New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Forbids Private Efforts,
but Fails to Push
:.
Work Itself
Stability Proven;
Material Plentiful
Builder. Say New Method
Encroaches Little on
Steel Supply
,s,.e,c, psspoteA to The Trloxne)


WASHINGTON, June 23.-Shipping
so.rd apologists say there is no mys-
..~v about its attitude toward con-
.,.t. ships-that in forbidding private
obstruction the board is simply ex-
..rd;ne to concrete ships the policy al
...dv adopted toward wood and steel,
~. motive being to centralize control
~ the whole shipbuilding industry OF
America. 80 there shall be no waste
,ot;on or dissipation Of energy, thus
..r..ntrating all the shipbuilding re-
.orrees OF the country on definitely
damned war transport.
II is pointed out that even in con-
.rsta vessels large quantities Of steel
ava consumed, and that. while 1t is
.nt,rely different in kind from that
,.or,red in all-steel vessels, it never
thc,ess taps the total supply Of steel
available for vessel building. OF
.our.e. the engines and boilers also
mu,t come out of the country's ca
p.c;ty, and hence the central control
~ concrete building is as necessary as
that Of other skips.
Board Itself Lax
One hundred per cent adequacy can
he credited to this explanation, but
the fact remains that the Shipping
BOARD. while discouraging the private
building of concrete ships, is not tax
ing up the work energetically itself.
The limitations of. lumber and timber
\ .sem to hold wooden ships down to
100 a wear. Every shipyard in the
country that is working on steel ships
finds its output retarded by inability
70 get steel fast enough.
As to the steel rods, 1neshlngs, ETC.,
required for ferro concrete construc-
ton, they total cnly about third as
much in a concrete vessel as the steel
in a steel ship. The concrete advo-
Gates say large supplies OF this sort
Of steel are to be found all over the
country. owing to the 5lackness OF the
building industry in recent years
enough to take care of many ships
without trenching on current steel
production.
The other materials required in
making the hull Of concrete vessel
the ingredients of concrete-are abun-
dant throughout the country and so
widely distributed that little railway
transportation is required to handle
them for yards on the South Atlantic.
Gulf and Pacific coasts in sections
where there is no railway congestion.
Requires Less Labor
As for labor that needed for build
ing concrete ships is chiefly of the
unskilled class and therefore, does not
draw greatly on other forms of ship
building, but will give the most useful
and effectual employment to the thou
sands of men experienced in concrete
working who now are out of employ
ment or are not being economically
used in other kinds of work. Another
important consideration in this time Of
insufficient man-power is that it only
requires one-tenth as many men to
build a concrete ship of given size
as steel ship.
Friends of the concrete ship urge
that these are all excellent reasons
Why the Shipping Board should give
private builders free hand if the
board itself does not propose to fill
the concrete field, because they in
dicate that such ships can be privately
built without interfering in the slight
est degree with the boards commen-
dable efforts to mobilize and discipline
all sources Of ship supply.
& In this way the country and the