The New York herald., 1922-06-16
SHIPPING MEN SUSTAIN
LASKER'S LIQUOR VIEW
Might as Well Furl Flag II
Bars Are Shut, Say Some.

American Merchant Marine offices,
almost entirely centered in New York.
were stirred yesterday by developments
Of Chairman Lasker of the Shipping
Board that it would be impossible to
operate American ships without selling
liquor The consensus in steamship
offices was that Lasker had under
stated the case.
Emil Lederer, passenger traffic head
of the United American Lines. summar-
lied opinion In the business when he
said:
"You might as well take the Ameri-
can flag off the seas as to make 1t i'm
possible to provide to seagoers the bev-
erages they demand and that sre OBJ
tainable on ships under other flags.
Whether one approves of prohibition
or not has nothing to do with the case.
1t is a hard fact that business doesn't
follow the flag. It follows comfort and
general satisfaction. The majority Of
people who travel demand the privilege
of a cocktail before dinner or wine
with their meals or a glass of beer.
If they can't get these things on Amer
ican ships they will patronize the Brit
ish or French or German lines and we
will be left to hold the bag. \
There's no doubt about 1t. dry ships
mean dead business. If they take the
liquor privilege away from the Ameri-
can Merchant Marine they might as
well take the ships too. It's useless to
talk Of ship subsidies or any other sort
Of Governmental announcement II IA
naticism is to strike at the heart of the
effort to make place in the world for
American shipping. An the millions
will have been thrown away. All the
Presidents efforts and encouragement
will have been wasted. Trade will turn
to flags and lines of more liberal ideas.
Might Ban Foreign Ships.
w. A. Hartman, head Of the United
American Lines. operators Of the Reso.
lutte and Reliance and other fine Yankee
ships, said:
"Chairman Lasker has nut the case
admirably, and cannot believe that in
view of the evident intention OF the
nation to foster it's ney merchant ma
rine any action will be taken that will
place us at disadvantage in cornpeti.
ton with foreign shipping. There can
be no objection. however. IL the carriage
of liquor Is barred on foreign as well as
American ships in the United States"
p. A. S. franklin. president Of the In
ternational Mercantile Marine Company,
also indorsed Mr.. Lasker's statement
but he thought that competitive condi.
tions would render restrictions OF any
sort unwise. He said:
"The question must be regarded from
a broad standpoint. A country's pas
f0hf tvof No is haS huv ad
II its shipping services are left To free
and open competition. 1t shoutl not bs
forgotten that Montreal completes with
American ports for transatlantic passen.
gers.
Passenger ships carry all sorts of
people, but most of them have been
used to considerable freedom IL their
personal habits, and they will resent any
interference with their normal manner
of life. 1t Is this rather than any desire
for liquor as such that will hurt the
business OF shipowners forced to operate
under restrictive measures"
Easy to Buy Liquor Stocks.
There has been no difficulty in OBJ
tanning the stocks through the regular
channels. Even on maiden voyage from
American ports vessels have been able
to transfer their liquor supplies under
bond from other ships in port. Rye
whisky, preferred to Scotch by many
Americans. is not purchased from boot
leggers, as has been suggested, but is
legally drawn from stocks exported
abroad before prohibition was made eff
fective.
The statement that there has been ex-
cessive drinking on the United States
Lines ships is discounted In marine
circles. On the George Washington, for
instance, bar receipts are said to aver
age about $4,000 or $4,000 round voy-
age, and considerably less on the eleven
other smalled ships of the line As the
George Washington carries from 1900 to
$500 passengers a trip one way, this
sum is not regarded as excessive. The
proportion of Germans and Americans
of German descent on the passenger lists
is large, and these travellers are usually
content with foamy seidel of Pilsener
or Munich beer.