Show 1 I LAK to o I on ZA JA h 1 Merchant fleets Will Be Nearly on Par Within five Years Peace Con Con- gr gross gress' ss' ss Experts s Relieve Believe By LLOYD ALLEN Special Staff Correspondent Copyright 1919 Western Newspaper Union AKIS America Is starting out to become become be be- come cODle a a- abig 11 big maritime power With Willi shipyards Just coming Into per cent ent production Americans can cnn expect t within five years or orso so to see their flag flying over a fleet of merchant carriers nearly as large as the British fleet of ot merchant boats l. l This prediction is m made de from figures and material mater supplied by the American Amen Ameri can cun experts here in n Paris and by estimates made by the British chamber of shipping In London London Lon Lon- don oni of which Lord is the head In 1921 the British wl will l be In the lead America will then have tons of boats bonts while the British will have or AmerIca Amer Amer- lea Ica expects to maintain her shipbuilding plants until she eventually has tons of boats- boats good substantial bo boats ts f That will require five years perhaps Much will be heard about friction between our government and the British over this question of shipping but it may b be taken for fo granted that America Is maintaining a pretty fair kind of Df an understanding l her er British friendson friends friendson on the the- proposition From the British shipping Interests there interests there probably probably ably will come a long series of protests over the fact that America Is branching out as as a powerful factor in the shipping business howls even ven though hey be e long and and loud and anil very sincere sincere sin sin- cere will not mean that America and Great Brit ll aln n are at daggers daggers' rs po over r the tOOl matter of ships America will vIII without doubt have her arguments with the British ov over r many Issues that will come up incidentally Incidentally Incidentally Inci Inci- dentally as the shipbuilding the program grows grows and and through It aU one may expect to seethe see seethe seethe the eminently t fair and Just elements in n the the British gov government government gov- gov agreeing In word and spirit to the fundamental policy of the American government gov eminent on shipping a a ap p policy c that that Is not new This policy was first e. e expounded p pu u dJ by Y Benjamin namely that America should have enough ships to t carry 50 51 percent per perr c cent nt of her exports and anti Im im- ports Franklin held that every nation needing foreign foreign- made goods or raw materials and having raw materials and manufactured goods to self sell overseas overseas should own a fleet M A 1 a a s. s a yew u PY Sze r J K ADr ADY capable of of carrying half of its national Imports I. I and exports H He used to draw a picture of a the theoretically p perfect balance In this h important porta economic economic- ques tion For the sake of Illustrating his his po nt would Franklin state that a u 1 fair balance In the ship business could always be maintained If ware ware- warehouses houses put houses put half way across an ocean served as points of interchange for the overseas trade trad between between between be tween tween two nations One nation would take in in Its awn own ships all nil of ot Its goods good for exp export rt and leave them at the warehouse warehouse- warehouse this this s' Imaginary ry point Inthe in inthe inthe the middle of the tho sea There the ship shin would load up with goods from the second nati nation n a and d haul them back home Ships of the other nation would follow the same program Naturally enough warehouses are a physical Impossibility And no no two nations could ouId ever have anything like equal tonnage to ex ex- change For all practical purposes except in the matter of f framing policies the tho Franklin scheme Is blackboard stuff very useful u in explaining explaining- the theo theory of foreign t trade nde to but of ot no vital Importance to the shipbuilding engineer or foreign trader All Cannot Be Shipping Nations Then the whole world caI cannot not be guided by the Franklin idea Many nations arl arg unable to get i hito the shipping game seriously slY They lack materials ma ma- f for r shipbuilding d ng perhaps or they lack water Seep ports open th the year around Russia under the czars czars made madea n a year long fight for fora a ar a it water Jeep r port open 12 2 months month out of every year I Switzerland S ba has no no ports Italy lacks acks steel and ando coal eoal o l for operating p a ln sh shipyards yards And so the story sobs goes Most nations for one reason or another seep keep out of the big shipping game on account of f Natural tural o obstacles I 1 In situation what might be termed the economic and political misfortunes of the smaller Nations work to the advantage advantage advantage-oe ot o the bigger marItime marl marI time nations nation ship business ss Today America Americo l and Great Britain have entirely entirely en n different policies on tho the problem of world shipping We are going into the game according to too our shipping experts here In Paris for the peace conference because It is of vital Importance for the future of America to own own and and operate i a fleet big enough eno to carry W carry per