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Marine Review March 1959 * EDITORIAL? Meeting Foreign Attacks on Our Merchant Marine T IS not the two-thirds of our merchant ma- Trine Which Is* not now ‘fit. for. trade,” as Walter Runciman, president of the British board of trade, is reported to have character- ized it in an address before the chamber of shipping in London on Feb. 16, that is worry- ing our British friends. It is rather the high quality and efficiency of the remaining third, and particularly the ships built and recondi- tioned under the terms of the merchant marine act of 1928, which is the real objective of the numerous attacks from abroad. Mr. Runciman’s remarks are helpful rather than otherwise in calling attention to the urg- ency of concerted action in replacing this “un- fit’? two-thirds of our marine with modern and efficient ships. What plan of action can be un- dertaken to accomplish this purpose? In the first place, the American people are determined to have a merchant marine ade- quate for its commercial and defense needs. The policy to this end laid down in the mer- chant marine act of 1928 has been amply justi- fied by results. Every new ship that has come out has done well. No interruption in this pol- icy must be permitted; instead it should be strengthened and wisely extended to include encouragement to the cargo carrier. A statement recently issued by the national committee on the merchant marine pointed out that certain proposals now pending in the con- gress, if not properly considered, may very easily destroy the entire American merchant marine engaged in foreign trade, with a re- sultant loss of many millions of dollars a year to American industry, agriculture and labor. The statement in part follows: “The present American merchant fleet has been developed under definite laws of congress, one of which is an act authorizing the post- master general to make ocean mail contracts with essential steamship lines as a government aid to the establishment and maintenance of such lines. Forty-four mail contracts for ten- year periods have been made since 1928, when the act was passed. They constitute the very foundation upon which the American overseas merchant marine exists. They were entered into as legal, binding contracts, ordered by congress after a most careful, thorough going and pains- taking investigation of every fact and phase of the question. ‘Under these contracts private shipowners have brought the American merchant fleet in foreign trade into splendid position, although no ship company is making any real profit at this time. Nearly 600 American flag ships now operate on 70 regular lines in foreign trade, as against only 17in 1914. Forty-one new vessels have been constructed since 1928 to modernize the American fleet and give it the power to com- pete successfully with foreign lines. Our mer- chant marine operating in the foreign trade is capturing for American industry several hun- dred million dollars every year out of an ocean freight bill of five hundred million paid by American exporters and importers. Every dol- lar of that two hundred million goes back into the pockets of American citizens who contrib- ute in labor or supply to the operation of the necessary ships. . . ‘Millions of dollars have been expanded for ship construction in America since 1928, and the near future will see an expenditure of two hundred million for the same purpose. Ship- ping lines have invested millions of dollars of private capital to build up these ocean serv- ices—all on the guarantee that the government aid provided by congress in 1928 through mail contracts should be continued. “The postmaster general has compiled with the orders of congress, the companies are re- ceiving the aid, and, as a consequence, they are doing what congress intended them to do, building up the lines to carry a reasonable pro- portion of American commerce with ships suit- able and available to our army and navy as national defense units. “To consider this aid from the point of view that it is a payment for carriage of mail is un- Aly. Such in part is the statement made by this committee. The American people will not per- mit the reversal of this sound policy. MARINE REVIEW——March, 1933 9