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Show : OPPOSES SILE OF I MEEiTTE Ships Needed at Home, Senator Fletcher Says in Interview. 'Their Disposition Abroad Declared to Bolster Rivals for World Commerce. Fy Fmw-rsal S-rviee. 1 W. 1 I I N ' ;V i X. T..c Fm ted .-tat.';; snipping board's pnliey of sellin-; M.-eii.-.j "und.-sirabte' -Leel :,.,d wo--don -Ti:-e!s in agent.i of foreign i.l'.'.'I'eSts at pr;v ,i ! :i le V. striiligiv rnndi;nilled lo-d,i lo-d,i v by S.-nalor Inin-ari ! '! cher, foi'me-r chat i man the senate comment coin-j coin-j i at SeiiaP.r !'! teh.-r's ci'iticis-ns were .vnk.-d by Hie published a 1 1 11 ' M I II 1 ' t.1 1 1 1 e u t that t be shipping boar d bad given authority au-thority lor the sale in London of twenty v. ot. den st ;i msiii ps, with op" ion for the pui-ehasf of 110 more, and bv the, tale e;triiei- in the week of 10'1 steel ships of the labe t pe for $A0.Oni,fjfM to a private I'll' i n represent in;; French and Italian ' interests. "1 am opposed to the shipping board's J Helling any of the government built ships i.t all." said Senator Fletcher. "I wouldn't sell a row boat. "The shipping board in disposing of these ships abroad is simply aiding In the building up of foreign merchant ina-rl ina-rl nes. "The only possible justification for disposing dis-posing of any of Hie si dps is that they cannot be successfully employed here. But under no ct renins! anees .should they be disposed of at private sab;. There should is too tow. The shopping bi,aid should ab-ulafe on expansion. "The on i " reason that T have not urged that lne shipping board be called to explain ex-plain what i I nie.t ns by srd : i ng tne ships is that 1 lie shipping 1 oa rd is upern ting und.-r powers d-l..-;lied by the president, and the president is responsible fnr its actions. J have confidence in the president pres-ident and certainly the president must lie satisfied that the sales that. ha e been made are all right. We also have the assurance from Mr. Hurley that only the ships that are 'undesirable' wmiM be sold. "Put, personally. I am oppose,) to soiling soil-ing any of these snips at all. They were built bv thn government wwith the people's peo-ple's money, from bonds which the people peo-ple bought. 1 am in favor of continuing building and operation by the government. "1 don't think that ?;'0 per ton comes a n v where near the cost of I hese wooden ships just sold. Here are ships all ready; it is not a case of ordering ships to be I built for a certain price. These ships are ready to take a cargo; they can earn a t least one-fourth, if not more, of their cost, the first voyage, what can justify us in selling them? "In selling them to the foreign interests we are simply permitting them to pick I I off the ripe fruit. And there isn't any I question but what foreign interests are i ! already at work doing whatever can be! j done to reduce America's sea power. Demand for Ships Everywhere, j "Wo are in a -fine position for building j ships and for operating them. Why quit I now ? Tiie world is short 12,000.000 tons ' or snipping-. o can build t.tiuo.ono tons nex t year if we wa nt to. Fngla nd can' t turn out over 2.0u0.000 nor France more than 1,000, 000 and Japan's output' will he well under l.OOO.miO. "Hence there is not only a big demand 1 for ships everywhere, but the demand is j going to keep up. So why should we sell the ships which we have to private interests in-terests and let them reap the profits of the freight rates which now prevail? Why not operate the ships and make back some of the money that it cost the people to put government shipbuilding where it is today. Later on we may gradual! v retire, re-tire, when the merchant marine is well established, hut just now wc should operate tiie ships. ! "If we go on selling ships, prettv soon we will find ourselves without an adequate i merchant marine. We will never again ' I have such a favorable opportunity toput ! the American flag on every ocean and ! , every sea. We must not lost the grasp I we now have." i e open iuoowo; .loo . i i . c; . ... h w permitted to participate. Declares Ships. Are Needed. "Put the shipping board can't say thai i we don't need these ships. There's a call j for ships in every port of tiie world. There j is a call for ships on the gulf coast and along our ocean coasts. . "Shifts are wanted for South American ,! trade and those ships which the hoard is selling, although of smaller tonnage, are needed for coastwise and for South American Amer-ican commerce." j The shipping board's defense for the ' j sales of the ships of smaller tonnage is that they are not needed for its balanced fleet. Shipping hoard officials say that H.OUO.Ono tons of shipping' is already built or under const ruction, but that only 1 !i, ,".00.0()) tons will be required to make up the "hahi need fleet" to handle America's per cent of foreig n commerce, hence. It will have to sell .. .inn. oon tons. - In rcplv to this, Senator Fletcher said; "The shipping board is not looking ahead. It should not figure America's percentage of foreign commerce at f0 per cent. That |