Evening star., 1923-04-27
Americas Merchant Marine Must
Remain a World Transportation
Factor.

So far as the editors Of the country
are concerned they seem 10 he CON
WINGED the merchant; fleet must he
KEEP; in operation. ON that point they
are unanimous. How the problem
shall he worked out is something else
! Many feel that the shipping Board is
right in it's latest suggestion. arsu-
ing Chairman Lasker has given tim"
and attention to the situation ana
therefore must have a careful near
ing Others insist the fault is with
the La Toilette Seamen's law, Which
hampers. Still others take the view
that ALI that should be tried now IS
10 keep the fleet going until Congress
has another chance TO suggest
remedy Generally speaking. political
views do not seem 10 enter the DIS
cussion in any way.
"As means of preserving the ieet.
and safeguarding it's value for the fu-
ture. the present trade lines cannot
well be surrendered. argues the New
York Tribune "but the main problem
remains. 1t is to he hoped that the
shipping mon and the government
cessful bridging over of the present
emergency and return TO private
ownership and operation, may reach
some understanding to that end and
avert a serious setback to shipping.
Sacrifices in price of ships on gov
ernment valuation are in sight, ac-
cording TO the Pittsburgh Chronicle
Tcleeraph so there will be nothing
loft for the government to do except
10 run the ships themselves. No busi-
ness man would think of letting the
vessels rot AT their docks. There
likewise can be little doubt. as the
New Orleans Times Picayune sees it.
that "the country will approve de-
cision to hold and operate the vesseis
a while longer under government con
troll because the sole alternative is
that proposed by the Steamship own
ers' Association, involving prohibitive
sacrifice of the public investment In
shipping, while leaving the nation
pretty much in the same unhappy hx'
with respect to merchant marine,
that the world war found it in
So far as the demands OF the
private owners are concerned, the
Albany Knickerbocker Press 1eels
they are Comprehensive and also
make 1t apparent tHdt tiC 'is - I
and wise thing to have done would
have been to authorize subsidy
amounting to much less than the
present Shipping Board deficit, under
which private ownership and opera
ton would have developed an ef-
fective policy. 1t may be expensive
for the government itself to keep the
lines open, but it may be also that
tf certain Of the private shipping In
terests have been bluflng up to now,
1t will call the bluff" In this con-
nection the administration is right,
as the Philadelphia Bulletin sees 1t,
in it's program to stimulate, en-
courage and protect private American
enterprise and to assure it an oppor-
tunity to compete with the enterprise
of any foreign nation on equal terms.
The principle of ship subsidy is the
traditional principle Of protection.
and 1T is a far departure from that
principle, not merely to deny it's
validity as applied to the develop
ment of a merchant marine but.
whila withholding encouragement, to
discourage and defeat private enter
prise by maintaining government
competition at the expense of the
public Treasury. Responsibility rests
upon Congress. which refused Presi-
dent Harding's program for shipping
protection"
Attention Is called, in this partic-
ular connection, by the Wilkes-Barre
Record to the fact that Tho next
Congress may 30 even farther than
to refuse q subsidy. 1t may refuse
to appropriate money to make up the
deAcits that private operation may