World Tonnage and The War

A GROSS ton is 100 cubic feet of freight space. A deadweight ton is a ton of 2,240 lbs. of heavy freight, on which freight is charged by weight rather than by bulk. The gross tonnage of vessels is estimated as two-thirds the deadweight tonnage. In this article, unless otherwise stated, we speak only in gross tons.

At the outbreak of the World War the steam tonnage of the world was 45,-404,000 gross tons. During the war the tonnage destroyed, exclusive of the losses of Germany and Austria, was equivalent to 14,555,344, gross tons, or 32% of all vessels in use at the time war broke out.

During the war Greece lost 64.6% of her shipping, Spain lost 19.8%, Denmark lost 18.7%, Norway lost 18.4%. Sweden lost 9.7%. France lost 900,000 tons during the war; America lost 354,449 tons; and the United Kingdom lost 7,759,090 tons, which was 41% of all the ships she had afloat at the beginning of the war.

This loss to the United Kingdom represented 2,479 vessels, 14,287 lives and an investment of $300>,000,000. In addition to this the United Kingdom had 1,885 vessels of 8,007,967 tons attacked and injured, but not sunk. Total losses and injuries together amounted to 83.5%. But it must not be supposed that at any time there were 83.5% of the United Kingdom vessels out of commission. Building of new vessels proceeded rapidly, to take the place of those sunk; and damaged vessels were quickly repaired and again in use.

Had there been no war the normal increase in the world’s shipping would have been about 2,500,000 tons per year, so that by the spring of 1920 it would have been about 60,000,000 tons. It is not yet nearly that amount; but in June, 1919, it had reached 47,897,Q00 tons and is increasing rapidly, being now probably over 50,000,000 tons.

In June, 1914, the United Kingdom had 18,892,000 tons of shipping; and in June, 1919, she had 16,345,000 tons, some of it ex-German. In 1914 her imports were 55_r 000,000 tons annually; but her imports are now but 40,000,000 tons, or 70% of what they formerly were.

British Shipping Notes > Archibald Hurd, the British naval critic, in an extended article published in

London in the fall of 1919, made the claim that America is now queen of the ocean and that British naval supremacy has passed. This article may have been published largely to awaken the people of Great Britain to the changed conditions brought about by the war. At any rate it does not seem to us that his conclusions are well-founded.

It is true that Britain is importing about 70% of what she formerly imported, .|gid that Amer-

ica now has an enormous marine. It is also true that British docks are in the worst state of congestion ever known. Dock warehouses being used as storage depots, ships are compelled to wait a month sometimes before they can discharge cargoes, and to leave with an average cargo of only 70%, which it takes twice as long to load as formerly.

But many of these conditions are temporary. The British Government will not always be using the docks for warehouses; the dock workers will not always be as unrestful as now; and if America does have over 20% of the world's shipping, Britain still has over 34.1% of it and is geographically in a much more favorable position to do the general shipping business for Europe than is any other country.

The British dockers are demanding minimum wages of $4 per day, but in America the same class of workers demand twice that amount. Despite the handicaps caused by the Government’s fixing of freight rates on wheat, meat, sugar, lumber and wool at low figures, the profit in shipping, even though the cargoes be not full, is still large; and the Cunard Company last year paid 20% dividends, besides adding a further 10% to its reserves.

World Shipbuilding

IN the year ending June 30, 1919, the shipbuilders of the world and the tonnage they produced in the previous year, were as follows:

United States__________________________   3,874,143

United Kingdom_____________________________  2,524,050

Japan -------------------------------------------------- 282,060

Italy  271,620

Canada _____________________________________ 261,643

Spain---------------------------------118,854

France---------------------------------------------------109,615

There was a time when England alone produced 80% of the ships of the world; and although it is not doing so at present, yet its shipyards are tied up with orders for two years to come, and one English firm alone has secured orders from Denmark, ‘Norway, Sweden and Italy, amounting to $150,000,000. One of these larger concerns recently swallowed six smaller ones. British shipbuilders are under some handicap in the immediate present, owing to the fact that their yards are not built for the most economical construction and that labor is high and going higher. The advance in United States and Japanese output was due to the war.

World Needs Many Ships                  '

USSIAN granaries are closed for the pres_T ent, and the world’s supplies of food must be brought from America, Argentine and Aus- 3 tralia. English coal exports are estimated to ^; fall short of pre-war totals by 50,000,000 tons y a year for many years to come, and this shortage must be made up by shipments from America.

The world is denuded of supplies of every • .J kind because there is not sufficient shipping to ' effect exchange of products. As an illustration of this, a ship which had been on a reef off Cape c. Horn for twenty years was salvaged, and in the fall of 1919 brought a cargo of Patagonian wool into New York. Shipping officers are so scarce that this vessel was navigated largely by Ger- . ^A man officers interned in Argentina.

Experienced shippers believe that there is , still a shortage of 16,000,000 to 15,000,000 gross tons in the world’s shipping. A large amount of ‘ tonnage now in use would, in other times, have , been broken up and replaced by more modern vessels and more economical vessels. •

American Need of Ships

UR world, and particularly the Atlantic Ocean, has been getting smaller and smaller. '

When Leif Ericson crossed the ocean it probably took him six months. Columbus made the trip in caravels in seven weeks; the first steam- ■ ship made it in twenty-six days; the Mauretania < in four days and ten hours; the Alcock airplane • in sixteen hours and twelve minutes.           A

All this reads very well. But to the manu- ? facturers, farmers and workers of all kinds in America it does not read quite so well that -there is capacity to produce and manufacture % four times the amount of raw materials and goods in America that can be consumed in ' America, or that if shipping were available the business of the United States with China could f be doubled in two years, or that Australian _s wharves are piled with products which her *' people would like to sell in America but which cannot be sold here because they cannot be * transported here.

Statesmen agree that unless the national surplus can be successfully disposed of abroad, in y competition with foreign countries, the Amer- y ican producer, employer or worker, no matter what his occupation, must of necessity suffer •£' and the national prosperity be retarded accord*

‘ \

'--'.'a ingly. They also agree that for reasons of national defense and well-being the United States should have ships enough to handle its own commerce.

Just before the Spanish-American war Uncle Sam palpitated around the world buying every tub that had not been sold for junk. During that war the soldier boys had to be sent to the Philippines in cattle ships. Ten years ago the South was paying $180,000,000 annually in freight bills on cotton shipped to Europe in foreign bottoms. When the time came to transport American boys to France they had to go largely in British ships, and the price charged for their transportation was enormous. The foreign commerce of the United States now exceeds ten billion dollars annually, and an American merchant marine is such a self-evident necessity that no one questions it.

