SWEEPING THE SEAS

A prophet, it is agreed, is without honor in his own country; and what with oil scandals and Labor ministries, the proverb might be stretched to describe the popular attitude toward national governments. The growing skepticism of the ability of the Federal government to compete with private enterprise in vigor or efficiency is sufficiently strong to make astounding the news that under--or despite government management the "Leviathan" has won the speed honors of the North Atlantic. But while this record is a pleasing tribute to the efficiency of the "Leviathan's officers, it serves by force of contrast to direct attention to the thousands of public-owned ships rotting idly at anchor in the bays and rivers of the Atlantic and Pacific.

The high hopes that the new American merchant marine built under the stress of war would bring back the heyday of American ocean commerce have been severely shaken by the recurrent deficits of the Shipping Board budgets. The experience of the past few years seems to prophesy all too plainly that with the passing of the famous clipper ships went forever American mercantile supremacy. Various explanations have been offered which characteristically center in an abuse of government management, but the almost obvious reason is the same that prevented the development of a merchant marine before the war--the fact that Americans cannot compete profitably with English shippers.

Sentiment urges a development of a great commercial navy, but it cannot shift the advantage of the English ship owner. Proximity of coal and iron to the ship yards is an appreciable factor, just as the nearness of timber to the New England harbors helped to make the old square-rigger a cheap instrument of conveyance. But the dominant factor is the place of the English export coal trade. A "tramp" carrying bulky raw goods to England for manufacture can always count upon a return cargo of coal; and to be profitable a "tramp" must never sail empty.

American cargo steamers operating from New York or Boston are obviously handicapped by this advantage of the British shippers, as they are by the undiversified character of American export trade. And against economic disadvantages governmental policies are of singularly little avail. But while the prosperity and dominance of an earlier era may never return to the American merchant fleet, the record of the Leviathan seems to point out one possible field for exploitation: the development of a swift "liner" service across the Atlantic.