The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-09-02
FATE OF MERCHANT MARINE SOON TO
 BE SETTLED UPON

Washington, Sept. 2.-Whether the United States flag flies over the 1arg- est merchant marine in the world, as it once flew over the clipper ship fleets of American commerce, depends on the development of the present Shipping Boards program within the next few months.
 Chairman Albert D. Lasker, of the new board, has stated that it will take a full year to determine definitely the result of the present program
 The preliminary steps in the pro gram have already been undertaken. They include:
 First. A general cleanup of in complete contracts.
 Second. A thorough survey of the entire Shipping Board, to determine just where the organization stands in a business way.
 Business Methods Needed Third. To put the board on the same basis as a successful business. these steps are directed is a. full f1edged American merchant marine, second to none.
 Chairman Lasker has stated that his administration has inherited chaos. They have inherited an or ganization, in which. owing to war conditions, accounts with the business clients are badly scrambled, a large
 
 hand, some of it unstable, under present conditions, and, finally, with the second largest tonnage in the world on their hands, they are oper- ating at a loss to the government.
 The first thing the present organ1- zation has undertaken has been to clean up, that is. settle long-stand1ng accounts rapidly as they can be put in shape, clear away accumulated red tape, adjust the organization to present conditions. and in general start with as clean a slate as possible. This is still going on, and Chairman Iasker expects months to elapse be- fore most of the work is done. In line with this cleanup, the or ganization is being thorougnly over hauled and surveyed. This is to de- ternine what assets and liabilities the present board has, thing which the chairman states has never been done. He states that an enormous amount or work is involved in this alone Working Order Needed The third step, putting the firm in working order, involves all these | things and is the immediate goal The fundamental thing being under the Government through the boards | operations. This is stated to be the keynote to the entire undertaking. This loss has been laid by board of- | fcials to the present system of op- erating Shipping Board vessels known
 as Managing Operators Agreement ! No. f. Under this agreement operators 1 are practically guaranteed per cent | of the ships earnings, although the | losses in operating might in some cases exceed by thousands of dollars the total income This is held to be
 the primary cause of all the present trouble.
 Accordingly the first definite plank in the new boards platform has been to agree unanimously that this system must be abolished. This feature of the
 permanent policy is the only one fully decided as yet, and until it is done 1t
 is stated that lesser matters must wait.
 To Stop Losses. The board, of course, has deter mined on other steps besides abrogat- ing the present operating agreements, but they are all involved under the
 general head of stopping loss to the Government
 Negotiations are under way whereby all surplus material vii be disposed
 of. and some of this work is now un- der way, including the sale of the wooden ships.
 When ali this is done the present board hopes they will have the follow ing:
 A business organization with all ac- counts settled or accounted for, Ha- bilittes paid, and in modern form gen. orally; all old stock off it's shelves, and everything in it producing. And first of all, fu11-grown Amer ican merchant fleet, manned by Amer jeans, sailing every trade route and bringing in it's share of the revenue dertyed from carrying the goods of all countries in successful competition rivals at sea.