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August, 1925 and provides the practical man’s solu- tion of an intensely practical ques- tion. It will, I think, be seriously con- sidered by the next congress. It con- forms to this declaration of a national merchant marine policy: It is necessary for the national de- .fense that the United States shall have a merchant marine sufficient to earry all of its domestic commerce and serve as a naval or military aux- iliary in time of war or national emer- geney. It is desirable for the national de- fense that the United States shall have upon the major trade routes be- tween United States ports and foreign ports combination passenger and freight lines with vessels of sufficient speed to enable them to effectively compete with foreign lines in the car- riage of the mails and to serve as troop transports in time of war. Such ships to be compensated by liberal mail subventions. Any other form of aid, whether in the form of cash sub- sidy, discriminating duties, free canal tolls, or the like, inevitably and in- variably leads to a dependence on fed- eral paternalism in a field ‘where in- dividual courage and independence are demanded, and should not be granted. It has been found by some of our large industries desirable to own their own cargo vessels in the foreign trade and this should be encouraged. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to encourage the maintenance by private owners of such a merchant marine, assuring to own- ers freedom from regulation or com- petition, direct or indirect, by the government. It is recognized that to maintain and expand a merchant ma- Save “Old D ESCENDANTS of all the offi- cers and seamen who served on the famous fighting frigate Otp IRONSIDES, now rotting at her moorings in the Boston navy yard, are raising $12,000 for a new mainmast and its rigging as their part of the $500,000 fund to restore the historic ship. Commander Arthur Bainbridge Hoff, U.S.N., retired, who is the near- est male descendant of Commodore William Bainbridge who commanded the CONSTITUTION when she destroyed the British frigate JAVA off the coast of South America in 1812, is sponsor of the movement and has organized a committee to get in touch with all of the descendants of the crews and officers who served on this ship from 1797 to 1882, when OLD IRONSIDES went out of commission. With few exceptions most of the heroes of the American navy were at one time officers on this historic vessel. Commodore Isaac Hull, Capt. Stephen Decatur, Commodore Wil- MARINE REVIEW rine the art of shipbuilding shall not be lost or impaired and that Ameri- can shipyards must be encouraged to maintain themselves in a position to again rapidly expand to meet any national emergency. To that end no vessels except those wholly built and equipped ready for sea in American yards shall be permitted to trade be- tween ports of the United States ex- cept the trade between United States ports and the Philippine Islands. Except in time of war or national emergency there shall be no restric- tions upon building for foreign own- ers, sale of American ships abroad, or selling securities of shipowners or shipbuilders abroad as long as_ the management through ownership of a majority of the capital stock of build- ing and owning corporations is in the hands of American citizens. If, under laws passed or to be passed in furtherance of the above de- clared policy, American shipowners enter the foreign trade with purely cargo vessels, they will be encouraged as far as consistent with the proper growth of our foreign trade; but it must be recognized that ships alone do not make foreign commerce and sentimental regard for American ships in the foreign trade must not interfere with the more important consideration of placing the exporters of our sur- plus in position to cultivate the friend- ship of foreign buyers, themselves shipowners, and to take advantage of as low freight rates as our com- petitors enjoy through free competi tion of foreign ships. Iron sides liam Bainbridge, Commodore Edward Preble and Capt. Charles Stewart were the men who made OLD IRONSIDES famous. Capt. Samuel Nicholson was her first commander. Other naval heroes who served on this ship were Capt. Thomas McDonough, who de- feated the British on Lake Champlain; Rear Admiral David A. Farragut, Admiral George Dewey and Rear Ad- ‘miral Charles E. Clarke, who died a year ago. Commodore Hoff requests that all descendants of officers and seamen who sailed on OLD IRONSIDES communi- cate with him at the third naval district headquarters, South and Whitehall streets, New York city. He hopes to organize a permanent so- ciety of Op IRoNSIDES descendants. Commander Hoff and his committee plan to form a register of all de- scendants under the name of the offi- cer or seaman from whom descended as part of the exhibit when the fine old frigate is restored. 285 Spain Aids Shipping According to the new contract with the Spanish government, the Com- pania Trasatlantica agrees to build the following vessels: Two for the service between the north of Spain and Argentine, before 1928; three sim- ilar to the MANUEL ARNUS, for the line to New York, Cuba, and Mexico, be- fore 1929; three others for the same line, before 1932; two of 5,000 tons for the line to Fernando Poo, before 1934; three of 8,000 tons and two of the same class as the INFANTA, ISABEL and REINA VICTORIA, before 1936; and nine other vessels, Consul Julian C. Greenup, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, advises the department of commerce. The government guarantees the in- terest on and amortization of the in- vested capital and loans in case the state’s subvention is not _ sufficient. This subvention is fixed at 28.66 pe- setas a mile and may not exceed 28,- 000,000 pesetas ($3,640,000). The an- nual sum for interest on an amorti- zation of the loans shall not exceed the subvention. Cannot Stand Strain of Drydocking Now Lieut. John A. Lord, U.S.N., the naval constructor who has been as- signed the task of rebuilding the U.S.S. CONSTITUTION, the famous fighting frigate, after a careful sur- vey has reported to Rear Admiral L. R. de Steiguer, commandant of the first naval district, that any attempt to dock the ship in her present con- dition might result in her collapse and make her restoration impossible. Most of the job of rebuilding OLD IRONSIDES must be done while she is afloat, for the moment that she rests on her keel and on bilge blocks in dry- dock the vertical pressure on the cen- ter lines of the badly decayed frigate will cause her decks to buckle, and in all probability fall to pieces. This was the fate of the old wooden frigate RICHMOND some years ago when she was placed in drydock at the Nor- folk navy yard. Her decks buckled and her lines became so distorted that the navy department was forced to condemn her. While Oup IRONSIDES is afloat the pressure is evenly distributed, and the work of rebuilding above the water line will proceed without mishap. Then, with an elaborate sys- tem of shoring her up, she can be placed in a drydock to have her hull rebuilt. Every care will be taken so that she may be fully restored to her original condition.