For Sale

The United States Lines and the American Merchant Lines are definitely going on the auction block, all together.

Last week General Albert C. Dalton, new president of the U. S. Shipping Board, made the announcement that exact specifications for submitting the bids would be published on Sept. 15, that all bids must be in before noon, Nov. 8. All bidders must be U. S. citizens, must guarantee ten years of service on the lines, must pay 25% cash. In the event that no bids should be satisfactory, the Government will continue operation of the lines.

Five liners constitute the U. S. Lines: Leviathan, George Washington, Republic, President Harding, President Roosevelt. The first three were seized from Germans during the War, the other two were products of the Government's Wartime ship-building program. As the operator of the U. S. Lines, the Government lost $3,463,484 in the fiscal year 1924, $2,315,862 in 1925. The five fast freight ships of the American Merchant Lines have not been so great a liability.

Later in the week the American Delta, the American Dispatch and the American Republic lines were put on sale by the Shipping Board.