cent of our u exports and Imports orts Such a program Is almost mandatory manda- manda 1 tory for tor the future prosperity of the Ve We need a merchant marine to complete our al already already already al- al ready enormous us Indu industrial system our chain of big factories We We need ships to our grain grain to to foreign i lands lands' to our raw materials mat rials We Ve mus must not face the future futuro pl placing C ourse ves at th the any th r ships ships' and ind shipping Interests our shipping officials say In this war war just Just ended with the defeat of Ger Ger- Germany many the many the whole w world wId Id had a concrete te example of ot w what at ships me mean n to a nation Japan by gaining gain ing lag for a time the shipping supremacy In the Pacific Pa Pa- cHic has been able ble to almost to-almost paralyze Chinese for for- rade d America arid boost ost Japanese trade trado Sti States tes fir by the simple expedient of or operating owned Japanese own se-own d ships for the benefit of J Japan I t g sli had 1 e every ery right t to do There were not enough nough ships to go around around and and the Japanese adopted adopt d the policy that Chinese trade should sh uld suffer rather than Japanese condition rapidly idly right Ight Itself but In n Inthe the meantime me th t had to b suffer j There are dozens of other examples that shipping shipping ship ship- ping men point to by way of illustrating the necessity necessity sity Ity for America to go into the shipping business Y v i k ka t a ry r w s cs r rf 4 f F i e g r t Hf it t 1 I Off w R 7 1 Tr 22 WA Ill III to a point where the the American American fleet is balan balancing ing the he American factory and agricultural resources Plan Fleet of Tons Ton Briefly the American policy lis to create a fleet of something like tons by 1921 and 20 20 eventually This will help replace the thes s ships lost In war and nee needed ed by the world at large and an l will put the American merchant marine on its its' feet Eventually w we will try to operate a fleet fleet of Just a bit more than our rightful 50 per cent since w we expect to have a constantly growing South AmerIcan American American Amer Amer- ican trade that should be handled In American boats as much as possible While America Is looking at the ship business on a sort of 50 plan the British view the whole situation from an entirely different point of view They could not operate on a policy that would fit American ideals deals and pl t the fut future re The British industrially and geographically differ too much from America to permit to-permit p permit them to follow program a similar to to ours Here Jere are he main points where the policies of the two countries differ on the authority of the tile J informed best cl American ship men here in Paris America will op operate rate her s ships on a p. p nonprofit basis The fleet will be considered during the next few years rears as a an adjunct to Americas America's re reo sources servant fervant of our factories c in the meantime will continue their policy of oper operating In slips JS for tor tora a a profit sh Shipping with with them is a business In Itself a business that thatis thatIs is supposed to to pay and does pay satisfactory dividends i While the Americans consider s ships as a means toward an nn end that end that is 1 the building up pp of a for trad tish will bill Ill operate their ships for forthe forthe forthe the profit that Is made by ships They are In th the game to make money mon y out of carrying tonnage across the seven seas they seas they have bave acquired the heritage of Tyre and they Intend holding their heritage We will both be great s sea powers Britain will endeavor to have all aU the ton tonnage g she can can Ameri Amer- Amer i ica lea will strive to keep up a first class lr t class las fleet fleet that hat can can transport overseas 50 per percent of our our imports and exports which is our just share of sea deep traffic tr traffic nc Anil we will also take en cu as the months pass pass pass- and andas as the as-the the world gradually returns to the tIie peace peace a goodly prop proportion of the South SouthAm Am American tra trade e providing plans pians of the American officials dd da doriot riot not go awry t r I r How will America and Britain achieve the tho alms aims of their t men n What What is the tile Job ahead for or American ship yards WI What lf will the entry of ot of America mean m mean a in the world business of ot shipping shipping- f These hese questions questions' represent some of the outstanding outstanding out out- standing points of the whole situation British shipbuilders f and anil owners who are now protesting against continuation of governmental control will build bull something like tons of ships in the tho next two years possibly more In order order order or or- der to bring the British mercantile marine up to tons according to the British chamber of shipping in London It is expected that the American shipyards will willbe willbe be capable of of ot turning out tons In the then n next tv two years rears If It both programs programs- are ara realized the have returned to better than a prewar footing tooting Jn In the matter of ships When the peace penco conference started there was a world shortage of something like