New-York tribune., 1921-11-03
Railroads Aid
Foreign Ships,
Ransdel Saws
Urges Preference for u. S.
Vessels; Louisiana Sena-
tor Calls for Discr;mi-
mating Duties by Nation
Jones Ship Act Is Favored
A Advertising Club Speaker
Declares American Fleet
ls q 'sVery Live Corpse

American railroads are actively as
sistIng foreign vessels to obtain car
gees ut time when private industries
and the government should extend all
possible help to United States shipping,
according to Senator Joseph L. Rams
Cell, president of the National Mer-
chant Marine Association, who spoke
yesterday before the Advertising Club
ct al East Twenty-ffth Street, at
luncheon attended by $50 members.
Senator Ransdell asserted that the
American merchant marine was "a very
live corpse" in spite of the depression
IN shipping. but that the government
must render effective aid if the ad-
vsEtages derived from the war construc-
ton are to be retained. He urged en-
torcement of the Jones act and charged
that the United States feet "has power
fui enemies at home working to destroy
1T" If the present law cannot be en-
forced, he said, then it must be
amended to accomplish that result.
As immediate steps to- establish an
adequate merchant marine, the Louis
lana Senator advocated application of
discriminating duties on imports
brought in foreign vessels in indirect
trade, and also preferential railroad
rates on shipments in American bot
toms in indirect trade.
Justifies Billions Spent
Senator Ransdell assailed the de-
tractors of the Shipping Board feet,
saying that while this cost S3,5Oo, 00o,-
900, it was worth S1,000,000,000 to-day
In his opinion the expenditure was
justified as a war measure.
'It is unfair to speak of the war cost
portion of the feet as a wreck" the
speaker said. eve do not apply that
term to the other items of war expense,
running into twenty-five billions. Why
not speak of the wreck of the Army and
Navy, and the Railroad Administration,
and the Treasury, with it's billions of
s-seign loans. and many other indis-
pensable expenditures to carry on the
war"
The Shipping Board policy of drastic
Withdrawals of vessels from operation
was opposed by the Senator, who said
that this had deprived shippers of de-
Probability of service. and that as a
result many were forced to patronze
foreign lines with regular schedules.
The most amazing aspect of the
situation, however," the speaker de-
clared, "is that the railroads, supplied
with fumes from the United States
Treasury, have been utilizing their re-
sources to build up the business and
swell the profits of foreign competitors
OF the governments shipping!"
Cites Foreign Contracts
He said that nearly scote of Ameri-
can roads have filed statements with
the Interstate Commerce Commission
showing their contracts with foreign
lines. He read extracts from the
agreements of the Pennsylvania, the
Baltimore & Ohio, and the Boston
& Albany.
The steady decline in percentage of
foreign commerce carried on ships un-
der the stars and stripes was the sub
ject Of comment. Last year, it was
pointed out, United States vessels
handled more than SO per cent of our
exports and imports, while this year
the proportion has dwindled to one
third and is still on the downward
trend
"The one great outstanding fact
Senator Ransdell said, ais that the
governmental owned merchant marine
petition and has been found wanting
Burdened with much heavier handicaps
than those under which our private ves-
sells labored before the war, it has
been left to compete with all the ships
of other nations, cheaper built, cheaper
manned and cheaper operated. And fol
a year and half there has been or
the statute books of the nation pro.
visions that would have enabled u:
to obtain and retain just and profit
able share of our own carrying trade
If they had been enforced
Penalize Indirect Trade
"By placing no penalization upol
the direct trade between the United
States and any other natien, and lin
iting all penaligation to the indirec
trade, there is made possible a sys
tenn of cooperative discrimination
that is not only retaliation-proo bu
that assures to every maritime natlor
Just share of it's own ocean com
merce with a resultant upbuilding O
the merchant marine of practically al
nations. Let us say to every nation
The goods of your country and ours
when carried between US In the ship
of either of us shall not be discrimi
. mated against, but the goods transported
between our countries, under foreign
flags, shall be subject to a discrimina
ting duty
Couple with such system Of co
onerative discrimination the plan o
Preferential rail rates provided il
Section 2S of the Jones bill and limi
the application to the indirect trade
and two mighty weapons will have beel
forged for the maintenance of tn
American merchant marine"