72 INTRODUCTORY PROCEEDINGS. 



The foregoing brief reference to abnormal changes in conditions with respect to ships 

 built and building and cargoes carried, especially in their relation to the U. S., is illustrative 

 of the extraordinary character of the revolution which went on during the 7-year period in 

 question. Of course, no one who has considered carefully the trade economics of the situ- 

 ation has doubted for an instant that serious readjustments must, sooner or later, take place 

 and that those readjustments would, temporarily at least, involve many difficulties. Those 

 readjustments are now in the making, and temporary stagnation in U. S. shipbuilding and 

 a decrease in overseas commerce are inevitable until the abnormal developments due to the 

 war have been placed in their proper relation to normal peace-time conditions. 



In passing, it may be well to note that there were great losses of high-class passenger 

 vessels during the war and that much of the war-time construction and service of all vessels 

 was of a character which would greatly shorten their period of usefulness ; it may, therefore, 

 be anticipated that sometime in the not far distant future shipbuilding will profit from these 

 conditions. 



The membership of this Society is, of course, profoundly interested in the developments 

 which have taken place and are now proceeding. The effect upon the shipbuilding industry 

 as a whole, at the present time, is serious. The effect upon ship operation is also serious. 

 Highly developed shipbuilding plants are, in great part, idle. Hundreds of comparatively 

 new steel vessels are tied up with no immediate prospect of obtaining cargoes. That these 

 conditions are temporary may well be true, and the period of readjustment must be accepted, 

 with as much equanimity as possible, as a necessary part of the aftermath of the stupen- 

 dous struggle through which the world has recently passed. 



Passing, now, from tliis brief survey of world conditions which indirectly, and even di- 

 rectly, affect the future of those interests in which the membership of this Society is so deeply 

 concerned, it is a pleasure to record that the condition of the Society itself, both as to mem- 

 bership and income, is very encouraging. It is interesting to note that the membership has 

 increased from 762 in 1916 to 1,762 in 1921, or more than 125 per cent, and there are 122 

 candidates for admission whose applications are to be acted upon at this meeting. The increase 

 in annual dues adopted at the last meeting has relieved, in large measure, the financial em- 

 barrassment with which the Society was then confronted. It is too soon yet to assume, with 

 prudent regard for the future, any unusual additional financial obligations. The establish- 

 ment of scholarships at technical colleges is one of the extensions of the Society's activi- 

 ties which is still a cherished hope of the future since the proper education and training of 

 younger members of our profession has been and must continue to be one of the most 

 effective lines in which this Society can "promote the art of shipbuilding, commercial and 

 naval." On the first occasion on which I addressed you as President, it was noted that the 

 Society is "a great educational institution whose standards and ideals must be maintained and 

 whose powers of instruction and professional helpfulness should be constantly developed," 

 and that "upon the maintenance of high standards for the art of shipbuilding depends, in 

 large measure, the satisfactory solution of the many great problems connected with ocean, 

 lake, and inland water transportation with their consequent beneficent results for humanity. 

 To aim at less would be to miss our greatest opportunity for good." 



These statements are as true today as they were three years ago. Therefore, during 

 the difficult period of readjustment through which nearly all industrial activities, and par- 

 ticularly the shipbuilding industry, are passing, we should be encouraged by the reflection 

 that character of performance will, in the final analysis, be the measure of our success. No mat- 



