Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-05-09
Give L. Back Our ShipS


One Of the most effective paS>lar> II, ,b,.
ter>e annals Of the greatest of ,h, Roman
historians i that in which he describe i'..
despair of the Emperor Augustus. when.
learning of the defeat Of Warn, in The
Ieut"hurg forest. he tore hi hair and
cried. My lcgiou>. my lrriau~. DID line
me back my le-iom>." One might. Win
out eNaggeraiion. apply the incident tp the
American people asking TOR their >hip,.
oh. give III back our >hip-." hut there.
would be this difference IN hi. TWO eases
that the Roman lceion> were DESTROYED hv
their German enemies. against V hoiu they
fought on equal terms. while our >hip>
have been DESTROYED mainly by orr own
folly and want of foresight
just before the war Of the RI brIliau ,b.
tonnage of the uiicd States W.l> the laf.-
ct in the world. saving that Of Great nfi,-
ain. which il nearly approached. WchlI
not only mut" vessels Than others. hii ~.
had better Vessels. Our clipper shin, MIR.
the admiration of every port 10 which they
sailed. and that was 81 neailA every port
Ia the world: our in.and steamers had no
competitors for size. strength. finish or
speed; and even our lignt-,lraught schoou-
ers and sloops. chiefly built for short voy-
ages or coasting service. surpassed the
heavy luggerS of other nations as much a
old Fuller's "EugliSh man of war did the
spanish great galleun." in his famous
comparison of the wit-comba,s between
Shakespear aud Ben Jonson. The victory
Of the yacht American. in fact. in the great
contest of ISL. wa. a national rather than
a particular victory. simply because il was
emblenaiic of our general superiority In
the whole round of maritime art
The change. in the interval between that
period and this. j. most humiliaiing and
disgraceful. Our total enrolled and rc.i>-
tered tonnage. which wa> $3.50 ;Ji ton, In
$50. and 5.33l SIS in lsG0 showing an in
GREASE IN ten years of thirty five per cent.
and which al the same rate. would have
been 7.22..73l tons in 1870. was only J.
$40. 80. tons in that wear showing = Il =
crease of ouc-fuurth. Instead oi an increase
Of one-third. n il ought IL have been =
Anne lean shipping. which IN 1880 mad M
just seVenty-One per cent. of all the ship
ping entered and cleared in the ports ni
the United States. in 1870 constituted but
ihiry-nine per cent. OF that total Ia 1850
OF the trade between the United States and
the United Kingdom. American ships ear
rird over two millions OF tons. and British
ships less than Il million tons; but in 1870
the figures were worse than reversed ior
British ships carried more than two mill
ions OF tons. and American ships con>id-
,-Iablv less than 4 million. The change. il
- he seen. la. been a >tupcudous one
TO. amounting quite 10 the humiliation OF
our commercial marine but 10 4 cGmpara-
tive destruction OF it. which Is a, di>hcait-
ering as il is deplorable.
The war, during which the rebel cruisers
were let loose. had something TO do with
this result. but not so much "a is commonly
supposed. Tor the gr,Ater part of our losses
have occurred since 1866. or the close OF
the war. The real cause is 10 be found in
the stupid legislation of Congress, which
has continued lis tariffs in such a way a. TO
render the materials OF ship building dear
precisely al the time when "A great change
was going on in the art of ship building
Before the war sailing ships constructed of
wood We're in almost universal use: for
these we had the materials. and the con-
struction of them did not require any very
great outlay of capital in machinery and
works. But during the war iron steam
ships came into vogue. and soon proved
their superiority. in many ways. TO the old
vessels of wood and canvas Every saga
cious observing mind perceived at glance
that 10 maintain our superiority we must
adapt our labor 10 the altered circumstances
devise the means for meeting the lange
| from wood TO iron and from sails TO steam.
and. with our usual intelligence and fexi-
bility, instead of clinging to the old and
| superseded methods. introduce as rapidly
| as possible the new and better methods. =
Ii was incumbent upon Congress. instead
OF imposing restrictions upon the business
| and laying iInpediments in its way. to give
the freest course to the development of our
native enterprise. ingenuity and vigor of
| action.
| But what has 1t done: Ii has raised the
| import duties upon iron. the chief material
| used in the new ships. and upon nearly
every other material requis e; it has for
| hidden the American merchant from pur-
chasing vessels abroad where they can be
had cheapest. and thus. while preventing
| him from building at hone or from buying
| abroad. has actually legislated in favor of
Great Britain, our principal commercial
rival. speeding her on the course TO the
supremacy of the seas. which we alone
| disputed in former times. OF all that
stately and splendid fleet Of steamers which
every Saturday carries from New York its
vast burdens of freight and its thousands
| of passengers, not one displays the Amer
lean flag Oh the gaff. save as an irouical
| courtesy to the people who have allowed
themselves to be hoodwinked aud robbed
| by their pretended statesmen.
| What is more CALLING than all the rest, in
| this transfer of our once magnificent ma
| rine to our ancient antagonist. is, that il is
| done in the name Of American industry
| Our merchants are turned into bankrupts !:
our sailors, the very sons of Neptune.
| made land lubbers; the schools for our
navy closed, our exports diminished, and
our swarms Of free handed travellers rem
dered the tributaries of the foreigner. in
order that few privileged industries may
| attain precarious prosperity by the hot
house nursing Of special and unjust legis-
lation. In the face OF whole car loads of
demonstrative facts, in the face Of the unan-
imous teachings of political economy
teachings so unanimous that they rightly