The Washington herald., 1922-03-27

ing even more than in pre-war days
hand in hand with German indus
try. Very little attention is being
paid to the construction of pas
senger ships. which are. at the best,
only obviously remunerative. aside
from their publicity value, but tho
latest ideas in the construction of
cargo carrying vessels, with the ut
most economy of space. are being
followed in all new building. The
Germans even see considerable
Yalue-not only sour grape
value-in that they were forced
to turn over their pre-war fleet
to the entente. for the new ships
tina: they are now building are
vastly superior to these old ships,
many of which are already obso-
lete. In particular, there is silent
rejoicing in German shipping circles
over the fate of tho Vaterland. IT
the Leviathan. once the outstand-
ing pride of the German merchant
marine, and now a white elephant
of the most pronounced type in
American hands.
so far as can now be predicted"
Director Cuno told me. I'VE shall
never again build I ship of the
VaterIand's size. For passenger
purposes the ships which we will
prOvide-averaginC between 10000
and $4,000 tons-wilI contain all the
essential comforts and luxuries Of
the celebrated ocean Greyhounds,
but in our opinion their day is
past"
Millions Tons Constructed.
From tn" day Of the armistice up
to the end of 1921 almost 100000
tons of shipping have been con-
structed in German yards. almost
exclusively for German account. In
addition to this the tonnage re-
quired by the entente has been
turned over punctuaIly. and the
Bismarck. with a registered tonnage
of $4,000 tons. mas been completed,
has made several trial trips. and
will he put into the transatlantic
service bv the British as the Ma
jestic this spring
During the war the two large
German shipping concerns - the
Hamburg America LineN and the
North German IlOyd-kept their
offices throughout the world open.
of them not a single pfennig's worth
throughout the entire period. The
benefits Of this farseeing policy be-
came apparent in 1920. when DIR.
CunO and Herr Heineken, on behalf
of their respective companies. went
to America and concluded contracts
with American firms insuring the
revival of direct passenger steam
ship connection between the United
States and Germany. The Hamburg
America Line Joined forces with the
United American Lines, controlled
by w. Averill Hartman. son of the
railroad king. and the North Ger
man Lloyd allied itself with the
United States Mail Steamship lines.
- Secure Use of Piers.
-. The contents of the two contracts
were practically identical, provid-
ing for German-American service,
with ships to be provided by both
the American and the German COM
panies- each company to be allowed
to submit so per cent of the tonnage
involved to the proposed pool. in
return for which the American lines
received the highly developed book
ing service of the German lines in
Europe and their docking services
=.
the chief advantage to the Germans
is that they secured the use of piers
and harbor facilities in America to
replace those of their own. which
were confiscated by the American
Tn arrangements between the
German and American companies;
are still. in force. although the Unit
ed States Mail Steamship lines has
been taken over by the Shipping
Board. The Hartman contribution
to his alliance with the Hamburg
Line are the Resolute and
Defiance, already mentioned. Dru-
ing the spring the North German
Lloyd wih put into operation the
Seydlitz. the Yorck. and the Han
over as FRS share Of the pool with
the Shipping Board
toopyrirst. Is2a.)