Grants Pass daily courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1919-1931, 1919-01-03
BRINGING THE MEN
HOME PROBLEM
Hurley Says Il VIII BE Six Months
Before France and England VIII
Need Raw Material

London, Dec. Correspondence
Of the Associated Press. There
Will be no shortage of cargo tonnage
for supplying world needs during the
first half Of 1919 In the opinion of
Edward N. Hurley, chairman of the
United States Shipping Board. 1t is
passenger space for transporting
troops home that is occupying atten-
ton OF the allied shipping control
lers. No nation can have as much
OF that as 1t wants now.
After comforting with Industrial
and shipping heads in England and
France and viewing a large part of
the battle areas OF France and Bel
GUM, Mr.. Hurley stated that it
would take at least six months, pos
sibly more, for France and England
to rehabilitate their industries to
the point where large amounts Of
raw material would be needed.
1t Is pointed out that it would be
useless to send Industrial machinery
and raw materials to France until
her destroyed factory buildings are
made ready to receive them.
Almost the entire British indus
trial system now is a huge munitions
production machine virtually idle.
Until 1t Is transformed to its pre-
war state raw materials would be a
burden. 1t will be necessary to i'm
port some machinery for the trans
formation but not enough seriously
to tax cargo space for the next seven
months, Mr.. Hurley believes.
The 32 German passenger vessels
in German ports have been the CEN
ter OF most Of the allied shipping
discussions on this side for weeks.
Americans want all Of them they can
get to send home roughly 100000
men as soon as possible. England
must send home to Canada about
100000, to Australia about 100000,
to New Zealand $4,000 or more and
bringing to England thousands from
Mesopotamia, Palestine, and other
places. Obviously the American
problem is the greatest and it is un-
derstood, that, in pressing for ships,
Americans generally have insisted
that the United States. with less than
two years of war, is in better posi-
tion to assimilate its returning men
than is England whose Industrial
conditions have been more disrupted.
With the rapid increase in Amer
lean tonnage it is expected that more
than 40 per cent of the American
forces will go home in American
ships. 1t is the desire of American
army officers and shipping interests
that as many as possible of the bal
ance be carried home in German pas
senger vessels. thus releasing large
number of British bottoms.
If the demands of Americans,
heard there, that the troops be sent
home as rapidly as they were brought
over becomes insistent it will take
more ships to send them back than
to bring them over. They were
brought over under the stress of ne
cessity and in some instances ships
were loaded to the extent of dis
comfort. Loss of tonnage caused by
lighter loading however will par
TALLY be made up by greater speed.
Fast vessels will not be compelled
to conform to convoy speed and the
elimination of zig-zagglng will save
much time.
While great many men are be-
ing sent home now and the number
will constantly increase it is not be-
lieved the real homeward movement
will be inaugurated before February
|. Whether then it will be on the
suggested basis of 100000 month
depends almost entirely upon deci.
sions of the allied shipping confer
ences which began soon after the
armistice was signed.