Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-07

as a part of the Nations transporta-
ton system. When you use the air.
mail you are not only serving yourself
or giving pleasure to your friends; you
are aiding in the establishment of a
great traffic system which is vital to
the progress of our Nation; you are
helping in the creation of special facili-
ties for air navigation-the develop
ment of safe efficient and fast air
planes, and the training of a flying
personnel without which our country
in the event of war would instantly be
exposed to disaster.
The airmail has twin sister in the
Post Office Department. whom we call
the ocean mail This is another activity
which in its broadest aspects is not
strictly a part of the postal business.
Our outbound foreign mails are volum-
inous and of extreme Importance to the
business interests of the country as well
as to our citizens who have IA nily ties
or social contacts abroad. 1t has al
ways been the duty of the postal adj
miniStration, of course, to move this
mail to its foreign destinations as ex-
peditiously as possible But under the
present policy. when we contract with
steamship lines for the transit of the
foreign mails We have an objective
which goes far beyond the mere hiring
of cargo space. Just as the Govern
ment is using the airmail to provide
support for commercial aviation, it is
using the ocean mail as medium
through which to build up and main
tain an American Merchant Marine:
to this end the Post Office Department
| is now paying the steamship companies
a little more than S19,000,000 a year for
carrying the United States mail to
foreign countries. over and above the
cost at ordinary poundage rates.
Says Shipping Is Vital.
We can all agree, I think, not only
that an efficient feet of merchant ships
under our own flag is vital to Amer
| lean commerce and industry in time OF
peace, but that it is indispensable to
the national defense. In 1928 Cen
gress passed law the purpose of which
Is to restore our merchant marine to n
footing OF equality with the commercial
fleets of the other great maritime ma
tons. This law. which is known as the
Jones-White act, authorized Govern
ment loans to American shipping COM
panies for the construction of fast and
modern ships; and it empowered the
Pest Office Department TO enter into
long-term contracts with such COM
panieS for carrying the mail on i'm
portant trade routes the compensation
to be based not upon the vo ume of mail
carried, but upon the size and speed of
the vessels used and the length of the
route served.
This. of course, is ship subsidy, the
purpose OF which is t. compensate
American shipQwnerS for three things
First, the much higher costs of ship
construction in this country, by COM
parison with construction costs in for
eign ShipyardS. second. the higher
wages of American Seamen: and. third,
the subsidies which other nations pre-
vide for their own vessels. The direct
object of the subsidy paid by our Gov
crnment to American shipowners is,
in other words to equa!ize the costs
of constructing and operating mer-
chant ships between American and for
eign operetcrs, so that ships of the
United States can compete for both
cargo and passengers on substantially
equal terms with other maritime ma
tions. The ultimate object. as I have
suggested, is to build up and maintain
a modern and competitive merchant
fleet, to protect and strengthen our for
eign trade in all world markets, and
to provide reserve Of merchant ships
to serve as naval auxiliaries in the
event of war These objects are ma
tional in scope. They affect us all.
+, whether We live on the Seaboard or in
the interior-whether we are manufac-
turers, or merchants, or farmers, or
wage earners. They have no special
relation to the Postal Service. Ocean
mail pay is simply the form in which
Congress has elected to extend finan-
cial aid to the shipping industry.
Provided by Legislation.
Under the provisions of the Jones'
White act. the Post Office Department
has so far awarded Al contracts for
ocean-mail service on trade routes
from American ports. These contracts
provide compensation at mileage rates
for the transportation of the mails,
but they also require the shipping
companies to build a large number OF
new vessels, to be placed in service on
the respective trade routes. The fleet
to be launched under this program
will consist of about a hundred fast
cargo and passenger ships, the equal
of any vessels afloat under foreign
flags Itewill aggregate about 100000
gross tons and will cost the shipping
companies approximately $780, 900.
1t is being built in American shipyards
by American labor, out of American
materials. Twenty-four vessels have
been completed under this program
and are already in service, while "a
more are on the ways at various snip
yards.
During the fiscal year ended June
80. 1890, the department paid out on
ocean mail contracts under the Jones'
White act the sum of $l3,000,000. Dur
ing the current fiscal year, its ocean
mail payments will reach about $l9,-
600 1000; they will amount to about
s23,OOO.00O in the fiscal year 1882.
Ultimately, the annual payments on
ocean mail contracts will reach sum
not less than $3O000,000 a year. The
aggregate mail pay for the 10-year
term covered by the existing Al con-
tracts will amount to about $3.50 900 600.
This is a substantial sum. But it is
negligible when we consider that 1t
will give us nucleus for an expanded
and modernized merchant marine pro-
viding a regular and speedy mail, pas
scnper and freight service to the
worlds ports. 1t is no more than
premium which the nation is paying
for insurance against the hazards OF
trade competition and the dangers Of
foreign ggression-against recur-
renee of the events OF 1916, II ana
ID. when our Government was COM
PEELED to spend literally billions of del
lars to improvise merchant meet 10
move our crops and our manufactures
to foreign markets, and, later. to move
our troops to the theater of war
Every modern sea power has pro-
vided ocean mail pay for the ships of
its flag. All maritime nations con-
slider that ship subsidy is justified
by the essential public service rendered
by their merchant fleets. which III
time Of peace contribute greatly to the
necessities of commerce and trade and
in time CT national emergency con-
stitute an invaluable second or auxili-
airy line of defense. For generations
this has been the policy OF Great
Britain, whose ocean mail payments
in the last 40 years have aggregated
same period, France has paid about
| 5000 000. 90 on ocean mail contracts.