U.S. BONEYARD FLEET.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 104, 4 May 1922, Page 10

U.S. BONEYARD FLEET.

SHIPS LYIKG IDLE. I'I.KA KOK SUBSIDIES. SAX FRANCISCO, March 31. Tjiiliirc (if American shipping interests 1,. 'qi\ c- serine consideration to the T :ii!c] State- Shipping Board's recent r:iil for tenders on the < Jovernment's fleet of ISCH) cargo carriers has convinced' Chairman Laskei , that there is no mark"! in the Vnitod states for ocean(juiiij. , tonnage. The hoard's fall brought oli'i-r- cm oiil; 1011 siiips. 'Mr. Lusker ■ins iintiouncid. and the bids, all of wiiirh luivr heen rejected, he character-i-ed a< "facetious," adding: "I doubt if I'icc U t :i,000,000 in the United States lit ihU lime fur investment in merchant -'■•;,'l'liii;. (Vrtainly the absurd 'bids we n',i'i\ fil do not indicate there is more ilian t";it amount. On the other band, i. ■j• • • i-1 - leaching the Shipping Board ■ low that in England the amount seeking hii'r>iiiir investment now probably is ■l.i million pounds sterling. ■The action of the Shipping Board in lulling fnr bids on all its freight ships .it this time demonstrates that the inilnstry cannot be sustained or made attractive to American capital without ;: subsidy. For my part T believe that liiileiis Government aid is extended there aHI never be a market for shipping ill IHe United .States." This view i> shared by the leading .-nipping men of the country, and in the meantime 1300 war-time built ships are rusting in various ports of America, :i ml represent many millions of dollars' uiitlay. with only a remote prospect of their being brought into use. on the .-even seas of the world. i.aptain Robert Dollar, one of the i<penest American shipowners of the country, declares the United States will never rise to any position of importance itmong maritime nations unless the I nited states Government offers an attractive subsidy to shipping mon of America. He says it is imposible to compete with -lapan, Britain and Germany without some Government assistMeyncr Lisfner, Pacific. Coast representative on the 'Shipping Board, in a comprehensive review of the ship subsidy, made, a plea for support of President J-larding's proposals for Government aid. He *aicl the necessity arose out of the higher rost of operation of ships under th« American flag of any other prinei■]>K\ maritime nation. * HELPLESS IN" "WAR. vl fef-1 constrained to say to the citizens of the Pacific Coast,"' he stated, "tiiiit T regard the proposed legislation ava vital link in tile chain of governmental activities and responsibilities tb&t bridges tbe gap between eventual M<scees t> r failure of one of- the greatest natfons of the world. Without our own ships to carry our oayu products to our customers everywhere, our trade in time nCeniergcncT will again be at the tnercy ofjour foreign competitors, and at any ntgment we arc liable to suffer disnarangement of our internal cconomyi and the piling up again of ouY surplus p rib ducts along our highways and railways and in our ports, as happened at llO , ' outbreak of the World War. "'No nation ever remained great that H-wowed itself to depend on foreign its competitors in the final analysis, for the delivery of its owul {fiiod.-: and more than ever the mer- < ttaiit marine has become a vital arm'of tHr national defence, for without the humble cargo ships to carry provisions, ammunition mid supplies, and without faSt cargo ships,, refrigerator ships, colliejs and tankers, a navy is hardly able t & leave the shores of its own country. "Without a strong, well-balanced meri hhnt marine any groat commercial nation is on the-sirve'road to national disaster. - ' '\Vl;en the - campaign to secure Congressional sanction of the HardingIjaeker ship subsidy plan .opened in the Senate' Senator Ra,nsdell, De'moWat, Of Lquisiaira. said that the United States TiavjV uaideT the terms of the- conference limitation treaty, would be "practically powerless' , without support from an! adequate commercial fleet. "Great Britain," said Senator Ransdell, who is president of the National Merchant ..Marine ... Association, "has about three times as niany ships which are capable of being used as high-grade naval- auxiliaries as the United States. "If our commercial marine is to remain at its present level, then Great Hritain with her large fleet would' cont imje ;very much more .powerful on the. s-cas, even though our naval vessels are f-onsidered on terms of actual parity. The only course open from the standpoint of national safety is to have, the vessels form a part of our permanent merchant marine. ,. Senator Ransdell pointed out that foreign commercial fleets had received government assistance for many years, and said tlTat these, shippers "hold today the mastery of most of the great routes of ocean commerce." Jlr. Ransdell declared that the United. .States was the only, maritime country! in which the question of a ship subsidy was ever debated, and the only one which, line "ever hesitated to employ a subsidy policy commensurate with its mean* and opportunities." "It is imperative," lie concluded. s*for the national welfare that the United States create and main-tain a merchant marine rapable of not less than one-, half of its foreign commerce."