Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1868-02-07
Tho Shining Interest.

Inc shipping lGto'est'
We publish the statement of tho effort
made by Mr.. Pike to obtain some relief fc
the shipping interest of the ccnntry.
il furnished us by friend. Mr.. Pike ask
Of those interested, suggestions.
It is we'll understood. both in Congress
and ont Of il, that The shipping interest q
the CT nntry il in peculiarly dcprcssc
condition. l;Ht. as yet, few ~ifnrts hav,
been made, either by ship builders or shll
owners. 60 present to Congress the prope
remedy. have from time 10 filnr, i'll m.
place in Congress. presented such amend
mcnts of existing laws rs occurred to ME
anl it nnw seems to me advisable to invite
from intelligent gentlemen, conyrrsan
with this great branch ofnational inli,str,
such statements of facts, either in rrgart
to its present condition OF To remedies fol
existing troubles, as they may think nsrfui
Revenae bills are now maturing III The
appropriate committees. aud almost all the
various manufacturing Interests OF the COM
try have made statements on paper o! their
desires, and forwarded them to ai"nhers OIL
Congress and. of course, ifany new sug-
gcstion'. new facts, or new arguments can
be presented. or oi,i ones resented in a
new light. HOW is the rraper time to do it,.
ftsss the liberty to ash the co orper-
stiou uf the person who reads this because
have hoth personal and representative
interest in this matter. and w"n'd Ike 10 c
nidcd in my cfinrts by intelligent sugscs
tions from any quarter.
In order that the present posture of at
tairs here may he understood. give the
various proppsitipns have from time to
fine introduced, all Of ,taich are noe pend
fn,. Those who take the trouble to read
chi will notice the difficulties encountered
aud the source from which they spring.
DRAWBACKS.
January 5. 1866. introduced the foil w
ing resolution, VIII CHI was read considered
and agreed to-
Whereas, by the navigation laws of the
United States. an American ship has n'
advantage in any particular over foreign
ships, in either American or foreign ports.
hut is oblig d to compete with shipping on
terms of perfect equality;
and Means he instructed to enquire into the
cxpeditncy of drawbacks Of duties paid on
materials entering into the construction of
such vcsaels, to the end that American
ship builders may compete with foreigners.
Ia this branch of industry, more nearly mp
On an equal footing.
The Committee IT Ways aad Means. al
though frequently urged by me, declined to
incorporate the proposition into the tariff
hill, and endeavored to engraft it on that
bill by way Of amendment. The gentle
mcu who opposed me, Messrs, Morrill, Of
Vermont, Allison of Iowa. and Ilnopcr
If Massachusetts, were members of the
Committee of Ways and Means.
l give the proceedings a. printed in the
Gsebc of July Z. 1866;
Mr.. PIKE. moyc to inse TT the follow
ing as new section
'SEc.-And ii be further enacted, That n
Drawback equal to the duties pail be al
lowed to shipbuiiders on corlage, iron.cop
per. chains, and anchors actually used ana!
employed by them i'll the building and rig
ging Of any ship or steamer. or other vessel
built within the limits Of the United S:atf g;
the ainennt Of draw back in all cases to be
ascertanc,l and paid in such manner and
under such regulations as may he preserib-
cd by the Secretary Of the Treasury.
Mr., Chairman, will say but few
words on this proposition. l is ton late i'll
the ses ion and too late in the afternoon. and
the weather is too warm to say mach; but
l cannot refrain from explaining it to the
House, as it is one of considerable i!npor
lance. The pulley of this Government has
been a settled one from the begiDuins.-
Ever since We have had t. riff We have nj
lowed drawback to encourage AMI pro
tect articles for expectation 1t is appar-
cnt to the gentlemen of The House that IN
40 way can we compete in foreign markets
with foreign-made manufactures except by
allowing our manufacturers to compete
with articles produced in foreign countries
which has not been subject to our taxatnn.
This is the only method we can adopt ia
put our people on an equal footing with
foreigners.
The amendment provides tia. on ar
ticlrs entering into sl,ip-bailding draw
back shall he allowed equal to the duties
paid as some encouragement against prov
inciaI and fnrei gn competition. The cos.
Of ships built in this country is very great.
~ more than thos, built in the Britis!,
Prnvincss. Both labor and material are
vastly less there. A ST. John ship Of n
thousand tons can he produced for S45,Go1
in gold. while the same ship would cost Il
Maine ship builder S55,5GD in currency
This is an enormous dilferancc. But i,
must be rccolec.ed that everything that en-,
tiers into the ship is greatly cheaper than
with us. We all know that 40 art Gle o'
manufacture can be made here for much il
any. lcss than double the cost before the
war. But in addition to other items of en-
HANGED cost with which everybody is famil
lar, the ship-builder has to contend with
the high duties Tin gold) upon articles ac-
tually used in building seven hundred and
firty ton shipin my district in 1865. l,
was prepared by careful and intelligent
gentleman and is reliable:
,G20 lbs. iron cent per h.. S;66 q
6,2Oo lbs. spikes a IL cts. per h., las q
400 lbs spikes, galvanized. 81 sc
5000 lbs castings, Is5 o.
81 ,3i, lbs. chain cable etc cts. per Id. 500 o.
LOIS lbs. anchors u III cts per lib. l59 O.
Ills IDS cilnch rings cts. per H., - 2,
ls,sdl lbs. yellow metal for shcathin,, 357 s.
la!sO lbs hemp cordage a ) cts. per lb., 500 :,
DID lbs. manila, a IL cts. per h., lsS 81
o,isO yards duck, u ~ per cent, 300 o,
10 bushels salt. u Is cts, per bushel, 100
On, lead, copper, belts, nails and paint, IFS q
Sundry smaller items, $50 q