New-York tribune., 1922-09-17
Plum lner Saws
Y. ,. Ships Face
ManyHaildicaps
American Commerce l. Rich
Prize for Which Foreign
Nations Are Fighting. Il
View of Board Official
Discrimination Outlined
British and French Aid Ma
rines, Show Strong Sense
of Value of Their Ships

Maritime nations OF the world arc
making strong bids for supremacy on
, the seas, ard particularly are seeking
to transport the commerce of the
United States, the richest prize Of all.
according TO Il. c. Plummer, Shippinr
Board Commissioner. in an address bo
fore the annual convention of the AZ
! lantic Deeper Waterways Association ut
Portland, Me. In this talk, which was
delivered last " Wedncsday, he outlined
the methods adopted TO promote this
purpose, outlining the handicaps which
! have been imposed upon the develop
mcnt Of American shipping.
ITO cite only q few illustfations, :"
said Mr. Plummer, "the direction OF
Americar-owned Alsatian phosphate
for the United States through Dunkirk
alone; that discriminative duty of $50
4 carload imposed upon American prod
ucts when sent to Australia In United
States, instead Of British, vessels: the
assumption by the Italian government
OF that vast war differential in the cost
of italian ships engaged in their for
eign trade-these are but few Of
those instances which have come to the
knowledge of the Shipping Board and
show clearly the determination of
every government having a merchant
marine to put the power of the nation
behind its ships and thus secure to its
people the benefits Of an industry
wholly devoted to handling, instead of
the creation Of, products: and thus in
dustry peculiarly belonging to the peo-
| pie whose goods pay the expense Of
such transportation. l offer no crltl-
cism of such practices. On the con
trary. commend the national spirit
that seeks TO do business under its own
! flag, regardless Of theoretical econom-
| les, end I urge that we show similar
"That attempt TO monopolize the
TRANSPORTATION of American-owned
Egyptian cotton at prices 10 shillings
higher than those named by American
ships was not merely an attempt to &c
quire highly profitable cargoes Tor
those foreign vessels its ultimate effect
would have been to handicap cotton
manufacturers of the United States by
causing their raw material TO cost them
10 shiilings more than did the raw ma
terial of their foreign competitors, and
what such handicaps mean IN World
markets is obvious. This is but one OF
many cases.
"Iake the business of last year. Our
! foreign trade furnished more than 3d.
100000 tons Of cargo for ships TO carry
For American vessels to have taken
/ ~etN'--NN
| erase reduction Of nearly 81 ton 1T
freight chargcs-oth erwise our ships
! could not have taken this business from
the foreigners. This reduction would
have meant O saving Of S150,000,0o0 III
ocean freight charges-a direct saving
for the farmer and other Americans
who produced for export; direct say
/ ing to the American farmer and other
consumers who imported. But IN order
to secure this business and secure
those full cargoes both going and COM
I ing, which arc necessary Ior reducing
the present cost Of ocean transporta-
tion, there must be at the outset the
government assistance which was re
! ouired for our South American trade.
/ when it is recalled that for the
handling OF those 85,0o0,000 tons Of
American cargoes last year 131 .00O,0 ,00O
! tons OF shipping entered and cleared in
the ports Of the United States, which
| fact means that those ships on the av-
! crage we're sailing one-third empty and
/ yet charging enough FOR carrying those
I part cargoes to keep the whole deet in
! operation, it becomes obvious what the
/ savings to our people will be when our
ships are enabled to engage in this
trade carrying full cargoes.
"Yet the instant legislation IS pro-
/ posed to make possible this great ma
( tional saving-legisla exactly SIM
| ilar to that which Britain's giant
statesman secured for Britain's vast
coal industry, and thereby took from
us the West India markets we had
owned SO long, these practical facts are
| ignorcd-an inanc shout goes up
against the cost Of the harness and
nothing is said OF the all-important
service which that harness enables the
horse to perform, or of the value Of the
horse which this harness enables US to
use. For ships are but the harness of
trade