The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1919-04-21

mai improvements are made on the
Rhine ~
The chief interest now centcrs on
the question Of whether the United
States can henceforth maintain her
new place upon the seas, or whether
she must now disband the energies
that brought her merchant. fleet into
being.
"There is every reason" Mr.. Hurley
continued, "for believing that Amer
ica has come back upon the ocean,
to stay. My observations compel 0p-
timism. The war has brought us into
a high place as maritime power.
find the peoples Of the world aroused
to an intense interest and concern as
to the use we are to make of this
power. In America, you have heard
much Of British competition. In Great
Britain I heard a great deal more
about American competition. The
truth Is that our friends across the
water are for the first time entering
upon a period Of actual competition"
Mr.. Hurley said prior to August,
1914, both tho foreign trade and the
shipping Of the United States were
dominated to great extent by Brit
ish, because American traders and
ship operators who wished to do busi-
ness could do so most conveniently
through British agencies. In 1915, he
recalled. Sonly one-seventh Of the for
a. h. mt rot
carried in American bottoms.
'"The total exports and imports OF
the United States for the year 1915
were approximately 100000 long
TONS" said the report. with aver
age shipping efficiency the movement
Of these goods would have required
about 100000 gross tons Of ships.
Assuming an annual increase in the
foreign trade Of the United States
equal to the average increase for the
five years preceding August, 1914, our
foreign trade in 1920 would require
greatly increased merchant tonnage If
1t all were to be carried in American
bottoms"
Should Carry 50 Per Cent Of Trade.
Mr.. Hurley declared 1t was an ac-
cepted principle that a strong mari
time power should carry in its own
ships at least so per cent Of the az
gregate of its exports and imports,
and in addition some of the trade be-
tween countries not yet in the ship
ping business.
"Assuming a total export and i'm
port business in 1920 Of 100000
long tons." he added, 1T would require
a fleet Of about 100000 gross tons
to transport 60 per cent in our own
ships"
One of the types Of ships most de.
sirable for the new merchant marine.
according to Mr. Hurley, is a\speedy,
effective combination cargo and pas
senger liner Of from $4,000 to 25,000
deadweight tons. which could be Op-
Grated efficiently In the transportation
Of high.class merchandise. passenger.
and mail.
Mr.. Hurley said three factors mill
tated most strongly against the nat
ural and desirable expansion Of the
foreign trade of the United States.
First, the necessity for. developing
men, thoroughly American in every
way, to handle foreign trade; second,
the recruiting of an American per-
sonnel for the operation of the ships
and the handling of the work at TIE
ports, and third. the extension of
banking facilities. The idea that too
high wages are being paid American
seamen for this country to compete
with other countries successfully was
ridiculed by Mr. Hurley.
1T is time for the public mind to
be disabused of this conception" he
stated "The facts will dismay those
who are agitating for a lower wage
scale of American ships. We are
paying our seameh ss5 month. Eng
land, during the war, paid her sea-
men $72 month. The French and
Dutch are paying high wages. In
Sweden the seamen's scale is even
higher than in the United States.
The retention of high wages was
important, he added. because men who
had labored under great strain yield
ed their attention more readily to the
agitator. The success of any nation
in shipbuilding and ship operating,
he said, will be determined by the
manner in which the lahOr Situation