The Omaha guide., 1943-06-05

A. CAnlEh
When this war is over there will
be thousands of colored boys who
have gone down to the sea in ships.
There will not be a few who have
studied navigation and m~eteorolgoy
and other sciences necessary to
guide ships over the trackless
oceans. And there will be ships,
hundreds and thousands Of ships
available for commerce, to convoy
the raw materials Of undeveloped
countries to the harbors of the
great industrial countries.
The United States is going to be
a real competitor for world com
merce when this war is over. Make
nc mistake about that. Great Brit
aims strange hold on world ship
ping and on world commerce is 60
ing to be broken and the right to
equal access to the raw materials
OF the earth is going to be demand
ed and achieved by he United Stat
es. No matter what the cost-no
matter how great the resistance.
A new century and a new world
is in the making. Americans will
penetrate the remote and hitherto
forbidden ~hinterland of Africa, of
India, Of China. Wherever there
is gold or tin or precious stones or
Cassava, o. palm oil or cocoa, or
copper or hemp, or iron, Americans
will seek and find it. American
ships manned by American crews
will follow engineers, prospectors
and merchants. In their holds viii
be carried the riches of the earth
for exchange or sale to those where
ever they are who want them.
Commerce transformed a little
island into the British Empire. 1t
made possible the rise Of the great
city-states of Venice and of Genoa
during the Renaissance. 1t enabl-
ed Holland and Belgium to emerge
from static poverty to great wealth.
1t has been the difference between
national weakness and national
strength. 1t is the interstate COM
merce within the United States be-
tween the states which has COM
pensated for its lack of overseas
commerce and enabled America to
become a great and powerful ma
ton.
The one thing about this program
of the late Marcus Garvey which
had a chance of cce was his i'll
fated venture into foreign comm
cree. The causes of this failure Of
his dream of a black political en-
pire need not be discussed here.
But his plan to acquire ships and
to compete for a share of the world
commerce directing his efforts to
those countries predominantly Nc
gro in population had much to
commend it. But even the great
white shipping companies must be
subsidized" / can hear the critics
saying. What chance has a Ne
gro company"
Well, this is not a crusade for a
Negro shipping company. But 1t
is a suggestion that it might be in
the realm of possibility to interest
white and Negro capital in a ship
ping venture after the war is over.
There might well be commercial
liason between the people Of Mig
eria and the Gold Coast who raise
sixty percent Of the worlds cocoa
and whose rights to the resources
and products Of their native land
are i~ncontestable.
For almost a quarter Of a cent
ury these cocoa growers of Niger
ia and the Gold Coast have sought
to sell their products directly to
America and to other parts of the
world. They have waged a sus-
tanned and courageous fight against
powerful British interests who have
sought to control the price and The
market. They have been duped BY
American companies which bought
their cocoa and then avoided pay
ment for it. And they have learn
ed bitter lessons.
America is the greatest cocoa
consuming country in the world.