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Show President of National Chamber of Commerce : Points Need of Enlarg- ing U. S, Marine. Says Conditions in Pa cific Should Be Remedied Rem-edied by Large Fleet of American-built Ships, In declaring that the war would still - be going on if American troops and sup- plies were not carried In foreign ships, and that but 400,000 United States troops could have been transported if America had had to depend on her own shipping, j Homer U. Ferguson, president of the , hamber ' commerce of the United -Vr ' " l out the necessity of a V I - y K it marine in an address I Jp.i : at the Commercial club. I "To illustrate the small number of vest-Is' built and owned in the United 'tates,'' Mr. Ferguson- said, "it is my ; "cossary to tell you that when the commander-in-chief of our A rnerican t army and navy for this is the rank . given President "Wilson In the constitution constitu-tion sailed for Europe to attend the ' peace conference, it was necessary for lilin to board a ship made in Germany and with Gorman signs over his very stateroom door. There were no A nierl-ca.ii nierl-ca.ii built, vessel a available which could i be utilised for the trip of sufficient size and condition to be entrusted to ; such an important Journey. TIow much ( better it would have been if tho presi--? dffit could have traveled in a vehicle provided by the United States." ; REFERS TO PACIFIC AS JAPANESE LAKE. Mr. Ferguson was roundly applauded following his reference to the Pacific ; ocean .us a "Japanese! lake," adding that conditions in the Pacific, should be reme-, reme-, :liod by a preponderance of American 'r. built ships flying the Stars and Stripes sailing tho western ocean. lCven some Jt of our American built ships are now fly-i fly-i ing Ihe Japanese flag, ho declared. Before, going into detail on foreign trade and merchant marine, Mr. Fergu-'', Fergu-'', Hon spoke on the race riots now going V on In Chicago. They were absolutely unnecessary, he said, and recalled words : uttered hy his father that "there Is much good health wasted in hating." "Within our shipyards in tho cast," . ho said, "we have 71)00 white, men and fttlno negroes working together. They all live In the same town and own their homes. There has not been a fight be- ,,!veeu thinn either In the shipyards or '. .r Mic town for ten years." Rgnrdlng foreign trade and merchant ; , marine, Mr. Ferguson said: , "Refore tho great war our Interest In foreign trade was limited. During the war, however, that trade not only cx-'' cx-'' mndod to unheard of proportions in goods '. and commodities, hut. In addition, we ex- ported S.OOn.fiiio soldiers. .During the past ; twelve months our exports reached the . studondous total of oicr ?7, 000, 000, 000. . while our Imports were only ?:), 000. 000, 000. "NolhwUhstandlng the fact that we ' raised an army of 4.000,000 men. production produc-tion all over the I'nlted Slates increased (luring Hie v;r, and it is apaprent that our stream of exports must be kept up to a ennsiclerahb; extent if the country Is to continue to prosper. "I'rob.-iMy out first duty at the present : time Is through extension of credits, pur-' pur-' chase nf foreign securities or other means v Of demonstrating out confidence In the . basic conditions of business the world over , to restore normal times as soon as possl-hie possl-hie In Kurope. We have become a creditor nntlon, and must continue to expand and ' extend those credits wbleh were of necessity neces-sity extended hy the government during the war. Everybody Interested in Trade. "Our present prosperity, which is likelv . to continue as long as the foreign de- niaiuls can bo satisfied, is due to these .) demands for the necessities of lite. There-'.' There-'.' fnro' every farmer and business man Is . today vitally Interested In foreign trade. "flow was our enormous foreign tra'de ;-, expanded and carried on '(hiring the war? ,i Prior to the war we hardly carried 10 . i per cenl of our exports In our own ves-: ves-: ' sels. When the war came on we found ;, ourselves without ships to carrv either - our troops or goods abroad In sufficient , quantities, and our trade with neutral y 1 countries suffered most severely. "We started on an enormous shlphuild-ilng shlphuild-ilng program which was not. however, v, more than one-fourth completed at the ''j (Continued on Pago 3, Column 1.) vSe"k1sI subject of talk National Chamber Head Shows Need of Enlarging Merchant Marine. Urges Predominance of American-built Ships as Remedy in Pacific. (Continued Fro.n page Ono.) .,f liu- w;u The shifts of other eoun- 1 1 i t i.-tilnrly Ki.l'I.huI, carried the 1 M. .11. or" our hoop.- to KiiK-md, white t!ie :i-ii-,h fl.-.-t stood :i:ird ov.-r t he h r- r.i.iii hii-.h vmh fl'-.-t aii.i i.iado Ihi.s car-ll.-ir- pu-.