New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-05
A Ship Purchase Bill of the wrong
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Tho Senate was taken by surprise yesterday
.,.hor tho administration ship purchase bill was
invested with the right of way privilege oil I'M
finished business" No public hearings hao Oeen
hold on this measure, although ITS passage "ou'o
commit the government to a novel experiment
-, ownership and operation Of ocean freight INES
and might create further undesirable compilca-
.;ors IN the settlement Of our present contra
l,o,d disnutes with European belligerents' Inc
renort of the minority Of the Committee on Oonl-
merce had not even been presented wheh 'ne oi'
was ordered up for consideration.
The Republicans in the Senate Will be JuS'i'
fed in resisting the railroading OF the snip pur'
chase scheme with all the parliamentary weapons
at their disposal, and in the upper house oil Ooh-
,.ress there is no lack Of such weapons Inc
country needs to be informed Of the motives ana
Influences behind this measure, which had us
origin in the semi-panic IN exporting circles
,,bicb followed the outbreak of the European
,,.or bpt which lost its interest for the public
as soon as it was seen that ordinary communi-
cations with Europe were not going TO De cut
off The North Atlantic has never been closed
a., central freighters or even TO the freight lines
IF Creat Britain and France. The emergency
which the bill was expected to meet quickly fz-
lied ont and the idea Of making the government
practically the sole carrier Of all outgoing Amer
lean products fizzled out with it. By October
the conditions which made the scheme plausible
had practically disappeared. That the bill has
survived is due solely 70 the unwillingness OF
the President to admit that measure once put
upon his legislative programme can ever be out
OF date.
The entry Of the government as a competitor
into the Atlantic carrying trade could have no
beneficial results. Government operation would
be more expensive than private operation. But
American owners would be driven out Of bust
ness, because government owned ships could and
would be run at loss and because they would,
ON the face Of things, offer better security for
cargo. Yet, on the other hand in serving belhg-
erent nations the government would not have the
same freedom as individual shippers enjoy. 1t
would be debarred from carrying munitions and
contraband Of war to belligerents, and even in
serving neutral nations it could not with pro-
priety take chances of having its vessels held
IN. searched and carried into British or French
ports on the charge of violating the rules re-
sarding trade in contraband.
The United States has to live up to some
rather strict interpretations Of the law of con-
traband made by us in the course Of the Civil
War. Nothing would be more unfortunate, con-
seouently, for the maintenance of our imparti-
atty as a neutral power than the governments
entry into the European trade as general car
rier. The game isn't worth the candle. 1t would
be far more discreet for the nation and far more
advantageous for our exporters if we should in
sure American cargoes carried in foreign as well
as i'm American bottoms, or even if we should
grant subsidies TO all vessels carrying our mer-
chandse to Europe, instead Of compromising our
position by engaging directly in the transatlantic
trade
So far as the South American trade is con-
cerned the situation is entirely different. 1t has
been amply demonstrated that private enterprise
will not furnish the facilities we need to develop
commerce with the east and west coasts of South
America. The government must be the pioneer
there, either by granting postal subventions and
cargo subsidies, by using its transports and war
vessels as freighters or by buying and operating
commercial lines. Money thus invested would
bring a return worth while.
Were the Fletcher bill limited in its scope 20
trade with South America there would be little
objection 20 it, But II wrongheadedy contem-
a. ~
all its present special hazards. That trade should
be left 20 private owners, who alone are compe-
tent to assume its manifold risks, not the least
among them being the activities Of contraband
hunters and prize courts. The United States has
no business as a carrier in that troubled sphere
ID II. 1ka WronAe lnpa nv the Pluck