The Merchant Marine act of 1936

The Act of 1936 substitutes new methods of granting ship subsidies for devices which Congress and the Administration regard as inadequate to promote an "adequate" overseas merchant marine. The results under the sale of the war-time fleet at a heavy discount, the construction loan fund and the ocean mail contracts are set forth. The following features of the Merchant Marine act of 1936 are discussed: the declaration of policy, the Marititme Commission, the construction-differential subsidy, the operating-differential subsidy, addtional subsidies, cancellation of the ocean mail contracts, treatment of American seamen and government ownership and operation. The paper is concluded with a presentation of some of the issues raised by the new legislation. Among these are the difficulty of determining foreign shipbuilding and ship operating costs and also of discovering foreign subsidies, the problem of idle shipping, the rampant economic nationalism of many countries, the apparent lack of knowledge concerning the shipping needs of the country, the danger of foreign retaliation against American trade under an unwise excercise of the new subsidy power, the possible conflict between the reciprocal trade program and the promotion of shipping, and the fallacy of the "delivery-wagon" theory of shipping.