Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-06-06
AMERICAN MERCHANT MARINE

The American merchant marine seems to be
a puzzler for congress. The senate has just
voted SIS, 900, 900 to make up a deficiency for
the Shipping Board and Emergency Fleet Cor
poration. The end is not yet in sight. Millions
of dollars are being thrown away by congress
in its effort to build up an American merchant
marine, but it simply will not build.
We have a striking example in the famous
Leviathan, formerly the German steamship
Vaterland, which, when the war broke out, was
ona of the biggest vessels afoat. The United
States took over the ship and it did wonderful
service in transporting American troops to
France-and it helped to bring them home
again.
AS soon as her usefulness as a transport was
over, however, she was tied up to her dock at
Hoboken where she has remained for the past
two years rapidly deteriorating into a huge mass
Of junk. In the meantime the big vessels fly
ing the British flag, such as the Aquitania,A as
soon as the war was over, was put back into
transatlantic service. II America is to have
Il merchant marine why are our ships tied up
to rot while the big ships of other nations con-
tinue in active service? Not only is the Levia-
than out of commission and has been so since
the war, but hundreds of other vessels built
Dy the united states during the war ana WHICH
were supposed to carry the stars and stripes
on the seven seas after the war, are also tied
up in various harbors along the Atlantic coast.
True. shipping is not what it ought to be. but
II the vessels of other nations can find business
to keep them going, why not the vessels of the
United States?
There are two explanations as to why Amer
lean shipping is tied up while ships flying the
flags Of other countries are in active service.
One is the LaFollette law which imposes such
strict regulations upon ships flying the Amer
lean flag that they cannot compete with ships
under the foreign flags. The other reason is
the subsidy which most of the foreign ships re-
ceive from their governments.
AS for the LaFollette law. it is a fine thing
to have seamen sailing under the American
flag so well protected and with such high wages
guaranteed. but when other nations do not come
as1.to<theSame standard and American ships
have to compete with ships that are not thus
restricted, 1t Is natural that American ships
should lose out.
Congress persists In refusing a subsidy to
American shipping even for the sake Of building
up what might be termed an infant industry,
and in this attitude congress is backed by a
substantial public sentiment. Yet practically
every other line of business In the United States
receives from the government what practically
amounts to a subsidy in the form of a tariff.
4 True, the government does not directly pay to
the various manufacturers a definite sum Of
money, but by putting a tariff on the goods
they manufacture the government makes it
possible for these business men to maintain
American standards and at the same time COM
pete successfully with the foreign manufactur-
err who might otherwise undersell him. And
the tariff. in the end. is paid by the people of
the United States, for imported goods are sold
on the American market at a price which In
cludes the tariff that the foreign manufacturer
has TO pay in order to do business here.
It has been good Republican doctrine from
the beginning that a high tariff was necessary
to protect infant industry. That was the sole