Friday's Times contains some interesting speculations on the prospects of
President Wilson's Bill for establishing a Government-owned American mercantile marine. The President, says the Times, is determined to get the Bill through, and he is equally determined when he has got it to avail himself of it with the greatest discretion. Further, we are told that no ships will be acquired save after discussion, in which the views of Great Britain and her allies as to the method of transfer and the use to which the transferred ships may be put will receive the fullest and friendliest considera- tion. The nix or eight millions sterling which the Bill will put at the President's disposal will, it is added, not buy many large vessels. Altogether, the message, which is evidently inspired from the highest quarters, is designed to minimize the international aspects of the Bill, and to have a sedative effect here.
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