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

Tae en ee SAS eT MP RS I eS Oey eee easy + OEE ee ISN ©, ¥ y Pe eee ae i Devastated Nation Begins Struggle for Trade Which Will Rehabilitate Her Shattered Industries—Ports. Canals and Roads Wrecked by War ELGIUM never possessed an over- B seas merchant fleet of great con- sequence and the war has prac- tically wiped out even that. With the indomitable courage that marked this nation throughout the war, the Belgians are today spending heroic efforts to re- constitute their foreign trade. Most of the Belgian companies have been com- pelled to locate in France and England while their own country was occupied by the enemy and they have been forced to accept the charities of others. One shipyard has been established by them near Glasgow, Scotland, with the con- sent of the British government and that is turning out merchant vessels. Al- though the British require that all these ships fly the British flag they are owned by the Belgians and constitute a part of the Belgian merchant marine. Prior to the war Belgium owned an overseas merchant marine totaling ap- proximately 750,000 gross tons. Today her merchant marine will total probably not over 250,000 tons, the remainder having been wiped out by the German submarines and mines. Her merchant fleet has suffered mightily by the war. In the hope of obtaining more ships to add to the Belgian flag, agents have come to the United States. Efforts to purchase ships here have not as yet been successful and offers haye been made to take charters but to no avail. It is costing the Belgians approximately $90-a ton to build ships in England and even though the British insist that these boats shall fly the English flag there is some compensation in owning the ves- sels. Offers to build new ships in the SUNN Sal UNNI United States have been at a cost of $240 a ton. That increased price to- gether with the restriction imposed by the shipping board which prevents the escape of any vessel built here to a foreign flag are obstacles which have prevented the Belgians adding to their fleets here. Offers of wooden ships have not been considered, the Belgians insisting upon steel alone. Oe shipping of Belgium has heretofore been dependent upon three ship corporations. Adolph Deppe operated three ship lines, and the Red Star Line is operating two steamers under the Belgian flag. These latter are the GOTHLAND and the SamMLanp, both being approximately 8000 tons gross. Lloyd Royal Belge is the most important line. This company was or- ganized as a corporation after the war had broken out. At that time it owned 40 ships and its head, M. Brys, turned them over to war purposes. Of the original fleet of 40, only 16 vessels re-~ The other 24 were sunk by sub- | main. marines and mines. Of those remaining, 12 are temporarily flying the British flag, carrying supplies to France or handling other war work. The other four are still in the service of the Belgian relief commission. Joseph A. Nash has been appointed manager for the United States and Canada for the Lloyd Royal Belge, with headquarters in New York. In 1916 this company issued bonds to the extent of 25,000,000 francs, guaranteed by the Belgian government. The opening of the New York offices is the first attempt c_—_—__“___ iio ose NHN cLAAAAAARARAATACAARRARNN nt 63 made by a Belgian ship line to form a direct transatlantic connection with North America. “The Belgians,’ declared Mr. Nash, “have things to sell which we, over here, want. On the other hand, there are many of our products which Bel- gium not only always wanted and needed but which, through the work of the Belgian relief, have become almost indispensable to her. I have particularly in mind certain foodstuffs, canned goods, preserved meats and the like, for which the Belgians ‘have acquired a taste they will never lose.” A® a small maritime nation Belgium is eminently fitted to be the agent for a large one. We should make her our commercial representative for the entire continent and let her estab- lish the nucleus of our future European business. Before long we will be in need of just such representation and Belgium’s plans could be made to dovetail excellently with our own.” The first trip, as soon as the Lloyd Royal Belge has organized its service, is to be made between Antwerp and New York. Just as soon as this route has been fully established, the Belgian line plans to send vessels to Philadel- phia, Norfolk, Baltimore, Charleston and even Galveston. Later Canadian ports will be added. What Belgium needs first of all, Mr. Nash said, is American machinery. Cotton and textile fibers are next re- quired as well as immense quantities of tobacco. In return Belgium will ship us her linens and her needle-work. liz Antwerp, Belgium’s great port and one ef the world’s largest, is reviving from war’s en- forced stagnation — Os- tend and Zeebrugge are still blocked and Ant- werp must handle the nation’s trade. HUI. Fill