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Show SHIP PURCHASE BILL INDORSED PROMPT ACTION URGED BY SENATE BODY TO PUT VESSELS UNDER AMERICAN FLAG. Believed That Measure Would Result in Great Benefit to Producers, Business Men and Bankers of the Whole Country. AVashtngton. Initiating the aggressive aggres-sive fight to be waged in congress for passage of the government ship purchase pur-chase bill, majority members of the senate commerce committee on Wednesday Wed-nesday filed a report recommending the measure. The report filed by Senator Fletcher, acting chairman, quoted freely from the report submitted by Secretaries McAdoo and Redfield on general shipping conditions, showing, enormous enorm-ous increases in ocean transportation since the European war began. "Unquestionably," said the report, "if we had additional ships under the American flag the situation would rapidly rap-idly improve and much of the distress of producers, business men and bankers, bank-ers, not only in the south, hut throughout through-out the country, would be relieved. The need is urgent. There is no telling tell-ing how long the disturbance abroad will last and ho v long, therefore, we shall suffer unless the requisite action is taken promptly." Secretary Redfield, in a letter written writ-ten to Senator Fletcher to accompany accom-pany the report, declared that for years the United States had gone along with its ocean shipping in the hands of its competitors, "like a department de-partment store without any delivery system except such as our competitors were willing to supply us." |