Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-22
CAN U. S. MERCHANT SHIPS
FIND NO ROOM ON THE SEA?
Do the Failures Of the Shipping Board
Indicate Conspiracy or
Shameful Ineptitude7

.
S1MiloMS OF an approaching emotional
~ upheaval in Congress are apparent in
the House and in the Senate alike whenever
the ahairs OF the shipping board are brought
up for discussion. Ihere Will be prone.
That Is certain. And after the probe there
may be SKY hlsh scandal 1t Is oeins
whispered IN washington that some gentle
men win whlte vests may even go TO jail.
Inc Shlpplhg BOARD Is futile ana unoeileVa-
Oily costly IL Is rapidly making us ridicu-
Ious IN tne eyes or the world.
IN the old days, when the Germans were
getting rlch ana powerful by making science
ana ingenuity ana cunning serve lnstead
OF the natural resources which they lacked.
every snip that carried goods OF German
manufacture 10 foreign port was assured
OF pr"ht proVfded out ot the natlonal treas
nrF' When delays or market changes IN
creased the cost OF the voyage. 1t was argued
to pay German labor or German dividends
was an indispensable part of the nations s
industrial system. Great Britain always has
found ways by which to subsidise her ships
and keep them proitably employed in the
business of the empire.
When the war put the United States Gov
ernmpnt in possession Of vast now fleets and
gave MS besides the finest of the great Ger
man ships. the shipping Board was estab-
lished to make these vessels serve the ma
tiOnal interest. The ships were 70 be scien-
tfcally operated. They we're to put the
flag back upon the high seas They would
extend our markets to the four corners of
the earth and create in American youth the
interest in the sea which is necessary to any
people who hope to carry on n great foreign
trade But the state Of the merchant marine
is little more promising than it was before
the war The Shipping Board began by
being disappointment. Later il began to
appear like grim joke. Now it is some
thing of scandal. 1t is a drain on the
national treasury.
lnnumerable American ~wned ships of the
first class are lying idle while ocean freight
and passenger rates are higher than they
ever were before. No one seems to know
what is wrong. The affairs of the Shipping
Board are shrouded in mystery.
II Is being said in Washington that an
investigation OF the circumstances which
threaten to bring about collapse Of Gov
ernment plans for nationally inspired ocean
vast conspiracy of foreign shipping interests
intended to continue and strengthen old
established monopoies of trade routes and
shipping by making wreck Of the scheme
which the American Government sought TO
carry through. There are hints Of a night.
mare of graft.
There are hints of sort Of executive
sabotage maintained consistently aboard
Government owned vessels in the interest of
privately controlled steamship lines at home
and abroad and directed with a view to
forcing the Government to sell out to the
monopolists.
Fantastic as some of the current rumor>
sound, It must be remembered that if the
Shipping Board cannot operate the vessels
under its control without enormous losses
the shrs and much Of the business which
they are intended to do will pass sooner or
later 10 private hands. There is no doubt
that extensive propaganda has been organi-
lied to discrCdt Government ownership Of
ships. to disgust the American people with
the idea Of an elaborate merchant marine
and 10 keep American vessels at home In
normal times there is plenty Of work for
big and little ships of all sorts. Yet II j.