There was a time when the American mer-proposed to cost $50,000,000 a determination was suddenly made to produce one eighty times as large, involving an expenditure of $4,000,000000. Prior to the war the country had few shipyards and few people engaged in shipping. There were at the start only 61 shipyards with 234 ways; these were increased to 223 yards with 1099 ways.

A Shipping Board was organized that has literally had on its hands the largest task ever undertaken. For a time it produced more shipping than all of the rest of the world put together. In 1917 the Shipping Board made 106 ships, in 1918 it made 812 ships and in 1919 it made 1065 ships. The last of its fleet is now approaching completion.

When the plans of the new ships were announced, it was publicly charged that foreign interests had influenced the construction of vessels too small or of too out-of-date material

chant marine was the best in the world. The history of its fall is revealed by the following table, which shows the percentage of American exports carried in American bottoms in the years named. As the German merchant marine was ruined by the World War, so the American merchant marine was ruined by the Civil War. There were other contributory causes, however.

At the outbreak of the World War the United States had only fifteen vessels of over one thousand tons engaged in overseas trade. For years the American public has understood the need of a merchant marine and has been willing to tax itself in order to establish one. But powerful international shipping and financial interests have succeeded admirably in so confusing the people and so beclouding the issue that practically nothing was done until those same owners, in fear for their own safety, begged America to build ships.

American Merchant Marine

WITH the advent of America into the war came a leap in the shipping world unparalleled in history. From a merchant marine (wood) to be successful in the peacetime competition that would follow the war. For profitable ocean transportation vessels should not be , constructed of wood and should not exceed 5,500 gross tons. Of course it was brought forward that war was an emergency, when many quickly-built vessels were wanted of such a size that no one ship would be a serious loss. Most of the vessels were finished after the armistice was declared.

Of the American vessels registered to August 31, 1919, there were 347 wooden vessels and 1,558 made of steel. The wooden vessels were all less than 4,000 tons. Of the steel vessels 803 were less than 4,000 tons, 132 were less than 5,000 tons, 251 were less than 6,000 tons, 249 were less than 7,000 tons and 123 were over ■ 7,000 gross tons. The government now owns, controls or has contracted for ten million tons of ships, and the American merchant marine is now transporting 26.4% of American exports and imports.

By the close of 1920 it is estimated that there will be, counting private owners, 18,000,000 gross tons under the American flag. Perhaps 6,000,000 of this will be used in coastwise trade and about 8,000,000 will be government built, government owned, and available for foreign trade. Much additional passenger tonnage . is needed.

The Shipping Board’s property includes 1,800 steamers worth $3,000,000,000. In this inventory are 95 of the German vessels, aggregating 630,000 gross tons and valued at $34,193,100. The great investment in shipping belongs to the common people; it was bought with the proceeds of their purchases of Liberty Bonds. They are interested in it and anxious to see what is done with it. As long as the world is as short of shipping as at present, it will be a very valuable property.

American Shipyards

SUCCESSFUL building up of a vast merchant marine in two years was not accomplished without some unhappy results. The cost-plus system at the Hog Island shipyards at Philadelphia and at yards in the Puget Sound region and elsewhere led to frightful abuses— abuses so great that the New York Times reports the Government as “alleged to have been defrauded of more than a billion dollars” in this connection; and Charles M. Schwab in a speech delivered in January, 1920, affirmed that the ships cost three or four times as much as they should have cost.

For all of this the people have had to pay. And the morale of myriads of men who worked under dishonest contractors was impaired, as they saw how, under cost-plus contracts, three men were hired to do one man’s work and how the higher the expenses ran up the more profit there was in it for the contractor.

But although Hog Island will, to those who know anything of the facts, always be a synonym for graft running far into the millions, yet Hog Island finally got to producing ships, and in twenty months turned out 98 of them, adding 750,000 tons to the nation’s merchant marine. This was 20% of the tonnage launched in the United States during that period. The Hog Island plant is a vast establishment covering 103 acres of floor space and 824 acres of yardage, and represents an enormous investment. It employed 30,000 men during 1919, but will be closed on June 30 of this year.'

One shipyard with only twelve slips, however, has been turning out a ship of 5,280 gross tons every two weeks, which shows what a relatively small plant can accomplish by wise management. In the shipyard in question 30% of the total tonnage of each vessel was pre-assembled and one-seventh of all the rivets were driven before these units were attached to the hull. No doubt this yard made large sums of money on its contracts; for the saving in riveting alone, under the conditions by which it was done, amounted to $3,000 per hull.

It is probable that there are now more shipbuilding plants in America than it can sustain, although at present they have all the work they can handle. In February there were 84 tankers on the ways, amounting to 588,565 gross tons. During the war a very large tonnage was built at yards on the Great Lakes, but none of these vessels are large enough to make them desirable for ocean-borne commerce.

English shipbuilders who have inspected cargo and passenger ships built in America before, during and since the war have admitted that, class for class, they compare favorably with the ships of other nations. And what reason can be given why they should not do so? The American builders themselves claim that their structural work is superior, that their yards are better laid out and that they have more labor-saving devices in use than other shipbuilders anywhere.

However, the cost of manufacturing first-class cargo ships in the United States is still around $110 per gross ton as compared with a claimed cost of $87 per gross ton in Great Britain, a difference sufficient to bring the American yards back to where they were before the war unless, the causes are found and removed. During 1919 Great Britain built 1,620,000 tons of shipping, and the United States 4,075,385 tons; but these proportions will not continue.

Shipping Board Operations

BY MEANS of its Shipping Board the United

States government has practically taken over the world business once handled by Germany; and the Stars and Stripes are now flying in ports in which they had not been seen before in a generation. The great fleet of vessels at its command has been apportioned to routes and services reaching various parts of the world as follows:

Northern Europe ----------------------------- 19%

Food Relief Service 16%

South American Trade  15%

Army Service -------------------------------- 14%

West Indies Trade 12%

Trans-Pacific Trade 7%

Coastwise Trade ------------------------------------- 4%

African Trade 1%

B* During the year 1919 the Shipping Board s dispatched 100 steamers to Brazil, 129 to Art gentina and other Platte River points, and 62 to [ west coast ports of South America. Of this F  number 21 returned to America via Europe,

r The net profits of the Shipping Board on the i operation of its ships from 1917 to April, 1920, . totaled $132,944,614.07. It pays the highest r salaries of any department qf the government >- —as high as $30,000 per year. Upon the Board at one time or another it is claimed that there ■ have been employed representatives of all the > principal American lines engaged in shipping— ” the Barber Line, Munson Line, Mallory Line, ? Bull-Insular Line, Clyde Line, Ward Line and the so-called “American” Grace Line, Pacific J Mail and International Mercantile Marine.

