The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-04-01
WAaHTNCTON.

WASHINGTON, March 22.-The fol
lowing is a message from the Presi
dent sent to Congress to-day in re
lation to the decline Of American
Commerce.
TO the Senate and House Of Repre-
ssntatsges:
In the Executive Message OF Dec
! 9Th, 1859, to Congress, the import
/ ance Of taking steps to revive ouI
! decreasing merchant marine was
| urged. and o special message prom
( ieed at a future day during the pres
! en5 session. recommending more
/ specifically the plans to accomplish
I tnis result Now that the committee
| OF the House Of Representatives, en-
I trusted With the labor Of ascertain
lng tae cause u the decline OfAmre
can commerce has completed its
I work and submitted their report to
the Legislative branch of the Gov
! eminent, deem this n fitting time
! to execute that promise. The very
/ able, calm and exhaustive report Of
the Committee points ont the great
wrongs which have produced the de
cline in our commerce. It is a ma
tioEal humiliation that We are now
compelled to pay from twenty to
thirty million dollars annually, ex-
elusive of passage money, which we
should share with other nations, to
foreigners for doing what should be
done by American owned vessels
This is a direct drain upon the re
sources Of the country of just so
much money, equal to casting 1t IN
to the sea, so far as the nation is
concerned AS a nation of vast and
ever-increasing interior resources,
the United States, extending as it
does from one to the other Of the
great oceans Of the world, with an
industrious, intelligent and energet-
ic population, must one day possess
its full share of the commerce Of
these oceans, no matter what the
cost. Daily increases this cost and
enhances the difficulty of attaining
the result, and [ therefore put in an
earnest plea for early action IN this
matter in May, to secure an increase
in American commerce. The adj
yanced period of the year and the
fact that no contact for ship build
ing will probably be entered into un-
I'll this question is settled by Con
gress, and the further fact that II
there should be much delay, all larg-
eF vessels contracted for this year
viii fail of completion beSOre winter
sets in, and viii, therefore, be car
ried over for another year, induced
me to request your early and prompt
consideration Of this subject, l re-
gard it Of such grave Importance,
affecting every interest fthe coun-
try to 50 great on extent thar a1v
meth ID whi-J viii gam tne en
secure q rich national blessing
building ships and navigating them,
and utilizing a vast capital at home.
This business employees thousands
of workman in their construction
and manning; it creates a home
market for the products of the farm
and the shop; it diminishes the bal
ance of trade against the United
States precisely to the extent of the
freights and passage and the money
paid to American vessels, and gives
the United States a supremacy upon
the seas Of inestimable value in case
of a foreign war. Our navy at the
commencement Of the late war con
sisted Of less than 100 vessels, Of
about 10000 tons, and a force of
about 5000 men. We drew from the
mercantile marine, which had cost
the government nothing, but which
had been q source Irrational wealth,
four hundred vessels, exceeding 1OO,-
600 tons, and 10000 men, to aid in
the suppression of the rebellion. This
statement demonstrates the value Of
d merchant marine as a means of ma
tional defence in time of war; The
Committee on the Cause of the Re
duction Of American Tonnage, after
tracing the cause Of its decline, sub
mits two bills,Which, if adopted, they
believe win restore to the nation its
larine power Their report shows
with great miuuteness the actual and
comparative American tonnage at
the time of its great prosperity; the
actual and comparative decline since,
together with its causes, and exhibits
other statistics Of material interest
in reference to the subject. As the
report is before Congress, I viii not
recapitulate any of its statistics, but
1 refer only to methods recommend
ed by the Committee to give back
TO US our vast comerce. As a gen
eral rule il can be adopted. l be
ieve that 2 direct money subsidy Is
less liable to abuse than the indirect
aid given 20 the same enterprise
In this case, however, my opinion is,
that subsidies, while they may be
given TO specific lines Of steamers or
other vessels, should not be exclu-
sively adopted, but in addition to
subsjdising very desirable lines of
ocean traffic, q general assistance
Should be given in an effective way,
and, therefore, I commend to your
favorable consideration the two bills
proposed by the Committee and re-
fered to in this message.
L. S. GRANT,
Washington, d. c. March %, 1870.
! Hints about Flowers.
House plants ought to be stimula-
/ A,,1 -.c,,+I1- ,,raa ~. fvtrioa n v,rooT-