In 1914 the United States had tess than 5 per cent of the merchant shipping tonnage of the world; in 1952 it had 32 per cent of a vastly larger world tonnage, although its basic competitive disadvantages had probably increased in the intervening years. This enormous growth of the American fleet resulted from the changes in public policy which accompanied a new view of the American role in world affairs. This article analyzes the major developments in the American merchant marine, both deep-sea and coastwise, since World War I.

The study of business history should not be restricted to investigating the development of internal administration in specific firms. The history of business is indivisibly linked to the history of mankind, and business historians should aim at understanding the interplay between the actions of individual companies and changes in the total society. This topic can be illuminated by studying a group of firms in the same industry, by studying business in a certain region, or by relating business policies and methods to such characteristics of the population as the American willingness to work hard in pursuit of a higher standard of consumption.

The effects of religion on business have inspired much schohrly inquiry, but the effects of business on religion have yet to be studied systematically. The following article draws several themes from a study of commercial periodicals, the religious press, and biographies. The indifference to theology of many businessmen furthered the interdenominational movement. This influence, coupled with a demand for “efficiency in religious affairs, stimulated a movement to merge churches. Some businessmen and religious leaders urged that such business techniques as advertising be adapted to the use of churches. A substantial body of literature arose which sought to transform religious prophets into businessmen and religious texts into manuals explaining how to succeed in business.

Russell & Co., the Boston partnership which had long been prominent in the China trade, found its business as commission agent in a state of serious decline by 1861. Therefore Edward Cunningham, a junior partner resident in Shanghai, conceived the idea of founding a steamship line to operate up the Yangtze River. This venture would require a capital far exceeding that used by Russell & Co. in its commission business. The head of the firm, Paul Sieman Forbes, who lived in New York and Newport, spurned the project in favor of more lucrative and secure investments in the United States. Cunningham then showed his promotional abilities by raising the necessary capital in China. Not only was the resultant Shanghai Steam Navigation Company profitable in itself, it also brought much commission business to Russell & Co. This article, based mainly on the manuscript records of the Forbes family, contributes to a more realistic estimate of the amount of American capital in the Far Eastern trade and to a greater appreciation of the administrative problems and methods involved.