:    The law which created the Shipping Board

^f. provides that it shall go out of existence five •t years after the termination of the war—if it ever terminates. But there are international ? financial and shipping interests that would like < to have it terminated much earlier; for they fear the uccess of any government-owned enter-r prise. Once the government of the people should “ get the idea that the people can do anything at all as it ought to be done, there would be danger 5 , that they might try some other experiment.

Talk with any railroad man; and you can easily learn how zealously the railway officials tried, during the period of government management, to make the government operation a finan-i, cial failure. You can learn how engines and £ crews went out with fractional loads, how freight £ schedules were purposely impeded, how waste-| fulness was aided and abetted, all to make j ’ government management a failure, until the knowledge will make you sick at heart.

b.'" ' True, this makes a poor outlook for any plan j? designed to lift the burdens from the plain i' people, just as it was intended to do; but the job r was too well done. That is the real cause of the I-” unrest among railway employes. They know they were used by their officials to help forward ? a'piece of double-dealing, and they resent it and - are trying to bring their and the people's be-r trayers to account.

Marine Freight Rates

A’ DVERTISEMENTS widely published during the war told the people: “Undoubtedly ' after the war is over, the ships which we are building will pay for themselves many times over”. Few are found to echo that statement at the present time, although marine profits have been very high, and in some instances too high.

Before the war coal mvas being carried from the United States to Italy at $4.50 per ton; and although the increased cost of operation is 150% to 200%, yet it seems hard to think that the Shipping Board authorized freight rates of $26.50 to $27.50 per ton, so that a bankrupt ally has had to cut down its olive trees for fuel because it could not afford to buy American coal on that basis. It may be said that others were charging the same rate, and it may be said that iu general the rates of the Shipping Board were but three-fourths the rates charged by British shippers; but it is too bad any way.

One ship operating between San Francisco and Calcutta earned in one voyage of 110 days $750,000 net, after all expenses of every kind had been provided for—about 50% of the cost of the vessel. The Quistconck, the first ship built at Hog Island, in a voyage of 92 days made a net profit of $461,151. The prevailing general freight rate on transatlantic cargo is around $25 per gross ton of 2,240 pounds. This is about two cents per can on canned tomatoes, a slight increase over the cost of bringing the can by rail from California to New York. It is too high a rate.

There is no question, however, but that ocean freight rates will be on a profiteering basis for many years to come. Shipbuilding costs are high and not liable to come down much. Labor is high and unrestful. Foreign ships are no longer capitalized at their cost, but at their earning values. These and other items will tend to keep up rates.

The Shipping Board has been operating its fleet by paying the operators a percentage of the gross freight receipts. There are 300 firms engaged in operating the ships; they employ 60,000 officers and men; and there are twentyeight navigation and engineering schools which have turned out 12,000 graduate deck officers and engineers for this work.

An idea of the rapidity with which the present opportunities are being embraced may be gathered from the fact that twenty-four concerns with a capital of $42,485,000 entered the shipping business of the United States in July, 1919; in August nineteen more concerns with a

capital of $55,950,000 entered and in September thirty-five more concerns with a capital of $40,870,000 entered.

Eventually there will be a gradual decline in the rates, as the troops and war supplies get back home and the devastated countries are restocked with the necessaries of life; and the rates will have to come down in due time if the American farmer and manufacturer are to continue competing with the foreign farmer and manufacturer. If America has no ships she will trade in only those ports in which her competitors please to permit her, and her goods will go there delayed and badly handled.

Profits in the shipping business depend upon ability and experience, as in every other business. The International Merchant Marine, plying out of Wall Street under the British flag, made profits of $33,000,000 in 1917. It is easy to see why the I. M. M. would help the American people to believe that their government could not learn to sail a ship at a profit. There are 33,000,000 reasons in plain sight.

Shippers have to have some wits. They have to know what can be done with a ship and how to do it. It is a surprise to some to learn that tankers go from the United States to Cuba and Porto Rico loaded down with vile-smelling, sticky, greasy fuel oil, and come back with the same tanks filled with sweet, clean new molasses; yet such is the fact. At the end of the journey the tank walls are thoroughly cleansed with steam and caustic soda to prevent contamination and to prepare for the new cargo.

Farmers and Shipping

T^ARMERS of the United States are a unit in J- wanting the government to run its own ’ ships. They claim that under private ownership and operation ocean freight rates have been enormously increased, Wall Street patrioteers having made as high as 42% a year on their capital even before the war. The farmers would like to try the experiment of seeing whether the government (the people) can sail ships without paying tribute to Morgan.

American ship owners have no just complaint at the American government making the attempt. They have fared well at the hands of this people. When Great Britain commandeered ships under the British flag for war purposes she paid their owners $1.27 to $2.01 per deadweight ton per month; but when the American Shipping Board commandeered ships the owners were compensated at $4.15 per deadweight ton per month, or a little more than 25% per annum on the investment represented.

Labor and Shipping

ONE bugaboo which has always been used to coddle the American people into the belief that they could not possibly learn how to sail ships again has been the difference in the scale of wages paid to American and foreign sailors. . The facts are now coming to light; and it is revealed that labor forms only 12% of ship operation cost, and that the cost of living has increased 1.5 times as rapidly in the United Kingdom as in America. It is also discovered that the American crews, on account of oil-driven engines, are only slightly larger than the British—three or four men to a crew of 40 to 60. Before the Avar England’s tonnage was manned by 295,652 men. American tonnage is now manned by 266,000 men.

The difference in wages between foreign and

American seamen was removed in one stroke. ' by the wise Lafollette Seamen’s Act. Seamen can no longer be treated as slaves in American ports. They can obtain half of their wages at any time, and are not liable to imprisonment in irons for changing employment while in port\ ‘ The effect of this act was to cause thousands of foreign sailors to accept shore positions while their boats were in American ports. Americans took their places at American wages; and in an incredibly short time American wages became the rule, and there is now very little difference between the wages of British and American seafaring men.                    ,

Mail Steamship Company is now having twelve vessels made in New York which, when completed, are to be the finest vessels on the Pacific, capable of maintaining a ten-day schedule to the Orient.

Government Aid to Shipping

AFTER the Revolutionary War Congress passed a law that any imports brought into the United States in American bottoms should pay a slightly lower rate of duty than imports brought by foreign ships; and in less than ten years the percentage of goods brought in American bottoms had increased from 23% to 90%. It is proposed to revive this plan. Present commercial treaties are in conflict with it, but they can be changed if we insist.

At the conclusion of the war every government-owned British boat was sold to British shipping interests at $100 to $150 per deadweight ton. Thus practically every buyer was • given a subsidy; and it is believed by many (notably by Mr. Schwab, who is a shipbuilder and genuinely interested in the maintenance of - a permanent merchant marine) that a subsidy of some form must be made by America if she is to compete permanently with Japanese and . other subsidized lines.

