The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-01-01
The lpeclIne or American 60 .r.ascrc


Under the above heading, the last Burlington
Free fTsss ssys: America" chipping intsrests
have received considerable xt,-c:u,n during the
present season. The almost total suspension Of
ahip.bu,liing in this countrv, Nnd the prospsct
that the American fig will cease tn float
over merchant vessels engaged ia foreign trade,
are matters which ought to and do awaken the
serious apprehsns;ons Of al intelligent citi<ens.
1t appears from carefully collected *t"tis,,cs that
in 1854 we not only rivalled England in the c"n-
ls-t for the supremacy of the seas. but We babe
fair to leave her hehiud. In 1861 the total ton
mage o. the world amounted TO II. 255 $40 tons,
follow:
Owned by the United States. 80. % 539 813
Owned by Great Briui.a ....,. .5.S95JG9
Owned by all 0toer ,tiuns .... $500. .SSW,767
In 1867 the total tUnnnga Of the United States,
as given in the report of the Treasury Depart
ment, was 3S6S,Gl5 tons, aud since that date
our tonnage has steadily decreased. In 1869 the
Hon. John Bright, president of the British Bo,rd
of TIdde, stated that the to.nage OF Great Brit
ian and her de pendeaces annotated to ,23f2 ,000
tons in favor Of Great Britain The United
States Government refuses to register foreign
built vessels; aud rs ship building in this
try il at present ruinouslv difficult. wa
Threatened with the probability that American
commerce will soon he carried exclusively in
foreign bottoms.
Three different committees have besn iavesti-
eating this su beet, aud two Of then. nave made
| noteworthy reports. congressional committee
has been employing tho recess in visiting our
chief commercial cities. and conterring v it'll the
leading importers and ship contractors, ia order
to obtain statistics of the decline Of American
commerce, and also the opinion Of experts as to
its causes. The most striking result Of their in
vestigatiOus was obtained in Boston from the
IA. IF Of .haf ifv
These gentlemen assigned DIS the main cause of
the decay of ship-building in .his country, tho
high duties on iron aud other ship material
They showed by elaborate figures that iron Can
be now purchased in England and brought to this
country at less expense than it can be built in
our own yards. They consequently recommend
ed the removal of the duty upon iron which is
to be employed IN the construction of ocean ves-
sells, The report of the committee has not yet
been made, but it is expected to embOdy substaE.
TALLY the results of their inquiries in Boston.
A committee of the New York Chamber CT
Commerce. has also been studying up the sub;sct
! Its report WAS presented last week. This com.
, mttee comes to the same general conclusion as
| the Boston merchants and builders; but the re-
! port advises, in addition to the removal of the
! duty upon ship iron, the issue of American reg
| listers to foreign built vessels, and the granting
of Subsidies to American steamship lines. Tie
{ last feature Ut the report is not received with
much favor But the other two recommends
lions generally endorsed by those who have
investigated the subject The report of this
committee was drawn up by Mr. A. A. Low,
whose recent paper entitled The Sovereignty
of the Seas" i'll one of the magazines, attracted
| -rrurfi attention.
| The third committee to which we alude, is
one appointed by the Ship-owners Association
of New York city. Us report is Just made pub
lie. 1t goes more fully into details than the re-
port OF Mr.. Low, and presents an modifying
account Ct the decay of American ship building.
| Ii appears that with the exception of the SPAN
! ish gunboats at DeaInars yard not single ma
rne engine or iron steamship is in course con-
stru ,tion; and those gunboats were built here by
Spain at pecuniary sacrifice, because they can
be more easily transported to Cuba from New
York t. an from any European port. THIS com.
mittee recommended the allowing drawback on
iron to be employed in ship bailding in Ameri-
can yards, and also the issuing of registers to
foreign bnit vessels, They oppose any govern
ment Subsidies, however, and argue that they are
both unjust and unwise