Ideas

The U.S. is on record for a strong merchant marine after the war. But the Maritime Commission’s team of Admirals Emory S. Land & Howard L. Vickery have made it clear that this goal is no threat to any other maritime power. The most that U.S. shipowners hope for is to maintain a fleet large enough to carry at least 50% of U.S. water-borne commerce. That, for a nation which by the end of 1944 will have built 50 million tons of ships in seven years, seems like a reasonable objective to “Jerry” Land.

Last week, in Manhattan, Shipman Land went still farther to soothe foreign ship operators, alarmed at the renaissance of the U.S. as a maritime power. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Propeller Club and American Merchant Marine Conference, the bluff Admiral proposed an international conference to study the shipping needs of each nation, with an attempt to limit fleets to prevent over-tonnage of world trade routes and disastrous rivalries.

This proposal may well shock rugged, shell-backed shipping men who cherish the tradition of freedom of the seas. But to owners abroad who have lost most of their prewar vessels, Land’s proposal made sense.

Another Propeller Club speaker who broke with established custom was Henry J. Kaiser. Miracleman Kaiser’s plans for the future shocked some shipowners: he spoke for the operation of U.S. merchant ships without subsidies. Said he bluntly: “Subsidies create depressions.” The Kaiser method: cut costs by paying crews a minimum wage, but giving each seaman a share in the profits earned by the ships they serve on. Said Kaiser, serving notice on the shipowner audience that the Kaiser empire may start its own shipping company: “. . . Whether it be labeled ‘publicity’ or not … it will be my personal endeavor to operate a company on this basis in the postwar world.”