\ The Congress would like to extend some form of aid to American shipowners, as soon as the 'necessity of aid is apparent; but it does not yet know what it wants to do. The Shipping Board has had four chairmen already, and as many . policies. Old timers fight shy of subsidies, remembering the years before the war during which American ships could not compete with foreigners, but possibly not taking the changed conditions sufficiently into account

Bills are now under consideration which • provide, under certain circumstances, for exempting profits of American ship-owners, derived from foreign trade, from all Federal excess profit taxes for ten years. Congress would like to do this, but is conscious of the need for revenue and inclined to go slowly on any measure proposing elimination of taxation.

The claim is widely made that private ship' owners must have government aid in the oper-‘ ation of their ships or their purchases of government boats will never be completed and the boats they-have started to purchase will find their way back to the Shipping Board. Many

farmers and others would not be sorry if such were the case. They wish that one of the officers of the cabinet should be a Shipping Officer, whose duty it would be to employ permanently the most competent ship operator to be found as general manager of the Shipping Board fleet, giving him a salary that would induce him to do his best.

Thoughtful shipping men who have¹ the best interests of the whole country at heart have suggested that a considerable part of the American tonnage must be used in tramping, and should be chartered to operators on a three-year basis, under the obligation to purchase at the end of the three years. A charter price of $3 per deadweight ton per month is suggested.

It is believed by the advocates of this idea that in three years the small operators who have ability will have developed that ability, commercial and financial; and that by that time the entire tonnage now in the hands of the Shipping Board can be absorbed.

Must the Ships be Sold?             1

USUALLY the answer to this question is an unreserved Yes, but when we take note of the interests represented by those who thus promptly advocate the surrender of this great asset of the common people we are led to wonder whether the answer should be Yes or No.

The United States Chamber of Commerce has advised the sale of all wooden and steel vessels under 6,000 tons deadweight to the highest bidder, foreign or domestic; the sale of all other . vessels to Americans; the absorption by the > government of the difference between war costs and present value of ships; freedom from governmental regulation of routes and rates; privilege of transferring larger vessels to foreigners after a term of years; no government insurance; . : and a declaration by Congress of a policy of giving aid to a privately owned and operated American merchant marine. Looks like another scheme to get the common people/ to give up everything, including their hopes, but to guarantee everything to the other fellow. Too many ' bristles on this meat to make it pass for spring lamb.

A survey of the situation by one of the chair- ' men of the Shipping Board discloses the fact -that America’s shipowners could not at present take over more than the government’s best 300

■ sW

u&'^r    hand-picked ships, leaving it with the least

K '    profitable 1,800 ships to operate anyway. Im-

Ik      mediate sale, therefore, is impossible, at any

Et      reasonable price. If sold too cheaply the dis-

K;     position of the Shipping Board's fleet would

p- kill the American shipyards.

:        It is pointed out by the thoughtful that in

. view of the dearth of shipping in Europe, now is the time to dispose of such portions of the $   ■ fleet as are least likely to be profitable when the

i, time of competition at much reduced rates arrives. Europe could take over the wooden ships which will never be profitable in the day of competition, and would be glad to get them. V Many of the smaller steel ships could also be disposed of to advantage in the same market, fe-, As to the price for the ships, the world is short of ships today, and there is no “difference between war costs and present value of ships" F^T so long as this shortage exists; nor is there any L- indication that either labor or material, here or £. abroad, will become cheaper. The Government 7? has already suffered a sufficient loss on many & of these ships, and should not be in a great hurry to sell while they can be operated as g, profitably as at present.

t         The hope that Congress will compel the sale

F of ships is holding buyers off, and agitation in 7 that direction is agitation against one of the great investments of the common people. One I' paper that ought to know better has even urged ;/ that the Government donate these ships to any-body who would agree to operate them under . the American flag.

Of the thirty-one ships made for the Shipping r       Board, and sold by them, the average price

t'      obtained was $217 a deadweight ton, considered

S'- a fair price. Shipping operators want the fleet sold much more cheaply than this. Some of them argue for a price of $150 to $160 a deadweight ton, which by their own admissions ’ would enable them to pay for the ships out of the earnings of the ships themselves in four years time; others want to buy for $100 a ton vessels which cost $250 to $300 per ton to build. Tentative prices are $200 to $225 per deadweight ton. These may have to be reduced gradually from time to time as the market falls. The $ ships cannot be sold in large numbers until the P- country is prepared to purchase them, and it is not yet prepared.

Besides the Shipping Board the navy has boats for sale, a surplus of steam yachts, motor _s ,i boats, barges, scows, tugs and many other <, varieties used during the war for locating submarines and for other purposes. Some of these boats are being absorbed by the fishing business, to which they are best suited.

The Government also has 200 wooden hulls <.■ of the 3,500 ton class for which it has fixed a e price of $75,000 each, and estimates that these can be finished as steamers at $65.71 per deadweight ton each. Here is a chance for some people who know something about fitting out * ships to complete some of these bargains and dispose of them in Europe.

Transport Agencies                           ''

UNCLE SAM as a trader enters the field of world transportation under favorable circumstances as far as jealousies and animosities are concerned, but he is without the experience of Germany and without either the experience or the influence of Great Britain in securing • and holding tonnage.

Great Britain has at all important ports ’ qualified, capable, influential men who are able to pick up all the best of the traffic for British boats; and this is quite right. This ability, experience and influence is properly theirs, and if American boats are to compete favorably with British boats the same efforts that the British have used must be made to learn the needs and to fill them. American boys must be taught, as are British boys, that American trade is a world business, the same as British trade. The Shipping Board sees the pinch of competition coming ' in the distance, and in March announced that it favored some kind of working agreement be- k tween American ship owners and the German ; Hamburg-American Line, which has a good organization throughout the world, but no ships.

Marine Insurance                           7

IF America is to have a merchant marine .

worthy of the name she must have her own marine insurance companies. At present two-thirds of American ship insurance is handled by foreign companies. In 1918 a total of $71,258,305,186 of marine insurance was written in the United States. There are fifty-two strictly e American companies, but a large part of the 7) one-third handled by domestic companies was • handled by only two of the fifty-two concerns, jp

Australian Government Ships

'T'HE Australian government is also wrest-A ling with the shipping problem, and finds itself confronted with much the same difficulties faced by America. Australians have made large sums out of running their lines up to the present; and although they are considering the question of selling out and retiring from the ocean, they express fear that in so doing they will be left to the mercy of what they call the "British shipping ring” and forced to take only such goods as those lines will handle.

The shipment of wool from Australia is still under wartime restrictions, as are also meats and other staple commodities. No Australian wool can come to American markets except via England, but hides and tallow can be shipped anywhere, and there is a ready market in America if shipping to move these could be found.

