New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-03
Hurley Predicts
Ship Shortage Is
Nearing Its End
Great Lack Now Is Passenger
Accommodations to Bring
Americas l, 100000 Sol
diers Home; German YES
sells Are Wanted

LONDON. Dec 5 Correspondence of
The Associated Press There will be
no shortage of cargo tonnage for sup
plying world needs during the first
half of 1919 in the opinion of Edward
n. HUXLEY, chairman of the United
States Shipping Board. 1t is passenger
space for transporting troops home
that is occupying the attention Of the
Allied shipping controllers. No nation
can have as much Of that as il wants
now
After comforting with industrial and
shipping heads in England and rance
and viewing large part of the battle
areas OF France and Belgium, 'Ir. Hur-
ley stated that it would take at least
six months. possibly more, for France
and England to rehabilitate their in
dustries to the point where large
amounts of raw material would be
needed.
1t is pointed out that it Mod,c! ,e
useless to send industrial n 1chinery
and raw materials to France until her
destroyed factory buildings are made
ready to receive them.
British Industrial system Idle
Almost the entire British industrial
system now is a huge munitions pro
auction machine virtually idle. Until
1t is transformed to its pre~war sta
raw materials would be burden. 1t
VIII be necessary to import some ma
chinery for the Transformation. but
not enough seriously to tax cargo space
TOR the next seven months, Mr. Hurley
believes
The thirty-two German passenger
vessels IN German ports have been the
centre of most of the Allied shipping
discussion on this side for weeks.
Americans want all Of them they can
get to send home, roughly, LOO 600
men as soon as possible. England must
send home to Canada about 500, GOO. to
Australia about 100000, to New Zealand
5000 or more, and bring to England
thousands from Mesopotamia, Pales-
tine and other places. Obviously, the
American problem is the greatest, and
it is understood that in pressing for
ships the Americans generally have in
sisted that the United States. with less
than two years of war, is in a better
position to assimilate its returning
troops than is England, whose indus
trial conditions have been more dis
rupted
American Ships for Troops
With the rapid increase in American
tonnage 1t 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 pos
sible of the balance be carried home in
German passenger vessels, thus rceas-
ing large number of British bottoms
If the demands of Americans, heard
here, that the troops be sent home as
rapidly as they were brought over be-
comes insistent, it will take more ships
to send them back than to bring them
over. They were brought over under
the stress of necessity, and in some in
stances ships were loaded to the extent
of discomfort. 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 elm
ination of tagging will save much
time.
While a great many men are being
sent home now and the number will
constantly increase, it is not believed
the real homeward movement will be
inaugurated before February l..
Whether then it will be on the sug-
gested basis of 100000 month depends
almost entirely upon decisions Of the
Allied shipping conferences, which be-
gan soon after the armistice was signed