--ll.lr. "'nil- own Niivy, ImO, i 1 14-1 splendid work, T.wi iruhu ly in Mippr..--iiiK 'he submarine und op. ruling ;t i-fnivv :.'.'l'm which w:ih W. 11 liU'll ii.Tl-Tt. oi' Hie :,(ioo,0o0 HOl- II' r.-i si-ill to Kurope riiilv about -PfOiuii v;-i- r.uiird It our Fhips, a similar num-n.-r jn I f 1 1 : ITMT' I ' ivflliii ti h h H which w: I'.id rcp;,h,'i ,,im! ne.uly ;ill of lh: remilin-! remilin-! r in Hrlii.ili .-diip?. Tmnsporfation Deplorable. '"('he way in which our Mildiers have '-inn hornf trom Kurope i- mvll known in oii ;im It to inc. Many of the for-li.Mi for-li.Mi ships u.-n- t;ikeii oil' to tin risport Hi. ir own soldi. th and answer their own .-, ;p i.-m. while our Imvs huvu nmu 1 on;,, in rv.-r- rone.-lvaWe way. Thin lii.y w.-r.- willing to do in order to pet ,.'!, hut experience lia.s prohnhly piven ' lie nt ;:ome v-ry dei'lni !.e ideas regard ink' i lie deNint bihty 'of having iassen.K;r ships !; i:tead of cattle bonis to travel In. "The l ied of merchant vessels, mTtfre-I mTtfre-I i iu- a hoi it. i 'i.diio, anil (ohm, which wi ivl'i'-d al i lie heinninic of the war, will , JC. fuinpli-ff-il within the next year, and , J:inMifli this fleet is an ill-balanced one. j on.--tst inff in lariie part of freight vessels , w Npecific types, still it will be useful, ai,d, u in lev present conditio mm nf hlh i-riccM and hich o'ean rates, can be oper- .(led pi-oi'lta.hly. "It h:ivo cost us considerably over ,i -I, in h), mi H Winn, a cons Idem bin ti mount of vihleh should be charged aahist the war as a war co.st. The entire merchant ma-rim- o; Ihe world before tlie war cost .ni hi, in 'n.noit, anrl Great Uri tnln's cost a I -out S 1,000,000,000. The United States will own about one-third of the available tonnaro of the war when the ships arc completed. The price we paid for not having a marine of some importance and shipbuilding facilities of considerable rapacity has been enormous, and the price 1 will have to he paid by the taxpayers of l this and the next feneration. Marine Vitally Needed. "It has been conclusively demonstrated to our people that a. merchant marine is not only vitally necessary when this coun-t coun-t ry may be enijn gvd in war, but is also vital when other countries who mny be dolutf our carry I nc: for us shall be engaged in war. In other words, our freedom of act Ion a nd, therefore, Independence, are J.-opardlzfd wh.-n we lack the Instruments n.-e.--.-.rv to independent act. on. "rrore the w.i r a nd dur! 'A the pist 1'"' vi-.-irs our people hn.ve be. n busy de-veiopi de-veiopi nif a Kf-at country ar.d have found u ou'l.-r fT tre-ir em-rle at home, (ii her coi:atries. he:np primarily dependent depend-ent upon foreign trado. have had to have thai trade ar.d the merchant marines that ip with It to maintain r..i io'i.'.l exUtenee and to i,'row, We did have an e.tce.'ent marine oer 1'"") yearj uxo when w; di--crirr.lna Led in fa vor of our own vessels ei,-;i;;e.J In our own trade. " V'..- loHt t ..a t m;irin -when we cave away trii't rik'ht. and with it we have lost, to a. !ar" ext.-pf , the habit of the s-a ;iri(f i he hi'i wiedtre a'-ii xnerler.ee so -ihe::tj.ii In op-ra"r. shlppicK-. It will 1 e many years under any circumstances before we have acquired that knowU-dfie ay. i in. 'J'he dovernmrnt owns the bulk, of o ir bit; fleet today. The disposition of that ileet, which business men ffn-era ffn-era lly believe i.huuid be opera ted under private Initiative and ownership, is one of the bit; questions winch demands a soluiinn certairdv by the time that ocean freight rates drop to normal or near normal nor-mal levWs. Free Trade Failure. "Our idea of operating a fiengoinf,' flet on a purely free trade basis, built and ow iied In a protected country and which proved a failure as an idea for a hundred yea rs. is likely, when normal condl tlons rei urn. to prove a failure attain. I Iltrher ua'-,e;i and higher opwatinrr; costs in this count rv make it d: ff leu It to st-art the slifr.pln'tr business without any assistance, a 11 houh when that business is once established, it may Ret alon.R. "We have been told for many years that the American shipbuilder yhuuld build ships as cheaply nfl they are built abroad, which he could not and did not do. During Dur-ing the war, as you are frequently told b , the papers, new methods of manu-facturln"; manu-facturln"; .ships would build cheap and pv.vl!,.ii t vessels. Some of the greatest captains of Industry In the country attempted at-tempted this feat and the result has been that trie sh ips they have built are not as Rood ns those built by the old-fahioned shipbuilders and the costs are from 20 to 40 per cent preater. "In ship operation we have surrounded our people with laws to enforce American standards of Ilvlnfi and wages so that their operating costn are necessarily hlqiier thun