Power of British Interests

THE Plumb Plan League, in its weekly newsletter of April 24th, 1920, says:

"It is charged by organizations which are interested in the development of South Atlantic and Gulf ports that American railway managers are in conspiracy with British shipping interests to injure a large section of the country which under federal control of the railroads had been treated fairly.

"The British steamship lines, it is charged, do not relish the diversion of traffic from northern and Canadian seaports to southern trade routes, and have joined in with the railroad executives in demanding that rates established for southern ports be cancelled. It is about the boldest bit of effrontery that has been witnessed for a long time.

/‘While agitating for a cancellation of export rates to South Atlantic ports the railroads and British shippers advocate a continuance of similar rates to Halifax, a British port which is served by their lines. They ask that export freight from the middle west be hauled to Halifax at practically the same rate as to New York, although Halifax is obviously much farther from the middle west than from the .South Atlantic or Gulf ports.

"The demand for the breaking up of our merchant marine is a part of this conspiracy. The shipping trust does not welcome this competition.

“If they succeed in securing a cancellation of southern export rates and the destruction of our merchant marine, the combine will be in fine position to exploit the American shipper at will. Heretofore the railroads have got all that they sought. If they are not successful in their latest venture, it will be the first check they have sustained since they. launched a campaign to drain the federal treasury and place the public completely at their mercy.”

Naval Items

SINCE the wiping out of the German navy all the remaining navies and naval programs in the world, exclusive of England, do not equal those of the United States. It was proposed that during 1.920 the United States should spend $425,000,000 on its navy, during the same period in which England is to spend $184,000,000 for the same purpose. We can but wonder at these great expenditures. How foolish they will all seem sometime!                 .

The American naval building policy is admittedly predicated on the naval policies of Great Britain and Japan, and calls for a force of 638 ships as compared with a pre-war strength of 231 ships. AU the great nations of the world, aside from the United States, have stopped building these great dreadnaughts which take so much of the people’s treasure.

If the World War was “a war to end war,” why do not the nations, and' especially this nation, stop getting ready for bigger wars? If navies are to be a mere “international police,” what sense is there in making any of them more formidable than ever?                        '

An interesting Italian naval item is the raising of a superdreadnaught which went down in 1916 in 36 feet of water. The vessel turned turtle as she sank, and buried the noses of thirteen 12-inch guns deeply in the sand. Nevertheless, the ship was raised. This is a great triumph of Italian ability and ingenuity.

During the entire period of modern civilization the great maritime nation has been England, which has either owned or controlled most of the world’s shipping. This supremacy has not been without prophetic notice, particularly as to the British navy, which in the estimation Of Bible students, figures prophetically in its attack under Nelson at Trafalgar against Napoleon: “For the ships [navy] of Chittim [England] shall come against him [Napoleon].” (Daniel 11:30) That all may not always be smooth sailing for the trade of the vast modern aggregation of merchant vessels is hinted at in other expressions based upon a general lan- < guishing of commerce, "Howl, ye ships of Tar-shish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them”. (Isaiah 23:1) But, whatever the temporary setback, the Golden Age will bring renewed and vastly greater usefulness for the shipping prepared for that time.

APREA.CIIER is one who preaches or proclaims a message. The gospel means glad tidings. A preacher of the gospel is therefore one who proclaims the good news of the kingdom of the Lord and the divine plan for the salvation of the human race. At the birth of Jesus the angel announced to the shepherds watching their flocks in the field: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to. all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10,11) This is the message of glad tidings w’hich preachers of the gospel are privileged to tell the people who have an ear to hear. It is a wonderful privilege to be a messenger to proclaim the Lord’s message; therefore the true preacher of the gospel occupies a position of great privilege, as well as great responsibility. There are different kinds of preachers, however; but the world has come to put them practically all in one class.

Just now thirty denominations announce that they have formed a league or federation under the name or title of Interchurch World Movement. All the preachers of these various denominations are expected to participate heartily in this movement of their various denominational systems, and they would impress upon the people in general that their work is preaching the gospel. In January, 1920, at a council held by the World-Survey Conference of the Interchurch World Movement at Atlantic City, by rising vote a resolution was adopted setting forth the purposes of this great organization. That document says:

“Since there is no other agency of the churches, as at present constituted, capable of undertaking the task forced upon us by the present world situation and outlined by the Interchurch World Movement, this organization was called into being.

“We believe the time is fully ripe for such unity of action on the part of united Protestantism, that without attempting to solve the problems arising from divergent and conscientiously held points of view on matters of doctrine and policy, the churches are ready for a common program of activity.”

Doctrine means that which is taught, put ■ forth as truth and supported by authority.

We emphasize the point that the Interchureh World Movement is deliberately ignoring the doctrines—the great truths of the divine plan —and joining hands in a movement. In this connection it is interesting to read the prophetic words of the Apostle Paul, applicable to the end of the age where we now are: ‘"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”—2 Timothy 4: 3, 4.

On April 1, 1920, a bulletin was issued by the Interchurch World Movement announcing a financial campaign, thus disclosing what is . meant by their united action. This campaign purposes to raise $336,777,000 to carry on in the name of the church and in the name of Christ the expenses of a great world movement which boldly announces that it disregards the doctrines that have been taught by Christians for centuries. The people are asked, of course, to contribute to this large fund; and the people are entitled to know whether or not this movement is man-made or whether it has divine authorization. Is the Interchurch World Movement in . the interest of announcing the glad tidings of the kingdom for the salvation of all mankind, or is it a man-made movement, having as its chief purpose the controlling of the political situation of the world?

It is interesting here to examine the divine commission given to preachers of the gospel. A commission is the authority granted or issued ■ to one to do or to perform certain things. A ‘ man is elected to a public office. There is issued to him by the duly constituted authority a paper writing, commissioning him to perform the duties of that office, and his duties are usually prescribed by the laws of the land. One who • becomes a preacher of the gospel by tailing the divinely ordained steps is commissioned or ’ clothed with authority, which coinmission ,or . authority is set forth in the Word of God and defines his duties and his privileges. This coni- <*^r' mission came to the Lord Jesus at the time of his consecration, at the Jordan; and every one

Who, thereafter by full consecration, justification • and acceptance was received into the body of Christ, was likewise commissioned to preach the good tidings of the kingdom. The terms of that commission are plainly set forth in the following words: ‘‘The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the'prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, * that he might be glorified.”—Isaiah G1:1 - 3.

It was God’s intention that there should be preachers of the gospel in order that the people might hear and understand the truth. The Apostle pays: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they tye sent?” (Romans 10:13-15) The Apostle Paul tells us that it pleased God in due time to manifest His plan through preaching. (Titus 1: 3; 1 Corinthians 1: 21) When St. Paul was restrained of his liberty many came to him and he received them, “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ”.—Acts 28: 31.

