The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18
sH1Ps-A PRESSING QUESTION

O1lfS-A fREIOOllNHv VzOEO HUN
 Although the measure providing for the disposal of our merchant marine and estab- fishing our steamship lines upon the seas was allowed to die in congress, the problem it sought to solve is still present and must be dealt with. There still remain the great steamers, either riding uselessly at anchor, or else operating under disadvantageous conditions. There still hangs over the tax payers the burden of an annual deficit amounting to more than the cost of the pro- posed subsidy. There still exists the eco- homie necessity of carrying the bulk of American goods in American ships. There is still operative the commercial toll the American shippers pay to foreign steam ship lines, which in the case of the British amounts to more than enough to pay the interest on the British debt to us. There is still the imperative need of an adequate merchant marine to defend us in time of war through its capacity for carrying food, troops and supplies There still confronts us the debt we incurred in constructing this fleet, regarding the future of which the congress of the United States has shown 50 little concern.
 Now that the United States has become such a leading competitor in the markets of the world and has come to export 50 much more than she imports, it becomes more than ever important that ships flying the American flag preponderate in our ports. The fleet must be saved and it must be saved now. It is the public will that some means of permanently establishing our mer chant marine be adopted. As The Age Herald has said on former occasions: It would be folly for this nation to come into position where, with great and costly cargoes to export, it must be at the mercy of for eign steamship lines which may be con troled by our competitors in the worlds markets, for rates made by the foreign com- pertitor could alone be made to ruin our commerce. Therefore, the producing cen ters above all others have their welfare at stake. We have not yet forgotten how trag- ically we were made to realize during the war the fact that merchant fleet is an Indispensable adjunct of our navy. The very safety of the nation depends upon the preservation of the merchant marine.
 Pertinent to the issue is the export of cotton from Alabama. There IS anticipated this year cotton crop greater than usual. The bulk of this will be sold and consumed abroad Great Britain, too, is both grower and consumer of cotton. There is even now a British effort to increase the cotton production of India Egypt and Turkestan to supply the British trade. Consider what an advantage the British would have if they were also permitted to control the carrying trade in cotton. We have already seen how British steamship companies sought to maxe an excessive profit on carrying Egyptian cotton, needed in our mills for it's length of staple, by refusing cotton cargoes in Egypt to American steamers for direct transpor- tation, and by taking the cotton first .o Liverpool and thence to the United States, charging therefor the greater rate for the additional mileage. How much more at the mercy of the British steamship lines would this nation be if deprived of it's merchant marine. It is inconceivable that under combination of the British spinner and the British steamship operator the farmers of Alabama could be penalized in the move ment of their export cotton from the Port of
 
 service rendered the gulf by the United States shipping board, and which protec- tion should be continued, but which can only be continued through some such policy as embodied in the ship subsidy bill, unless the government should embark on policy of government operation in perpetuIty, a policy not consonant with the merchant ma rine act of 1920
 Thus it is perceived that the question Of administering our merchant fleet and of establishing our merchant marine is not an academic question nor one that grows less pressing as time passes. It is not even merely postwar question, for it would have arisen, war or no war. On the contrary, it is d present and vital question which involves the whole future industrial and commercial prosperity of the South and of the nation. It is as yet entirely unsettled. Therein lies a grave menace to our foreign trade.
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