122 EFFICIENCY IN THE OPERATION OF STEAMSHIPS. 
and it is unfair to the seafaring profession to force them to a standard of living which would 
not be tolerated ashore. 
Many critics of American shipping insist that Americans cannot operate ships. These 
gentlemen forget the records of the past, the most interesting of which is the era of the clip- 
per ship, which era commences prior to the War of the Revolution and continues until just 
after the Civil War, when the era of steam vessels begins. The years between 1843 to 1869 
are to all Americans who love the sea the most interesting, as during this time American ship- 
builders constructed the finest models of sailing ships ever launched. With these ships the 
American shipmaster proved himself superior to any shipmaster in the world, and it is a mat- 
ter of record how American clippers were loading in China ports at higher freight rates while 
vessels of other nations could not get cargoes in the same port at lower freight rates, owing 
to the difference of speed, and here it may be well to quote from ‘““The Clipper Ship Era,” by 
Capt. Arthur H. Clark, published in 1910. 
“Of the men who commanded the American clipper ships, it may be said that they car- 
ried the ensign of the United States to every quarter of the globe, with honor to their coun- 
try and themselves. Each had his strongly marked individual traits of character and his 
human weaknesses. Nothing could be more remote from the truth than to imagine these 
men as blustering bullies at sea or rollicking shellbacks on shore; neither were they Chester- 
fields or Carpet Knights, afloat or ashore, nor at all the type of skipper that one is apt to 
meet in works of fiction. Many of them might easily have been mistaken for prosperous 
merchants or professional men, until a more intimate acquaintance disclosed the aura of salted 
winds and surging seas, and a world wide knowledge of men and cities. It may well be 
doubted whether braver, true-hearted gentlemen or finer seamen than many of the American 
clipper ship captains of half a century ago have ever sailed the seas.” 
When these men won the supremacy of merchant shipping for American vessels it was 
said of them in 1860 by a critic of the merchant marine of another nation: ‘We have no 
masters who can match the masters of American vessels, and until we do, and allow them 
full control of our vessels, we cannot compete successfully.” 
Even in those early days it was thoroughly understood that the success or failure of the 
venture was solely in the hands of the master. 
Succeeding the era of clipper ships is the era of steam, and as other nations built and 
operated steamships the American ensign gradually faded from the sea, and the year 1913 
saw American shipping at its lowest mark. 
The World War commenced in 1914 and naturally the demand for tonnage grew, and 
as the demand increased the rates soared. Since everything connected with the shipping in- 
terest follows closely the law of supply and demand, the operating cost during the war period 
attained such heights as to be unbelievable. During this period of inflated prices, as a de- 
fensive measure, America had constructed a large number of vessels, and when peace was 
declared America found herself in possessionof one of the greatest merchant fleets the 
world had ever dreamed of. It then became a problem how to make the best use of this fleet. 
It is useless to attempt to conceal the fact that at this time there existed many steam- 
ship companies, whose organizers and officials knew little about the shipping business and 
less about the traditions and established customs of the sea. Wages soared, conditions afloat 
