The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson, S.C.) 1914-1917, 1915-01-01
FIGHT IS ON
FOR SHIP BILL
SECRETARY REDFIELD MAKES
EARNEST APPEAL FOR
MERCHANT MARINE.
LIKE AN OSTRICH
America Has Risked Thousands
of Dollars During Present
War UselessIy.
LIKE AN OSTRICH

WASHINGTON. Dec. 3O.-Initiat-
ing the aggressive fight to be waged
IN Congress for passage of the govern
ment ship purchase bill to free Ameri-
can commerce from European war
limitations, majority members of the
senate commerce committee today
filed report recommending the meas
ure In vigorous terms and transmit
ting commendatory letter from Sec
rotary Of Commerce Redfield.
The committee report, filed by Act
ing Chairman Fletcher, quoted. the
report submitted yesterday by Secre-
tary McAdoo and RedHeld showing
enormous increases In ocean transpor-
tation rates since the war began and
attendant falling Off nocean tonnage
facilities. The committee predicted
that enactment of the ship purchase
Dill would go far to relieve that stu
alton.
'Unquestionably," says the report,
III we had additional ships under the
American flag. the situation, would
rapidly improve and much OF the. dis
tress. Of producers. business men and
banks. not only in the South, but
throughout the country, would be re-
lieyed. a
Badly Handicapped.
Secretary Redfeld In his letter,
written to Senator Fletcher to accom-
pany the report. declared s that for
years the United States ocean ship-
ping had been In the hands OF .te COM
petitors, "like o. department store
fwtthDut-+ +sHy.-s livery system Except
such as competitors were willing to
supply" The result was easily to be
forseeh. he figured, when 20 years
fagO American goods displaced German
products In second place among South
african sales. and American iron and
steel entered into keen competition
abroad with German and English pro-
ducts. ~ -, s.-
You cannot imagine Germany or
J England continuing permanently to
transport on favorable terms to us
American goods on anS such scale as
; to seriously threaten German or Eng
lish industrial markets.. the letter
continued.
Like an Ostrich.
Like an ostrich with its head in
the sand we have put Our money and
merchandise at risk vi the European
war. American capital invested in
ships under European flags can be
and has been destroyed by the acts
OF hostile cruisers. Two vessels under
foreign f!ngs on their way to. be trans-
feTTed were thus sunk. American capi-
tai in goods transported under foreign
flags, which were not owned by Amer
lean capital, has been lost or; injured
wien such vessels have been sunk or
held up and American goods for which
Americans long since paid are today
In foreign harbors. mos
| 1--WE know now that our commerce,
while ocean borne, Is subject to- war
risks not Of our making, but by. which
:i6e suffer. The time has been when
war Risks shut OFF the movement Of
sAmerican wheat and delayed .,s the
movement OF American cotton and It
10 quite within the range Of probabil-
ity that such o, time may reoccur. An
american merchant marine is a. neces-
sity. and cannot be had ithout
enough to relieve us from jeo-
pardy in which we have stt.ru and IN
which In some measure we now stand
a Pressing Need.
Indeed, 30 vital is the present time
to America that 1t seems as IL VIE
were In the very transition from be-
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