The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-06-01
SHIPPING BODY
TO HAVE JOB
OF MARKETING
Policy of New Board, Section
al in Its Personnel, Under
Control of Congress, To Be
National.
TO ENCOURAGE PORTS
BY MARK SULLIVAN

BY MARK SULLIVAN
WASHINGTON, June 1.-The job
that the new shipping board has is by
far the most difficult of our after-the-
war problems. The first of many diff
ficult decisions on fundamental pol.
icy which they must take is whether
this institution shall be conducted
from a national point of view Or
from a sectional point of view.
Many things done by congress have
the tendency to express the aggre-
gate of various sectional interests,
They are one variation or another of
the process call log rolling" The
shipping board as it has been or5aniz-
ed by act of congress, has this sec
tional point of view. One member
must come from the North Pacific
coast one from the south Pacific
coast; one from the Gulf coast one
from the South Atlantic coast ana
one from the North Atlantic coast,
one from the Great Lakes and one
from the interior.
Cares for Ports.
This sectional distribution of per
sonnel is merely expressive of some
thing deeper What was wanted by
the interests which came together in
congress to pass the act was that the
ports of the various parts of the coun-
try should be adequately cared for.
The point of view was not national
but sectional. 1t was not to achieve
the most direct and economical man
agement, but how best to build up the
Ill
The new shipping board must deter
mine whether they are to fall in with
this policy or whether they are to con-
duct the institution from the purely
national point of view. The method
which takes care of all the ports Of
the country is of course the most
expensive, and is the one which puts
us at the greatest disadvantage IL
competition with other nations.
Must Nourish Ports
1t is recognized that the prosperity
of the smaller ports of the country is
a proper thing to nourish and stimu-
late, not merely as a concession to
local pride and local power in con-
gress, but from the broadest point Of
view. In order to do this, and at the
same time, not suffer the awkward
ness and expense involved in such a
policy, a suggestion has been made
20 the new shipping board from such a
quarter that it may we'll save weight
with them.
This suggestion is that If local ports
want to build their own shipping and
want to establish ocean routes they
should be encouraged to do so, of
their own initiative and under their
own direction.
Concretely, the suggestion is this ::
the shipping board owns a great many
more ships than it can use. 1t owns
more ships than it can, under present
conditions, sell at almost any price.
In fact many ships which were sold
a year or two ago on the installment
pan are now falling back on the ship,
ping boards hands. 1t is proposed
that this surplus Of ships shall be put
at the disposal of seacoast cities, as
a matter Of local pride and self inter
est. want to develop the Importance
Of their ports.
Provides Ships
In working the plan out the Cham
her of Commerce and similar organi
zations of city would be told that
the government is willing to donate
ships outright of the Chamber OF
commerce Will OISduIHS Oil opeI dtli E
company with local capital. By this
rlan the government would provide
tle yh.ps and the local communities
would take all the responsibility OF
operation
1t would be hard to imagine fairer
proposal to any city which is ambitious
TO build up its shipping and to sell
its local products in foreign markets
1t is surely a better plan than for the
federal government to assume all the
awkwardress and the inherent waste
involved in the present point of view
:, Marketing Organization
/, 1t can be taken for granted that sc
far as is possible under the contro
CT a law and a congress which is sec
tional in it's point of view, the policy
Of the new shipping board will be ma
tional The conception which has in
fluenced President Harding has not
been a shipping board which shall
merely manage ships. His conception
has been g board which shall have as
its fundamental duty the marketing OF
Americas surplus abroad in the mos1
effective and economic way. 1t is g
merchandising organization on a ma
tional scale rather than merely e
transportation organization.
Copyright 1921 by the New York
Evening Post, lnc)