Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-12-03

! than two-thirds the tonnage of all mer-
chant vessels afloat everywhere before
the war. BY that time the Government
will have invested $4,000, 100000 in ship
| ping, or almost three-fourth as much
as the entire railroad investment before
| the war.
In 1889, before Germany precipitated
the war by sending its hordes over Po-
land, the worlds merchant fleets were
divided among the nations as follows
British, 100000 tons; American, H.
100000 tons; japanese, 100000; Ger
man, 100000; Italian, 100000; Nor
wegian, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and
others, 100000 tons.
The United States, looking behind at
the 100000 tons of merchant ships it
had before the war and ahead at the
gigantic tonnage it will have at wars
end, already has turned its back on the
temptation to use its war output to i'm
mense competitive advantage. That way,
it believes, lies exploitation, dollar di-
plomacy, imperialism and future death
struggles with the British Empire.
Instead, it has indicated that we
should raise our 100000 ton prewar
total to between 100000 and 100000
tons in postwar days. This is substan-
tial and even ambitious increase, but not
a grasping one, in the opinion of Gov
eminent shipping experts. But even this
increase presupposes the taking over of
new water routes by our merchant fleet,
and in this connection Admiral Land
has made proposal that seems sure to
stir up much discussion before the ques-
ton is settled.
Would Absorb japanese Role.
II have been accused" said Land re-
Gently, "of pulling a rabbit out of the
hat when I indicated that our postwar
merchant marine should be somewhere
between 100000 and 20,0000000 dead
weight tons.
1.-The rabbit is the japanese merchant
marine and the hat is Japan. If we take
the combined lightweight tonnage en-
ployed by the Axis nations prior to the
war, and assign one-third to the United
States and two-thirds to the other mari
time nations, the increment over 1889
to the American Marchant Marine could
and should be employed primarily in
handling the services where japanese
tonnage formerly was employed.
There is no thought in my mind that
those members of the United Nations
group whose very lives depend upon
their merchant fleets should be deprived
crease in the merchant fleet flying the
Stars and Stripes. In fact, by assigning
to them thirds of the tonnage OPP
erations formerly handled by the Axis
nations their respective merchant fleets
would be increased, just as we believe
ours should be-
Stripping the Nipponese of their mer-
chant sea lanes, of course, would be a
matter for the Allies to settle at the
peace table. But should this be done,
with the United States taking over a
large portion of the load, we would still
be left with superabundance of mer.
chant ships.
Libertys Slow for Peace Trade.
The largest part of our postwar fleet
around 100000 tons, will consist of
new, modern vessels, of which about
half will be Libertys. These 1o,000-ton
general-cargo ships are sturdy but prob
ably are too big and too slow for use in
many trades in competition after the
war. If the Libertys, the average YES
sells and the foreign-built ships (most
of which will be returned) are subtract
ed from the tonnage total expected after
the war, 1900 ships of $4,000, 900 tons
still remain-a swift. efficient feet twice
the size of the prewar merchant ma
rine
This would include 600 high-speed
tankers, 600 to 700 new C-type cargo
about 500 produced Victorys, and
an assortment of other modern mer-
chant carriers. Perhaps the Libertys
could be stored away under the re
serve fleet" plan. In any case, the Gov
eminent is confronted with a serious
problem of disposition of surplus cargo
ships
No such problem will exist in connec-
ton with passenger-cargo ships. There
will, in fact, be an acute shortage of
passenger liners when hostilities cease
Prewar liners were pounced upon by the
Navy and War Departments and refitted
as troop transports and hospital ships
81 L..
a profitable basis, and where recon-
versions are attempted, it will take time
Innumerable Army transports will be
available, but the practicability of con-
| verting them to passenger liners Is
strongly questioned. Meantime luxury
air liners will be ready to go into almost
instant service once the war is over. To
compete with this swift air service, Gov
eminent officials foresee large number
of medium-sized, extremely comfortable
passenger ships. They will sacrifice speed
for relaxation and entertainment facili-
ties, suitable especially for vacation
| goers and others not in hurry.
See Heavy Air Traffic.
Many Government shipping experts
believe the day of the giant ocean liner
is gone. They look forward to lower
fares and more leisurely ships But they
emphasize, there will be necessary time
lapse before they are available in suffi.
Gent numbers. Meantime the airline
companies, it is expected, will be doing
brisk business.
With a squirt in passenger demand
anticipated after the war, as hap
| r1aned of the r1oco of Cyov1d yUer a