The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-12-01
Tho Problem OF Revivins American COM
merce.

| AAS A"9Vuoi CouRrtbo, WuICn cOmmeuCcS Itb
session in Washington next Monday. will have
many and great questions to deliberate on
questions Of foreign and home policy, questions
OF finance, questions of tariff and internal
revenue; but we think we are not exaggerat-
ing when we say that so far as concerns the
grandeur and prosperity Of the metropolis
Congress will have before it no question of
greater Importance than that of restoring
American commerce to the proud position
which it occupied fifteen years ago. Do our
readers know that whereas in 1861 the tonnage
of the United States had reached about five
and a half millions-somewhat in excess Of
| the tonnage Of England-it has since fallen
| off to four million three hundred thousand tons,
and that Of England has increased to seven
| million three hundred th0usand2 The fact is
startling one, and particularly when the
| statement is added that Of the tonnage which
we still possess only about one-fourth is oecu-
pied in the foreign trade, and even that chiefly
in the scavenger work of supplying Europe
with the guano Of Peru. We do not to-day
possess a single steamer plying between New
York and any European port but have sur
rendered the whole foreign commerce of Our
port to the English the French and the Ger
MANS
Many causes have operated in producing
this disheartening state of things AS Mr..
Low, one Of our most enterprsing ship
owners and merchants, stated before the select
committee OF Congress, which has been
recently collecting information on the subject,
1T Is easier to explain the causes of our
decline than to suggest remedy" The
causes assigned before that committee were
various, the principal ones being the gradual
revolution that has been effected in ships, from
the wooden sailing vessel and sidewheel
steamer to the iron sailing vessel and screw
steamer-a revolution in which we took no
part, preferring to cling to the sailing vessel
and the wooden sidewheel steamer; the pre-
ference in freights and assurances given to the
iron vessels over the wooden ones; the differ
ence in the cost to the English merchant of
his vessel and that of his to the American mer-
chant; the high duties paid on materials
entering into the construction of American
ships, which materials are free of duty in
England; the advantage which the English
have over us in getting all their ships stores
out of bond free of duty; the difference in
the rates of wages; the disadvantage under
which our deprecated currency placed u.s. the
failure OF our government to substitute steam
ship lines in competition with the English and
French, and, finally, the generally prejudicial
effect of our high protective tariff All these,
with the exception Of the first, are causes
which it Is in the power of Congress to
remove or mitigate; and as to the first we
suppose it may be safely left to the intelligence
and enterprise Of our shpbuilders and ship
owners.
But Notwithstanding Mr.. Lows remark as
to the cause being more easily discovered than
the remedy, there has been no lack of sugges-
tions as TO the remedy. These suggestions may
be condensed into three principal groups
They are-frst, the removal of all legislative
restrictions on the purchase of foreign ships
and on their admission to American registry
second, the granting of liberal subsidies by our
government to steamship lines, and, thirdly,
the allowance Of drawback of duties on al
materials entering into the construction and
outfit and maintenance of ships 1t will be
readily understood that these propositions are
not equally favored by the two great interests
that are most closely involved in the question
the shipowning and the shipbuilding interests.
The shipowners, as class, may be set down
as in favor Of all three. The shipbuildcrs are
and will be opposed, to the bitter end, to what
is termed free trade in ships. They say, and
with much force and reason, that it would be
the finishing blow to the now languid and tot
tering interest which they represent; and that
it would not only be ruinous to that interest but
would be seriously detrimental to the nation at
large, in closing up all the shipyards, sending
the ship mechanics out Of the country or to
other occupations, and thus depriving the gov
eminent Of its most useful and Indispensable
artisans in case Of war with naval power.
On the other hand, the shipowners do not
believe that, even with the allowance of
drawback, the shipbulders of this country can
compete with those Of England. AS Mr.. Wes-
tervelt, formerly one of our greatest shipbuild-
ers, stated before the committee, s'The days of
wooden ships are ended; and to build wooden
ships would be labor lost" The shipowners
say, 'Let us buy our ships where we
can buy them cheapest, and if American ships
can be produced as cheap as foreign ones Of
course we will give our own the preference.
Some Of our principal shipbuilders, including
Mr.. Webb, of New York, and Mr.. Mckay, of
Boston, have expressed the fullest confidence
that if they are put, in regard to the cost Of
material, on an equal footing with the great
iron shipbuilders on the Clyde and the Tyne,
they can, Notwithstanding the disparity Of
workmen's wages, produce as good and as
cheau ships as their En0liah rivals All that