New-York tribune., 1921-03-07
Asserts One Conclusion
of Congressional Inves-
tigation Strikes Direct
ly at Progressive Law
Demands Fair Test
OF Entire Statute
Says Merchant Fleet Is
Now Safely Launched
for Lasting Success
BY Admiral William S. Benson
Chairman United States Shippi1, q
Board

WASHINGTON, March e.--I believe
that no man ever got anywhere whose
aim wasn't straight. Tho man who
uses gun knows this too we'll. Tho
man who attempts to influence public
opinion learns it sooner or later In
his career. ! began my training in
the navy when I was stripline.
forty-seven years Of continuous serv-
ice has only served to emphasize the
first lesson I learned-shoot straight.
steady aim does The trick.
That may seem strange way of
beginning a discussion Of shipping
matters, but it is apropos to what
wish to emphasize. And that is the
splendid result of our straight aim,
which began in 1916 with the passage
OF tn: shipping act--the straight aim
to have real merchant marine. The
urge Of war brought us to the front
as the greatest shipbuilding country
in history. Inspired by world needs
we broke all records in ship construc-
tion. To-day we have real merchant
marine.
With war needs to meet we stood the
test. We had the men trained; we had
the ships sufficient to carry nearly a
million of our fighting men to. the
shores Of Europe. Approximately 95
per cent Of the supplies and NUM-
tions went across in bottoms flying
the American flag. I believe this fact
should be kept in mind in any dis
cussion bearing upon the work &C.
complished by the United States Ship
/ ping Board.
Criticism Proved Useful
The work of that board came in for
q great deal Of criticism during the
| Congressional investigation. Much of
this criticism served a constructive
purpose. + can speak Of this Shipping
Board probe without trace Of par
, tisanship, as most of the period COW
cred by the investigators was before
or the spresent board came into ex-
istence. One of the conclusions
reached, however,; strikes directly at
, the marine act of 1920, an act which
I have often referred to as one Of the
best evidences of progress in marine
Legislation this country has had placed
on the statute books.
When you remember that the Con-
gressional Investigating committee in
its final report declared the work Of
the Shipping Board, as a whole, "the
most remarkable achievement in ship
building that the world has ever seen"
you will be inclined, I am quite sure,
to my views, reached only after due
and deliberate consideration of the
subject. From the time My term be-
gan early in March last year ! put
,n Y. - ,,,ko ~
before me as chairman of the Shipping
Board. I plunged into a mystic maze
of business intricacies, which grad
ually assumed definite shape for con-
sideration There were thousands Of
claims and other matters which had
to be waded through. 1t was ply
sically impossible for US to do that
work ourselves and the men selected
for the task were lawyers and ex-
perts who had made a study of the
legal phases and other questions in
volved
No Nrongdoing by Officials
Now. mistakes have been made. Let's
admi. they were. But after diigent
inquiry the Investigators failed to de-
velop any wrongdoing among the high
officia ials-no hstanding a series Of
slanderous statements which persist
emily followed the various develop
ments of the inquiry. For that Shiny
trail this country will pay dearly:
cannot too strongly emphasize this.
Why any one should seriously con-
slider jeopardizing the merchant ma
rine act of 1920 because of what de-
veloped in the inquiry is beyond me.
To scrap this wise piece of legislation
is step in the wrong direction and
one so fraught with serious conse-
quences as to warrant strong protests
from those who believe in merchant
marine. Of course, some difference Of
opinion may be found as to several
features of the administrative side Of
the law. Whether the board should
have seven or five members or only
one is matter upon which men may
differ without doing great harm to the
big constructive features of the act.
But to give serious thought to scrap
ping the act in its entirety is playing
into the hands Of our foes-our most
deadly ones-the men who, masking
as Americans interested in the marine,
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