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Need Government Support to Meet Competition Pp. A. S. Franklin, president of the International Mercantile Marine Co., who has returned from a _ business visit to England on the White Star liner Magrstic March 14 made the following statement: The British government, the Cu- nard line, and the White Star line have concluded an arrangement un- der which the two companies are to be merged, and the British govern- ment will advance to the merged companies the sum of £9,500,000 for the completion of the new Cunard steamer No. 534, for working cap- ital and for possible additional steam- ers, thus forming a powerful British national line to compete with Amer- ican flag steamers in the North At- lantic, In coming to the arrangement for the merger of the two lines, the Ma- rine company is convinced that its rights in connection with the shares of the Oceanic company have been grossly violated, and. we have in- structed our lawyers in England to apply to the courts for an injunction to restrain the Oceanic company, the Cunard company and others involved from proceeding with the merger. The I. M. M. company holds all the shares of the Oceanic company as se- eurity for the balance of approxi- mately £2,350,000 still due for the sale of the White Star line. Americans Not Consulted Without consulting us and without any meeting of the shareholders, the directors of the Oceanic company en- tered into an agreement on Dec. 30 last with the British government and the Cunard company. We were not advised regarding all the details of this agreement until Feb, 7, 1934, after being announced in the press. Our consent to the terms of the mer- ger, which are very unfair to the Oceanic company and very beneficial to the Cunard company, was then asked, and we declined to give it. The Oceanic company directors have now informed us that they pro- pose carrying out the merger with- out the approval of their sharehold- ers. We do not wish to be even re- motely interested in a British nation- al line, as our desire is to develop under the American flag exclusively. It is perfectly obvious that the new merger is nothing more or less than a British national line, backed by the British treasury to the extent of about $50,000,000. If we are to keep our American ships on the North Atlantic, and upbuild and de- velop our position in this vital trade route with new ships, we must have the full financial support and co-op- eration of the United States govern- 38 ment, just as our competitors will receive such help from the British government. If the American merchant marine is to compete on equal terms with those of Great Britain, France, Ger- many, Italy and the other great pow- ers, it must have substantial help— I prefer to call it ‘“‘protection’’—from our government. Consequently, you may readily realize how gratifying it was for me to learn of the Presi- dent’s attitude revealed in a state- ment issued March 138, in which he wisely favored definite assistance of- fering real encouragement to all those, who, like myself, have been working for years to establish our merchant marine on a plane where it can compete with foreign ships on a basis of equality. Want Only American Ships It is a matter of record that for years the I. M. M. has been striving to rid itself of all ships operating under other than the American flag. As a consequence of my negotiations abroad I feel justified in predicting that within a short period the I. M. M. will attain its long cherished am- bition to operate American flag ships only. A tremendous interest is manifest abroad in the efforts of President Roosevelt to overcome the _ depres- sion. They realize that their own economic destiny is linked with ours, and that the quicker we get back to normal the sooner will they see a re- turn to better times in their own re- spective countries. Naturally this restoration to prosperity will be of benefit to the shipping industry, which is taking a much more oOp- timistic view of the future today than it did on the occasion of my last trip abroad, All the large nations are building up their merchant marines, and I regret to say are outstripping the United States in this respect, in pre- paring for the return of prosperity. We should be building ships of the WASHINGTON and MANHATTAN type right now. Our company is prepared to go ahead with the construction of such transatlantic liners and new ships for other important trade routes as soon as the government signifies its willingness to aid and protect us. Preliminary plans for new steamers have already been drawn and await approval, Efficient Ships Needed If America is to get her share of the world’s passenger and freight business when the upward swing comes, she should have ships cap- able of competing with our foreign neighbors. Lacking these, she will be terrifically handicapped in the post-depression race to capture the world’s markets, MARINE REvVIEw—April, 1934 Weldability of Ship Steel Investigated by Navy The navy department has for some time been conducting investigations to determine what changes in the chemical compositions of various steels will be necessary, as well as practicable, in the interest of obtain- ing weldability. With the extension of the application of arc welding to larger proportions of the structure of warships, it has become imperative to obtain steel in each of the various elasses that will lend itself to weld- ing attachment without the loss of any necessary physical characteristic forming the basis upon which the particular steel is employed, and without introducing, as a result of the welding, unacceptable local hard- ness, with consequent brittleness. As is generally known to the steel trade, these investigations have pointed to the necessity of establish- ing limits upon carbon, manganese and silicon contents, in addition to the long-established restrictions on sulphur and phosphorus. If these limits are set.too high, the supposed- ly ‘“‘medium steel’? will practically correspond in chemical analysis to material now stocked by the navy yards as ‘high tensile steel’ and may be expected to approach the be- havior of these steels in its reaction to welding. If the limits are set too low, substantial price increases may result and competition may be un- duly restricted. As regards high tensile steel, the navy department is understood to consider manganese-vanadium steel the most satisfactory yet tested, but to be investigating other steels as specimens are made available to it for test. As regards corrosion '§ resisting steel, the department has definitely concluded to specify a maximum carbon of 0.10 for both rolled prod- ucts and castings, in order to keep within acceptable limits the carbide precipitation after welding and the resultant tendency to intergranular corrosion, The present attitude of the navy department is one of careful investi- gation, based on needs of the service and the possibilities of obtaining steels of the desired compositions from the manufacturers. Navy offic- ers concerned in the work are free in commending the helpful attitude taken generally by the steel produc- ers and confidently expect to obtain results, with their help, that will be satisfactory both to the navy and to the trade, The United States engineers re- cently awarded a contract to the Cut- ler-Hammer Co., at a bid price of $4081, for furnishing two electrically operated watertight bulkhead doors complete with operating mechanism and signal system for the United States dredge A. MACKENZIE.