The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-04-05
By CAPT. GEORGE FRIED


 The purchase of the United States Lines and the American Merchant Line by Paul W. Chapman and Joseph E. Sheedy, prominent ship ping man, indicates the revival of American enterprise in the AmerE can Merchant Marine. Having served all my life on vessels fly ing the American flag, it is par ticularly gratifying for me to see this new development.
 I see no reason why the United States should not have one of the largest Merchant fleets of the world Shipping has been more or less neglected in this country during recent years, while various other industries have been expand ing in leaps and bounds. When private capital, ingenuity and enter prise are devoted to the Merchant Marine, there is no reason why it should not be expanded and de- veloped to be commensurate with the general growth and prosperity of the country and it's industries.
 Early Days
 Everyone who has read our his- tory will recall how in the early days of our existence as a nation, we had under the American flag the fastest and most successful of ships, the American Clipper. Our sea borne commerce in those days carried our ships to the far corners of the earth. The choice products of the'world came to our doors and most of them came on American ships, while today we get the ma jor portions of these same products in foreign bottoms.
 Our shipping was large and pro- gressive in those days because the bulk of our population lived along the seaboard and a large proportion were seagoing people or of seagoing stock. We built better ships and sailed them as expertly as our com- petitors. Our ships today are man. ned by capable and efficient crews and no better illustration can be given than the expert seamanShip manifested by American crews in the rescue of foreign crews and pas sengers from laundering ships.
 We have a small American Mer- chant Marine, but it is neverthe- less strange fact that in nine of ten cases on the North Atlantic, when an S o s call is sent out, an American ship is among those to respond.
 Lose on Sea
 As the interior of our country was developed, our attention was diverted from the sea to the pur- suit of agriculture and later to in- dustrial development Then we lost the commanding position on the sea which we had created for ourselves. Lean years followed for the Merchant Marine because the country, expanding rapidly, due to large numbers of immigrants, found no difficulty in absorbing all the products that could be pro- duced.
 Shipbuilding has languished since the world war. It is natural re- suit of the tremendous building program carried on during the war. The cry of the hour then was ships, and more ships When the war came, we found oursleves sadly lacking in ships to transport our troops and supplies to the battle fronts of France. We had to re- ly on foreign ships. Submarine warfare depleted the Allied Mer- chant fleets, and soon shipyards isprang up in all sections of the country having access to the sea We know how these ships assisted very materially in turning the tide of war in our favor.
 The United States Shippin Board salvaged some of the best vessels in the transport service reconditioned them for passenger service and turned them into some of the finest vessels being operated today on the North Atlantic. Rapid fly our export trade is being develop ed and the business man knows what it means to have his goods : shipped in the American way and in American bottoms.
 Approximately 30 per cent o, tourists going to and from Europe today are Americans. They VII travel on any ship irrespective oi