The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Narre | ea F vat 29-DAlr f { , ec ( (( ) yy yé q (lin | ( DD [ | > at 1 \ R@ : il dT ~ T | " ane t | aa , | NTT | -- IW, HT ATTA VOL. 51 NEW YORK MAY, 1921 CLEVELAND No. 5 We Will Have Merchant Marine President Harding Notifies World of His Determination to Maintain Country's Present Rank in Ocean Commerce DDRESSING congress, the President said: "The disturbing situation of Europe and par- ticularly the critical posture of the great mari- time powers, requires that we should not overlook the tendency of a war, and even of preparations for a war, among the nations most concerned in active commerce with this country, to abridge the means, and thereby at least enhance the price, of transport- ing its valuable productions to their proper markets. "I recommend it to your serious reflection, how far and in what mode it may be expedient to guard against embarrassments from these contingencies, by such encouragements to our own navigation as will ren- der our commerce and agriculture less dependent upon foreign bottoms, which may fail us in the very mo- ments most interesting to these great objects." The President who delivered this address was George Washington. The congress addressed was the first in the country's history. The date was Dec. 8, 1790. Transportation Ranks Next to Production "In the emergency of war we have constructed a tonnage equalling our largest expectations. Its war cost must be discounted to the actual values of peace, and the large difference charge to the war emergency, and the pressing task is to turn our assets in tonnage to an ageticy of commerce. "It is not necessary to say it to congress, but I have thought this to be a befitting occasion to give notice that the United States means to establish and maintain a great merchant marine. "Our differences of opinion as to a policy of up- building have been removed by the outstanding fact of our having builded. ee _"Manifestly if our laws governing American activi- ties on the seas are such as to give advantage of those who compete with us for the carrying of our own cargoes and those who ought naturally come in American bottoms through trade exchanges, then the spirit of American fair play will assert itself to give American carriers their equality of opportunity. This republic can never realize its righteous as- pirations in commerce, can never be worthy the tradi- tions of the early days of the expanding republic until the millions of tons of shipping which we now possess are co-ordinated with our inland transporta- tion and our shipping has government encourage- ment, not government operation, in carrying our car- goes under our flag, to every world market. "It will strengthen American genius and manage- ment to have it understood that ours is an abiding determination, because carrying is second only to production in establishing and maintaining the flow of commerce to which we rightfully aspire." This message was delivered by the latest Presiden before the latest congress, being a part of President Harding's personal address to congress on April 12. Anxious to Meet a National Need This comparison of the official utterances of the first and latest American presidents has an interest beyond the mere parallel of thought. President Wash- ington was addressing a nation whose citizens were largely interested in shipping as a means of livelihood. His views as supported by congress, gave the United States the merchant marine which a century ago was. in the front rank of the world's commercial fleets. President Harding addresses a nation most of whose citizens had for years forgotten the fixed rela- tion of commercial ocean independence to the pros- perity of a country itself. The war taught the lesson that Washington foresaw in 1790. President Hard- ing calls attention to the necessity of interpreting this lesson in time of peace. The new Chief Executive has carried into the White House the same sincere interest in merchant marine problems which has marked his entire public life. His emphatic declaration in favor of a great merchant marine carries with it an assurance of a suc- cessful solution of this half-century-old problem. The country needs a merchant marine. A President has finally been obtained who intends to meet that need. 205