New-York tribune., 1920-12-18

!HiSs ol course, is quite natural, and
is but common sense and what any one
would do. charter party may held
more tricks and turns than a bucking
bronco. 1t follows. therefore, that both
owner and charterer must have the
eyesight of a hawk to protect them
selves; vision is secondary.
Legislation the Solution
But Federal legislation must be
based upon vision of the situation
affecting the nation as whole. Cap
tain Raymond, the president of the
American Steamship Owners Associa-
ton, in the first of these Tribune ar
ticles, said:
"With prudent legislation we shall re-
i raan tae ouik OF our present merchant
building and ship-owning nation Re-
member that | say with prudent legis-
lation:' The prosperity. in fact the very
pends on what may be done by our law
makers and executives In the next few
years In Washington"
Captain Raymond is quite right;
everything depends upon Federal leg
islation, and from whom is Federal leg
lslation to be obtained? Certainly not
from the handful of citizens who are
engaged in the making or running of
Of our vessels, or even from the popu-
Iatlon Of our coastwise cities.
Federal legislation, upon which ev-
erything depends is obtai' able only by
the good will and cooperation of the
representatives of the Middle West.
How shall this good will and coopera-
tlcn be obtained? Only by the partici-
potion of the people Of the inland
states in the actual business of ship
ping and foreign trade.
The homely old saw, Scratch my
back and III scratch yours" applies
more or less in every mutual trans
states thoroughly understand, as Cap
tain Raymond has said how we want
the inland voters to scratch our back,
VIZ, by passing appropriate Federal
Legislation that will enable the busi-
ness of building and operating Amer
lean ships to be continued. The real
need for US is to show our fellow citi-
zens Of the inland how we can scratch
their back and prove to them that the
operations of an American merchant
marine will be a direct, not an indi-
rect, benefit to them.
Inland Navigation Needs
There is a very potent weapon in
our hands if we choose to use it; it
is the development and use of our
inland waterways. BY properly de-
veloping the navigation of the Mis-
sissippi River and its branches, and by
using to the utmost the facilities al
ready afforded by the New York State
Barge Canal, we can do a great deal
TO bring the ocean and the habit Of
water transportation to the voters OF
the Middle West. Never were they
more grievously in need of cheaper
ansportation than at the present
time. SO far as the cost Of railroad
sportation is concerned it might
be said that Chicago, instead of being
on Lake Michigan, is nov on tsp of the
Rocky Mountains. Railroad freight
rates in many instances are nearly two
and one-half times as much as they
we're in 1914, and ther, is not much
grumbling about it either, because the
people see that the railroads must be
maintained.
The people of the maritime states
must sell the idea of water transpor-
tation to the people of the middle
states and convince them that in like
manner as they are perfectly will ing
10 assume a heavy burden for the sake
# maintaining efficient railroads. 80
also must they carry mart Of the bur-
transportation.
Cooperation the Keynote
Just as the rivers merge into the
sea, so the question of inland and
oceanic waterways must be merged
into one great conception, the essence
Of which is that American producers
may net more from their products ny