Since the commission set forth in the Scriptures is the only one granted to a minister or preacher, it becomes the Christian’s duty to examine it carefully; and in so doing he fails to find any intimation whatsoever authorizing the organization of a great system to go among the

K people, especially those who are unconsecrated, gy and to solicit from them large sums of money. K- No authority is given in the Bible, and no prece-k; , dent surely, where the Lord or the apostles ever H'¹ - inaugurated a big “drive” for the collection of IT large or small sums of money. On the contrary, they went about proclaiming the message of I glad tidings concerning the kingdom; and Jesus L said: “Let him who hath an ear to hear hear”.

What, then, is the real purpose of the Interchurch World Movement?

It is manifest from statements issued by that body that its purpose is not to enlighten th© people concerning the doctrines of Jesus Christ and him crucified; that it is not its purpose to teach the doctrines concerning the kingdom of Messiah; that it is not its purpose to call attention to the oathbound promise God made to Abraham, through which blessings shall flow to all the human family; that it is not its purpose to teach the people concerning the restitution blessings, which were spoken of by all the holy prophets from Moses to John the Baptist and and to which attention was called by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost. One of its boldly announced purposes is to collect from the people a large sum of money.

The Freeport (Hl.) Journal Standard publishes, a discourse delivered by Dr. Conant, in which he refers to the Interchureh World Movement ; and since Dr. Conant is a clergyman and should speak with authority concerning the movement we quote his words concerning this great world movement. Among other things he said:                                       ₍

“The Bible is now the last restraint on man, and he is seeking to throw that off and forget God.

“. . . And so a union of the churches under such leaders as the Interchurch World Movement furnishes will be to be taken into camp with the devil’s agents.

“This movement is shot through and through with fundamental error. Our Lord tells us that the mission of the church is to preach the gospel to every creature —just that and nothing more. But the leaders in this' movement tell us that the mission of the church is to ‘establish a civilization, Christian in spirit and in passion, throughout the world’. Those two conceptions will not mix any more than oil and water will.

“The leaders of this movement are also seeking to manufacture service by the machinery of organization, through which they are trying to squeeze it out of-us by drives, rallies, pledges, and other forms of external pressure, instead of quickening the spiritual life of the church from within, which always results in the kind of service that is spontaneous and that doesn’t have to be pressed out of us. ■       '

“And they are reversing God’s method for raising money. For he says, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you’.

“And by their social service program they are seeking to capture the functions of the state, and are thus uniting church and state.”

Dr. White, another clergyman, is reported as ' saying: “The world will be ruled by the forces of Christianity in twenty years”.

I Dr. A. T. Peterson, an Illinois Baptist minis' ter,, says concerning the Interchurch World Movement: “It is a super-league of nations".

A comparison of the above utterances and the announced purposes of this movement is interesting in the light of the divinely-given commission to preachers. That commission says: “The Lord hath anointed me". This anointing is of the spirit of the Lord and is the divinely authorized commission or authority to tell others about His great plan. They are authorized or commissioned to preach unto the meek; Le., to instruct the teachable, those who are willing and anxious to hear about the plan of salvation. There never was a time in the world's history in which the people are so anxious to hear the truth as now. Trouble always causes one to turn his heart toward the great Creator, when nothing else will. The commission furthermore says: “He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted”. Never in the world’s history . were there so many brokenhearted people as now. The great world war, revolutions, famine, pestilence, the oppression by profiteers and other unjust men, the sadness that has come k into the homes by reason of sickness and death, have caused the nations and peoples of earth to ' bow down in sorrow with broken hearts. This s, divine' commission does not authorize any one to break the hearts of the people or to break K'      their pocketbooks; but it does authorize those

Whom the Lord has anointed to carry to the ” people the soothing balm of His precious proin-b      ises, pointing them to a day coming in which

j*.      order will be brought out of chaos, and when

- peace will be established and the blessings of life and liberty given to the people.

“To proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” K The whole world is in captivity to sin; and resulting from that sin are oppression, injustice, £      unrighteousness, sickness and death. The Lord

r -      through His Word points to the fact that with

$ the passing away of the great world-trouble the old order, or world, completely ends and Mess' siah’s kingdom shall be established, and that p;       then the glad tidings of great joy will be given

?       to all the people and all will be released from the

v prison-house of death, and all will have an opportunity to know of God’s great plan of ■J      salvation. It is the privilege of the preacher

K?’    comfort the hearts of those who are now

Ek"      Borrow, with the assurance that a blessing is

the future not only for them, but for their loved ones who have gone down into death.

“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”

means to point the Christian to the fact that the

time of acceptance of sacrifices in order to be a part of the body of Christ is before the kingdom is set up; and that day of sacrifice is now about ended.

“And the day of vengeance of our God” means ; that the preacher’s commission is to call to the attention of the peoples of earth the fact that > the great war, famine, pestilence, distress of ' nations, etc., are but in fulfillment of the divine prophecies concerning God’s vengeance upon the unrighteous systems of the earth. These -have reached a fullness; and Messiah’s kingdom is now being installed for the purpose of dispelling all unrighteousness and of bringing peace and happiness to the people.              ;

The glad tidings which all truly consecrated . preachers are commissioned to proclaim in brief are: That our first parents, Adam, when perfeet, violated God’s law, resulting in the forfeiture of life, liberty and happiness, and that this disability passed upon all pf Adam’s offspring; that God promised to redeem man from this condition of death and suffering (Hosea 13:14); that He made promise to Abraham, saying, “In thy seed shall all the families of the ; earth be blessed” (Genesis 12: 3); that the seed ; of Abraham, according to the promise, is the Christ—Jesus the head, the church his body members (Galatians 3:16, 27, 29; Colossians 1: 18); that the seed must be developed and installed fully into office before the blessings can : ! come to the world (Acts 15:14-17); that the beginning of the selection of the seed of promise was with Christ Jesus at the Jordan and the body members at Pentecost, and that this selee- j tion progresses from that time until the Lord ^; comes again to receive His own unto Himself (John 14:1-3); that the second coming of the -Lord and the ending of the world, i. e., the ending of the old social order, would be specially marked by wo rid-war, famine, pestilence, revolutions, distress of nations, falling away from ' ’ the faith, and a general time of trouble (Mat- ' thew 24); that then will follow the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom, in the days of these un- > righteous langs (Daniel 2:44; 12:1); that then , would follow “times of refreshing ... from < the presence of the Lord; . . . times of restitu- J tion [restoration] of all things which God hath _A

spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began’ (Acts 3:19-24); that this period of the reign of Messiah, now shortly to begin, will mean the blessing of all the obedient ones of earth and will result in the restoring of such obedient ones to fulness of life lost by father Adam’s disobedience, and the full restoration to conditions of peace and happiness and the complete destruction of all unrighteous things — everything that makes sorrowful, including death itself (1 Corinthians 15:20-26; Revelation 21:1-5); that all this great blessing is coming to the human race by reason of the fact that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man (Hebrews 2: 9, 10; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6); and that his resurrection from the dead was a guarantee that all the world shall be tried in righteousness and be given an opportunity for the blessings that God has in store for them.—Acts 17: 31.

