SSg SS SS yn @ @ To Transform Sudden Prosperity Into Permanent Success, American Ship Builders Must Enlist Public Co-operation—Close Corporations Archaic building industry was poverty stricken; today it is prosperous. The war has rejuvenated the industry financially. Millions of dollars are pouring into the coffers of companies that two years ago were tottering at the brink of bankruptcy. New com- panies have sprung up and already have enough orders on their books to keep them busy two years or more. There seems to be enough business in sight to keep the ship building ca- pacity of the world busy for five years. The tap-tap of the riveter is heard in all the steel ship yards of the coast and on the Great Lakes. The yards of New England, which long ago resounded with the thump of hammer and caulking iron as_ the famous clipper ships of the past were molded into magnificence, have been rehabilitated and now are busily turn- ing out smart auxiliary schooners. Ghosts of ships, long left to decay at their anchorages, have been resur- rected, rebuilt and sent once more to ply the ocean’s highways. Yet the cry from all the world is for ships and still more ships. Important as this demand is from the standpoint of ship builders, it is seconded closely by the fact that the necessity for an American mer- chant marine is being pressed home to the American public. The nation, as with one voice, asks how American shipping can be restored. All Amer- ican shippers are seeking freedom Y wee the American ship. from foreign ship owners, whose sym-- pathies naturally are with the mer- chants of their own land. The Iowa farmer, the Ohio pig iron maker, the Louisiana planter and the Montana miner have learned, to their cost, the need for a merchant marine. It is essential to the United States ship building industry that this coun- try’s shipping be restored to its right- ful eminence. Orders for ships may be plentiful for several years after the close of the war, but eventually the industry will fall back into its pre-war condition of dry-rot unless American shipping thrives. Now, when public interest is awakened, is the time to lay the foundations for the future. The reasons for the de- cline in American shipping and ship building are well understood in the trade. Lack of governmental co- operation, high costs rendering com- petition with foreign countries difficult, and impossible labor laws have com- bined to drive the flag almost from the seas. Public opinion has permitted this, owing to lack of knowledge of the facts. American business men are Will Tax Capacity In announcing the formation of a new company a short time ago, to take over the plants and properties of the New York Ship Building Co. officials pointed to -the need for ships for the American merchant marine and predicted a rapid growth in this important means of promot- ing foreign trade. “Ship building prospects im America were never better,’ said the statement. “The demand for ships is unprecedented. Labor costs abroad are almost on a par with those here and such legal restric- tions have been placed by all for- eign maritime countries upon the sale or transfer of ships from one flag. to another that although tt 1s impossible to purchase ships abroad, foreigners are practically free to buy here. Hence the demand to make up the shortage of the world as well as to supply the rapidly growing American merchant marine falls largely upon American ship yards. “Tt is estimated that the tonnage of the world cannot be _ brought back to its normal position with regard to world requirements until 1922 at the earliest. This estimate is predicated on the war coming to an end in 1918 and upon the ship building capacity of the world being largely increased to , meet the emergency.” just beginning to appreciate the im- portance of public opinion. They are beginning to realize the necessity of taking the people into their confidence and acquainting them with their achievements and their problems. In years past business men have seen ft to conduct their affairs in their own way with the belief that as long as they remained within the law what they did was no one else’s business. But a new policy is coming into being. The demagogue and the impractical reformer too long have appealed to the public’s emotions through the yellow press. They have wielded too much influence and have been too big a factor in the halls of congress itself. 43 By Guy F. Creveling The public, as a whole, is emi- nently just when it sees both sides of an argument, but it has not been given all the facts. Business men are calling for a square deal, yet they themselves are partly to blame for not having received it long since. Now the railroads have undertaken an extensive campaign of education through the newspapers. Some of the big steel and industrial companies have taken similar measures. Cer- tain of the large banks regularly issue bulletins containing information on current affairs intended to educate the public in economics. But the ship building industry in general is years behind the times. Many leading ship builders operate close corporations. They have not adopted the modern policy of taking the public into their confidence. Their affairs are matters of mystery to be guarded as jealously as their honor. Only a comparatively few companies have adopted up-to-date methods even to the extent of publishing statements of their earnings. Is it surprising that when legislation of vital impor- tance to ship builders is proposed in congress that the interests of the industry fall an easy prey to pro- fessional muckrakers? Here are a few instances to show what ship building companies are accomplishing (these being among the few companies which gave out figures): The New York Ship Building Co. earned $1,334,432 in the 12 months ended Aug. 31, 1916; this sum is equal to 28.05 per cent on the com- pany’s $4,756,200 capital stock. In addition, the company expended $650,- 000—equal to 13.67 per cent on the stock—for plant improvements. The company now has about $23,000,000 worth of business on its books, in- cluding awards recently made by the United States government for battle- ships; its working capital, amounting to about $3,500,000, is more than suf- ficient to carry on this work. William Cramp & Sons Ship & En- gine Building Co. closed its last fiscal year April 30, 1916, since which time no official figures have been issued. During that year, profits amounted to ~ $1,497,254, or 17.68 per cent on the $6,098,000 capital stock. On this basis, earnings equal to 25 per cent for the