Evening star., 1923-12-09
Foreign Nations Use Guile
To End u. s. Merchant Marine

American merchantmen turned over
to private ownership and operation
without government support
Faced with competition OF Foreign
vessels whose operating costs arc
below urs, due to the laws for the |
benefit OF seamen enacted py Con
gress, and whose governments &c
not hesitate to grant governmene aio
own flags, the American ships In
short time would be forced into
bankruptcy.
This British writer well knows
as they have the resources or the
United States government back or |
them. can compete with any in the |
world, but with this support re
moyen hs tsfts %eula of syspaty so as and %
help for the American merchant
fleet. |
British Attitude Toward Ships. |
It is a common claim Of the British |
that their government does not sub
sidize their merchant vessels: and
hasn't for years. In an appendix. by |
Sir Norman Hill. to the document al
ready quoted. we find:
For two generations and upwards
Great Britain has granted to It's mer-
chant shipping no subsidies: on the
contrary. its policy has been to in
-sist on the maintenance of a high |
standard Of efficiency on the vessels
under its flag, and to leave them
subject to the competition. in all |
British ports of vessels under other ,
comply with similar standards"
/. This statement would lead TO the be-
lief that Sir Norman Hill was unaware
OF an agreement entered into between
the British government and the Cunard
Steamship Company dating from 1903.
whereby that government loaned to
the company f2.600,000 for the con-
struction of the Mauretanfa and
Lusitania. the period Of the loan
this agreement the British admiralty
paid annually to the cunard Com
pany fl50.000 a~year, with the under
standing that these vessels were to
be maintained in a certain degree CT
efficiency and should be subject to
e"n"v. The sum SO paid has been
reduced to 100000 since the sink
ing of the Lusitania. In addition.
fhe from ha sess a. mail ns fsass
year. The White Star gets mail
subsidy of f72.000 a year, the PENN
sular & Oriental Steamship Company
geta f169.000 and the Union-Castle
as similar subsidy. Also. during
the present year. under the trade
facility act of 1921. the British gov
ernrnent has loaned to the Royal
Mall steam racket tZ,5UOUUU 10 conn
plete three ships: to the Union-Castle
Mall Steamship Company, $1,000. 900.
and to other companies lesser
amounts.
What Other Nations Do.
The British, it seems. subsidize
their merchant vessels. but do not
say much about it. France. Italy.
Germany. the Scandinavian countries
and Holland. too. are granting gov
orp rr1p a IN hai al n
F~cnch government haa ~-anted a
direct subsidy Of 10o.ooo.000 francs
Ito private shipping companies. in ad-
dition many mail subsidies. In
loans. for building ships and exemp-
tions from income and other taxes
are granted shipping. Germany, since
tthe war. has again adopted the policy
of subsidizing private shipping COM
paniee.
It Is to such competitors that the
United State is asked to turn over
the American vessels after with
ment--competitors who not only
have the advantage of a differential
in costs of construction and opera
ton. but also of government aid to
private shipping.
The Shipping Board. In its annual
report just made public. asserts that
an Americana built ship represents an
investment 2o per cent greater than
a similar vessel constructed on the
Clyde. due to higher labor costs. IT
also asserts that by the wages scales on
an ordinary cargo vessel the wages paid
under the American flag are approxi-
mately $4,000 a year more than
those paid on a similar ship under Q
foreign flag.
Question of World Tonnage.
There is too much tonnage in the
world now to transact the business
lit IL ~ "a I,.&
Is that any reason why the United
States should be expected by Its COM |
petitors to withdraw its fleet from |
the seas? Considering the part
the world. that is scarcely a fair
proposition. What America demands
is a fair share of the carrying trade. |
America is not seeking to drive the |
vessels of other maritime nations
from the seas. But 1t does not intend
the seas. |
An International conference two
years ago put an end. to the -ruinous
e9mpetition con nTstato "a In, In great warships
suggestion that much might be done |
toward establishing q live-and-let-
live policy in merchant shipping |
through an international conference |
called here by President Coolidge. |
Some agreement. might we'll be
adopted whereby the countries could |
divide on an -equable basis the d. |
rect carrying trade between any two
of them. |
Attitude of Business.
American business should be |
keenly interested in the maintenance
Of an American merchant marine. 1t !
is said sometimes that American
British and other foreign vessels to
handle their trade. But we may well |
take leaf from Austratia's book
During the war Australia found. as
We found, that 1t needed ships to
ha rdle its commerce, and it built them |
or bought them. Nor has 1t given up
these vessels, except those that were
not fitted for the trade. The Common |
ed and operated by the government. 1t
seems that Australians were not con-
tent to leave all their carrying trade
TO the British ships. And a high
Gently in London, when his attention
was called to the often-repeated
statement that the government can
not operate merchant vessels eff
ciently:
"Ali bunk" which sound rather
American.
Propaganda Against United States.
There has been subtle propa-
ganda ag gainstthe United States, both
in Europe and in this county. which
rs hard to pin down. =
Stories have been circulated by
word Of mouth that the LeviathAn,
which carried 10000 American SOL
diers at time during the war. was
unsafe-topheavy--t her crew Is
made up OF Germans. and that the
service on board Is not good. There
is not a scintifla Of truth in any OF
these reports. but one hears them,
nevertheless.
Some Americans too. are given to
critieizing the American passenger
liners because they are not as FASH
ionable" as the British boats. But,