Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-05-30
MERCHANT MARINE BRINGS
! MARKET TO FARMERS DOORS
Great Fleet Of Ships Necessary to !
Haul Farm Products Abroad at
aass Low Freight Rates.

/ n i
f To the farmer in the Mississippi
valley, busy about, his barns and out
buildings, the question of merchant
marine seems very far away.
"Why," he occasionally asks himself,
SHOULD be interested in steamships,
sailing from ports thousand miles;
away? I have never been to the At
lantic seaboard. Ships, whether sail;
ing under the United States flag or.
the Union Jack, concern me not at
ALL
There is, however, reason, and a
good reason, why the farmer should
be interested in this governments EFF
forts to put thousands of steel and
| wooden ships af1oat as quickly as pos
sible.
The American farmer today is grow.
ing wheat, corn, oats and other pro-:
duce that must be transported abroad.
to supply our own armies and those
of our allies in France. When the.
war is over the wheat, corn and oats
will continue to flow toward war
stricken Europe. With thousands Of
ships to carry this produce, the
freight rates will be correspondinglNi
cheaper than they would be with only
hundreds of bottoms available instead
of thousands.
The fact that freight rates are
cheaper will not, however, abate the
hunger Of the millions in Europe clam
oring for the wheat, corn and oatsJ
The market there will remain the same
and the present loft prices will be litl
| tie changed. If it costs the grain deali
er less to ship abroad, he will be able
to pay higher prices to the farmersj
! The farmer is just as much Interest,"
ed in cheap freight rates as he always
has been interested In cheaper freight
rates on land. His market lies, not in;
| Chicago and Minneapolis and Duluth.
{, where box car hauls his grain, it lies
thousands Of miles across the ocean:
where ships are carrying his produce.
The farmer must help build ships and
/, cut his freight rates to Europe.
Someone sagely remarked (and many
/ wise men since have repeated the pro-
verb: "In times of peace prepare:
Tor war" .S.stsesssssa es%a-aAs--r--~.
Germany has improved on the pro-
verb, or twisted it, and over In the
,kaisers realm it now reads: "In timesi
Of war prepare for peace" Germany
is. not SO intent, on winning this war!
that she has forgotten about the peace
to come. The German reichstag has!
ngreed, as tentative policy, on grant,
Of 1915, 100000 to facilitate the builds
Ing, of merchant ships. The bill pro-
vides that the vessels shall be available
within four years after peace is de-
ciaTed: ais|lla
In other words, the German govern
/, ment is determined, not only to win this
] war, but to win commercial; war to-
follow, by providing bottoms to carry,
not only its own goods, but also the
/, commerce of other nations whose ships
1t Is sinking every day.
J The United States government has
wisely set about to Illustrate, this
H0henzollern move, as much q military
project as the hurting of new German
divisions against the French and Brit
isll lines in France and Flanders. This
sgoyernment has instituted shipbuild-
ing program that will supply us with
steel and wooden freighters to carry
men, food, munitions and machinery
to Europe in the course of the war and
after peace is declared. It needs mon
ey. for this great shipbuilding plan, if it
is to defeat Prussianism now and after
the war. The American farmer not
! only displays his patriotism by lending
the government money to pursue its
purpose, but conserves and builds his
future interests.