Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-23
THE PRESIDENTS
MESSAGE
PRESIDENT HARDING'S me.

president HARDING'S mes
1 sage to the special session of
congress is an earnest plea to pass
his ship subsidy bill and do it now.
He realizes and the whole country
realizes that this bill would have
no chance Of passage in the next
congress which comes fresh from
the people with a mandate against
this gift enterprise for the benefit
of ship owners. Washington news
paper men say that the president
is determined to put this bill
through while he has the old con-
gress because he regards it as a
personal matter of recognizing or
repudiating his leadership in the
republican party. Any republican
congressman or senator who votes
against it will not be eligible to
the presidents lame duck list. If
he was defeated at the late election
and wants a federal job at the
hands of the president he had bet
ter vote right" on the ship subsidy
bill. 1t is said that the president
hopes to get a few democratic
senatorial votes for his pet mea-
sure from senator's coming from
sea port states like Louisiana to
offset the western republican sena-
tor who will vote against it and
the farm bloc opposition.
The presidents message might
have been condensed into a few
paragraphs. He says the govern
rnent is now operating these ships
at a big loss, bigger than the an
nual bonus he wants to give the
ship owners. He says that the pri-
waite owners of the government YES
sells after they get them at a tiny
fraction of the cost of their con-
struction will also be unable to
operate them without a loss be-
cause the labor cost of transpor-
tation is greater to the American
producer Of sea transport than it
is to foreign producers OF sea
transport. He further observes
that it would be a disgrace to
Americans if they were driven out
of the sea freight business by more
efficient foreign transportation.
and the only way to prevent that
disgrace is to give the owners Of
ships a pipe line into the federal
treasury of sufficient diameter to
drain enough Of the peoples tax
money into private ship owners
pockets to make up their loss and
te enable them to compete with
foreign ships. He asserts that this
is really the cheapest as we'll as the
best way to build up a prosperous
and vigorous American merchant
marine.
The recent election with its
wholesale slaughter of republican
statesmen who followed the poll
cies indicated by the president,
will, in our opinion, be duplicated
two years from now if they again
follow the presidents leadership in
this ship subsidy bill. The presi-
dent is of the opinion that it is only
the word subsidy that the voters
arc opposed to. He will find that
they are also opposed to the thing
itself. There are plenty of pro-
ductive enterprises in the United
States today besides sea transpor-
tation that cannot be operated at a
profit because Of high wages. The
wheat producers, lumber produc-
ers. copper producers, might tell
the president a tale of production
st a loss since the war. Why not
substitute them also they will ask.
We can understand how a congress
man from a seaport town or state
might wish to see this ship subsidy
bill on the statute book, but the
congressman from the interior
country sections, and especially
those with a large number of farm
err constituents might as we'll sign
his political death warrant at once
as to follow President Harding in
this political folly.
BY his control of a congress with
a big republican majority which
was repudiated at the polls a few
ago President Harding may
succeed in forcing this ship sub
sidy bill through congress, as he
the seating of Senator New
berry in the senate, but the after
consequences of his act will be
deadly to the party at the next
election.
IF we cannot compete with for
eigners in producing sea freights
we had better let the foreigners