Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-07-20

NEWPORT NEWS, Va.-Ths
greatest concentration Of shipping
in the worlds history can be found
today in the lower James river, be-
tween Newport News and Glare
mont, Va.
Off these two towns, twenty miles
apart, lie $40 ocean-going steamships
with a dead weight tonnage Of g..
$4,000. 49,
But the presence of this great
fleet does net indicate any sudden
revival of ocean commerce from this
port. Rather, it symbolizes both the
| depressed condition Of world com.
merce and the uncertain status of
Uncle Sam as q master mariner in
years to come.
For these vessels are not manned
and QUILTED for sea: Their bunkers
are empty, their boilers are cold.
EXCEPT for force Of watchmen
and guards and few caretakers
to minimize the decay that results
! from idleness, they are unnamed
Tied up in groups of eight to thir
teen abreast, their anchors grip the
shallow river bottom while they
| await either the revival Of world
shipping or a government subsidy.
Will Subsidy Free Them?
What their future will be, no one
| knows. President Harding and
Chairman Lasker, of the shipping
board, maintain only a subsidy can
enable even the more efficient of the
vessels to opel ate at a profit in com
petition with shipping from other
nations. -
Lasker recommends the scrapping
or sale at junk prices of hundreds
| OF them, including all the wooden
| fleet built at war prices as part of
| the American bridge of ships"
The sale of the others at prices
which would enable the purchasers
to maintain them in operation un.
der subsidy is further part of
the Administrations shipping policy.
But failure of congress to act on
| the ship subsidy and refusal of pri.
vate interests to buy government
ships at any price for operation un-
| der the American flag has, steadily
| added to the number of idle vessels
| until today more than half of all
the 2,912 vessels built or acquired by
| Uncle Sam for his war fleet" are
laid up.
RATE OF war EIeeC
Uncle Sans wartime merchant
| fleet totaled 2,312 vessels with a
tonnage of 1885, I'll. This included
the hundreds of vessels under con.
struction when the armistice was
signed ON which contracts were not
cancelled and which were com.
pleted.
OF this number today 1908 are
laid up, not in serviceable order.
these have aggregate tonnage OF
| 7,179,575. .
OF this great &laid-up" fleet, $40
or almost one-half, are in the two
lower James river anchorages al
Claremont and Camp Eustis.
At Claremont are 227 of the total
241 laid-up wood and composite yes
sells. Their tonnage is ,887 SIS.
Off Camp Eustis are 313 stee
fre;ghters from the 3,500-ton boats
built in Great Lakes yards and
brought to salt water through the
Welland canal and the st. Law
renee, to the big 12,600-ton boats of
the Daniel Webster and Henry Clay
type. The average Of these laid-ur
orally considered best for tramp
freighting.
Other Concentration Points
Although the biggest concentra
ton of die shipping board tonnage
is here in the lower James, other
groups of shipping board vessels are
laid up as follows:
Army base, Boston, So; New Lon
don, Conn.,, g.; Hudson river, 146
Staten Island. 108; New York har
Dor, 8; Hog Island, 90; Curtis Bay
and vicinity of Baltimore. 35; Savan
nah, 16; Charleston. z: Pensacola
%; Mobile, 80: New Orleans, So
Orange, Tex, 40; San Francisco, 4S
Portland, Ore. and Seattle, IT.. =
| OF the SO at New Orleans, 40 are
| steel, four concrete: of the 40 a
| Orange, Tex, &c are steel and Il
wood; of the 43 at San Francisco
40 are steel and three concrete. AL
others are modern steel vessels.
OF the problem presented by this
idle merchant fleet, on which the
| government has spent more thar
| $1,000, 100000, with an equal sum in
vested in other boats still in serv
ice, Chairman Lasker says:
"The only solution lies in fedora
assistance. This is matter for the
entire nation to support, not only
from spirit Of patriotism and Of
pride, but for the even greater pur
pose Of economic and national pres
| ervation."
| Backed by Harding
| In this contention Lasker has the
active and full approval Of Presi
dent Harding.
However, both the economic and
| political wisdom Of a subsidy tt
maintain merchant marine which
| already has cost taxpayers more
than 3,000.000,000 is so actively
questioned in congress that it seems
certain any decision will be post
poned until after fall election.
And in the elections the taxpayers
may have chance to express theii
preference. for or against, in theil
choice among candidates.
Even in event of subsidy, how
| ever, hundreds of the boats fol
which Uncle Sam paid 5000 a tor
will be scrapped or left to rot. IL
out-of-the,way marine boneyards.
These will include practically the
entire wooden fleet. it is declared