The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-01-06

sidy bill is the result OF the influ.
ence Of an admired and loved ship
ping lobby which the Adninistra-
ton Is happy to enrich. The truth
Is much more startling.
The Administration, for the most
part, is filled with a distinct sus-
picfousness of large numbers Of
American shipowners who seem
more interested in playing with
foreigners than they are IN making
sacrifices for the upbuilding OF a
marine under the American flag on
foreign seas; and the principal sup
porters Of the subsidy, both IN the
Executive departments and In the
Senate, are accepting the idea OF
subsidy as they might submit to
an operation for appendicitis; not
because they love operations or
have gone into q conspiracy with
surgeons, but because they have be-
come convinced that there is no
other way ahead Of them for escap-
ing from appendicitis.
Part Of this appendicitis in this
particular instance is Government
ownership and management Of
American merchant ships. Mr..
Lasker tells me that the Govern
ment can never operate merchant
ships efficiently.
I take the liberty of not being
much impressed by that argument.
Assuming that the Government
might spend more money in operat-
ing merchant ship than q private
owner would spend, / see no reason
=. u, - 10
reached is an American merchant
marine adequate to American ma
tional necessities In. times of national
peril and OF outright international
war. The point truly is not the
cost Of the thing. The point Is how
the thing can be accomplished most
effectively and yet most safely.
The unsafest way Of accomplish
ing it Is to allow the Government
to 20 into the business Of Compel
ing with foreign private ship-oWners
in every port Of the world over
cargoes of cotton and copper and tin
and fertilizers and tin trays and
legs OF mutton. The Government
of the United States as the com.
merciaI antagonist Of a British priv
ate citizen of Liverpool, who wishes
to get cargo Of mutton from
Buenos Ayres to Cape Town, to be
carried on his own private British
ship, Is thing which battles any
portrayer Of international indignities
and dangers to describe.
The Briton in question does not
proceed to become the rival and
enemy Of some individual American
citizen living in New York and
likely to be met In the smoking
room Of any passenger express boat
from New York to Southampton
and likely to turn out to be-after
ala not intolerable or hateful per-
son. The defeated Briton might
personally like his personal Ameri-
can victor. He cannot concsivably
like-and he must inevitably hate
and detest-an impersonal foreign
government which with its national
flag flying over it deprfves him OF
his livelihood. @zts.
He then sees the Stars and
Stripes as the emblem Of hurt
and injury done to him. He sees
the American Government-witha all
the American gold reserve behind
it-under- bidding him, out-maneu-
vering him, running him. He sees
a great government using its gov
ernmental wealth and power to kill
him in business, to kill the business
Of his country, to sink the Union
Jack. It is a preposterous and
hideous situation. 1t makes our
flag and the British flag cross
themselves in mutual jealousy and
anger and hatred and .belligerency
over the transport Of ham and
bacon and dried peas.
There could be no more distinct