The Portland daily press., 1869-10-20

HI
terests of the country. 3sFf p
Mr.. A. A. Low eXamined-I am a shipown-
er and importer, and have always been in ia
yor OF the protection of American interests:
am inclined to assist our artisans. mechan-
les and sailors, and advance their interests |
generally; most of our laws are framed with |
view to protect our various interests, but /
the laws Which are designed for our general /
protection are pressing on our shipping inter |
eSts.
Chairman--Giye us your views as 10 the |
laws which have operated against our ship |
ping.
|. MIR. Low-First, we have deprecated cur |
rency; we have to pay very high prices for all |
materials which go into the construction of |
ship, and also for sailing the vessel. Before |
the war; American ship interestsswere stimu-
lated and supported; sailing ships were large
ly IN use, freight was low, and the business |
somewhat remunerative When war came
on, priyateers burned our vessels. and rates OF
insurance increased. We cannot build ships
unless they are relieved from all taxes now
put upon them. The policy of England is to
subsidize those lines of steamers which ply
between that country and various portions of
the world, and this has given her a prestige
almost insuperable. Her ships, too, are well
built, for her mechanics have been trained in
the construction of iron vessels. They have
all the machinery requisite for the purpose,
and. it seems to me, that our mechanics
would take long time to get into a con-
dition to perform such wclk. We have
Just now but one important steam
line, the Pacific Mail, whose property
has been considerably injured since the
| commencement of the overland road. We
| give S50,000,000 OF $60,000,000 to a railroad,
and cut off all support from the Pacific Mail
line. The capital of the Pacific Mail has been
| reduced millions of dollars yet it would have
been as good property to-day as ever if Con-
gress had not given all that money to build
| railroad to ruin new steam line. There is
| not law in the statute book but seems to
| infict injury on shipping. The policy of En-
| gland is perfect-the result of studying that OF
other countries. They are nation of supply
| They have manufactures in abundance to
| supply distant markets. They have coloni-
| al policy. All their laws ara for the interest
| of commerce. 1t is not SO in this country, for
| our Legislature does not give that attention
| to commerce which other countries do. A
very interesting letter in the Times of this
| morning fully explains the causes of the de-
| preston. My own opinion is that subsidies
| should be given as an inducement. They
may be costly in the beginning, but it would
cost nothing in the end. We cannot build
| steamers, l suppose, because iron has taken
the place of wood. The screw steamer has
| taken the place of the wooden vessel which
1 W.
that we are inevitably driven to iron. l see
Mr.. Webb and others have expressed great
| confidence in the ability of our mechanics to
| compete with Engshmen. 1 have not that
| same confidence in the superiority of our
wOrkmen. They work a short time, and de-
moraliZation seems to extend to that depart
! ment of labor to a great degree We can
| command as skillful workmen as any in the
| world, but l don't think we can command
better than those in England. The ships
they send here are superior to any other
made hitherto-modelS OF workmanship. And
one who has made a passage across the At
lantic in an ocean steamer will be satisfied
with the stability and speed of the YES
| sci. 1t seems to me Enolishmen attain
| the utmost excellence, and l don't think
| we can excel them in any respect. 1t will
| take many years of study for us to learn the
art. The English have adhered to the policy
of sustaining their ocean lines by sufficient
subsidies. They have Fever shrunk from ad-
| vancing the country's interests. IT line were
formed, and found to be unsuccessful, a large
| subsidy would be given if necessary for the
| purpose. In peace as in war England has
ever desired the supremacy of the ocean, and
this supremacy they acquire by subsidies. De-
| liberately and Intentionally they have driven
the Americans from the seas by so doing.
They pay even larger subsidies than necessary,
SO as to have control of the ocean.
By a Member-From your experience do
1 the English run their steamers at less EXPENSE
| than Americans? Did Collins run his line at
| the same expense as Cunard?
| Mi. Low-The English government p;o-
| tect their ships, and we burn them. They
permit all their vessels 10 receive supplies from
bonded warehouse. We tax every supply that
| goes on board the ship-every pound of tea
and sugar. The English exempt ships from
| all charges. In every way they encourage
l ShlnnInu re in :.
press them; we do everything at the expense
OF the ship. At the time OF the war the ship
ping was the only interest that suffered. Pri-
vateers burned and subjected them to heavy
rate OF insurance, and foreign companies COM
| plftely turned their faces against nsuring.
Charman-What is your opinion on free
| trade?
| Mr.. LOW dare say that those who are not
| lully American in their feelings would be in
| favor OF bringing foreign ships here and putting
them under the American flag. I would pre-
| fer, individually, to See our mechanics en-
couraeed as hitherto, so that we might not
| only have ships, but means to build. If we
were compelled to buy ships outside, we would
| be ruled out of the sea altogether Shippino
| has been very Improbable in this country. IF
| the American shpbuilder aid shipoWner were
put on the same footing W tn those in England
| enterprise and business would soon be mani
I lest. We have iron and steel, but need the
experience That, however, we can get. The
currency has caused great deal of demorali
cation; the Pacific Railroad has been an in
jury to us, and we are now threatened with
canal. The steamer cannot transport freight
cheaper than sailing vessel, but still there is
no profit in either at present.
Chairman-I understand you are in favor
OF restoring the commerce by building at
home rather than by buying abroad
Mr.. Low-Certainly so. 1t has ALWAYS
been my feeling to see our own shipyards re-
stored, and the country independent of for
eign skilled labor
Chairman-What effect would it have on
commercial interests to ahrogate our present
laws and 60 abroad?
Mr.. Low--It seems to me that at present
the English can build much more cheaply
than ourselves; but after time we can be in |
dependent of them.
Chalrman-Would the fact of purchasing |
our ships abroad operate to make them for |
el9n IN their character to a considerable ex-
tent.
Mr.. Low--They can build at present so |
much cheaper than we can that I have no |
nope OF revlvlng that industry among our
selves for sometime. Every patriotic senti- |
ment would advise us to employ our own men
as sailors, and OF course our shipmasters and |
mates should be, as they have been, Amer-
cans. We have great many men now idle
who would 60 .t rsCF ~,
MI. fOlllOn eXamined--My views were ex- |
pressed yesterday by Mr.. Steimers and other
gentlemen. Their views are correct with re-
gard to the decay of our shipping interests.
and the mode of revival. An impression
is abroad that the Shipowners' Association is
the representative of the shipowners of New
York, but that is not so, for though it con-
talns many responsible men, still equally re-
sponslble men are not members; and it con-
talns about forty foreigners. There are sew
eral gentlemen of the Association whose
views are entirely different from those ex-
pressed Yesterday, and who are strongly op-
posed to the repeal of the Navigation laws
think all that the shipbuilding of this
country requires is a freedom from
duty on all metals, cordage, &C., &c,
tnat enter into the construction of the ship.
Inc duty on copper now is a prohibtory dl-
ty 1t compels the American to pay seven or
eight cents more pound for copper than the
Englishman. The duty on iron is about
twenty live per cent. The law operates to
that extent against the American. As far as |
the labor is concerned, although we pay our
men more, yet | think the superior skill of
our mechanics is more than an Offset to the | {
in price. The duty on copper acts
very seriously against our mechanical inter-
asts, for the owner will have his ship repaired
abroad, where it can be done the cheapest |
The effect of free trade would be, after our [
people once got the start it woald reqnre but {
l short time TO have ships built in this coun- {
ry as cheaply as in England, but think our ,
casting trade would be swamped with Eng i
lsh bottoms before we could defend ourselves. !
i've us chance first to recover ourselves. t
M theh we can compete. What the Ameri- il
mot Il.