The New York herald., 1921-10-06

presented. and three wesks ago the re-
suit Of the inventory Of all Of the
Shipplng Boards. materials and sup
plies mot including plants. ships. or
accounts) was available for the consid-
GRAFTON OF the board and for the adop-
tion of a policy for liquidation. The re-
organization of the various departments
and offices Is proceeding apace and It
Is hoped that results accomplished in
months to come will show a satisfactory
progress toward a plan OF respectable
operating efficiency. limited by the hand
leaps surrounding American shipping In
general and Government operation IN
particular.
The American nat.cH to-day finds
itself in possession of fleet OF l.450
oceangoing steel ships Of approximately
10. 500. 900 deadwcight tons, not to men
ion a fleet of 10 ferro concrete vessels
Of over so, 600 tons and a wooden fleet
Of cSS ships Of 100000 deadweight
tons For practical purposes we need
only consider tho steel fleet. as the con-
crete and wooden ships viii be eradi-
aAted.
"Of these nearly 1900 steel steamers.
we may say. In round figures. that one-
third Of the number. comprising nearly
one-haif Of the tonnage In deadweight.
are excellent commercial vessels, one
third are fair commercial vessels, and
the balance. for all practical purposes,
are total loss save for what salvage
can be gotten out OF them through ulti-
mate sale or conversion, either In this
country or abroad. >
-rf.e cost Of the construction Of this
fleet and its operation up to the pres
ent time is about $500. .000. 900. the to-
tai expenditure for all purposes. II the
whole $500. 100000 were written oft
to-day and the fleet carried as q total
loss. this greatest Of the Governments .
war operations would not owe the Amer
lean people one penny.
Helped End the War.
"True, most Of this fleet was not fin
ished until after the wars end, but Ger
many, knowing that the ships were to
Immediately come out Of the yards, re-
alized that she was fighting losing
game. The Allies and America used
their ships more profligately because
they knew replacement was at hand.
80 that, potentially. the vast share OF
the fleet that was not finished until after
the war really played a dominating fea-
ture In Fastening the final decision.
Nor could our upward OF 100000
600. 900 worth Of foreign trade have been
carried on In the years between the arn,-
istice and the present had not this fleet
been IN existence.
$50 to-day we are left with this great
fleet-many times the largest that has
ever responded to the orders Of a single
owner-and the great question that con-
fronts the Shipping Board. the problem
toward which all OF It's organizing ef-
forts have, 30 far. been directed, Is the
problem Of the future Of its vessels and
Of. America upon the seas. For In the
successful operation OF these vessels lies
the immediate hope OF the establish
ment of an American merchant marine.
and in an established American mer-
chant marine lies our only assured hope
OF world trade, which means prosperity
and happiness for America,
"rhe feet. under the control of the
Shipping Board. which has been built
and opei ated at cost to the Govern
mcnt's Treasury Of three and one-half
billion dollars. will no longer be an irk-
some burden to the taxpayer. The
building programme. is practically fin
ished. Only such ships are being COM
plcted as are cheaper to finish than to
scrap.
The Shipping Board has steadily
been tying up tonnage. primarily to
stop its own losses. which has inciden-
tally resulted IN permitting continued
operations by private owners. who could
not run in competition with the Gov
ernment (even were the Government
wiillng} during the present world de-
preston. 1t II the boards duty to SEQ
that The utmost tonnage possible is
being carried at this time under the
American. flag. but 1t is also its duty
70 Gee that private operators are sos-
tered and that the Governments loss
IS minimized.