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January, 1919 gunboats can boast. In losing this speed, however, the added radius of cruising ability is a decided advantage. | This is the first gunboat ever turned out on the Great Lakes, In his work, Captain Evers has been aided by T. W. Richards and Lewis S. Howard, naval constructor and assistant constructor, @ "We recommend that the con- struction of a great merchant ma- rine be continued and amplified, and that its operation under Amer- ican control be kept safe by such legislation as may «be necessary to insure its stability and its last- ing value to American industries." N this manner the reconstruction convention held in Atlantic City, » Dec. 3-6, 1918, went on record. The convention, attended by near- ly 5000 business men, was held under the auspices of the chamber of com- merce of the United States and was the greatest representation of busi- sness men that was, ever brought to- gether in America. While their ac- tion on the merchant marine problem was constructive in intent, it left to the government the problem of work- 'iIng out. the details. : _ (Charles M. Schwab, who had_ just resigned as director general of the Emergency Fleet corporation, *touched a responsive chord when in his ad- dress to the convention, he said: "A great merchant marine for the United States is essential for its ulti- 'Mate success, and its successful oper- ation is not for the benefit of any one man or class of men or any one branch of business, but is for the good of €very individual citizen of the Unit- ed States. I do not care whether '€ 1s farmer, lumberman, manufac- urer or merchant, a great mercan- ile marine is essential for every man n the United States. I do not care What plan, in the opinion of our "Sreat legislators at Washington, may be best for the operation of these Ships so long as they are operated economically and so long as the ex- 'Pense of operation is not borne by THE MARINE BOW VIEW OF GUNBOAT WILMETTE WHILE BEING FITTED FOR SERVICE ON DECK VIEW SHOWING 4-INCH GUN MOUNTED AFT--CAPT. EDWARD SS coE WOH who have been in direct contact with the work. They have also had supervision of the transformation of four lake passen- ger boats into transports, the Soutu Haven, Purrran, Roosevett and Vir- GINIA, now the BLuE Rince. The SoutH Haven is about to go to the Atlantic any one or few, but by the whole people. "No American shipping can be profitable or successful or enlist pri- vate capital today, as 'shipping is row operated, and the great cham- bers of commerce of the United States and you, the people who con- stitute these chambers of commerce, and you, the manufacturers of the United States, must raise your voices for the successful operation of our mercantile marine. Do not let the cry that a few may profit by subsi- dies or otherwise deter you in the least. I do -not care in what. form the people pay the bill. If the gov- ernment operates the ships them- selves) and it operates them at a loss: the. people'. pay ~ the -- bill: If the ships are operated' by private concerns and a loss accrues that is made up in some form of subsidy, the people themselves pay the bill. So that whatever form may be adopt- ed we must 'find the means of doing Abe Government Realizes Need That the American merchant marine is needed is realized by the govern- ment, was set forth by Secretary of Commerce Redfield. -"Soberly looking at it,' said Mr. Redfield, "I think that every ship the world has and can get has all of its carrying capacities taken for the next two years to come. Many of our ships will be used for our growing and developing trade with South America, because a num- ber of our vessels are of a type which it is not economical to send abroad. We should, therefore, have no fear on that score." Edward A. Filene, Boston, declared that the need for ships promises to REVIEW THE GREAT LAKES AT THE RIGHT--AT*THE LEFT, STERN AND QUARTER- A. EVERS AT THE CENTER, AT THE RIGHT NAVAL CONSTRUCTOR T. W. RICHARDS, AT THE LEFT. ASSISTANT NAVAL CONSTRUCTOR LEWIS 8S. HOWARD to take up her new salt water work. In her rebirth, the Wiutmerre will make good and redeem all the past, with many years of usefulness in train- ing prairie boys to the ways of the sea. If war comes again, she will per- haps have an opportunity to plow salt water and uphold the Stars and Stripes. Viarine bring out an over-production and that therefore this is a time to ask for an international agreement among maritime nations. He said: "To us here in the United -States ships mean business, mean profit; to 'Britain, ships mean life. Britain has at any time not over a few. months' food on hand, and only a limited part of the raw materials on which her industrial and business life depend originates in the British Isles. "If our ocean transportation were cut off we should lose business and money; if Britain's ocean transporta- tion were cut off she might perish. We in the United States can afford to take some chances. As to ships, Britain cannot. I am. asking you, as I am asking myself, to vividly picture Britain's exact position, because that position and what it properly implies is ithe keynote of the international problem of the mercantile marine, and will force on us a long and mu- tually harmful struggle if we do not with business-like vision and sympa- thetic understanding avert it by prop- er international co-opération." "f The schooner A. M. Baxter, owned by the Offshore Shipping Co., Seattle, was recently wrecked on a coral. reef at Valtuleile island in the south seas. The Baxter left San Francisco on May 28 with a cargo of case oil for the Fijis and was on her return voyage with a consignment of 800 tons of copra when she piled up on the reef. - The vessel and cargo was valued at $200,000 and is a total loss. Capt. A. E. Hell- quist and his crew of eight men coy- ered the distance to Suva, 75 miles, in an open boat where they reported the loss of the vessel. f