Abstract

Editorials

In general, goods are worth what they will bring, irrespective of what they have cost, and the bid of P. W. Chapman and Company was well above that of any other received. It is well to remember, though, that $10,000,000 of taxpayers' money was spent merely on the reconditioning of one of the eleven ships, the Leviathan, while the Shipping Board's statement that its own book valuation of the fleet is only $16,378,000 is misleading. The four most valuable vessels--the Leviathan, George Washington, Republic, and America--appear on the books as costing nothing to build, since they were seized from Germany. Also, the terms of the Chapman bid call for only $4,000,000 in cash while the government will lend the company $42,000,000 at less than commercial interest for the construction of two new liners.