A curious but characteristic provision imposed by the Shipping Board
is that when repairs have been done to American vessels in foreign countries (except when the vessels were in distress) an ad valorem tax of 50 per cent. must be paid on the repairs on the ship's return to America. The Board is losing about three million dollars a month. The correspondent points out, however, that to some extent this loss is deliberately incurred as an act of policy. The idea is to create a goodwill in the Mercantile Marine. It is hoped that as the goodwill becomes established private companies will take over the vessels. There does not seem to be much hope that the Board will ever be able to make them pay. For our part we have every sympathy with the desire of America to own a Merchant Navy. We cannot agree with the argument that it would operate to our injury. American ships could not move about the world without carrying British goods at whatever freights they could command— freights probably at which it would be well worth while for British traders to ship goods.
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