The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Ship Problem Needs Your Help VERY marine executive faces today the read- justment problems of the heads of all indus- trial enterprises. But an additional problem which outranks all others in importance, is the ex- clusive heritage of the marine man. That problem is the disposal of the government's ships. As long as this huge block of ships is owned by the government and operated under the benumbing influences insep- arable from such control, the permanent determination of America's future in ocean shipping is postponed. -- The testimony offered before the special congres- sional committee, now proceeding on its investigating way, has clarified in everyone's mind the need for decisive action in aiding the government to retire from the shipping business. The incoming national adminis- tration offers a strong likelihood of assisting intelligent efforts to rette the government from this field of private industry. But sound advice is the first step. ~ As one course, MartNe Review last month offered the suggestion reprinted below. The suggestion calls for the sale ofa fixed number of ships every month. Deflated values would be met at first but $2,000,000,000 ell Ships on a HE choking and repressive influence of federal interference in the field of business is again being revealed to the American public. The recollection of the disastrous experiment with railroad operation is sufficient to warn the average citizen what to expect. _ This time the disclosures concern the marine indus- try and the part played by the shipping board in the shipping field. The means for arousing general inter- est are the hearings just opened before a special com- mittee of the house of representatives. The report for guiding the direction of inquiry is -an unusually complete survey of the board's activities. Snap decisions are dangerous before both sides are heard, but in the case of governmental efforts to build and operate ships, little that is new can be told by either side. Specific instances of mismanagement, ex- travagance and paralyzing inefficiency arouse renewed condemnation but the system which they typify has always been understood. Rebuttal arguments reciting how plans and measures are being prepared: to correct such conditions excite renewed interest, but convince nobody. Soloing Three Billion Dollar Puzzle in Three Words Correction and remedy for the present condition under which the shipping board controls more than 7 seagoing merchant vessels out of every 12 in the American marine, lies not in the rephtasing of this agreement and the extension of that department: the solution is found-in the 3-word slogan "sell the ships." Every chairman of the shipping board, since thought was directed to the permanent policy for handling the war-born fleet, has announced publicly his conviction of the need for private ownership. The measures adopted to translate that conviction into action have accomplished little. Sales plans have been announced and then withdrawn in favor of others. Prices were set even above commercial limits and then brought . board should carry into force. has already been written off the book value of the federal fleet without any real progress being shown in liquidating the $3,800,000,000 ship expenditure. Marine men must have definite knowledge of what "is going to take place, if they are to lay out intelligent plans for their own firms. They have the responsibil- ity of assisting in formulating the government's plan. Their congressmen must be aided in reaching a wise solution by being offered the information which so many legislators lack. The shipping board must be placed in possession of the best judgment of the marine industry. As the one means of correcting an intolerable situation, MARINE REVIEW urges all its read- ers to begin at once to assist the public in deciding wisely what steps are needed. Write or interview your congressmen, inform the shipping board of your solution of its problems. Tell your friends and asso- ciates as a necessary step to building up a balanced public judgment. On the facing page are several evi- dences of the reaction aroused by the suggestion made by Marine Review. Read the following plan and then write us of your. opinion of its value. Fixed Schedule haltingly down grade--following. but never overtaking or passing the falling market: The slogan "sell the ships" is-offered as the solu- tion with full appreciation of the barriers that must be hurdled. For one thing, the job cannot be dis- posed of over night, Liquidating a $3,000,000,000 investment on a falling: market is work of the most critical nature, particularly when the fundamental prin- ciple of making the ships supply the nucleus for a permanent American merchant marine must always be kept in sight. But this.same principle demands that the ships be-sold and as quickly as possible. A merchant under the necessity for liquidating his stocks does so by starting to sell--at the market if possible, but under the market if necessary. The essence of selling is to sell, a truism which the shipping In the case of the board, this has in addition the practical command of the Jones act to withdraw from the commercial field. Making Ship Sales on Regular Schedule This suggestion is offered to Admiral Benson, chair- man of~the board. Seil at' least 25 ships a month. Sell them on a fixed day each month and sell them at the prices offered. Sell them as ships and not as scrap metal--bonds guaranteeing the performance of the sales agreement could insure this. Even this rate of sale would require five to six years to sell all the ships and in that period an upward market can be depended upon to bring better prices than the original sales. Those years would witness the development of a greater buying power for ships as the experience, financial strength and soundness of inore and more marine firms is developed. This con- dition of a stronger buying power will result more quickly if a minimum schedule of ships are sold regu: larly and surely. The months before the new administration are not necessarily a period for marking time. The ships _must be sold. Why not start now?