Evening star., 1936-09-25
The Maritime Commission.


The ship subsidy bill. recommended
to Congress by the President in special
message on March 4, 1885, provoked a
long legislative struggle which continued
until the closing hours Of the last session.
In the end, passage of the measure by
the House was forced by the Senate
under the duress Of threatening to wipe
out all postal subsidies for this fiscal
year. The House concurred' and passed
the Senate bill on the morning Of June
20, three months ago.
Because of the importance Of the
measure, designed to write a new chap
ter in development and maintenance OF
an American merchant marine under an
entirely new principle Of governmental
assistance, the President might have
been expected to follow his signature
of the act by immediate appointment OF
the five-man commission, which will
administer its provisions. But such ap-
pointments have been repeatedly held
up, for one reason or another, and yes
terday's announcement of the three men
selected was coupled with the warning
that they might not be the permanent
members. Threatened maritime labor
troubles on the West Coast have been
advanced as the reason for the partial
appointment OF the commission yes
terday.
The three men chosen-Rear Admiral
Henry A. Wiley, U. S. N, retired; Rear
Admiral Harry G. Hamlet, former COM
mandant of the Coast Guard, and George
Iandic, jr., chief of the planning section
Of the procurement division of the
Treasuyy-should be well equipped for
their new tasks by technical training
and experience. On a commission OF
this sort, such qualifications are highly
important. They will doubtless begin
Immediately the skeleton organization
of what promises to be one Of the highly
important independent establishments of
the Government.
While the merchant marine act OF
1896 dispenses with the ship subsidies
on the basis of mail-carrying contracts,
Its general objectives are probably more
broad than any previous scheme Of gov
ernmental aid to ship building and mer-
chant marine maintenance. AS far as
subsidies are concerned, they will be
based on grants up to fifty per cent of
the cost differential between American
and foreign ship building and ship main
tenance, and the commission is further
authorized to lend up to twenty-five per
cent of construction cost for twenty years
at three and half per cent interest.
IN return for such aid, the Government
will obtain potential naval and military
auxiliaries in the form of merchant YES
sells, the right to control the sale, trans
fer and management Of the ships, the
right to impose many conditions on ship
operators and, Of course, the benefits
that accrue employment Of American
labor at our high standards and the use
of American material. One Of the first
duties confronting the new commission
Is approval Of the construction Of
liner to replace the Leviathan, contract
for which is supposed to be let by the
end of this month.
The commissions broad authority
under the act, together with the scope
Of its undertaking, demands the selection
of able and capable men. The less
politics in such selections the better.
Even If the three appointees to the
commission are to be considered as tenn
porary, they represent selections based
on ability and the standard 10 estab-
lished will, 1t Is hoped, be followed.