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July, 1918 requisitioned from the Dutch under the order of the President 86 ves- sels with a total deadweight ton- nage of 526,532. In addition we have chartered from neutral countries 215 vessels with an aggregate deadweight tonnage of 953,661. This tonnage, to- gether with the vessels which we have. been obliged to leave in the coast- wise and Great Lakes trade, gives us a total of more than 1400 ships with an approximate total deadweight ton- nage of 7,000,000 tons now under the control of the United States shipping board. 4,500,000 Tons Added Since War In round numbers, and from all sources, we have added to the Amer- ican flag since our war against Ger- many began, nearly 4,500,000 tons of shipping. We are adding to this tounage rapidly and will continue to do so. It has taken us some time to apply to the shipbuilding industry of this country the principles of or- ganization and progressive manufac- turing which have made our other big institutions the marvel of the world. Since January of the present year, when our new quantity production of ships may well be said to have just begun, we have steadily risen in our monthly output until in May we turned out a total of 260,000 tons for that one month, making a total for the first five months of this year of 118 steel ships, aggregating 805,000 deadweight tons. Now, in the year ending July 1, 1915, the shipyards in this country built 186,700 deadweight tons of steel vessels of over 1500 deadweight tons. Thus, in the month of May we pro- duced 53,000 tons more than were produced in the entire year 1915. During the year ending July 1, 1916, 281,400 deadweight tons of steel ves- sels were delivered. Adding the 1915 tonnage with the 1916 tonnage gives a total of 468,100 tons. With a tonnage for the first five months of this year of 805,000. tons, we de- livered in five months 336,900 tons of shipping more than was built in American shipyards in the years 1915 and 1916. < I do not believe I am _ overopti- mistic in saying that our tonnage output will continue to increase until before this year closes we will be turning out a half million tons each month. We have established a _ ship- ‘building industry that will make us a great maritime nation. We have today under contract and construc- tion 819 shipbuilding ways, including wood, steel and concrete, which is twice as many shipbuilding ways as there are in all the rest of the ship- THE MARINE REVIEW yards throughout the entire world. Our program for the future should appeal to the pride of all loyal and patriotic Americans. In the early part of May the members of the shipping board appeared before the appropriation committee of congress with a request for additional funds for our extended program. Our pro- gram calls for the building of 1856 passenger, cargo, refrigerator ships and tankers, ranging from 5000 to 12,000 tons each; with an aggregate deadweight tonnage of 13,000,000. We are also contracting for 200 wooden barges, 50 concrete barges, 100 con- crete oil carrying barges and 150 steel, wood and concrete tugs of 1000 horsepower for ocean and_har- bor service, which aggregate a total: deadweight tonnage of 850,000. Exclusive of the above, we have 245 commandeered vessels, taken over from foreign and domestic owners, which are being completed by the Emergency Fleet corporation. These will average 7000 tons each and ag- gregate a total deadweight tonnage of 1,715,000. This makes a total of 2101 vessels exclusive of tugs and barges which are being built and will be put on the seas by the Emergency Fleet cor- poration in the course of carrying out the present program, with an aggregate deadweight tonnage of 14,715,000. 25,000,000 Tons in 1920 It will require $5,000,000,000 to fin- ish our program for 1918, 1919 and 1920, but the expenditure of this enormous sum will give to the Amer- ican people the greatest merchant fleet ever assembled in the hostory of the world—a fleet which I predict will serve all humanity loyally and unselfishly upon the same principles of liberty and justice which brought about the establishment of this free republic. The expenditure of the enormous sum will give America a merchant fleet aggregating 25,000,000 tons of shipping. American workmen have made the expansion of recent months _ pos- sible and they will make possible the successful conclusion of the whole program. On July 1, 1917, there were in the United States not quite 45,000 men engaged in the shipbuilding’ yards. Today we have a force of 300,000 men in the yards, and 250,000 men engaged in allied trades. This force will be continuously increased. From all present expectations it is likely that by 1920 we shall have close to 1,000,000 men working on American merchant ships and _ their equipment. The most liberal estimate of this 303 year’s output of shipping from all countries, except America, does not exceed 4,000,000 tons. One of the ablest shipbuilders in the United States, Homer Ferguson, of Newport News, predicted before the _ senate committee in January that our ton- nage for this year would be 3,000,000 in the United States alone. Mr. Powell, vice president of the Bethle- hem Shipbuilding Corp., agreed with Mr. Ferguson. Mr. Schwab, director general of the Emergency Fleet cor- poration, has told me that he is going to prove that both of these good friends of his are somewhat conserv- ative. He believes that the expert prediction of 3,000,000 tons can be exceeded, and I agree with him. We. have gradually reached the point where we have the facilities for constantly increasing our output. Of the 819 shipways in the United States, a total’ of 751, all of which except 90 are completed, are being utilized by the Emergency Fleet cor- poration for the building of American merchant ships. U. S. Greatest Ship. Operator In 1919 the average tonnage of steel, wood and. concrete ships con- tinuously building on each way should be about 6000 tons. If we are using 751 ways on cargo ships, and can average three ships a year per way we should turn out in one year 13,518,000 tons, which is more than has been. turned out by Great Britain in any five years of her history. When all our wood, steel and con- crete shipyards are thoroughly or- ganized, with a keel laid on each of the 819 ways, our ‘fabricating plants driving ahead at full speed, and em- ployes more thoroughly trained in the art of «ship construction, it is estimated that we can turn out. from each way more than three ships a year. The -United States shipping board is not only the greatest shipbuilder - in the world but is the greatest ship operator. In perfecting our organ- ization we not only perfected that part of it which is building the ships but we have also another part which operates the ships. The total gross revenue of our fleet is very impressive. From the ships under the control of the ship- ping board a total gross revenue is derived of about $360,000,000 an amount more than the gross revenue of the New York Central railroad and almost equal to that of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail- road and the New York Central rail- road combined.