The Washington herald., 1922-11-22

nation. 14 .s.aEs = =
But I have not properly por-
trayed all the current losses to
the public treasury. 49, We. are :
wearing out our ships without
any provision for replacement.- :.
We are having these losses
through deterioration now. and
we are charging nothing against
our capital account. But the
losses are there. and regrettably
larger under Government opera
ton than under private control.
Only a few years of continued
losses on capital account will
make these losses Through de-
probation alone TO exceed the
fifty millions year now drawn
TO cover losses in operation =
The gloomy picture of losses does
not end even there. Nothwith-
standing the known war cost of e
three billions of dollars for the
present tonnage, will not venture
. to ssppraiss its casht .valje@J JodSSS.
1t may as web be confessed now
as at some later time that in the
mad rush to build. in establishing
shipyards wherever men would Or
money, when we made shipbuild
ers overnight quite without regards
to previous occupations or pur-
suits. We builded poorly, often very
poorly. Moreover. we constructed
without any formulated program
for a merchant marine. The war
emergency impelled. and the cry
was for ships, any kind of ships.
The error is recalled in regret
rather than criticism. The point
is that our fleet, costing approx
mately three billions, is worth only
a fraction of that cost today. What
ever that fraction may be. the truth
remains that we have mo market
in which to sell the ships dhder
our present policy, and q QrQgran}.-
of surrender and sacrifice and the
liquidation which is Inevitable Jun
less the pending legislation is sane.
toned. will cost scores of millions
more.
SAFEGU ABIDING AGAINST =
$4,000, ,O00. 900 MADNESS. -
!, when the question is asked,
Why the insistence for the mer.
chant marine act now? the answer
is apparent Waving every inspi-
ration which lies in a constructive
plan for maintaining our flag on
the commercial highways Of the
seas, waving the prudence in Safe
guarding against another $4,000
100000 madness if war ever again
impels, we have the unavoidable
task of wiping cut s50,000,000 an
ntIai loss in operation. and losses
aggregating many hundreds of mil
lions in worn-out, sacrificed, or
scrapped shipping Then the su-
preme humiliation, the admission
that the United States-our Amer
lea, opce eminent among the mari.
time nations of the worlds in
capable of asserting itself in the
peace triumphs onAhe seas of the
world. 1t would seem to me doubly
humiliating when we own the ships
and fail in the genius and capacity
to. turn their prows toward the
marts of the world ss' -
This problem, can not longer be
ignored, its attempted solution can
not longer be postponed. The fail.
ure of Congress to act. decisively
will be no less disastrous than ad-
verse action. -
Three courses of action are pos.
sible. and the choice among them
Is no longer to be avoided. p )
SUGGESTS THREE - -
COURSES OF ACTION. ; -
The first is constructive-ehac
the pending bill, under which. I
firmly believe, an American mer-
chant marine, privately owned and
privately operated. but serving all
the people and always available to.
the Government in any emergency,
may be established and maintained.
The second is -obstructive-con-
tinue Government operations and
attending Government losses and
discourage private enterprise by
Government competition, under
which losses are met by the
Public Treasury, and witness the
continued losses and deterioration
until the colossal failure ends, in
sheer exhaustion.
The third is destructive-involv
ing the sacrifice of our ships
abroad or the scrapping of them
at home, the surrender of our as
pirations, and the confession of
our impotence to the world in
general. and our humiliation be-
fore the competing world IN
particular.
A choice among the three is