Merchant Marine

The presence of President P. A. S. Franklin of the International Mercantile Marine Co. in London, where last week he was shrewdly consummating the $35,000,000 sale of half his fleet to British operators, caused concern to U. S. shippers. They felt that this sale-- of the British-registered but U. S. operated and underwritten White Star line's 500,000 gross tonnage-- meant further disintegration of the U.S. merchant marine. It may be that President Franklin will use the sales proceeds to wipe out an International Mercantile Marine indebtedness of almost like amount or, and more probably, to buy up certain U. S. Shipping Board vessels, including perhaps the Leviathan, and thus really strengthen the national merchant marine.