The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-09-12
OUR MARITIME FUTURE.

two and a half times more than IN 1917
with a million and a quarter tons now
building, or more than Germany ever con-
structed in one year, and almost as much
as England; with shipyards increasing
their facilities by an expenditure of $780,,
100000, and the present American lines ex-
panding as fast as possible, the economic
result of the war on our maritime future
can easily be surnised
A number of causes have been assigned
as the reason why American mercantile
fleets did not grow. In each there is
grain of truth. But as the marine journal,
Fairplay, says, our capitalists were too
busy building railroad lines, which yielded
such enormous returns, to go after the
maritime carrying trade, which from 1904
to 1914, for instance, yielded dividends of
only FIVE and half per cent. For that
reason our capitalists were willing for
European bottoms to carry nine-tenths of
our trade
Our business men were just beginning
to realize the necessity of building up
American maritime fleets, but with an es-
tablished competition, the future wasn't
very inviting Then the war broke, disor-
ganized traffic, increased freights nine
hundred per cent in certain instances, and
the way was open.
That our government desires to en-
courage maritime development, is proved
by the various shipping measures passed by
congress, providing for the purchase OF
vessels, and removing the restrictions to
entering them under American registry. In
1914 alone, after the passage of the emer-
gency ship registry law, $50 ships were
transferred to the American flag. From
January to June 1915, 149 foreign-built
| ships were admitted to American registry.
| Foreign governments took alarm-Eng-
land, which formerly carried over fifty per
cent of Our trade, was the first and pro-
hibited the sale, to foreigners, of ships
carrying their flags.
1t is upon our own ship building plants,
therefore, that our maritime future de-
pends The National Foreign Trade Coun-
Gil, in a statement submitted to congress
on May II, said that to increase the 14.3
per cent of American foreign commerce
carried by American ships in 1915, to go
per cent ten or fifteen years hence-and
only proportion like this would render
our trade reasonably independent of for
eign shipping-would require about TO-
OOO,O 900 gross tons.
Reference has already been made to
the hundred million dollar increase to the
shipyards' facilities, also to the expansion
of Our various shipping lines, including the
new Pacific Mail, American international
Corporation, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Line, and
others in the Pacific; the United Fruit
Company, CASTOR, Williams & Wigmore,
the Garland and Luckenbach Lines, the
Merchants Line, and various others in the
Atlantic.
With this start there is no reason
why Americans should not be able to
build ten million tons-the key to
maritime liberty preparedness no less
necessary than the recent appropriation
that will give us the second navy in the
world. The LaFollette BILL which has
raised the wage scale of sailors, and cor
rected number of abuses that need not be
mentioned here, will undoubtedly encour-
age Americans to follow the sea. Labor
while it is more expensive here, is more
efficient than in foreign ship building
plants and certainly our steel plates ought
to be cheaper at home than abroad
For several years after the war, com
merce will be disorganized freight rate:
will be high, and large returns will help te
offset the large investment in building new
bottoms. The fact, therefore, that the ter
million tons of steamers will cost some
thing like S1,040,000,O0O will be no dis
. | cO11ra t0 Dito1 Wbe-, commerce