Josephus Daniels to Edward Nash Hurley

Replying to the letter of your Board under date of September 22nd, I beg to say that the requests you are receiving, to except from the operation of the recent commandeering order certain completed ships, which are among the tonnage embraced in the order, present a very serious question, and I think you should know the attitude of the Navy on the subject.

The United States is on the threshold of an unparalleled effort which will tax our national resources beyond calculation. The transportation of the great army, which is in prospect, across three thousand miles of ocean, and the maintenance of a force of such magnitude at so great a distance from its base, is clearly beyond the shipping resources available to us at present. It is impossible at the moment to assign a limit to our needs and it would be a reckless and improvident act for us to diminish our available resources of tonnage by the release of any vessels, either completed or building, which we now control.

The nations associated with us are deeply concerned in the success of the great national effort we are putting forth, and in view of the unstinted support which we are giving in every essential for the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of their own people, as well as their armed forces, we think they will accept without question any policy with reference to the commandeered shipping which is dictated by a deliberate sense of our vital needs.

Sincerely yours,
Josephus Daniels.

Honorable Edward N. Hurley,
Chairman, U. S. Shipping Board,
Washington, D. C.