The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-27
AMERICA WINS LEADERSHIP IN
 SHIP. BUILDING

After 50 years of stagnation and de- has turned at last to the dawn Of res toration. Here are some of the s1gnl1- icant and infallible signs:
 Under the American ship registry act of 1914, which removed the restrlc- tions as to the country of a ships con- struction, there have been added to American registry in overseas com merce 184 vessels of 622,071 gross tons' which now carry American commerce under the American flag.
 On July l.. 1916, American registry of ocean merchantmen covered, Tn round numbers, 2,100,000 vessel tons, as compared with 932,O00 on the same date in 1912-an increase of 124 per cent. in four years.
 Tonnage Now Building
 On July 1, moreover, there were building in American shipyards steel merchantmen of 1,240,0O0 tons, as compared with 271, 1000 tons on the same date in 1912. In this case, the increase is over $50 per cent. Pro- phecies of timidr Republicans, that free American registry would injure Amer ian shipyards, are blown to the wonds.
 As against 1,2AO.e00. steel tonnage under construction in American yards cn .,uly ], the record construction Of Germany was age, 900 in 1914; and while the United Kingdom has record ed a greater tonnage, its construction last year was 65O,919 tons. .
 The United States in 1916 stands. for the first time in its history, as the foremost Ehipbuilding country in the world.
 Will Retain Position
 There gre reasons why America will retain this position First, the United States is the greatest producer of steel in the worfd-manufactur more than the United Kingdom and Ger many combined-anh the price of American ship plates is lower than in Great Britain, our chief competitor. Second, steel shipbuilding is closely an- alogous to !! two industries in which Americans have easily stood at ithe forefront in years, namely, steel bridge building and locomotive construction. We are now building steel ships for all corners, just as formerly we have built bridges and locomotives for the world.
 Record of Ports and Cargoes.
 1uo dDONc 1dClS' uldy UC NCIlHOu HI the official records of the United States Commissioner of Navigation. We have now to see how the story of the ports and cargoes, as contained in the com merce statistics Of the Foreign Trade Division of the United States Depart ment of Commerce, tal1ies with the record of navigation registry and the shipyards.
 %~ xI1s can navigation and tariff laws, only 6 per cent. to 8 per cent. of the domestic exports of the United States was car ried in American vessels.
 For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1916, this percentage is increased to 13 per cent-a gain of 75 per cent. to 100 per cent.
 In 1912, American imports carried in American vessels amounted to II per cent of the total For the fiscal year rises to 22 per cent-or just double the 1912 record.
 Total American vessel tonnage en- tering our ports engaged in foreign trade during the fiscal year just closed reaches 1S,OOO,000, against 11,257,OOO four years ago. The vessel tonnage in- crease is therefore 60 per cent. while the cargo increase of these vessels is 100 per cent. which indicates that un- der the present commercial prosperity and greater freedom from restrictive tariff and navigation laws, the vessels are getting heavier cargoes.;
 Government Shipping Act. The passage of the shipping act, which places $5O,O00, 00U under a Fed eral board of shipping experts for de- velop1nent of merchant marine through cooperation with private shipping interests. is the keystone to the arch which insures stability to the entire shipping organization of the country. It means for our shipping in terests that which the Federal Re- serve act means for~banking, the In- terstate Commerce Commission for rail transportation the Commerce Depart ment for the foreign trade, and the Federal Trade Commission for indus trial organization. It places the Gov ernment behind American shipping for a campaign of mobilized efficiency, and with expert supervision and a Fed eraf appropriation that will deliver the lpoodS