Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1922-07-20
Washington Correspondence.
BY WALLACE BAssFoRD.

3
Ship Subsidy Bill. Unfortunately, he
will not tell certain facts about the |
effect of this bill-he is so Intensely
for the measure that he will sing its |
praises, with none present to state to
the audience the following truths
which the people are entitled to know:
The bill proposes to turn over to
the shipping trust SO, 900, ,OOO,0 900 worth
of fine steel ships built by the Gov
ernment, the most modern fleet in the
world, most of them oil-burners. The
people of the United States own these
ships. The bill proposes to sell them
to this group of capitalists for $780,
100000, or one- fifteenth of their cost.
The bill also proposes to lend these
men S125,0OO,O0O to recondition the
ships. If they had been properly
cared for during the Harding admin
stration this would not be needed.
The bill provides for the payment
of subsidy of $3.50, 900, 900 to the cap
italists in the next ten years for using
this great grab of ships for their own
private gain. During three recent
years the Atlantic Gulf and West
Indies Steamship Company made
clear profit of 100 per cent on its
shipping business without subsidy;
the published reports of the company
show this, and it is merely used here
as an example because it is one of the
largest of American companies. Dur
ing the war some ships earned their
entire cost in one trip. There is no
reason why any of them should fail to
be self-supporting at any time.
This subsidy will be paid even to
the ships of the Standard Oil Com
pany and the Steel Corporation for
transporting their own products in
their own ships for their own profit.
Is it any wonder they are all for.
Harding? And the passage of this
bill greatly increases the list of call
ing places for the campaign fund col
lectors of the Republican party when
Mr.. Harding comes up for re- election.
Is it any wonder, therefore, that War
rem is for the bill?
Under this bill the army and, navy
transports will be abolished-sold for
junk at great loss-and the business
turned over to the trust, when we al
ready have the ships, built and paid
for-not only the transports, but the
merchant fieet-in our own posses
sion. Is there business man in the
country who would make such deal?
The bill does not require any re-
ports to be made to Congress and no
accounting as to earnings of these
ships. Thus the people will never
know how badly the Republican party
sold them out.
The bill exempts the shipping trust
from the payment of all Federal taxes !,
providing the amount is set aside for
the building of new ships-and all the
time the party is claiming that too
many ships are already built for the
business being done-under Repub-
lican administration.
The bill makes no provision for
regulation of freight rates on the
water and creates a gigantic combi-
nation which can make rates as high
as it chooses and leave the shippers
helpless. Whether they will make
the rates high can be determined by
barking back to the open robbery OF
the war rates.
In the Committee hearings practical
steamship men admitted that the
wages of our seaman do not hurt the
American steamship in competition
with European vessels. Their testi-
mony showed that the difference ln
these wages does not exceed two pei
cent. John Q, Seager, Jr., vice presi-
dent of the Seager Steamship Com
pany, admitted in the hearings thai
there is no reason why Am erican
ships cannot compete with the worlt
under present conditions; his ant
other companies are doing it. Th'
only difficulty he saw was that som'
of the American companies paid very
large salaries to unnecessary execu-
tives, some Of them as high as 500,
600 per year, greater than that 0
President Harding.
The bill provides for the Shipping
Board to make subsidy contracts witt
the shipping trust covering periods Q
ten years this to prevent an effec
tive repeal OF the law, for its repea
by new Congress would not stop th
robbery of the peoples treasury. Th
bill even fixes it 80 that this fund
not dependent on each Congress ap
propriating the money annually, as
done for other expenses of the Gov
ernment.
The bill confers on the Shippin
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