Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-09
Goal of the u. S. on the Sea
tcontinued Prom Third page.l

they bought, requisittoned, 1nterned or
conf1scated every ship, of whatever own
ership, they could find. In 1916 our
own position was thus described by VIII
liam Brown Meloney, in '"rhe Heritage
of Tyre"--and it was description of
reality, Of then existing condition:
I'VE speak to other nations across the
oceans by permission of their several
lines of communication, not our own.
Except in few inconsequential In
stances our mails move by alien will
and the grace of alien flags BY sea our
commerce is paralyzed, a spurned beggar
Of ships: by land, fettered and en-
bargoed trafhcker. The United States
Is q vassal on the seas. where only six
ana fifty years ago she was an enthroned
and peerless monarch.
In this year Of 1915 the United
States, without a merchant marine,
bereft of ships, Is more than half the
slave that she was in 1861. What boots
It that labor is free If the products of
its industry and enterprise are denied
their markets?
Warehouses Glutted.
"Tllrn where one will and 1t is to be-
hold the evidence of this vassalage.
Leave any one of our glutted seaports,
with piers and warehouses and freight
terminals burdened beyond capacity by
an tmmovable commerce, and follow the
railroad lines into the interior across
the continent. Go North, go South, go
East, go West. and there is not mile
that has not chapter to contribute 10
the tale. All of the conceivable prod
ucts Of 100, 0o0, 900 people lie along those
steel arteries arrested by embargoes.
What moves is what the warning nations
choose TO buy and will receive from the
railroads at tidewater AL else must
abide its time or rot; for as Europe con-
trols the worlds deep-water tonnage, SO
olir market is limited to her Will. IL
Toatters not that there are other mar
kets In which we could sell and lntrench
ourselves to the advantage OF future
trade and expansion. We haven't the
ships to reach them.
Orchard Crops Rot.
'"T1Irn from the railroads and go into
the orchards of the West and North
west and 1t is to find the fruit OF last
season nattressing the earth against
the shaking down of the worthless crops
of the coming one. Harken for the
sound of ak and saw in the lumber
REGIONS of oregon and washington and
California, and harken in vain. An
army Of labor stands idle; Its accumu-
lated product lies ,shipless in gorged
outports. Nor are there cars to move
a cutting for domestic use. The Middle
West and the South are utilizing the
rolling stock of our rails as granaries
and warehouses, and New Englands
depleted forests, the conservationS OF
as wears, are being slaughtered to sup
ply the needs of the Eastern seaboard.
Industry Paralyzed.
Turn from the field and plain and
orchard and forest to the nlanufactur-
ing centers and it is to find the same
= a..A fAg. Ind
by in1pc Il as well as by export. Here
a factory stands silent because 1t can
not get tin from England; there silk
loom lies manacled because it cannot
obtain the raw product from China. AS
Britain controls her shipping, so does
japan control hers. Japan has but TO
say to her merchant marine, our ships
will carry japanese exports from De-
cember to May and imports for Japanese
consumption only from June 10 NoVem-
ber,' and that is sufficient. The rest
of the world may whistle. What Is true
of those two nations is likewise true OF
all others"
And thus the American people
learned, by harsh experience. the need
for an American merchant marine.
War Produces Change.
During the war, with unprecedented
VlROI ana GIL uIlpICCC0NAOCO CNoAOs
we fell to shipbuildtng. We constructed
not merely scores, not merely hundreds,
but actually thousands of ships in the
space of a few years. We spent not
merely scores or hundreds of millions,
but thousands of millions Our total
ship bill was more than $4,000, 600, 600.
At one time the United States Shipping
Board had under its jurisdiction 4,500
ships of more than 17,5oo,o00 gross
tons.
why. then, it may be asked do we
still have a ship problem? The answer
Is that after ships are built they must
be maintained, improved, replaced and,
above all, profitably operated. The
failure of our Government to recognize
the truth of that simple statement Of
fact through many decades explains our
lack of q merchant marine up to the
time Of the World War.
Organization Yet Lacking.
After the war we had the ships
many more than we could use-but we
lacked the organization to operate them
successfully. The shipping business is
a highly technical, highly competitive
one. Political interference, govern
mental red tape" bureaucratic inertia,
cannot conduct a business in successful
competition with private initiative, alert,
quick, progressive and intelligent.
Congress Acts.
And so, very wisely, Congress pro-
vided for the sale of its merchant feet
to private operators. But, with equal
wisdom, 1t did not provide for imme-
date hurried dispersal simply for the
purpose of avoiding further loss. In
stead, the policy was adopted of dis
posing of the ships in such a wa that
they would be continued in operation
under the American flag, but in private
ownership.
Then years ago Congress adopted
this declaration of policy, which was
reaf1rmed in the merchant marine act
of 1928:
THAT it is necessary for the national
defense and for the proper growth OF It's
foreign and domestic commerce, that
the United States shall have merchant
marine Of the best equipped and most
suitable types Of vessels sufficient to
carry the greater portion Of its COM
merce and serve as a naval or military
auxiliary in time of war or national
operated by private citizens OF the
United States"
have said previously that it is not
surprising that our people generally have
lacked understanding of what is being
done to maintain the American mer-
cnanC marine. In the reOrganlzaClOu
and adjustments that were necessary
after the war, there were unfortunate
disputes and conflicts of authority. The
newspapers were filled with reports OF
wars" within the Shipping Board and
conflicts between Shipping Board, Mer-
chant Fleet Corporation and Emergency
Fleet Corporation. There we're charges
OF waste of funds, Of heavy losses. Sell
dom was the public presented with a
clear picture OF the essential and use
full work that was going on despite con-