Indirect Aid

With the idea of a ship subsidy having apparently gone into permanent eclipse, the Shipping Board is casting about for other methods of rendering aid to American shipping. It announced last week that it favors preferential tariff rates on goods shipped on American vessels.

It fell to the lot of Wesley Livsey Jones, Republican Senator from Washington, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and official senatorial sponsor of the Harding subsidy plan of a year ago, to introduce in the Senate some suitable plan. His plan is represented by two bills for rendering indirect aid to the hard-pressed American merchant marine.

The first measure provides: 1) a 5% ad valorem tax on all dutiable products and a 2 1/2% tax on all duty-free products entering American ports in foreign bottoms; 2) a toll charge on all ships entering American ports, 6-c- a ton on ships of American registry and 50-c- a ton on foreign built ships under foreign registry; 3) termination of all treaties in any way interfering with these measures.

The second bill provides: 1) that all officers and representatives of the Government shall travel on American ships in preference to foreign ships whenever practical; 2) that all Government materials and supplies shall be carried on American ships only; 3) that one-half of the immigrants to this country must come on American ships.