OCR Text |
Show OUR MERCHANT MARINE. The American merchant marine seems to be a merchant marine in fact as well as on paper. As evidence of this, it is officially stated that during tho month of June of the present year ships of United States registry carried a greater volume of domestic exports than was moved in American bottoms during Iho entire year of 1914. Tho United States Shipping board recently undertook an analysis of commerce com-merce carried in vessels under its control. con-trol. The month of June, was selected for the compilation of statistics. The result is now mndo public. The figures show that, in June, a fleet of 293 freighters left American ports, carrying 1,177,444 tons of cargo. Of this number, 243 went out of Atlantic ports, thirty-three sailed from Gulf ports and seventeen from Pacific ports. Figures indicate that during tho. en-tiro en-tiro year of 1914 the total value of domestic exports carried in American bottoms was $166,053,061. In the same period foreign vessels carried out American Ameri-can shipments to the value of $1,861,-5S1, $1,861,-5S1, or 91. S per cent of the total value. By way of comparison, it is interesting to note that in June our newly built merchant marine carried domestic exports ex-ports valued at $26S,228,502, or in one month $102,173,421 moro than was carried car-ried in the entire year of 1914. Statistics compiled by the department of commerce show that as against the $2G8.22S,502 value of domestic exports carried in American bottoms during the month of Juno, foreign ships during the same period carried American exports ex-ports to .the value of $540,424,846, a wide difference from the 91.8 per cent they were carrying in 1914. Even up to 1917 only 14.6 per cent of our exports ex-ports moved in American bottoms, foreign for-eign vessels carrying the other 85.4 per cent. One hundred and one of tho 293 American ships that sailed in June were laden with 338,712 tons of miscellaneous freight. The next largest fleet was coal carrying, seventy-eight vessels being freighted with 296,321 tons of coal. Thirty-eight vessels carried grain and other products of the farm. Eleven ships carried 52,605 tons of cotton, seven handled 18,307 tons of lumber, seven others were laden with 40,934 tons of steel billets and railway cars. Four ships carried cargoes of oil, kerosene kero-sene and gasolino amounting to 20,967 tons, and. one was filled with 10,0S6 tons of Ked Cross supplies. One hundred and sixty of the June ships cleared for Europe and Africa. They carried 767,258 tons. Thirty-nine ships sailed for South American ports, laden with 165,364 tons. Seventy-five vessels carried 158,643 tons of freight to the West Indies, Caribbean region, Central America and the Pacific coast of Mexico. Kinetcen vessels plied the Pacific, carrying cargoes to Hawaii, Asia and Australia. Incidentally, it is to bo noted that for tho month of June imports into tho United States from tho West Indies In-dies and the Caribbean sea were more than twice as large as our exports, so that it was necessary to send many vessels to that region partially loaded or in ballast, in order to care for the imports, such as bananas, coffee, iron ore, manganese, nitrates and asphalt. Whether tho month of Juno was a icriod affording a fair basis upon which to calculate oceanic transport will not be known until the shipping board completes com-pletes a similar report for July. News dispatches, however, seem to indicate that the months succeeding Juno were marked with expanding business, and it is beginning to appear that, at last, America has a merchant marine composed com-posed of ships, instead of a merchant marine composed of mail subsidy legislation legis-lation and congressional oratory. |