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* markets. oR é be sold without restriction as to flag, they will be operated under foreign flags, because it will be more economical to so operate than under the conditions made by American labor and American legisla- tion. Should Sales Be Unrestricted? To illustrate: the operating cost of a Japanese ship today for wages and sub- sistence only is but little more than half the cost of operating an American ship of similar size and class. At the present level of Norwegian exchange, cost of wages and subsistence on Norwegian ves- sels will be about 40 per cent of ours. Obviously, in a competition which will cut to the bone ships' that can operate, re- spectively, for 50 and 40 per cent of our wages and subsistence will have a great advantage. The cost of construction and repairs also is higher here than abroad, meaning, of course, a higher expense for maintenance, interest, depreciation, in- surance and repairs. For this reason the unrestricted sale of our ships will result in their promptly passing under foreign flags,-and our merchant marine will be back where it was in 1913. -- If, however, the ships are sold with the restriction that they must be operated under our flag (and therefore subject to existing American laws, as well as the higher expenses of operation under our flag), they must either be run at a loss for the. present or laid up. In -either case it will result that when the ships, through marine casualties, age or other causes, are lost or scrapped they will not be replaced under our flag. Further, even among those ships which "may be considered as possibly able to compete for traffic, there is a great dif- ference in value, efficiency and probable duration of service. To some of. the ships now running, and considered fairly good, experienced engineers give not more than five years of activity before the cost of maintenance will more than offset the profits of operation in normal Such a condition marks the end of commercial service in any cargo ship. Therefore, the life of our merchant marine, under economic conditions which will discourage continuous construction and operation, probably would be a short if. not a merry one. ae These are good grounds' for concluding that the sale of the fleet would mean the end of our experiment in establish- ing a permanent merchant marine... And if the experiment be now abandoned it is a safe guess that this generation will not see it repeated. If, on the other hand, it be decided that a merchant fleet must be maintained for reasons of national defense, and for protection and development of our for- MARINE REVIEW eign commerce, the question of method becomes vital. Government operation, pure and simple, is unthinkable. If there were any question that the machinery of constitutional government Js unfitted for the operation of commercial enter- 'prises, our recent experience in govern- ment management of railroads would pro- vide a complete answer. No such government operations can be -yndertaken under our form of govern- ment without the intrusion of . "politics" (of the kind usually put in quotations ) into the problem, and the intrusion of "politics" always involves the question of - patronage. Dickens once remarked that much of English law was incomprehensible until one found the keynote, and that the key- note, as he stated, was to make business for lawyers. Once this is realized, he said,. the whole system of English law becomes intelligent and coherent. Chang- ing the application, it may be said that the working of "politics" under popular in- stitutions is impossible to understand un- less one realizes that one main purpose of "politics" is to provide jobs for poli- ticians.. It has been so from King Nebu- chadnezzar to President Wilson, and no other result can be expected until the public service is confined to supermen. Now, in a business so keenly competitive as ship operation, no considerations can wisely influence the choice of personnel, except experience, ability and character. Any other principle of selection is fatal to good results. Why Federal Operation Fails This, however, is not the chief argu- ment against government operation. Weakening of the element of personal interest, diffusion. of authority and di- vision of responsibility are others. Where authority is diluted, efficiency is sacri- ficed; where responsibility is divided, conscience is subdivided; for the stimulus of close, personal (and, if one please), selfish interests in results, there are no equivalents and only shabby, makeshift substitutes. As there appears no volume of public sentiment in favor of government opera- tion, pure and simple, that course may be dismissed with this. brief reference. An alternative course has thus far been pursued--that of operation by. pri- -.vate firms under. close and detailed gov- ernmental direction. Of this it may be sufficient to say that, by common consent of all, from the indi- -vidual operators to the chairman of the shipping board, the results have not been satisfactory. Such a method cannot be kept alto- gether free from "politics;" but beyond this the dilatory operation of cumbrous government machinery, in a worldwide May, 199, competition hourly involving Prompt de. cision and quick action, is about as ef. fective as would have been the field com mand of the allied armies by a congres. sional committee. If, therefore, it jg de- cided to endeavor to maintain our mar- chant fleet, if to do so under private own- ership is at present impossible ; if, fur- ther, it cannot be effectively -- Operated by government machinery, the indicated course is clearly toward the' utilization of private initiative and experience un- der government ownership, until Present conditions shall improve. How this may be done will be considered in the next article. (To be continued) Will Build Drydock Work will be begun at once on con- struction of the Canadian government's drydock at Esquimalt, B. C. The con- tract for this work has been awarded to Peter Lyall & Sons Construction Co, Montreal and Vancouver, B. C. About 2000 workmen will be employed when the work is fully under way. The suc- cessful bid was approximately $4,300,000, It marked culmination of. 'negotiations, which have been in progress for many years. When completed, the Esquimalt dry- dock will be among the largest in the world, the dimensions being as follows: Length from caisson top to head wall, 1150 feet; width of entrance 120 feet; depth on sill at ordinary high water spring tides, 40 feet; width at coping of dock walls, 144 feet. The drydock will be divided into two parts, 650 feet and 500 feet in length respectively. Each part will be closed by a. steel caisson. The drydock will be emptied by three centrifugal pumps, each having a capacity of 60,000 gallons per minute. The pumps and other machinery will be operated by electricity generated by the dock's own power_ plant. First water shipments from Cinci- nati to north Pacific ports recently left the Ohio city by river steamer for transfer at New Orleans to a_ vessel of the Gulf & Carribean. line which operates to Seattle. These shipments are made possible by means of 4 through bill of lading by water. Capt. John H. Hewitt, veteran 5 captain employed by the New England Navigation Co., died recently in his sev enty-sixth year, at Providence, R. I. He had many medals awarded for bravery and heroic rescues during his long career. What will probably be a monthly serv: ice from Boston to the Far East w® announced recently by John S. Emery & Co. "Inc,