Evening star., 1926-03-26
SHIPPING MEN BACK
!. PEPPER MEASURE
Combined Effort Being Made
to Put u. S. Merchant Ma
rine to Front.
BY j. c. ROYLE.

| NEW YORK, March "a coAii-
bined effort to put the American mer-
chant marine on an equality with 1or-
eign countries so far as ship construc-
tion goes, Is being made by the ship
| ping interests of the United States. In
| concrete form it has now been placed
before Congress and is under consld'
| GRAFTON by the committee on COM
| merce of the Senate in the form OF
the so-called Pepper bill.
The significance Of this measure has
/ not been generally understood, out II
| became evident today that 1t Is sup
| ported by a majority of the steam
| ship transportation interests of the
country. Representatives of these IN
| terests declared that it offers the only
| solution on which they were able to
] agree, which would enable American
ships to compete in world trade with
| foreign countries, not only now but
| in the future.
The Pepper bill. in effect, would
provide a subsidy of approximately -
per cent for American built ships, al
though it does not make such q proVl-
sion in so many words.
Offer of Refund.
ernment refund to the owner of ships
built in American yards for cOmpeti-
tion with foreign lines an amount equal
to the tariff on the materials when
go into those ships, with the proVi'
sion that plans for such vessels must
be approved by the Shipping Board.
acting on the advice of the Army and
Navy authorities. Customs off1clais
would determine the amount OF the
refund in each case.
Sponsors Of the measure declare
that it will place American shipping
lines on an equality with those or
other countries where wages are lower
and encourage construction OF YES
sells which would be Of ineStimable ad-
vantage to the country in time or
emergency. 1t is based on the theory
that a high tariff is one Of the chief
supports Of a high wage scale, whlca
is reflected in a high cost of ship con
Struction here.
w. c. Gibbs, marine architect.
whose firm reconditioned the Levi
athan and who designed the Malolo,
the largest ship built in American
yards. explained today in an exclu-
sive dispatch from San Francisco to
the writer that this measure would
not SubsidiZe ships constructed Tor
intercoastal trade and makes no at
tempt to equalize cost OF operation
under the American flag
The measure. he contends. is calcu-
lated to stimulate Immediately the
sale of Shipping Board vessels to
ship operators. The sale of these
wartime built vessels. hundreds of
which are lying idle in American
rivers, has been held up, he says. be-
cause if operating companies bought
them and started to operate them on
foreign trade routes, they could not
insure continuation of business
gained in such operation. because
they could not replace the vessels
with others built in American yards.
except at Il prohibitive cost.
Welcomed by Shipping Men.
The life of ship is approximately
fixed at 20 years. After that time
repairs and upkeep make them un-
profitable for operation. Only ships
under the American flag can carry
trade between American ports. If
the steamship companies operate
international trade, the American
port-to-port trade is closed to them.
''The big shipping competitors of
the United States," Mr.. Gibbs said.
would welcome proposal to scrap
every warship in the world, provided
their commercial ships were allowed
the present margin of advantage in
operation. The nation or the people
with the largest number of ships has
always controlled the waters OF the
world. The Pepper bill would permit
operation Of American ships on
comparatively even basis with for
eign built and owned vessels in peace
full trade and would also form the
most invaluable nucleus to war
time navy in times of emergency.
since every vessel built under it's pro-
visions would have to conform to
specifications making it valuable as
a national defense in time of war"