The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-22
Birmingham's Future Closely Linked With
 Big Merchant Marine
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 even for a few years. It was Sem ator Oscar W. Underwood who car ried %he day. He appealed to Mir. Thompson in the name of the state of Alabama and of the country which stood in immediate need of a solu- tion by able men of the Intricate problem which the plight of the shipping board presented.
 ReaDpointed by Harding
 Mir. Thompson came into harness December l. 1920. President Hard ing had been elected. The Senate, controlled by a republican majority, declined to confirm the appointees of President Wilson. So on March f. MT. Thompson and the remaining members of the board, were in eff feet out of office. But the Pres ident asked them to continue to serve until their successors could be named. In the meanwhile, some of the ablest republican members of the Senate urged the President to re-appoint Mir. thompson. These statesmen, had ac- quired knowledge of the force of the commissioner. And the Preside ent appointed him.
 It is well that it be understood at this point that on account of the im- portance of it's business. and the tre- mendous nature of the problem 1t Is bent on solving. the shiFbing board, after various departments, the heads or which occupy seats in the cabinet, is as near the heart of big things as any other branch of the govern ment, perhaps, with the single excep- ton of the interstate commerce com lei ut nyN rr,l.. Is chairman of the committee hav- Ing in charge the a1location of pas senger vessels. He is chairman of the which keeps the board in touch with the interstate commerce commission. He Is chairman of the committee administering the regula- tory features of merchant marine act. Ills hands are full. He Is and has been actually at work He has learned that his job ia a mans Job. If tho old adage. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" holds good, Mir. Thompson Is in danger of losing his mental residence.
 Flights Against MonopoIien
 As a commi ssioner of the shipping board, MT. Thompson Is displaying the same vigor that characterized him as a newspaper man. Indeed, he Is putting Into effect at least one of tho big features of his editorial poll toy. He fights efforts of would-be and that variety of cor porate greed which increases the burden of tho public.
 He Is concise in speech and dynamic In action. When he perceived the in- Justice to American shipping which tho railroads of the country inflicted a ~ &FnI artxf en by them to vesse1s<1 foreign reg stry, he Invited" representatives of the railroads to come to Washington and talk it over" When they were all gathered together, he went at the situation in hammer -and-tong style. Hers Is what he said in the very be- ginning:
 Amy exclusive or preferential con- tract or agreement between any American railroad and any foreign flag shipping company is a menace To the success of ships operating un- fer the flag of the United States"
 That was enough. The railroad nagnates knew that dilatory tactics would avail them nothing. They xnew the charge of Mir. Thompson vas with basis In fact. They knew hat the contracts they had made were indefensible. So hastily the one liter tho other agreed immediately to Lbrogate all such contracts. And they iave been abrogated
 Rate to Birmingham
 Tn very much the same manner, he secured joint water and rail rate rom the eastern seaboard to Bir- via Mobile and the Warrior river. which is less than the all-rail n fa Ia af ad 70 officials of the Mallory Steamship ines that such rate be established. They considered 1t. They continued 70 consider it. Finally. Mir. Thompson invited these officials to come to They came. They could not deny that there was reason in Justice why the rate should be es- abolished. Then why did these of- 'icials, operating vessels of the ship ,ing board, hesitate to do the proper hing7 When questioned in that man 1er, they no longer hesitated. The ate went into effect.
 That illustrates his style of doing business. He is direct and to de- gree blunt in his approach, He has irving power to move men out of po- ,itions from which they can encroach ,n the rights of the government or ne people. t16 cSCncWS hca tobSs <NAN .hus, in his department business Is with such dispatch that other departments, inured to the slow processes of the conventional govern pent official. admit kind of shock" md display a mild resentment
 And in this business of salvaging he wreckage of war and building md operating a merchant marine, MT. Thompson feels that blessing will ,e the legacy of the entire country rot only that part of the country which touches the great seas. but the interior at well. As a matter of fact, he prime and major blessing, he holds, will fall to the interior which produces and most heavily consumes.
 Birmingham's Advantage
 And particularly, Birmingham should profit from the labors of the shipping board. Here Is the way MT Thompson puts 1t:
 .-rhe vast commercial interests Of are so intimately inter woven with ocean-borne commerce that, as a great producing center, should be as keen as any of the seaports of the Gulf in the great national movement repre- ,entsd in the development Of an Ame erican Merchant marine
 Tt is clearly contemplated that in th> davalopm eut of the BeAports on