1917 . . . $ 100,000
1918 . . . 1,040,000,000
1919 . . . 1,806,701,000
1920 . . . 356,500,000
1921 . . . 70,000,000
1922 . . . 61,000,000
1923 . . . 100,000,000
$3,434,301,000
Those were some of the sums appropriated by Congress for the use of the Merchant Fleet Corp., a quasi-public body instituted in Wartime to build ships to carry soldiers, food and munitions overseas. When the War ceased, the corporation had to pay its bills, to settle with shipbuilders for cancelled contracts. Then its job was to operate the...