foreign costs. Ship operating operat-ing and ship huilding are two of the main factors In the merchant marine, but not the only ones. American Ship Influential. "The establishment of agencies abroad, banking, finance, insurance of botli ships and cargoes, establishment of new trade routes are all of almost equal importance. Our fleets are being operated now for the relief of "Europe and to carry on most urgent ur-gent work in our own trade with neutrals. These ships should he used during their lives and such replacements marie possible pos-sible as to keep the trade created going go-ing instead of giving It away as we have, heretofore. "To carry on a great foreign trade, particularly in manufactured articles, and to stabilize and make permanent this trade is probably impossible except with your own vessels. The owner of a department de-partment store might as well trust the delivery of his goods and the advertising of his wares of his own customers to another an-other store's wagons. "There is no salesman in the foreign market as eloquent and influential as an American ship, manned bv Americana interested themselves in seeing the customers cus-tomers satisfied nnd difficulties explained instead of magnified. Trade and commerce com-merce are the great civilizing agents of the world and we are. wli ether we will i or no, one of the greatest agents of clviii- , zation. "Of course, we do not want to dominate domi-nate the trade of the world or to take anything which may rightf-d'.y or morally belong to another count! y, but wL- do feel t::at it is necessary to our prosperity and peace and independence that we have control of the instru tr.en ts of our own commerce with our own customers in such measure ae to render us fiiliiy in-depncierit in-depncierit of ot.cr countries. Freedom of he Seas. "What should be done by the government govern-ment and by the people to render It possible pos-sible for us to have and operate a marine ma-rine and thus to control our own foreign trade, 1 do not intend to discuss, but 1 do believe that after the staRtering Tali ure of our former policy, the people will be wi:l.i to do what is fair If ihey know the facts and t:iat they will appreciate t hat our lawH and conditions of operation must be ho stabilized as to invite Americans and Ameiiean capita! to engage In this business permanently, because be-cause in no other way can wo have a. marine. "To my mind if the freedom of the seas means anything. It means the inherent in-herent right of every country to control in decent measure t he sources of its own communication and thereby retain a decent measure of independence in trade and commerce. If this rcat enterprise enter-prise of rounding together the nations of the world to preserve the peace of the world Is to succeed, it is certainly necessary neces-sary that so important a member of that association as the United Stated shall not be unduly dependent upon its partners, because otherwise the partnership cannot can-not be a lasting one and cannot be one that our people will indefinitely live under, and it is to the advantage cd tlie other major partner in this association, associa-tion, Great liritafn, tiiat the entire burden bur-den of policing the seas and carrying the commerce of the world shall not be placed on our shoulders." Schramm Toastmaster. F. C. Schramm, vice-president of the Commercial club, acted as toastmaster and Introduced the speakers, in the absence ab-sence of President Lester D. Freed, who is now out of the city. More than 200 business men and citizens representing ! the Commercial club, the Utah Manufac- i timers' association and the Utah Asso- j dated Industries attended the luncheon 1 in honor of the guests and attentively listened to the discussions of the vital problems of the future of American busi- i ness. The luncheon was arranged jointly, by the Commercial club, the Utah Manu- ! facturers' association and the Utah Asso- , elated Industries. j During the morning the guests were : shown the points of beauty and historical , interest in Salt Lake in automobiles , furnished by the .club members. At 11 o'clock they enjoyed a special organ recital re-cital in the tabernacle and then were motored to the Commercial club. The afternoon was given over to preparations for the departure, which took place at 4:45 o'clock over the Salt. Lake Route for Los Angeles. The visitors warmly expressed their! thanks for the cordial manner in which thev had been received and entertained during their stay-in Salt Lake and paid high tribute to the beauties of the western west-ern country. From Los Angeles they will travel to San Francisco and Portland, Port-land, thence to Seattle, where a quarterly conference of the entire board of directors di-rectors v.dll be held. On the return journey jour-ney to the east