Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1917-05-02
balancing Figure in Strug-
gle Is Tonnage United
States Can Supply, u Says
British Ship Expert.
INTIMATES THAT PLAN
HAS BEEN AGREED UPON
American Government Given
Complete Statistics of Un-
dersea Campaign by Eng
Iish Mission.

tsr MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wIRsl
Washington. May 1.-The United
States has already placed consider
able amount Of ship tonnage at the
disposal of the entente allies. LORD
Eustace Percy, ship expert with the
British mission. said today that the
government had supplied certain yes.
sells to be used according to the
allies needs, but refused to indicate
what they We're or IL they were the
seized German ships.
Lord Percy declared that the pres
ent rate of British construction of
ships and the present estimated Amer
lean rate could not keep pace with
the present rate of destruction by
submarines.
"The balancing figure in this strug-
gle." said Lord Percy. is the tonnage
the United States can supply"
Lord Percys announcement was
the first intimation that the shipping
conferences had actually resulted in
any agreement 1t was taken as a
forerunner OF a very wide degree of
cooperation In which the present ton
mage and the future building powers
of this country will be pooled with the
allies to defeat the German subma
rine menace
Lord Percy stated that the British
mission had supplied the American
government with every detail of the
shipping problem. including the total
allied tonnage, the total sunk by the
U-boats, the irreducible needs of the
allies; the present rate of construc-
tion abroad and the standardized
building plans. The American ship
ping board, he said. had shown the
heartiest cooperation with the fullest
understanding Of the urgency OF the
situation.
"The shipping issues" said Lord
Percy dominate everything else and
are very grave indeed. Both the pres
ent British construction and the esti-
mated American construction cannot
keep pace with the present rate of
destruction. Both must be speeded
up very appreciably IL the seas are to
be kept open. The war has resolved
itself into race between the efficien-
cy of the British and American ship
yards and the German submarine.
''The balancing factor in the world
struggle is the tonnage the United
States can supply. Only in case this
is large can the present military serv-
ice and food supply be continued.
This is the most vitality serious prob
lem. 1t cannot be exaggerated.
United States Sclf-sufficient.
"The United States" Lord Percy
went on. lis one of the few countries
that is absolutely self-sufficient In
You have here the men,
the material, the inventiveness.
France, Italy and Japan also are
building somewhat, but, unlike this
country, must use ships to build ships
through the need Of importing raw
'The shipping problem Is not only
a matter of tonnage. but equally a
matter of how fast that tonnage is
used. Every method possible is be-
ing used to save shipping for the vi
tai purposes and keep it away from
essentials. Each of the allied
nations has instituted a national ship
ping board, while over them all is the
general shipping board. sitting in Lon
don, which attempts to harmonic the
demands on shipping and direct it to
the most efficient use.'