What a wonderful opportunity preachers now have of comforting the people and binding up the brokenhearted by fulfilling the divinely-given commission instead of turning away from the doctrines themselves and turning the people’s minds away from the doctrines of the Bible. Why should they solicit men who make no pretense of Christianity, or any one else for that matter, to give up their money to carry on a campaign which is not authorized by the Bible, and which brings neither comfort, joy, peace, nor satisfaction to the groaning creation? Would to God that the clergymen of the land would awaken to their great privileges and duties at this time. Would that they would re-examine carefully the divine commission and seize the opportunity to put it into practice by teaching , the people the great divinely-given doctrines and truths instead of purposely ignoring them.

At this time, as never before, the people need instruction, correction and teaching in righteousness. Nothing is so helpful as the doctrine of the Bible. “All scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) The Interchurch World Movement says: “We have ignored the doctrines.” “Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”—2 John 9.

Are the people being honestly dealt -with and honestly treated by the clergy when these tell

Accused Bible Students Exonerated           ‘

THE officers of the International Bible Stu

dents Association, generally known as Rus- .

sellites, were indicted in May, 1918, tried before a court and jury and sentenced to 80 years imprisonment for an alleged violation of the -Espionage law. They applied for bail on appeal, ~ -but bail was denied and they were incarcerated ■ in the peniteniary. At the end of nine months ; they were released on bail and two months later _ the United States Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment because “they did not have a fair trial”. They were the only men in the country arrested under this act who were -denied bail. The reversal of this judgment was equivalent to saying that these men were illegally and unjustly convicted and sentenced and ' illegally imprisoned. On May 5,1920, on motion of the United States District Attorney, the cases were dismissed, thus completely removing the charge and vindicating each one of them.

The Brooklyn Eagle is a sample of certain papers that did not make a fair report of the facts, with desire still to prejudice the minds of the people against a religious organization. On May 6 the publishers of that paper requested ■ ' an interview from Mr. Joseph F. Rutherford, President of the International Bible Students Association, concerning the case. He declined • to give it, assigning as a reason that the Eagle would not make a fair report. Upon a promise from that paper that it would publish exactly • what he said or nothing, he prepared a state- < ment and furnished it with the distinct under- _? standing between himself and the Eagle that they would either publish the statement as made by him or nothing. In keeping with its course it broke faith and published a garbled state- ; ment, misquoting him. The Golden Age has

■ .. ' '■ >

. been furnished a copy of the statement sent to the Eagle and we here insert it:

“Of course we are pleased to be relieved of the prosecution that we might give our time wholly to the Lord’s work in which we have been engaged for a number of years. As a Christian I endeavor not to murmur nor complain, knowing that my experiences come to me bv the permission of the Lord. The Bible makes a clear distinction between a Christian and a churchman or religionist. It has been the rule to persecute Christians. The Master Christ Jesus was not only misunderstood, but charged with sedition at the instance of the religionists of his time and caused to be put to death. St. Stephen, St. Paul, St. John, John Bunyan, and a long list of other followers of the Master have been similarly misunderstood, charged with being against the goveni-ment and prosecuted. This is not strange, in view of the fact that Jesus said: “The servant is not above his master; if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also’.

“War inflames the minds of the people and often advantage is taken of such condition to accomplish a selfish desire.

“Pastor Russell organized the International Bible Students Association and its work in 1879. Because of adhering strictly to the Scriptural teachings, the work of this association has not been popular with Church-ianity. Its members have always been conscientiously opposed to taking human life, believing in the Scriptural injunction ‘/Thou shalt not kill’ and 'Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh’.

“At the annual meeting of this association hold in Pittsburgh January 5, 1918, a resolution was adopted defining the position of the Bible Students concerning combatant sendee in the war, and asking that its members be given the privileges of Section 4 of the Selective Service Act. Amongst other things that resolution said: ‘ The kingdoms of earth have mixed the religion of Jesus Christ with the politics of the world, which has resulted in confusion amongst Christian people*, and which the Lord denounces as Babylon and as an abomination in his sight, . . . and which would bring upon both the indignation of God, causing wars, revolution and anarchy.’

“A committee bearing this resolution called upon President Wilson and personally read and presented it to him. Our troubles began shortly thereafter.

“Prior to the war, a small wireless receiving instrument was placed on the roof at Bethel. It was a gift to Pastor Russell and was used only by the boys there trying to learn the code. It had no sending attachment. It was impossible to send a message. Early in 1917 this apparatus was dismantled and stored in the basement. In the spring of 1918, over-zealous agents of the secret service had it hauled out of the basement and then deliberately delivered the false statement to the Associated Press, and had it heralded over the world,

that our institution was maintaining a powerful wireless, sufficient to send messages across the Atlantic to the Germans. It is obvious that the purpose was to create public prejudice.                                    '

“It happened about this time that a lawyer was placed in charge of the espionage cases at Washington who had previously distinguished himself by prosecuting Dr. Crapsey for heresy. On May 4, 1918, a report from that quarter was filed in the United States Senate, stating in regard to our association: 'We found that its headquarters have long been reported as the resort of German agents/ This statement was either recklessly made without any proof, or else was a deliberate falsehood to create public prejudice.

“Upon the theory that we were in league with the Germans, our books of account were seized and for five weeks experts examined them, and then returned them, not having found one penny which came from a questionable source. These reports appearing from 'time to time in the press, however, increased the prejudice against us.

“ ‘The Finished Mystery’ was the seventh volume of a series of ‘Studies in the Scriptures’ which Pastor Russell began 31 years before the war; and on his death- > bed he requested that this, the seventh volume, be completed by some one else. The manuscript was practically all complete before the United States got into 'the war. It is a book of 608 pages, devoted exclusively to the explanation of the prophecy cf Ezekiel, the book of. Revelation, and the Song of Solomon.

