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Show MERCHANT SHIPS UP I0J0NGRESS CHAIRMAN., LASKER DECLARES COMMERCE ON SEAS DEPENDS DE-PENDS UPON SUBSIDY Head of Board Urges Member to Place Question Squarely Before American People For Their Decision Washington. Chairman Lasker of tho shipping bonrd Sunday put the future of the American morchnnt mnrlno squarely up to congress. In an opon lettor to all members of the houso and senate ho declared that ono of two things must happon thoro must cither bo n" ship subsidy bill or tho Amorlcan commercial flag will retire from tlio high seas. Valuable Valu-able word trado will bo controlled by othor nations. The United States will liavo to suffer tho loss of the tro-mondous tro-mondous Invostmont in constructing tho great fleet. "Tho final determination no'ed not bo dependont on wliothor on feels that tho Unltod States needs a merchant mer-chant marine; tho fact Is that tho shipping board is today in possession of tho greatest fleet the world has ever known," Lasker -wrote. "Tho shipping board admits that it cannot oporato Its fleet remotely ns economically as prlv&to owners oper-nto oper-nto tholr vessels; tho history of prior boards shows thut they were unablo to put the oporntlon of tho govern-mon govern-mon floot on a proper business basis. Tlio shipping board bollovos that tho fleet under its chargo can nover be profitably or successfully operated un. dor government control. ."What shall wo do with this war inheritance? in-heritance? Shall It bo sold to prlvnto ownership for oporntlon undor tho Amcrlcun flag? Shall It bo sold abroad, possibly somo day to rlso nnd plnguo us, or shall It bo Junked and chargod off to war cost as powder and sholl were chnrgod off?" The chairman dismisses as impractical imprac-tical the Biiggostlon that tho ships bo Junked,' as It would bo an admission that Americans nre lncnpablo of opera-atlng opera-atlng them and It would prove a sor-Ions sor-Ions blow to the Unltod Stutos prestige. pres-tige. To soil thorn nbrond, he points out would bo to put In the hands of our competitors an offoctlvo woopon to destroy qur world trade. By substituting tho administration's ship subsidy bill for tho prcsont form of oporntlon the ships could be turned to profitable private ownorshlp and tho taxpayers relieved of a heavy bur-don. bur-don. Th ships a lo costing tho gov crumb- $.'.0,000,000 annually, exclusive exclu-sive of depreciation, Insuranco and interest. And of 11,000.000 tons now ownod by tho government Mr. Lasker declared It had boon possible to sell only 150,000 tons In the face of current cur-rent conditions, Slnco taking over the board every effort has boon mado to dovolop profitable prof-itable shipping lines by congress, ho stated, This provod unworknblo bo-cause bo-cause at the same tlmo private operation oper-ation provod unprofitable and there nre no purchasers. "Tho shipping board bollovos that the great purposo before us cun he accomplished through tho agency of direct nnd Indirect nids, as nroposcd In tho measure now before congress," tho lotter continues. "Tlio fleet whb acquired through war necessity. Many of tho ships are of the wrong typo for peaco tlmo trado. There can be no thought of naval equality with Great Britain unlet-s we have as many ships of proper typo sultablo for naval auxiliaries. Great Britain already has 2.7) ships of this class to this country's fifty. |
