There isn't much unbiased literature on the shipping problem. No scholars have written any books on this subject during the last few years, and most of the magazine articles are brief or partial accounts scarcely worth looking up. The best short studies are: Kurt Lachmann, The Shipping Problem at the End of the War, No. 25 in the Studies on War and Peace, published by the New School for Social Research, 66 West 12th St., New York 11, N. Y., 1913 (25 cents); and Fortune’s articles on the Merchant Marine, in the issues of November and December 1944. If you really want to enter into this study in a big way, there are the Hearings before the House and Senate committees on H.R. 1425, but you had better know your way around before tackling this mass of testimony.

You can get a general historical background from the following books that are inmost big libraries, even though some are out of print:

Sea Lanes in Wartime: The American Experience, 1775–1942. By Robert G. Albion. Published by W. W. Norton and Co., 70 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. (1942). $3.50.

Shipping and Shipbuilding Subsidies. By Jesse E. Saugstad. Published by Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. (1932). 60 cents.

The United States Shipping Board: Its History, Activities, and Organization. By Darrell H. Smith and Paul V. Betters. Published by Brookings Institution. 722 Jackson Place, Washington 6, D. C (1931). $2.50.

Merchant Marine Statistics, 1941, Report Series No. 12. By United States Department of Commerce. Published by Government Printing Office. 25 cents.

Economic Survey of the American Merchant Marine. By United States Maritime Commission. Published by Government Printing Office (1937).

Economic Survey of Coastwise and Intercoastal Shipping. By United States Maritime Commission. Published by Government Printing Office (1939).

Annual Reports of the United States Maritime Commission, 1937 to date. Published by Government Printing Office:

American Shipping Policy. By Paul M. Zeis. Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J. (1938). $3.00.

From EM 25: What Shall We Do with Our Merchant Fleet? (1946)