The Shortage of Ships
The mission of Mr. Richard Law to Washington to concert measures for somehow increasing the supply of shipping to relieve the needs of liberated Europe is very necessary, and it is satisfactory that an agreement on what are termed interim measures has been arrived at, though it is not clear yet what the interim measures are. The shipping situation 'must be taken seriously, for while there is no need to exaggerate the importance of Germany's resump- tion of 'submarine warfare on a substantial scale, the fact that shipping losses are rising again cannot be ignored. The demand on shipping, moreover, for supplying military needs in both the European and the Pacific theatres is immense. But the needs of Europe are urgent, and not for the transport of food alone, though that naturally must take precedence over all other civilian claims, and most military. Nothing is more vital than to get industries re-started and an employable population given employment in the production of urgently needed commodities. In France, in par- ticular, the one obstacle to that is the lack of the necessary raw materials from overseas, and the raw materials are lacking because there are not ships to carry them. The need for ships, too, simply to supply the elementary need for food to countries like Yugo- slavia is great. It is manifestly no easy problem to solve, for the Allies' total supply of shipping cannot be quickly increased, in spite of the remarkable capacity for rapid production in the United States. Neither can any considerable number of ships, if indeed any at all, be diverted from military needs. Something can be done in the way of a quicker turn-round at ports, though many ports, especially in France, are not yet re-equipped with the necessary installations for rapid loading and unloading. Fortunately an assurance has been given that more ships will be allocated to serve France's needs.
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