The Washington herald., 1920-02-22
Southern Ports and Politics;
Great Interest Manifest in
Future of Rails and Fleets
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

!
tained by fear Of the negro's part in
politics. But the South has settled
this problem In its own way. 1t may
be questioned whether the negro prob
lem Is not more acute now In certain
Northern States than anywhere South
of the Mason and Dixon line. How
long that single issue can be used by
politicians to keep the South under
Democratic control is a question.
Industrial Problems Now Dominant.
Indeed. the Industrial problems
confronting the new South are or
! a sort which will necessarily stimu-
| late progressive sentiment in that
! section. They will not, it is quite
likely, result In swinging any por-
tions of the South into the Republi-
can column, but they will infalllbly
exercise upon southern sentiment a
certain stimulus which will carry
II away from the old custom Of test
! ing all political issues by the tenets
! of jefferson and other bygone polit-
ical philosophers.
In the last few weeks Represent
atives of Southern communities have
| been making at Washington an ex-
| ceedingly effective and interesting
! fight for the maintenance of raii
and shipping conditions, which have
been building up a large export
| trade directly from Southern porrs.
Much OF the country has been with
| out information as to this struggle,
| yet IL is one OF vital interest to all
| sections of the Union east of the
| Rocky Mountains and south of tho
Potomac, Ohio and Missouri rivers.
! The fight hinges somewhat on the
reported purpose of the Shipping
Board to dispose of large numbers
| of the American built vessels, and
against this policy are arrayed some
OF the most virile forces ever or
! ganized in Southern communities.
South Atlantic Maritime
| Corporation.
Mr.. Matthew Hale, formerly Of
| Boston and well known as an orig
inal and forceful leader in the Pro-
gressive party. has been for some
J years past a resident OF Brunswick,
Ga. where during the war he was
engaged in ship building. Since the
armistice he has organized the
South Atlantic Maritime As socia-
! tlon, covering the ports of Whining
ton. y. C.; Brunswick. Ga; Savan
nah, Charleston and Jack sonville.
1t has been the purpose of Ship
! organization to develop those ports
as export points for foreign trade.
particularly that of the West lndie3
and South America. For decades
the United States government has
spent money freely to improve and
|
! might be used for vessels of the
first class. Each OF them is con-
nected with the back country with
! trunk lines of railroads. often built.
as in the case of the Hartman road.
to Brunswick. with the definite
vision OF building up there a ship
ping port for the produce of the in
terror.
| \ glance at any railroad map will
show how effectively these ports
could be employed for shipping the
produce OF our great Middle West.
Brunswick, in especial, appealed 10
| Hartman as strategic point for
| focusing the exports of the South
and West. Had he lived longer. il
is thought that theN development Of
this port would have been one of his
prime activities.
Railroad Rates and Steel Sh,ps.
The five ports having determine I
t" make Fl :tt for the export B. T.
ness, IT was necessary Ia get u e
| ships to handle 1t. To get the shin;
IT was necessary to demonstrate
that the trade would be there t.
Keep them busy. And to get the
trade railroad rates which would
put the five ports on plane of
equality with our more Northern
seaports was essential.
For thirty years Southern cities
had been striving To get rate
that would enable them to compete
with New York or Baltimore, but
railroad managers had steadily re-
fused what the South regards as
! a mere measure of justice. The
United States Shipping Board. how
ever. proved more responsive. 1t
was pointed out that as result
! of the policy of concentrating all
export business at New York tre
docks of that port were congested
and perishable goods frequently lost
all value while awaiting shipment
1t was shown, furthermore. that the
policy which had been adopted by
| the administration for managing
the railways and the merchant fleet
| together as one coherent force for
| building up the business of the
| country on a broad and nonsectional
basis certainly demanded the de-
velOpment of these Southern ports
\ striking Illustration furnished was
the fact that for years umberman
! in Florida or Mississippi desiring
! to ship lumber to Cuba-whiCh
seemed almost at his door-was
forced to send it by rail to New
! York and bring 1t back by boat
} to its destination. Today he ships
it frem Jacksonville.
| Importance of RaiIrond Rates.
The SRailway Administration
readily admitted tho justice Of this
appeal, and schedule of rates was
! adopted which put each of the five
ports on plane of equality with
| New York. There was, of course.
bitter protest from railroad mana
gers. and even today Mr.. Daniel
Willard, chairman OF the presidents
committee, has urged that these
! rates, be set aside. Mr.. Hines, Di-
rector of Railroads, defends the rate
as equitable and as advantageous
to a great and growing section OF
the country. Conferences have been
hesd. but there is grave apprehen-
, sion felt among the Southern pco-
pie that the return of the roads
! to private operation may work dis
advantageously to them.
The Growth Of the Five Ports.
The result of this situation is great