The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-02-05

Restoration of the American overseas marine is not Nthe concern of any one
 political party. nor of any particular in terest or set of individuals, nor of any
 one section of our country. It is tional issue of vital moment to every
 man, woman and child throughout the whole land.
 No nation has ever been truly great or become important factor in inter- national affairs unless it has also been great on the sea. Sir Walter Raleigh has said: Whoever commands the sea com
 mands the trade of the world; whoever commands the trade commands the riches of the world. and consequently the world itself" That is true today. It is of little use for men and their ma chimes to make things unless the things so made can be sold quickly as they are nanufa ctured. Consequently the problem of overseas transportation of
 American products does not concern the
 so called shipping interest to onetenth the extent that it concerns the dwellers inland, who provide the cargoes that make shipping possible.
 The manufacturers and the farmers of the Mississippi basin. their employees and the American people at large have really built for non-American nations their countless millions of dollars worth of ocean shipping
 Hence it is that the work of the Ma tional Marine league of the United States directly concerns you today, and for all time, regardless of where you live, what kind of business you are in, how you conduct your business or to whom you directly sell your goods. It means steadier employment and a larger in come to you if you are working for some
 one else continuous run of plant and de creased overhead charges if you are
 an employer of others: decreased taxa ton to all of us. and larger net returns on investment.
 If Congress has failed to enact proper shipping laws in the past 60 years is it not logical to assume that there has been no great demand from the people as a whole for such laws? ANd Is it not logi- cal to assume, also, that Nthe absence of such demand has been due to lack of knowledge on the part of the people. , Seventy per cent of the people of the United States who elect congressman and who influence their votes are entirely out of touch with maritime metters.
 merchant marine means nothing to them whatever. And congressman reflect the attitude of their constituents.
 Who could doubt what the action Of Congress would be if the great voting population of the country said to their congressman: We want a merchant ma
 rne and maritime legislation to protect it" The league hopes to marshal all
 America shoulder to shoulder in support of g. great cause, assisting in every way possible its patriotic efforts and unite to
 restore our country's flag to the high seas
 The league is not "a shipping league nor a merchant marine league, nor , navy league:' it is a league of the nation itself in the work of extending the en- tire range of it's maritime possibilities and of retaining the enormous indirect | values that accompany a nations foreign going shipping. It Is our purpose to com
 bine all classes in united effort to up hold our own labor and our own indus tries in the titanic war constantly waged by the forces of international commerce. The principles underlying the policy of the National Marine league,VU. s. A.. are national in their scope. nonsec- tional. honpolitical ~or partisan and strictly impartial in presenting before any public or private body the case of
 any specific industry. interest or organ
 ization of capital or of labor. The mes