Smyrna times., 1923-02-07

Unless the present Congress enacIS
the ship subsidy measure it is feared
that it will be doomed for a long time
to come. Although some of the Sen
ators declare that a majority are for
the bill it is said that the opponents
will resort to filibustering. For some
time the ship subsidy plan has been
dormant and has, given way to other
bills, but shipping has been close to
the heart of President Harding. If it
could be brought to a vote after a
thorough debate the chances of pas /.
sage would be far from bad.
"There has been much opposition
strange and queer in the eyes of
many, to this BILL" says The Morning
News. During the war the Ameri-
can Merchant Marine forged to the
front, and for a time far more ships
were built in American yards than in
the yards of any other nation. The
American shipping was gaining an
advantage which it was believed could
easily he held. Every phase of the
outlook was bright.
"But after the war ended a slump
came, and it got worse and worse.
The administration wisely concluded
that something if possible should be
done to rehabilitate the shipping and
recover the ground which had been so
suddenly and disastrously lost. Other
nations by subsidies and various kinds
of devices built up and strengthened
their merchant marine.
"Why could not the United States
! do the same? And was not the sit
uation alarming when both Great Brit
ain and Germany, according to the
latest reports, were doing more with
their shipping than the United States
was doing? Why our stagnation
All these problems were pondered, in
cluding the government management
Of ships, and as a consequence a mea-
sure was planned which it was be-
lieved would remedy the evils. But
the critics said that it was putting
money into the pockets of certain
few Not at all. In the end it would
be putting money into the pockets Of
the American people as a whole.
Instead Of objection we should
think that Senators and Congressmen
representing the agricultural districts
would heartily favor the subsidy bill
America has many exports. We must
Send our surplus farm crops abroad
They should go in American ships
Never has this nation dealt with its
merchant marine as it should have
done. Therefore the promoters of tht
bill are right in determining TO make
one final effort.
--latest figures regarding the ship
yards show that in the building o
vessels the United States has drop
, ped from second place to fifth, an
= is now surpassed by Great Britain
, Germany, France and Holland in tn
5 order named.
e Germany, for instance, now con
q structs one-fourth Of the entire mum
e Der Of ships being built, while in 191;
{ before the war, she constructed onl
i fifteen per cent. This is remarkabl
: progress for Germanys and shows tha
r no matter how much industry in Otht
Il branches may be hampered ship-buil'
i ing is forgoisg to the front.
r "The decline in the United Stat
is most astonishing. In 1913 Anne
m ican shipyards produced only s p
IN cent of the world total; but in 10
D; 81 per cent of the aggregate Outp
n was produced in this country, or mo
r than Great Britain and all other n
re tions combined. In 1920 Americ
n yards work represented 40 per ce
Of of the total; but in 1921 there was
NJ drop to % per cent, and last yea
~ production was less than 6 per CT