the party will tour the northern cities near the Canadian bor- ; der and will turn southward into Minneapolis, Minne-apolis, and thence to the eastern states. Tells of War Work. Warmth and feeling for the great west, and particularly the intermountain country, coun-try, radiated from the prefacing remarks of F. K. Shepherd, Washington, D. C, field manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Com-merce, who spoke on the subject, "The Inside of the Chamber." "It is with the spirit and impulse of the west that I c.i me home to my home folks," he said. 1 Mr. Shepherd l'ormeriy livl in Idaho. ; Intrrvsiins" inifht into the work oi" the Chamber of Commerce in "Washington 1 dun ii.? the war was illustrated by Mr. . Shepherd, who told of the merging of j thi war industries t hrourh activities of ; the chamber, and its effect in training- j quick action in turninjir out war supplies, i H- explained how efficiently the ex-perrs ex-perrs labored by recall intr the interest of the steel board in curtailing the un- J necessary use of steel in many articles. It was found by tlie steel board, he said, that women of the United States were I earrvhiR about in their clothes more than j 30,00 t.ins of steel in the (shape of corset cor-set braces. This was remedied, ho said, by the substitution of non-metal braces and the paving1 of 3 V)U0 tons of steel resulted. 1 This, he said, was but one of the many details that the sharp eyes of t he steel board saw and corrected in order that every possible pound of steel might be used to the greatest advantage. Objects of Chamber. In talking- about the activities of the chamber, Mr. Shepherd said: "Kor a long time American business suffered because it had no national mouthpiece to make known its legitimate wants to the proper officials and representatives rep-resentatives of the government. The j government recognized this, and President Presi-dent Taft called the business men of the , country together in conference in "Wash- 1 ingtnn. at which the then secretary of I commerce and labor. Charles Xage! of St. j Louis, presided. Mr. N'agel said, in sub- I stance: 'We are here to serve your best I Interests, but for the most part you come to us in self-seeking cliques and factions. We don't know what to do.' j I "The result of this conference was the ' j creation In Washington of the Chamber ! of Commerce of the United States, which j today represents more than 1200 com- , j mercial organizations scattered through- i i out the forty-eirtht states, territories and ; j many foreign countries. Three Distinct Services. "The national chamber from its inception incep-tion was designed to perform three distinct dis-tinct sei-vices to American business. The first was that the business men should I be given an instrumentality through ! which they could, after study and full deliberation, express their opinions on : national problems and legislation affect- i Ing them. The second was that it might 1 effectively co-operate with the departments depart-ments and bureaus of the national government gov-ernment in the promotion of not only domestic do-mestic prosperity, but international relations, rela-tions, as far as business was concerned. The third was to aid in the upbuilding of commercial organizations as represented repre-sented by two distinct types the trade association, which has for its purpose tlie welfare of a particular industry, and the local organizations, such as the present-day present-day chambers of commerce and boards of trade, which have for their -main object ob-ject community development. "These tasks are being performed In Washington today in accordance with the principles announced. Through its efforts ef-forts the chamber has succeeded in calling call-ing to the attention of congress the need for national legislation affecting some of the country's most important and vital interests. Urges Rail Legislation. "Today it is engaged in an effort to secure remedial legislation for the railroads. rail-roads. A plan has been , indorsed by the chamber's 1200 affiliated commercial organizations, or-ganizations, which represents three-quarters three-quarters of a million business men. Jt calls for the return to their owners or the railroads, nationalized, under corporate cor-porate management and federal control, i as soon as proper legislation can be en-! en-! acted that will enable them to assume their rightful place as efficient arteries of American commerce, "Among the other things the chamber ! stands for are: i "1. Individual initiative in every prop- j er direction, which means government ' abstention from entering the field of i transportation, communication, industry and commerce, or any phase of business which can be successfully undertaken by private enterprise. "2. The encouragement of foreign trade