The sun., 1919-03-06
Daniels Ii wayering.

Daniels II wavering.
Secretary Daniels. too. shows signs
OF wavering. On November Is. last. he
told the Society OF Naval Architects
and Marine Engineers. in Philadelphia,
that no man now living will see. un-
less wisdom departs from US. the Gov
eminent retire from the business OF
building and operating cargo ships"
on January 20 Mr.. Daniels said to the
Eastern Shore Society at a dinner held
In Baltimore:
Whether II is done by the Gov
eminent or private enterprise, enough
ships must be built to make up for .
the vast amount Of tonnage sunk
by the submarines and provide for
the normal increase in the worlds
requirements. which has grown up
since the war began
ut would be waste OF money
to go on building the type of ships
war haste required. 1t will be a ma
tional mistake equal to a crime not
to give our best thought to the con-
struction OF ships OF large tonnage.
with wide steaming radius. which can
be 50 economically operated as to
make America meet any competi-
ton"
Mr.. Schwab got from under earlier.
On December 10 he announced at a
dinner OF the Ohio Manufacturers As
ISOLATION: There IL no use to build
ships unless they are operated. and /
am not in favor OF Government owner
ship OF the merchant marine
Hurley Changes Wage Views.
When Mr.. Hurley started for Europe
several months ago his announced
mission was to study world shipping at
FIRST hand and to find the solution for
the problem OF the American Merchant
Marine His last words before sailins
away were that he would solve the wage
question by having the European nations
standardize seamen's pay UP to the level
Of this countrq Almost his FIRST utter
ance on returning was that standardiEa-
ton was not possible. but that It did
not matter anyway. because Great Brit
ain now paid her sailors practically the
same as America. Comparison OF the
wage scales OF the two nations tells q
different story. however.
As to the foreign solutions for Amer.
lean problems they have not been un.
yelled yet And on mis- return to Wash
ington Mr.. Hurley called upon the bust
ness Of the United States to suggest q
way out Of the shipping mudd.s The
outlining to Congress OF the detailed
policy must wait
Questionnaires were to go through all
the chambers of commerce of the coun.
try. Public opinion in every nook and
corner OF the country was invited to ex.
press itself.
The Questionable plan Is an old &C.
quaintance OF Mr.. Hurley's. He used Il
months ago and a typical instance OF
the result Is furnished in a recent issue
OF the now suspended Emergency Fleet
News" the Shipping Boards own organ
This contained an article headed:
Interesting replies made to Hurley't
QUESTIONABLE. Ninety per cent. OF mem
bers Of San Francisco Chamber OF Com.
merce. quissed on merchant marine, op.
pose Government operation OF trade
vessels after war"
Opposed to q. s. Operation.
Eshty-three per cent. Of the reptile.
opposed naturalization because the Gov.
ernment Is not 50 we'll qualified L
operate ships as experienced shippins
firms and because Government operation
would eliminate competitor.
Ninety-nine per cent advocated
changes In the present navigation laws
And this is only one of the many rep
resentative organizations the countr,
over that have gone on record against
Government ownership and operation.
With all this evidence OF public senti.
ment In hand and with all he gathered
in Europe Mr.. Hurley is going to begir
all over again. In his quest for ad.
vocates OF Government operation he 1.
tne g. h. y.sA ~.
on the best way to solve the merchant
marine problem. What the agriculture
interests think OF Mr.. Hurley and ma
tional zation may be gathered from ar
article in WdIlacc's Former of Januar,
10 last which states
Instead of conhning his attention
TO getting ships 10 meet the emergency
Mr.. Hurley seems 10 think that his lob
Is to persuade the people of the United
States that they must have an i'm
mense Government owned or subsi-
died merchant marine to act as a
sort OF benevolent freight and pas
senger carrier throughout the world.
He is taking advantage of a war
emergency TO saddle a subsidized
merchant marine upon a people who
have fought II consistently for thirty
years.
Mr.. Hurley for some time has
been carrying on a systematic propa-
ganda. much OF II at Government ex-
pense. TO make the people. and es-
pecially the farmers. believe that the
country should maintain a great ship
ping organization. Mr.. Hurley's ar
ticles are being sent out as Govern
ment documents, printed at the Gov
eminent expense and sent through
the mails without postage"
what England Is Doing.
For practically sixty years Great Brit