The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-05-12
oIIR. COMMERCIAL DEsTTNY

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 One of the most profound and alert ob- servers of business, industrial and commer- cial conditions is MT. B. e. Forbes, pub fisher of Forbes Magazine, and writer on economic questions of the day. This au- thority, in a recent article in The Age Herald, finds that the American merchant marine is slowly forging ahead lof the British mer- chant marine to a. position tf world leader ship in commerce. If any one questions this assertion Mir, Forbes answers that the United States today. is the only nation running regular 'round-the-world freight and passen- ger service. The reason for this is found in our growing supremacy as . producer of coal. ,.ss z
 1 According to Mfr, Forbes Since steam ships displaced sailing vessels, coal and coal ing stations have been essential for their operation Britain has led the world in setting up coaling stations all over the world. These facilities have given British ships dis tinct advantage over those of other nations" Thus, because of her cheap and abundant production of coal, England has been able to keep her merchant fleets in efficient op- eration everywhere in successful competi- tion with all other nations.
 It seems, however, that profound change is taking place in regard to this fundamental advantage, On. this point Mir. Forbes quotes Mr. Harry Livermore, the shipping and coal ton of American coal with British coal opens up vast possibilities. Hitherto the British coal has been supreme in such places as the Argentine Republic, Brazil, the Med iterranean and other fields. But the price of American coal has been steadily going down, and the price of British coal has been going up. This increase in the, price of British coal has been due to a number of facts, chief among them the rise in wages and increase in the depth of the mines" It might be remarked that, even with their in- crease, British wages for coal miners are still far less than the wages of American miners, ,s &
 It is pointed out that in the past British ships have always found outgoing cargOes, so that their concern has been mainly to de- Selop return cargoes. This advantage it was sought to transfer to. American ships also by means of federal regulation in ,ac- cordance with which American ships would receive preferential treatment with respect to Americane exports, This would reduce the British advantage arising from the ease with which in the past British ships have obtained return cafgoes from American ports. Now that we hare1t become an exporting nation our whole commercial status is on new basis, basisswhich makes it not only i'm perative, but inevitable that we develop an American merchant marine. We could not dodge the responsibility if we wanted to do so. For this reason it is the moAe re- grettable that we delay action under Sec tion 2S of thesmerchant marine act.
 It has often been said that American ships cannot compete with foreign ships be- cause our wage level is too high. On this point Mir Forbes observes: "True, wages are higher on American ships than on those of any other nation. Wages in American in dustries are also higher than those in any other nation. But has this meant that the OulbSU 0bdpcS ndS DCcA uH0OAC dO NOAAPcOS industrially in the markets of the world? Not at all. The United States, as a matter of fact, exports more than any other nation on the face of the earth.''. British indus trial leaders themselves admit that the man hour in American industries is more produc- tive than the man-hour in British and other industries-enough 50, in fact, to offset the difference in wage with a margin in our favor, It is probable that similar efficiency will be worked out with respect to our ships.
 Anyhow, the fact remains that our ships are in businessa that they ply the seven seas and enter all the ports; that they are an in- dispensable extension of our transportation system; that they represent an investment we cannot afford to forfeit; that they are an essential supplement of our naval strength, and that the American government is committed to the principle of the perma- nent development of our merchant marine. That being increase, there should be no fur. ther political obstacle laid in the way of this significant and tremendous enterprise. =-===A.=-@ f'- ! NNNTr rNrwr