“Thousands of Bible Students had ordered this book years before the war, knowing that it was the intention^ to publish it. No one connected with it ever had any thought of interfering with the government or the draft. This book explains 1700 verses of the Bible. Serious objection was found by the government to the explanation of only a part of one verse. As quickly as it was-ascertained that objection was made to this, I personally visited the Department of Justice, advised them that I had stopped the circulation of the book all over the United States, and offered to take out any objectionable part of the book, that we might go on with our religious work. From then until now we have not attempted to sell or dispose of any of these volumes. ,

“Our trial came on at a time of great public excitement, when the Germans were driving the Allies. With the public prejudice created by the false statements pub* lished broadcast, it is not at all surprising that we were convicted by the jury. Myself and associates took it as being permitted of the Lord for some good purpose and calmly submitted. We hold no enmity against any one. Our purpose is to do good and'not to do evil. We have never had a feeling against the government; no desire to do any injury to the government; always have been loyal citizens and are yet loyal, recognizing that it is • one of the highest duties of the Christian to be laWv abiding.

“‘When a petition was circulated asking that we be . released from jail, 700,000 people signed it in two weeks.

“We are engaged in a fight against no one. Our work is purely to preach the gospel of Messiah’s kingdom, for which he' taught all his followers to pray; and we are glad that it is near at hand.

“Since my release from jail and my recovery from a great illness resulting from imprisonment, I have spoken to thousands of people on the timely and up-to-date subject: ‘Millions Now Living Will Never Die’, and made glad many hearts.

“By the Lord’s grace we purpose to continue to make proclamation of His message; because we are convinced beyond a doubt that witjiin five years the people will awaken to the fact that they are entering the period of the greatest blessings man has ever dreamed could come to the world. We are perfectly willing to be misunderstood and persecuted in order that we might have a part in making known these glad tidings.

“Our prosecution and persecution in the last two years has cost us a great amount of money and time, physical inconvenience, and has retarded our work; but we neither murmur nor complain, believing that in due time the Lord will overrule this, as He has at other times the wrath of man, to his own praise.

“If every one in the United States were as loyal as the Bible Students, there would be no agitation against the government, there would be no revolutions, no violence, no disturbance of any kind. Everywhere I go

being a success because of national prohibition. There may be something in this; but if the liquor traffic is a curse to humanity, then better forfeit every ship than carry the curse to others.

Twenty-one vessels returned empty from Marseilles in December, for the reason that most of the exports from that port are of wine, which is now contraband in America. This is not the only loss that American shipping has sustained on this account; for when the first passenger ship sailed for South America and it was found she would not carry liquor, half of the bookings were cancelled. This speaks better for the class of ships than for the passengers.

Chairman Payne, of the Shipping Board, held that since the sale of liquor in the United States is prohibited, its sale should be prohibited on government-owned vessels; and we think that his decision was quite right. Besides, it may be true, as he suggested, that when the travelling public finds there is no liquor on American vessels, millions of people will prefer to sail in them.

I urge the people to calmness and to avoid strife and contention, and I appeal to the clergy that instead of lending their influence to persecuting humble laymen who are preaching the gospel, they tell the people the truth as to the meaning of this great time of stress, viz., that it is a forerunner of the inauguration of Messiah's glorious kingdom for the blessing of mankind. I do this because His message is the only thing that will comfort the hearts of the distressed and bring order out of the present chaotic condition.

“A distinguished government official has recently said: ‘The world is staggering on the brink of chaos.’ If it must go into this condition, our desire is that it go in with some knowledge upon which to base a hope for the early reconstruction of society and the blessing of mankind. Whether persecuted and interrupted, or permitted to pursue the even tenor of our way, we will continue to strive to do as we have in the past, to tell the people of Messiah’s kingdom, the only panacea for the present ills of mankind.”

Mr. Upton Sinclair has recently published a book entitled “The Brass Check”, a study in American journalism, in which he exposes the unrighteous practices to which certain metropolitan papers will resort, the breaking of faith such as above indicated being a common thing. In due season we will give a full review of Mr. Sinclair’s book.

Marine Repairs

During the Avar it was almost impossible to spare vessels from the service to make repairs; and as a consequence all drydocks are very busy, and will be for a long time to come, thus cutting down the available tonnage ready for immediate use. A great many drydocks have been added to the American equipment. Norfolk has three new ones, built of concrete and completed in less than a year. This is considered a remarkable engineering feat.

Canals and Waterways

SHIPS to the number of 2,396 made use of the Panama Canal in the year 1919. These vessels paid in tolls $6,972,004, or about $3,000 per vessel. The Canadian government has an important canal in view. It is to consider a plan for deepening the St, Lawrence River, to allow passage of vessels of 30 feet draft to and from; Lake Ontario. If carried into effect this would' make seaports of several great cities, now cut off from the high seas.

• 1. Did God create only Adam of dust?

Answer: See Genesis 1:11,

• 2. Who named all of the beasts, birds, fish, etc.?

Answer: See Genesis 2:19, 20.

• 3. TV/??/ did God prepare the pardon for Adam? Answer; Because the earth was not then perfect. He made the perfect garden for Adam's home.

• 4. What zverc Adam and Eve commanded to do?

Answer: See Genesis 1: 28.

• 5. When and how will the earth be filled—re-t»- plenished—with Adam’s race?

  Isaiah

  
  

  35:10; Acts 17:31

  
  

  3:20,21; 15:14-17; Zcph-

  
  

Answer: See John 5:28, 29; Ac aniah 3:8, 9.

• 6. Were Adam and Eve on trial for life?

Answer: See Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12.

• 7. If Adam had obeyed God, would he have gone to heaven?

Answer: God did not promise Adam a heavenly home, but an earthly one.

3$O illustrations 3 02 pages, cloth, 4Jr" x M". sale Price 75 cfs.

Sec special offer.

• 8. Did Adam and Eve fail in their trial for life,?

  Answer

  
  

  —Genesis 3: 6.

  
  

• 9. Did God blame Eve for Adam’s sin?

Answer : See 1 Timothy 2:14; Romans 5 : 12, 16, 18.

• 10. How did God punish Adam? •

  Answer:

  
  

  3:19, 20; Bomans 6:

  
  

23; 5:12, 16, 18; 1 Corinthians 15:22.

• 11. Arc the dead conscious?

Answer: See Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 10; 3:19, 20; Psalm 146:4; 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 2 Peter 2:12. ' 12. H77 the dead ever live again?           :

Answer: See John 5:28. 29; 1 Corinthians 15:12> 22. 23; Acts 17:31; 24:15; Revelation 20:12, 13'. 13. TIVzi/ will all of the dead be raised?

Answer: See 1 Timothy 2: 5, 6; Hosea 13:14; Acts 21:14, 15; Luke 9:11; 1 Corinthians 15:13-18.

14. Did Adam alone suffer the death penalty?

Answer: See Romans 5:12, 18; Ezekiel 18:2; 1 'Corinthians 15: 22; Ecclesiastes 3:20; Rom. 3:10, 23.