Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-10-30
TUCKERTALKS
ON Navy day
Importance of Mer-
chant Marine Is
Stressed

TIE following address was deliver
ed Nv 8 q. Tucker of Brownsville a
part Of The Navy Day program in Har-
iingen Tharsday night:
This being oct. 81. the birthday Of
Pres. Roosevelt who saw so clearly
4hs relation Il seapower to the
growth Of ne nation IN world in
Whence and prosperity, the navy lea
rre III TIE O.. s. is sponsoring this
as "Nagy Dsy.
The mission Of this years Navy
Dav is Of i~nportance 70 the coun-
try the farmer and the manufacturer,
OF sea power and commerce. Sea
owe rests iron the merchant ma
rire. the navy, and the radiating &C.
Invites ~ c0n merce A nation with
out an adequate merchant marine is
subject 10 perIodic shortage of sea
TRANSPORTATION during times Of in
dustrlal upset IN other countries;
namely. during 1915 the South will
not soon forget its trouble in dis
posinE az the cotton crop, when il
was shut OF rom Germany as a for
eipn customer, because Of the lack
Of tonnage 70 transport the cotton.
The less 04 tbs overseas cotton mar
ket created the greatest distress
among the growers and severely de-
pressed the rarket. We are helpless
without 3 merchant marine.
Need Overseas Markets
Our present day prosperity is be-
coming more and more dependent up
on our overseas market. The sue
cess Of our foreign trade bears d.
rectly On the well-being Of every
citizen. In order 10 maintain and
develop our markets abroad in years
OF keen comPetition that are ahead
Of Us. the United States should be
properly equipped to support, devel-
op. and guard its radiating trade &C
tivities. TO this end q reliable sys-
TEN Of overseas transportation under
q v flag is essential. No sue
cessful business organization can be
dependent upon a competitor for the
deliver q It's goods, and expect to
obtain the SAME results.
There are three outstanding rea-
sons why We must support an Amer.
icsn merchant marine: First, for ma
tional defense; second, for expansion
of our foreign trade; and third. TO
have q voice in the control Of ocean-
lie freight rates. Our annual foreign
trade amounts TO ten billion dollars
and the freight bills for t~ransporta-
ton amounts TO six hundred mil
lion dollars. The prosperity of u
country depends largely on the ex-
pansion OF our industries and they
in turn depend on their ability TO
dispose OF their SURPRISES in the
world markets. Expanding u for
eign trade. expands our Industries,
and the greater this expansion the
greater our prosperity.
Our people are not sold on govern
ment operation, or ownership Of
business enterprises, but they also
see that the shipping business as IL
pertains to the Gulf Coast, and more
particularly TO Texas, must have
some help somewhere. II private
parties cannot provide the ships then
recourse must be had to the govern
Ment.
Texas Ports Important
Last year the u. ). foreign trade
with the Caribbean Islands was six
hundred million dolalrs, and a large
part Of this was shipped from Tex
ports, and the opportunities for
are many. This can be in
creased to a billion dollars.
Texas has the following ports:
Harbor, which includes Or
Rnge, Beaumont, and Port Arthur.
Galveston Harbor, which includes
Houston, Texas City and
Port Boliver.
Arkansas Pass Harbor. which in
Rockport, Ingleside, and Cor
pus Christi.
Brazos Santiago Pass, which in
PIT. Isabel.
The latter is a new harbor, which
Ii nearing completion by the United
States government IL IS our most
hsFbor, and because Of this
geographical locations bids fair to be-
rome one of our most important har-
bors. II is also the southern termi-
aus OF the -intra-coastal canal.
To show the importance Of the
Texas shipping during the year 1926,
shipped ~6.4T3,3s6 tons of
freight with a value OF nearly two
hundred million dollars; Houston
shipped 1O.576.000 tons with q value
81 four hundred and fifteen million
Arkansas Pass and Corpus
Christi ports have shipped this year
10 date 212.0 900 tons Of freight with
D value OF many million dollars.
The importance of the foreign
trade for the Texas ports is so ap-
parent that il seems almost a crime
10 think the people waited 30 long 20
yet this much needed relief. When
the port at TT. Isabel is completed II
will greatly increase our Mexican and
West Indian trade.