Evening star., 1934-06-14
To the Editor OF The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
In a recent issue of The Washing
ton Star appeared an article by G.
Gould Lincoln. The article related to
the merchant marine, headed Tariff
May Boost Merchant Marine" The
article brought out the point that the
Presidents reciprocity tariff bill
showed the problem of an adequate"
American merchant marine very much
into the foreground. and it went on to
outline some of the views Of both
President Roosevelt and Secretary
Daniel c. Roper of the Department
of Commerce, both of whom we're
quoted as favoring subsidies by the
Government.
Mr.. Lincoln's article should be OF
much benefit to the American mer-
chant marine, because it outlined so
clearly the general policies which Sec
retary Roper has in mind for the de-
veloping of an eficient, modern mer-
chant marine.
When we stop to think for a min
ute we must realize that today we
have a President of the United States
who most certainly Is sea minded,
and, added to this situation, we have
Secretary of Commerce who is very
much interested in the problem OF
building an American merchant ma
rine second to none, so, with that as
a foundation, we can surely hope for
results.
If the American people as q whole
were to give the merchant marine
matter a little thought and study at
this time we would become marine
minded and we would build an Amer
lean merchant marine second tc none.
and we should do that at this time
and not wait until the other nations
have built their merchant marines to
high point of efficiency and have
secured all the foreign trade. our
share as well as theirs. Unless we
soon get going on a modern merchant
marine we will lose what little for
eien trade we still have left.
Il y - Il
As soon as a person starts talking
about a merchant marine there are
any number of people who get going
In hiQh about a merchant marine
being an implement of war or some
thing which is of little importance In
our general scheme of life. Let US
stop and see If such Is the case, let
us 90 to the wheat fields, the cotton
fields, onto the plains where the beef
cattle is raised, into the forests where
lumber is produced, into our thou
sands and thousands OF factories
where are produced millions OF DOL
lars worth of merchandise for which
we must have q foreign outlet. Wnat
part does the merchant marine play
in the lives of the people who are
dependent upon these fields for a
living? Further, let us look at the
shipyard angle of the subject, wnere
there are millions Of dollars spent
yearly for the building and upkeep
of the ships which go to make up our
merchant marine. Then, again. let
us remember that it requires thou
sands of men and women to operate
these ships. So the subject Is one
which must be given careful thought
and consideration, not only by those
| who work on our own ships, but by
the entire population Of these United
States, because we are all In one way
or another dependent upon the mer-
chant marine.
An adequate" American merchant
| marine during the time Of peace Is
and should be an asset in our general
industrial life, and II we are wise we
| will see to it that our merchant ma
rine is the equal TO any afioat be-
cause, II we have q second-rate ar
ticle then our chances In the foreign
markets viii only be that Of the en-