New Britain herald., 1924-06-06
HEALTHY MERCHANT
 MARINE NECESSARY
United States Fleet Corporation Wants More Merchant Ships

Boston. June 6.-That a healthy
 merchant marine is an absolute ne-
 cessity to the safety and prosperity Of
 the American people, and that private
 ownership is the only fundamental
 solution 10 keeping the American flag
 afioat on high seas, was the declara-
 ton this afternoon of Admiral Leigh
 C. Palmer, president of the United
 States Fleet Corporation, before the
 Eleventh National Foreign trade con-
 Nention.
 Discussing the relation of the gov
 ernment to the merchant marine, Ad-
 miral Palmer said: While govern
 ment aid for the merchant marine is
 to be encouraged and welcomed, it is
 more important for the lasting good
 Of the merchant marine that private
 enterprise be directed to the solution
 Of our shipping problems with a view to diminishing, and eventually remoy- Ing, the differential that exists be- tween American and foreign operat- ing costs. But I am an optimist, and
 ! believe the time will come when we
 Will build ships as cheaply as they can be built abroad.
 When shipyards are enabled 10 work continuously on the production or specialized types of ships, and when American engineers shall have evolved standarized types of marine
 motors mat can be manufactured by quantity production methods and at comparatively low cost, the problem Of cheap ships will have been soIyed
 "A part of the differential that now exists is the higher cost of capital to the American shipowner. This prob- ably is only g temporary condition mat Will adjust itself in due ,in,e furthermore, in all item. of onerat- Ing costs in which labor is a copsid- eraple factor, such as wages of shine, crews and salaries of onera,i,os American shipping will continue to he at disadvantage a. long as ,ho ."'e'i.ah scale Of living is higher .han me foreisn. which we should ex- peel 10 continue indefinitely. Dut recoenlzing this, our recourse f. ,o naNe our operatives and crews mora .Hiclent and more productive and 'nereoy minimize the differentiaI
 TOT three-quarters Of a cepturv o.' peopie' bent on the exploitation oi our vast internal resoureas ,u,naa thelr back to the sea and lo,t ,ss comparatively unremuneratire hnsi ness Of shipping to other neonias Ina. ap,s eircimstanced. This has .en r'se 10 the belief in some ouar. ,ers that ours Is not a maritime moo pie' that hy nature we are inent m 'ne sea. Such a belief is not found- 70 on Tact Our nation in large nar, mas been built by the seafaring nsa pies' Our maritime achievomen,s i,, 'he carry half Of the last ennturv n, neh as our naval accompltshments nroughont our history. have demon- strated our fitness on the xea rho cal or the sea will find ro,dr ,a sponse when economic conditions ho come favorable 10 Americar nn,s. p p,,Se thereon. That time is slowly put surely approaching
 me merchant marine sbouId m, ne regarded from an exclusively com. mercial viewpoint" continued ,ho speaker. While it's prime nurno,a i. 70 serve the nations commerce. d,r- ing umes of peace. its valuo Al. - cement of national defense .houlJ pe kopt m mind Modern warfare is "aeod With practically all national ro- sources and the commercial aoa, [. hardly second in importance ,or n,r poses or national defense 10 that or Iegular naval establishment. Tn pro- portion as the principle of naval die. , 4rhaht is adopted and the regular naVal nects enrtailed. the commercial '"et VIII become of increasing i'm. norlance for both offense and defense V has long been an established noI. eS of certain foreign governments ,o s 1cVelop special type of romnerci,t | ,oases Tor possible use as naval or i auAiliarics. '
 Probably in view Q, ,bs tsrs,,,., [ 'oward disarmament, such q roiio,. 2 ,'' oe more fnlly developed, and our | :, must take coEnizance or c ms in It's encouragement and dr- [ .fIopmont Of our merchant marine : 1ore especially in the creation og The i 'leh class passenger and combiuatiop passenger and cargo types of vessel. T Which our commercial fleet Is not Ibiy deficient. However. such addI- Ions can he justified economically nly on commercial considerations They must almost. if not quite. pay heir way. the government assisting hem to such an extent ss may be consistent with the public interests"
 | An elephant works from the sEc t | In the ars q, 60