Uke tons Some experts estimated estimated esti estl mated the deficit at One of the things we wo can cun expect from the American Amer ican lean shipyards Is a better lot of ships than tho the J Y tf w o ones turned out during the rush of war work It is no secret now that a n number number num num- m. m ber of our rush-Job rush ships snips leaked they were not supposed supposed supposed sup- sup posed to be perfect boats they they were rush Jobs What will be appreciated ed by the sailor Is the good quarters and high pay American ships will willI I afford Our entry into the world shipping game has hus already Improved the sailors sailors' sailors sailors' sailors sailors' sail sail- ors' ors lot all over the world The Scandinavian nations are discarding the time old cramped forecastle from their new boats and are v putting In quarters featuring g comforts that were I unknown in the old sailing days Hereafter the business of being a sailor will not not be th the disagreeable Job It was before and during the war The pay Is going to be better first better first In Inthe inthe I the American boats and later In hi the foreign trade 1 It will be the same proposition as a business house America introducing industrial reforms and giving giving ing higher p pay y and enlarged opportunity thereby virtually obliging rival concerns Great Britain and the other shipping powers to I the the- same wage schedules and reforms in order to ke keep p their employees satisfied That the stoker class of sailors the men who tended tile the coal burning boilers in a superheated J will entirely now now seems seems' t to to be a foregone conclusion In their places will wUl willbe willbe be men tending oil fuel furnaces by watching a set of valves and gauges and doing none of the ter ter- terrible terrible terrible physical l exertion that was necessary f for r the old fashioned coal-burning coal ships Fuel oil oU has come to stay stay- as ha have e oil engines for merchant ships Use of f either of these th se modern power generators generators gen gen- eliminates the time old-time stoker aboard ship the the wor Worst t class lass of labor needed In place of the old fashioned l sailor will come Indue in indue indue I ItIle due time probably time probably much sooner than we expect expect r the tIle trained ship worker whose position In the World will be Infinitely higher than his predecessor sor Lots Lots ot of criticism Is heard regarding the ships American American yards turned out during the rush of war work Many of ot them leaked the rivets were not put tn fn in carefully there carefully there was not enough time Europe had to b be fed armies fed fed- armies in the field needed munitions time time was wa at t a premium i r Amerl American an shipping men do not consider our war- war built ships as fair examples of what our yards can turn out and are predicting with much assurance assurance as as- that built American boats will be as stanch as as Americas America's steel buildings i America Now Leads World Today America leads the world in ship build bull build ing lug The neutral l nations ran out of or steel and are are not competitors The French and Italians are building i only a relatively small number of boats The British counting pearly nearly lLe boats being built and other British dominions have have about boats under way a total of a little lIttie more than tons America has almost twice as many being built totaling about three and a half million tons and anel we are Just setting getting started Government ownership of shipping is a policy private m ship shin owners are nr lIT Irr Am and u. g England as well Lord president of the British chamber of shipping and chairman of the great British ship c concern mcern the Peninsular and Oriental Orientals company has emphatically stated he will sell large interests in British shipping activities ac ac- if government ownership and control are to tobe tobe tobe be continued indefinitely It Is understood understoOd on American AI authority here in Paris that gover government control of American shipping shipping shipping ship ship- ping Is to last only a relatively short time until time until the defunct law of s supply and nd demand has again gone Into operation when the world trade routes have been reconstructed from the havoc havoc- wrought rought by war It Is expected teJ however that the American tho-American American American government will always stand committed to a policy poll poli c cy elf ship of-ship of ship control on certain definite phases of pf the business For Instance the government should not be expected t to permit rival ship lines flying the American flag to embark on throat cut-throat competitive competitive lUve programs for tor b business It would be against the governments government's policy after policy after the days day of rigid have control passed to passed to permit rival ship lines to operate more ships on a given trade line than the tonnage of that route demanded More American ships mean more naval vessels Our navy must be maintained so as to compare favorably In size with the merchant merchant fleet fleet Not that we are ure making ready for an era of excessive arma arma- ments This much I is settled however America Is beginning beginning be be- beginning ginning her career as a |