Evening star., 1937-06-11
SUBSIDY IS RAISED
ASMAR|NE FACTOR
Operation of New Fleet Pro-
posed by Roosevelt Held
Question of Moment.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, June 1l.-New York
shipping men today saw in President
Roosevelt's proposal for a new Ameri-
can merchant marine the expression
Of what they considered vital need
In the country,s trade relationships.
The concensus was, however, that the
matter of operation after the new fleet
Is built is just as important as the
construction itself.
Builders and operators agreed the
direct subsidy to be granted, now that
the indirect mail subsidy has been
abandoned, must be sufficient to make
up the differential between the high
cost Of operations under our flag and
the lower operating cost of foreign
shipping.
Figures Show Need Of Fleet.
Vivid figures were presented to show
the necessity from trade and national
defense point of view of creation Of a
brandnew United States fleet.
Here are some of them:
l. American bottoms carry only 7
tlonal trade, although our share OF
that trade is IA per cent
2. Less than 35 per cent of our own
foreign commerce is confided to our
own ships. japanese vessels haul rs
per cent of Nippons waterborne
freight while 81 per cent of British
business goes to British bottoms.
Thu IIpifeI Cfotae ;e ,no1-l
world tonnage. fifth in speed of ships
and eighth in ranking of modern ships
In operation.
4. This country has only 488 YES
sels, OF approximately 5000 900 tons.
IN the international trade, compared
With 2,3l8, aggregating l4ll9.O0O
tons for Great Britain. 608 of 3,l00,-
600 tons for Japan and ATS of 2,S32,-
600 for Germany.
Operating Costs High.
Shipping men asserted American
merchant vessels would be carrying
a far larger share of world shipping
were it not for high operating costs.
In the first place, they said, the
higher wages paid seagoing personnel
and the requirement that sailors serve
only one shift a day at sea, necessitat-
ting larger crews, makes it difficult to
compete with Japan, Britain and the
SCANDINAVIAN countries, all Of which
nave large share of our commerce.
The costs Of shore staffs are larger,
they asserted, and United States navi-
cation laws have placed other burdens
OF expense on American vessels that
are not borne by foreign ships.
1nasmuch As labor costs in the pro-
auction of materials and fabrication
represent about 80 per cent of the
total cost of ship, the higher wage
scales paid here make shipbuilding in
this country considerably more eXpen-
slve than abroad. The differential in
cost between British and American
yards sometimes runs as high as so
per cent, one builder said
This reflects itself in higher insur-
ance rates, charges for interest and de-
probation and other items affecting
the cost of operation. The National
Council of American Shipbuilders esti-
mated that from so to 80 per cent of
the total operating differential was due
to the higher cost of the ship itself.
The Presidents proposal, presented
In special message to Congress, en-
Vlsages a f1ve-year cargo ship pro-
gram to cost eventually about $3.50
100000 and involving the construction
OF 95 modern vessels. The funds would
be made available to the Maritime
Commission for subsidies to cover the
ulf1erential between costs of construc-
ton here and abroad.