AMERICA'S NEW MERCHANT MARINE.* ME. HURLEY, who was the chairman
of the United States Shipping Beard from July, 1917, has written an important book on the new American merchant marine which came into existence under the pressure of war. How America, who had a relatively small fleet of seagoing merchantmen when she declared war, built a vast fleet within the next three years, constitutes a veritable romance of industry. The achievement surprised every one and confounded the Germans, who had based all their calculations on the hypothesis that America could not possibly build ships enough to affect the boat campaign or to keep her armies supplied if they reached Europe. Mr. Hurley's picturesque account of what was done by the Shipping Board and its offshoot, the Emergency Fleet Corporation, is well worth reading. The patriotic energy
• The New Merchant Marine (U.S.A.). By Edward N. Hurley. London: Gay and Hancock. Lida. nets . of a great industrial nation, with unlimited expenditure, worked miracles. In the spring of 1917 the American shipyards were building, mostly for foreign account, 431 merchant vessels of a total tonnage of 3,000,000. Almost all these were taken over by the Government. Orders were given for a fleet of wooden ships, to the value of £22,500,000, but Mr. Hurley admits that this was a mistake. A large number of new yards were oonstructed. Between April, 1917, and November, 1918, th3 American shipyards increased in number from 61 to 223, and the number of ships rose from 234 to 1,099. " The total building programme at its maximum period called for the construction of 3,115 vessels of 17,276,318 dead-weight tons "- not far short of the whole British merchant service. The Shipping Board adopted whole-heartedly the principle of the " fabricated " ship. The different parts of a steel ship were to be manufactured at inland factories and then " assembled " at the shipyard. Ordinary structural steel, such as is used for bridges and tanks, was to be employed. The work of " assembling " the parts was done to a large extent at the Hog Island yard, on the Delaware river, near Philadelphia. This extraordinary yard, which cost £16,500,000, was begu in September, 1917 ; the first keel was laid in February, 1918, and the first ship was launched in the following July. The yard has fifty slips and seven piers on a water-front of two and a-quarter miles. It employed 41,000 people, and it pro- duced a million tons of shipping. " If the war were in progress to-day, we would see the Hog Island shipyard delivering, fully equipped for sel-service, with General Electric turbines, one 7,500-ton steel constructed, oil-burning cargo-vessel or transport every seventy-two hours."
Mr. Hurley overwhelms the reader with other astonishing figures. Thus on July 4th, 1918, 95 ships of 474,464 dead- weight tons were launched in American yards, half of which had not existed a year before ; the day's launchings exceeded by far the best year's output of seagoing ships before the war in America. Further, we are told of the Tuckahoe,' a steel collier of 5,500 tons, which was completed in thirty-seven days from the laying of her keel and which was at sea with a cargo of coal on the fortieth day. At a Michigan yard a merchant- mm of 3,500 tons, the ' Crawl Keys,' was completed in thirty- four calendar days from the laying of her keel. Such relentless energy, continued with the expenditure of over £800,000,000, placed America in possession of a new merchant fleet of nearly 14,000,000 tons, built or building, when the Peace of Versailles was signed. How to utilize that fleet in trine of peace is the real subject of the book. It is a far more difficult problem than that of building the ships. Mr. Hurley points out that the new shipyards are far in excess of America's needs. Hog Island, in particular, could not be worked at a profit unless it completed at least a hundred ships of a standard type annually —" a number greater than the shipping industry could absorb " ; though it could be used as a new port for the overseas trade. But the author is convinced that America can use all her new ships, if American manufacturers and merchants will only recognize the value of an American merchant marine in developing their trade, especially with South America and the Far East. He recalls the former prosperity of American shipping, especially in New England, up to the time of the Civil War. He maintains that American shipping, under the fostering supervision of the Federal Government, can and should thrive once again. His precise calculations of the value of ships and the cost of service have been upset, since he made them a year ago, by the sudden collapse of trade, but his main contention is sound enough in principle. It remains to be seen whether American capitalists will buy or lease the ships owned by the Shipping Board, and whether they will be able to work the ships at a profit on various oversea routes, with the ultimate object of carrying half America's exports and imports in American ships.
Mr. Hurley reminds his countrymen that the mere possession of a large number of merchantmen is not enough. America can, he thinks, supply the trained officers and crews, and can Frovide her ports with proper facilities for the speedy loading or discharge of cargo. But he seems to fear that the organiza- tion of the export trade through a combination of manufac- turers, merchants, and bankers with agents abroad may be slow to come about. He holds up the British mercantile community as a model not unworthy to be followed, especially in its patriotic efforts to promote British trade. He complains of the reluctance of American exporters to insist upon American
ships carrying their goods. He laments, too, the relatively slow growth of marine insurance in the United States. He proposes that the Shipping Board should require American purchasers of its ships to insure them with American under- writers, and that the Board should continue itself to insure its interests in ships that have been sold but not fully paid for, putting the profits into the " Merchant Marine Develop. ment Fund." " The American marine underwriters have within their grasp the opportunity of the ages to establish themselves in their rightful place in the world." Mr. Hurley reminds his countrymen that " commerce begets industry. Most of the prestige that has helped to sell British goods and brought to England much of her wealth arises from the fact that for centuries British ships have made Britain the market place of the world." Before the war British ships carried 52 per cent. of the world's oversea trade. It is interesting to find Mr. Hurley advocating the establishment of " foreign trade zones " in the ports—where goods can be landed in bond and prepared for re-export, in accordance with British and Continental practice. He mentions, for example, that rice from the East before the war was shipped to Hamburg to be graded and cleaned in the free port before being sent to America, while copra was marketed at Hamburg and Marseilles, and he contends that such business ought to be done in American ports. Whether the energy and wealth of America will overcome the conservatism of the produce trades is another question. If Mr. Hurley's plans are carried out by the new American administration, British shipping will unquestionably have very formidable competition to face in all parts of the world. We need not fear the competition if its significance is realized by all engaged in industry, and particularly in the mining industry. Mr. Hurley observes that two-fifths of the cargoes leaving British ports used to be coal. Until our coal export trade is restored to its former proportions, British shipping which depended on full outward cargoes must be sorely hampered. America will derive much benefit from her new mercantile marine, but, after all, she has prospered mightily without it. For us, however, our shipping is the basis of our existence as a commercial nation.
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