Bisbee daily review., 1919-07-20
BY RICHARD sPlLLANE.

In the development of the American
 merchant marine the shipping board has neglected one important detail that is proving Of great embarrassment and cost
 today. That is in the creation of dry docks sufficient to meet the needs of our growth of ships.
 Today in New York harhor 56 ocean cargo vessels are laid up awaiting re- pairs. In Boston IS ships are in the same plight. In Norfolk there are II cripples In most of the big harbors of our At lantic and Pacific seaboards it is the same story.
 Officially our mercantile marine today approximates 5000. 900 tons dead weight. The Emergency Fleet program is for 13.- 595.O00 tons dead weight With additions such as may be expected through vessels built for our account in other countries and with the acquisition Of German ships for those Of our flag sunk by U-boats we should have approximately 1e.OOO GOO dead weight tons Of ocean going ships within year and half
 Our yards are turning out vessels at marvellous speed. Tn the two months of May and June 1.O25.OOO deadweight tons Of steel ships were delivered. What this means may be appreciated when it is said that in the 16 years 1900 to 1915 in elusive we built on an average gSG. .OOO tons dead weight ships of all classes. In other words we have built more ships in two months this year than we averaged in three years before the war
 But, and here Is the crux of the
 trouble. the more ships we build the
 more docks we need and we are not
 ArNy
 growth of our shipping.
 The s5 ships laid up at New York. Boston and Norfolk represent perhaps 425.000 dead weight tons. It would be reasonable to estimate that 25O. 900 tons are laid mp elsewhere. That would mean that because of shortage of dry docks ships representing the output of two years shipbuilding before the war are out of commission.
 Conditions in this respect are likely to be worse rather than better. Every new vessel should go into dry dock 42 days | after launching. The shipping board re- ] quires it. If it is a steel ship the re- | painting of the hull. the making of re- | pairs where faults have been discovered I and the tightening Of places when rivet- 1 ing has been proven defective or the cor rections of some ailment in boiler or en- zine should he attended to before the craft goes into regular service.
 If it is a wooden ship the seams should he recauIked and barnacles scraped off Otherwise you invite trouble.
 But with the overcrowding of the dry docks new ships do not get this neces- sary work What this means in impair ment is beyond calculation.
 Concerns Entire Nation.
 No one should think for a moment that this dry dock question concerns the peo- pie of the coast more than 1t does the people in the middle states or the Rocky Mountain states. It concerns the whole world. It is of vast importance. Recon struction in Europe is delayed because of the scarcity of ocean shipping. Freight rates the world over are abnormally high because ships are so scarce. Raw ma terials and finished goods urgently need cd in all quarters of the globe are de- layed because the transportation facili- ties are SO scarce. Revival of industry in Italy. Great Britain. Brazil Argentina. Australia and the Far East is halted be- cause freight communication is insuf- ficient. And. meanwhile about 600. 900 or e50.0OO tons of American ships are idle waiting repairs. This idIeness adds to ItiEnl fOSlss ltHlS NO iltTtdSt llt tOSN of living everywhere and is a waste that , is abhorrent.
 The Shipping Board and Emergency Elect corporation people have been slow to see the urgency of dry docks or to work to correct the situation. We have approximately 80 marine railways dry docks in America. Most of them are anti quated and of small capacity. The Elm ergency Fleet people have been negotiat- ing to have a score or two of modern. , big 10000 ton dry docks built. the Elm , ergency Fleet corporation to advance the bulk of the money and the private con eerns that joined the government in the projects to operate the plants from the beginning and pay bact in the course of years the money supplied 3y the govern nient.
 For various reasons. principally. it is said. the shift in conditions prescribed by the Emergency Fleet people the dry dock jobs have been delayed. Meanwhile the harbors have been filling up with crip- 1 pies. ( It must be understood that the building {