| Show af topics interpreted I 1 alj i lam rw 1 1 6 f washington one of the pieces of legislation enacted by the late seventy fourth snip ship congress ton gress was the subsidy ship subsidy bin bill residents of farming arming communities and smaller cities and towns in the interior probably paid no attention to it whatsoever nor was azre any outstanding reason apparent why they should give thought to a rather complex and yet far reaching piece of legislation but it is important even though the circumstances under which it will be effective may not so appear to the agricultural sections section of the country the new law provides an undisguised subsidy as the basis of encouragement coura gement for development of a new american merchant marine it is the first time that such a policy has been carried out by the american nation and it is therefore yet a matter to be tried out before anyone can say definitely that the results will be satisfactory those who sponsored the legislation have long contended it was both sound and sensible and their argument prevailed in congress advocates of the measure say that it win will provide at least a start for the construction of new and faster and more efficient american owned ships chips they coni fiend further that the policy upon which the nation has now embarked as regards shipping will cost less in the end than other disguised and concealed subsidies f that have been employed it may be necessary to recall that the united states long has paid what amounts to a subsidy to ocean going ships in the form of excessive rates for the transportation of ocean mail there are 43 such mail routes ind and the ships operating on these routes consequently ly benefited to the extent of the number of pounds of mail they carried because the payments they received were on a pound basis this contribution from the federal government enabled many of those shipping companies to survive but it is only natural that one abut should ask why a subsidy is advisable Iv or necessary at all the answer is plain american owned ships ships flying the american fl flag ag are required by law to meet nume numerous rolis conditions that are not required by any other nation of the ships registered with their admiral B ties with these conditions among many others it becomes easily understandable what some difficulties c 0 n front american flag ships in in com petition with world shipping above and beyond the factors just mentioned it is a matter of record as well that ship construction in the united states costs more perhaps than any place else in the world here again american stand ards are influential they bring about higher wages and shorter hours for american labor in american shipyards thus a new ship starting out begins its service with a handicap of greater cost upon which a return must be had if those who iwho invest their money in ships are to receive a profit thereon then there is a further distinct and important reason I 1 refer to national defense it has long been the conviction of military and naval men that american freight and passenger ships should be so designed developed and constructed that ahey might be converted to satisfactory use as auxiliary craft in in dime e of war in this connection it will M be recalled that tremendous bums unis were expended by our gov Kern ment ent in building ships for use the world war there was such st waste of money at that time lat at it seems incredible anyone ever make the same mise mis ike again but to avoid that mis ike e advance preparations are and that is a point strongly stressed by those who favored the ship hip subsidy legislation now to link the importance of the alp p subsidy bill with agriculture american prod link rl link with acts must have 1 the farm access to foreign markets and this access cess must be under fair and rea 00 fl anable competition conditions puch ch reasonable and fair competitive e conditions cannot be obtained if american built ships constructed pt t greater costs because of the high r standards of wages and living t f american labor and operated I 1 n a basis of greater cost for the ame reasons do not have some protection lection from the government jy hose se flag they fly they cannot cpr example meet the freight rates ered by the japanese whose lagor r basis is distressing and whose construction costs are gly low nor can they com oil A pete with ships constructed with government money and subsidized by special privileges accorded by their governments so it is made to appear at least from this line of reasoning that american firms are left to the mercies of foreign shipping companies in their efforts to expand our export trade that is they are left to these mercies unless this government takes a definite stand by which american flag ships are accorded some advantages I 1 suspect there are many features of the ship subsidy bin bill which was fathered by senator copeland new york democrat that will prove unsatisfactory indeed I 1 am sure some of them will be found to be wholly unworkable but the point is after all that a start has been made toward honesty of policy in dealing with merchant marine problems I 1 think no one can refute the statement that as between concealed or disguised subsidies and forthright payments that are known as subsidies the forthright and honest method is decidedly better since the united states normally produces a surplus of agricultural products it becomes highly important to agriculture that the foreign markets are accessible and that the costs of transportation do not entirely eat up the value of the commodity exported unless the wheat from the plains states and the cotton from the south and the corn from the mississippi valley can be moved at reasonable cost it can be moved at reasonable cost only if american shipping is is protected that is not alone m my y opinion it is the opinion of many experts in the field one might properly inquire why the foreign boats should not be used to handle american commodities if the freight rate is lower there are two very valid reasons why this should not be obtained one is that constant rate reduction by foreign shipping companies would sooner or later probably sooner destroy the american merchant marine with this end achieved the foreign shipping companies would do as they have attempted to do on a number of occasions jack up the rates to suit themselves the other reason why american goods should be shipped in american bottoms is that a mercantile marine is as necessary an adjunct to our national economy and our national welfare as are the lines of land transportation this may seem to me a broad statement but I 1 believe nevertheless it is a truthful one because all fields of industry as well as agriculture would suffer if we were left at the mercy of foreign shipping companies further the commodities that we import would pay whatever rates the foreign shipping companies demanded in order to reach our shores and we would pay the bill it seems therefore that while this legislation probably is far from perfection probably has entirely too much governmental finger in the shipping pie presents a start that eventually will be helpful I 1 have heard no answer to this statement it is going to cost about so much for transportation on the ocean and if we can maintain an american industry upon that cost plus the aid of a subsidy of the type now initiated we have laid out a sound unit in our fiat national fictional ional commercial structure it goes without saying therefore that if it is helpful to one part of the country it is going to be helpful to all others because we are so interrelated political students have been engaged lately in stirring arguments over what pests and by bly may be a new drouth influence in the c cam a m pa agns gns of 0 f 1936 1 I refer to the disastrous conditions in some of the plains of the middle west resulting from lack of rain I 1 refer also to the presence of pests in sections of the plains states it has been interesting not to say humorous to listen to the arguments being advanced arguments based purely on political phases that may or may not result from those conditions there is no agreement among the democrats and no agreement among the republicans as to the effect of the natural circumstances cum stances developing in the middle west some democrats contend the drouth will react to president Roosevel ts advantage some republicans fear that the democratic contention is true some democrats are afraid that the loss of crops and the generally bad condition in which this leaves thousands of farmers will place them in a state of mind where they will be determined to vote against somebody and of course the only person against whom they can vote is mr roosevelt inasmuch as he happens to be the man in power at the moment 0 Wen teril union |
