmen on condition that Off
GERS and crews belong to the naval
reserves and the ships never to be
sold except by permission of the
admiralty. Can one conceive of
the admira1ity'S giving that per-
mission in time of war?
Then take a look at the inter-
national law The London De-
claration, Chapter V, Article So,
explicitly states that "the transfer
to a neutral flag is void unless
sixty days before the outbreak of
hostilitieS." With that law of the
sea among nations, what shipper
would risk his one hundred thou
sand bushels of wheat on a newly
acquired neutral? What under
writer would insure? Only two
years ago, in an international dis
pute on this very point, Lord
Loreburn pointed out that Inter
national law permits a state in
time of war to capture and confiS-
cate merchant ships belonging to
state"
Can Europe by any possibility
do without Uncle Sam'S crop?
What complicateS matters is the
fact that in the last twenty years
dependence on foreign supplies
has increased to, such an extent
as to invite famine if tranSatlan-
tic supplies are withheld for a sin
gle month.
Take wheat first. Day was
when all Europe lived on rye
bread. Russia alone of all the
countries raises rye enough to
feed her population without i'm
ported white wheatS. Russia,
ROumania and Turkey are today
the only rye-eaterS; so that the
per capita consumption of white
wheatS for all the nations of Eu-
rope has risen from 4 bushels to
512 and 6 bushels. The reason for
this is simple: Science says white
bread has more heat unitS-only
10 per cent waste. Common par
lance says "a man can work bet
ter on ii" The resultant fact is
startling. In the light of the pre-
sent war flame, look at it.
Europe has every year to i'm
port 500 million bushels of wheat.
She has to import that wheat or
go hungry. Great Britain imports
every year from so to 81 per cent
of the wheat she needs. That is.
her own crop is good for only 20
per cent of her needs in the best
years. She must feed As million
people in her Sea-girt islands.
That is, she must have $50 mil
lion bushels of wheat for her own
food a year; and she seldom rails
eS more than so to 60 million bu-
shells. Her record for 1918 was
58,4S6,000 bushels. This is inde-
pendent of her contract trade re.
quirementS for mills and reShip-
ment to the continent. She must
hn,,o Onn ...sll:n. h,rhnlr nf car