The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-12-08
PRESIDENT WILSON'S MESSAGE PREPAREDNESS

volved in this great problem of national adequacy. It is necessary for many weighty reasons of national efficiency and development that we should have a great merchant marine. Tke great merchant
 fleet we once used to make us rich, that
 great body of sturdy sailors who used to carry our flag into every sea, and who were the pride and often the bulwark of l the nation, we have almost driven out
 of existence by inexcusable neglect and l indifference and by a hopelessly blind and
 provincial policy of so-called economic protection It is high time we repaired our mistake and resumed our conner
 cial independence on the seas.
 1 For it is a question UT independence 1 If other nations go to war or seek tc ! hamper each others commerce, our mer- 1 chants, it seems, are at their mercy, tc i do with as they please. We must use i their ships and use them as they deter
 mine. We have not ships enough of ouI | own. We cannot handle our own com | merce on the seas. Our independence is | provincial, and is only on land and with
 in our own borders. We are not likely I tn be permitted to use even the ships ot other nations in rivalry of their owr trade, and are without means to extend l our commerce even where the doors are wide open and our goods desired. Suct
 
 l of capital fmportaQce, not only that the i United States should be it's own carrier on the seas and enjoy the economic lnde- pendence which only an adequate mer- l chant marine would give it. but also thai ! the American hemisphere as a whole | should enjoy like independence and self ! sufficiency, if it is not to be drawn into i the tang1e of European affairs. Withuot | such independence the whole question o1 | cur political unity and self-determinatior | Is very seriously clouded and complicated l indeed.
 SHIPS OF PEACE
 ] Moreover, we can develop no true ol | effective American policy without ships | of our own-not ships of war, but ships l of peace, carrying goods and carrying much more: creating friendships and ren. dering indispensable services to all in l terests on this side the water. They must move constantly back and forth betweer l the Americas. They are the only shuttles | that can weave the delicate fabric o1 1 sympathy, comprehension, confidence, ano 1 mutual dependence in which we wish tc | clothe our policy of America for Amer l jeans.
 l The task of building up an adequate
 merchant marine for America private cap ] ital must ultimately undertake an( l achieve, as it has undertaken ant achieved every other like task amongst | us in the past, with admirable enterprise 1 intelligence and vigor; and it seems te me a manifest dictate of wisdom thai we should promptly remove every ob | stacle that may stand in the way o1 l this much to be desired revival of oul l old independence and should facilitate 1T 1 every possible way the building. purchase and American registration of ships. Bu capital cannot accomplish this great tasl i of a sudden. It must embark upon il l by degrees, as the opportunities of trade l develop. Something must be done at once | done to open routes and develop oppor l tunities where they are as yet undevel
 oped; done to open the arteries of trade | where the currents have not yet learned l to run-especially between the two Amer 1 ican continents, where they are, sngularly l enough, yet to be created and quickened
 and it is evident that only the govern ment can undertake such beginnings ant assume the initial financial risks. Wher ] the risk has passed and private capita begins to find it's way in sufficient abund ance into these new channels, the gov | ernment may withdraw. But it canno ] omit to begin. It should take the frs | steps, and should take them at once Ou 1 goods must not lie piled up at our port | and stored upon side tracks in freigh 1 cars which are daily needed on the roads
 must not be left without means of trans port to any foreign quarter. We mus