Evening star., 1921-05-11
Editorial Digest
Merchant Marine in the Balance

Merchant Marine in the Balance.
Refusal to meet the demands of the
seamen's unions. which has resulted in
| tying up American shipping. is backed
by the press. Almost without excep-
ton the newspapers. declare themselves
for a reduction in the sailors pay. and
| some attack features of the La Toilette
act which require that American ships
be manned by English speaking crews.
The labor press takes the opposite view.
as might be expected, considering the
situa ton from the strikers standpoint.
| One exception among the newspapers
is the New York Globe independently.
which states the question from BIZ
phrtlsan part angle; 1t makes an effort to
proves too much" for 'if rates paid by
foreign competitors are to determine
the Chinese sailors must mark the sum-
init of the American desire" 1.-TWO
questions" the Globe believes. ''are in
volved' in the controversy, namely:
| First. does a nation need industries
which cannot pay living wages?' and.
second. and more practically, how much
can the shipping industry now afford
to pay? This last can be settled justly
by public inquiry"
| But, for the most part. the editorial
| comment follows the attitude Of the
Wall Street Journal independently,
which says: .'The cheaply run ships Of
| our foreign competitors have taken all
the business that we have not got nailed
down. a IS per cent or even a % per
| cent reduction in wages will not meet
! the necessities of. the case. SO long as
: the SeamenS law imposes prepoSterouS
| conditions. with general overmanning of
! our vessels in all departments, our mer-
chant marine can only go from bad to
worse"
The Bangor (Me) Commercial dn-
aspendenp holds similar Evil, view; n~t
solve the problem. though it will
| help The government "eventually'
must take action for the assistance
of the merchant marine" Congress
1 must deal with all the difficulties
of our foreign trade ''as whole
| the Brooklyn Eagle independent
dcmocratic) believes. and there must
be compensation for the differences in
| the cost of operation between ours
and foreign ships, and ''it must come
! from the source from which these
| differences were compelled
| REIMBURSEMENT of wages and the as
/ surancc that government ships are
; being operated with a maximum of
! economy and efficiency" must come
: first. declares the Seattle Times (dem-
| ocratic). and then "a subsidy policy
in some form" To the New York Trib-
| tIe ii'li III ia'o'
costs is the only solution" and the
! Mobile Register (democratic) is of
| the opinion that IF the union insists
| upon the maintenance of its present
expense roll there is no outlook sat
isfactory to those who are laboring
| to recreate Americas interest in
| transportation by sea-
| Considering the fact that the gov
crnment is asking of Congress an ap-
i preparation of s171.000.0o0 by July l.
| otherwise the shipping treasury will
be empty the Petersburg tVa-)
Index Appeal Independently remarks:
! How the men can hope to earn pres
ent wages with the shipping business
in such condition is beyond concep-
ton" The Wilmington (N. c. Star
! (democratic) is sure that acceptance
| Of the wage reduction will be the
! final outcome of the strike, for "even
! the backing Of the United States
! ping Board in continuing it's ruinous
| course The Memphis News-Scimtar
; Independently likewise declares that
the board must not yield. Tt must in
sist," it says. upon equitable adjust
ment and working conditions in order
efficiently to operate its ships"
The Florida Times-Union demo
! cratic) makes out case to show that
If the seamen do not accept lower
| wages they will have none to ac-
cept. for 'if there Is no adjustment
of salaries and wages of marine work
ers it will not be very long before
| the laws of trade. working. inexo-
rably. will deprive American marine
workers Of their salaries and their
wages altogether and the American
merchant marine will evaporate into
! the mists of drea m" ~'Fhe Ralti
more News independently also warns
Mr.. Furuseth against, killing the
! golden goose"
! A number of writers feel that the
d! !seamen's act is to blame for the trou-
BILE and should be altered or abolished.
1T is one of those affairs that look
well in theory and work out quite
differently in practice" says the FL
| Paso Times (democratic). Its clause
which restricts crews of American
ships to English speaking sailors has
! proved as clumsy and inefficient in
actual practice as the literacy test
for immigrants" The act. in the
opinion of the Toledo Blade Gnde
: pendent republica NJ, should be
amended q SO that shipping can pro-
; coed and develop healthily." and the
Oklahoma City Oklahoman demo
i cratic) thinks that if American sea
! men "are not willing to work for the
! best wage. the Shipping Board can
pay they should not object to the
employment of others in their places"