Evening star., 1934-11-30
SIMS AND HARB0RD
URGE MORE SHIPS.
Merchant Marine as War
Aid Stressed in Notes
to Mail Inquiry.

The need of building and maintain
ing the United States merchant ma
rine as an arm # the national defense
was emphasized today in letters writ
ten to First Assistant Postmaster Cen
eral w. w. Howes by Admiral William
S. Sims, U. S. N, retired, and Maj.
Gen James B. Harbord, U. S. A, re-
tired, both of whom held important
commands during the World War.
The letters were submitted to Mr..
HoweS, who is presiding over the Post
Office Departments inquiry into ocean
mail contracts. by counsel for the
Grace Steamship Co.
War Experience Cited.
Admiral Sims commanded the
United States naval forces during the
World War. He wrote from his home
In Boston:
When we entered the war in 1917
our merchant marine alone was quite
incapable of transporting our own sup
plies and troops to Europe in time to
assist the allies in their extremity.
Quite half of them were taken over
in foreign vessels, principally those of
Great Britain. The exact figures are
available in official reports. They show
that we and the allies escaped defeat
by a very narrow margin =. In
a war in which it was not in the in
tereSt of any other country to assist
us with their merchant vessels, we
should be very seriously, and perhaps
fatally, handicapped.
''AS commander of the United States
naval forces operating in European
waters, shared the extreme anxiety
with which the question of ships was
regarded by the governments of the
allies. Each day the curve of de-
struction by submarines on the curve
of shipbuilding by the United States
and Great Britain were anxiously
plated in the hope that the former
would decrease and the latter increase
until they crossed and showed build
ing to be ahead of destruction.
Expense Defended.
ITO military men it is, of course,
self-evident that the building and
maintenance of our merchant marine
should be encouraged by every prac-
ticable means. Though this would in
volve considerable expense, it would
be a relatively small expense COM
pared with the cost OF hurriedly build
ing fleet of merchantmen after war
had been declared-a measure which
would be possible only when condi-
tons were such that other nations
were able and willing to assist us dur
ing the delay 1t would seem, there
fore, that it is directly in the public
%,,t~
sistance at present given to our mer-
chant marine, for without this assist
ance not only would part of their
service be diminished or given up. but
also in the absence of the assurance
of such assistance as continuous
Government policy, development would
be arrested and no progress could
wisely be made in building up the
fleet"
Harbord Stresses Need.
Gen. Harbord, who commanded the
service of supply of the A. E. F., also
emphasized the fact that the United
States carried. but As per cent of its
own troops to France in American
ships and that large part of these
were former German vessels interned
in American ports and seized by the
United States Government when it
entered the war. He added:
There may be some questioning Of
the statement that America won the
war, but no reasonable person can
doubt that but for the American ef-
fort the World War would have been
lost. The statistics of shipping show
how it was possible for us to transport
the men and supplies necessary to do
the job. 1t could not have been done
without ships. Anything that dimin-
ishes the numbers or efficiency of the
American merchant marine initiates
directly against our national defense
in war"