The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-05
NEW SHIPPING. STATUS

uc uSSioioh Io oSpdIdIC ehC oPCio- ton of the merchant fleet from the authority which resides in the shipping board of regulating and generally supervising the merchant marine of this nation was reached with the ship ping board participating in the con- ference with the president, and some program of harmonious pro- cedure was undoubtedly arrived at. According to the definitions given to the press, the shipping board will oc- cupy much the same relation towards the American merchant fleet that the interstate commerce commission oc- cupies with respect to the railroads, which is very important relationship, to be sure.
 It is certain that with the transfer to the Emergency Fleet Corporation of the control of fleet operation and sales much of the criticism that was directed at the shipping board will now be de- flected to the corporation. Because of the popular lack of understanding of the situation, the shipping board has been blamed for condition which in large part existed when the board entered upon its huge task, and which has since been appreciably modified in the public behalf. The operation of the largest merchant fleet in our history in the face of a depressed world commerce could in no respect be termed an easy public duty. To dispose of ships on a market which already held more ships than tonnage is not task that any one would light ly undertake. Yet there is no doubt that the record of the board in dis charge of it's duty will eventually be shown to be very much better than its present critics are willing to ad- init. The advancement of our ship ping has been great, as proved by the reliable statistics of various federal departments.
 The fleet corporation has had thrust upon it a problem that has been vexatious in the extreme. This problem has in large part been worked out, and the corporation will thus be assisted at the very start by the partial completion of the task. If circumstances should order that early success attend the corporation's ef- forts, it should not be forgotten that much of this success will be directly creditable to the groundwork laid by the shipping board. As for the ship ping board, relieved of the heavy burden and the interminable details of actual operation, it will now be able to hold the entire field of our shipping in better perspective than before, and to deal more intensively with the interlocking relationships be- tween coastwise and ocean traffic. and internal transportation. The problems of competitive routes, of more efficient interchange of com modities among nations or among diff ferent par,s of this nation, of through routings from originating points to foreign destination, of adjusting rates to serve best the public interest, of establishing the custom of using the most direct routings, and all the in- tricate and manifold adjustments that will tend to make our merchant fleet of utmost service to our industries and to our commerce, all these concerns will afford worthy exercise for the boards best intelligence.
 The shipping board has saved the merchant fleet and passes it on to the corporation in condition far better than it found it. Who will say that the most fruitful period of the boards service is not to come?