and its necessary 'props,' such as American banking, insurance, adequate communication facilities, protection of our citizens and legitimate American in- ! vestments abroad. j "3. Revision of federal trade ' laws. ! that American business men may know i what they can and cannot do. "4. A comprehensive national policy as regards good roads and waterways, that congress and the people may "be served efficiently. "These are some of the things that necessarily affect you and every other American business man. "While the chamber's headquarters are in the city of Washington, only two blocks from the treasury, one from the White house, and directly across the street from the state, war and navy departments, the chamber Jtself is not in Washington, but is In its membership, member-ship, which includes practically all of the leading commercial organizations of this country, not the least of which, bv any means, are the Commercial club and the chamber of commerce of Salt Lake and the Utah Manufacturers' association. associa-tion. Hence, you, the business men of Utah, are as much a part of and should be as much interested in the activities of the national chamber, its hopes and aspirations as are the business men of New York, Chicago or San Francisco." The $2,500,000 "workshop" of the chamber cham-ber of commerce, to be erected in Washington, Wash-ington, D. C-, for "all-American business." busi-ness." was described by Charles C. George, a director of the national chamber cham-ber from Omaha, Neb. "The prime purpose pur-pose of this monumental structure," Mr. George said, "was to bring about a cordial cor-dial and sympathetic cooperation between be-tween the nation's business interests and the national government; and, incidentally, inciden-tally, to commemorate the part taken by American business in the great war." Workshop Necessary. Mr. George declared that a permanent and suitable bulldinu in Washington had long been necessary and was of vital importance to the development of cooperative cooper-ative relationships between government and business and between government and nil other national economic forces. "American business must have a workshop work-shop or place of business in Washington," Washing-ton," said the speaker. "Before the chamber was formed we had a sort of carpetbag representation, and now this greatest of all factors in our national life must be housed permanently in a building that will be the physical embodiment embodi-ment of a great national interest." The "build-your-own-home campaign" of the Salt Lake Commercial club and chamber of commerce, Mr. George said, had brought forcibly before the people the realization that greater success in life and business could be attained through property title than through the lease or rental systems. One commanded resi)f-ct and indicated the Influential, while the other suggested inability and lack of pride. This idea was a.l true In Its application to national business as to the community. Mr. Geome pointed out that practically everv organization and federation in the country had a home in Washington except ex-cept the American business man. lie added that never in the history of the counlry had there been such a demand for the representation of national interest as existed at the present time, and that never had the chamber's activities been greater. Plans Worked Out. "The plans for the proposed building have been carefully worked out," Mr. George said, "and will be submitted tor official confirmation to the board of directors at the forthcoming meeting in Seattle. These provide ,that the building build-ing shall become the property . of the I'nited States government if, In the opinion of three-fourths of the entire boa rd, the chamber should fail to function func-tion creditably for American business. "There is little, if any possibility that this failure shall ever come, and I call attention to this condition merely to emphasize, em-phasize, or illust nt te, t ho unselfishness which characterizes the chain Iter and those business men whose con tribut ions will make tlie building possible. They are willing to give their money In large sums, and none has expressed fear uf losing it through failure of the chamber to function creditably for all American business." 1 In conclusion, Mr. George Invited all local organizations to cooperate- with the national chamber in promoting the building build-ing project, and urged them to make the structure t heir headquarters whenever when-ever (hey went to Washington. "Iie-membcr," "Iie-membcr," he said, "this Is your chamber. cham-ber. This Is your building. Our employees em-ployees are yours, and wo are your representative:!, rep-resentative:!, standing ready and willing nl any linn- to .serve your interests in the national capital or the nation at large." |