Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-04

Loss Of her place In rank Of current
Shipbuildtng probably Is not permanent.
Italy has shown steady progress since
the war In building UP her merchant
marine, and this year finds that she
has moved up from tenth place to sew
States, as well as South American con-
nections, call for new construction.
Italy, In taking seventh place. displaces
Russia, which had held tftzt positina,
Sweden stands ninth In position. and
Denmark Is tenth.
Shipbuilding has been dull for sew
eral years In most maritime nations.
and the first quarter Of 1880 showed
increases all around. Nations increas-
ing their tonnage include Great Brit
ain, the United States, France, Italy,
Russia. Sweden and Denmark. Con-
struction went ahead faster in some OF
these countries than in others, but ad-
vanced In all of them. The greatest
proportionate gain was registered by
italy. On the other hand, production
actually declined In Germany, the
Netherlands and Japan.
Orders Increasing.
To make q world comparison between
the new tonnage now building and that
on the ways just before the war, It Is
shown that ct the end of June, 1914,
the tonnage Of merchant ships under
construction was 3,162,000 gross tons.
The figure for the current quarter shows
. net gain Of more than 100000 tons.
some "a, 900 tons Of this gain and other
nations show gains over their pre-war
building Of 10000 tons. Great Britain
and ireland are some loo, 900 tons under
their construction at O comparable Pc
Rod in 1914, although well ahead Of In
terventng years.
An indication Of the squirt merchant
Is indicated by the fact that world con-
Stfuction today Is some 325, 900 gross
tons greater than 1t was just year ago.
Moreover. new orders are crowding in
| and keels are being laid down Is soon
as ships under construction take the
| water. clearing the ways. For example,
new orders for the first three months
| Of this year were 100000 tons in excess
| OF the tonnage launched In the same
| period, showing that the completed Jobs
are more than being replaced by new
work.
A point Of special interest In oonnsc-
ton with this new construction n that
throughout the world motor ship "a re-
placing the steamship. Tho oid-fash-
Toned Scotch boilers which 90 long have
held their place on the seven seas are
4 bGAA18 04okM1SCo ny AlbSI1161 CO1I1pu6tkOu
engines. Nearly so per cent Of the new
tonnage under construction will be pro-
PEELED by internal combustion motors.
The trend is acceleratipg. In the cur
| rent quarter a gain of 400, 900 ship ton
mage designed for motor ships Is regis
tered over the last quarter.
This building competition has It's
place in terms Of war and peace no
less than construction of cruisers and
battleships. The World War taught the
lesson OF the relative impossibility Of
successful economic isolation. The coun-
try cut Of from supplies from the out
side world Is at disadvantage at the
very start. The usefulness Of merchant
marine vessels In supplying food to dis
tant armies and relief to civilian popu-
lations never assumed larger proportions
than In 1914-18. Also, use Of merchant
men as armed naval auxiliaries was not
despised.
In consequence this merchant marine
building competition must take its place
In the public estimation along with
competition in naval construction. The
results show the United States In 0
satisfactory position, especially In view
Of the tremendous latent power Of ex-
pansion. It is not likely that the ship
building mistakes Of the last war win Be
renAatad