, 1872-05-16
our shipping by repeating the imposts
which We1e laid on in 1861.

our shipping by repeating the imposts
which were laid on in 1861. s..5Tl
Admitting free of dnty the materials
used in ship-building can affact those
industries to no perceptible extent, for
at present the demand of our ship-build-
ers for their productions is next to moth
ing. and can hardly be less when ship
building materials are admitted free.i
Nay, more; it is my firm belief that some
of those industries which it is feared
will be injured by repeal of the duties
on the materials to be used in building
ships will really be greatly benefited
Take iron, for instance. According to
| the best authorities our iron bas a tough
hess and strength and durability not
found in British iron, and is less subject
to oxidation. Now, am of opinion that
If the materials to be used in ship-build-
ing are admitted free it would be more
profitable for our builders to use Aneri-
can rather than the inferior British iron
even if admitted free; and am convinc-
ed that our iron interests, instead of
having anything to fear from this plan,
would be greatly promoted.
But the Secretary ofthe Treasury says
the cost of labor and interest OH capital
are greater here than in England, and
were those duties reduced we could not
compete with that country. But were
not wages and interest higher here
than in England in those days when the
clipper ships of Donald Mckay beat the
world, and when England in one year
bought two hundred and sixty-seven
vessels of this Republic ? Nay, more
the rate of interest was higher i'll this
country then than now, because the pro-
fits arising from the use of money We're
greater. So with labor; the purchasing
power Of a days labor was then as high
us it is now ill this country, while it was
lower in England than at present.
But the Secretary of the Trea: u y says
that British mechanics in this DEPART
ment are superior to ours. Is not this
IL most humiliating acknowledgment for
high Government official to make p
Granting, for the sake of argument, that
the Secretary is correct, why are our
mechanics inferior Is it not because
the same load of taxation which crushed
out ship-building, crushed out also all
our marine iron works, driving, in New
York city alone, twenty thousand mer
into other pursuits. Throw off this load
of taxes aid create demand for skilled
mechanics and they will soon be forth
coming. We have them not now be-
cause they are not wanted. Let them
be wanted and they will be found.
am proud to say that among my con-
stituents there are mechanics who can
build locomotive or sleeping-car su-
perior to any in the Old World-far su-
perior, at all events, to any which it has
been my fortune to see in Europe-and
l do not .oubt that we can soon find me-
chanics equal to the demand for the
purposes of ship-bulldins. 1t is assert
ed by some who are we'll informed in
such matters, that many Of the most
skillful mechanics in the ship-yards OF
the Clyde are from this country. Will
they not speedily return as soon as We
make it for their interest to do SO F?
In the report Of the Secretary of the
Treasury already mentioned, Captain
Thompson of Kennebunk, Maine, is
credited with the following testimony;
| Zone of the most expensive materials which
enter into the composition Of q vessel is iron in
its various forms of utility. We're the duties on
imports of those materials which enter into the
composition of n vessel remitted, and among
| them the duties On iron, We could successfully
| compete with the British provinces III ship
| building, and once more gain our lost supreIna-
cy on the seas. We're the industry once .nore
| transferred TO the United States the labor now
| employed i'll the provinces would come to this
our population would ensue.
Captain Thompson believed that re-
mission Of the duties and taxes on ship.
building material is the true method Of
restoring the ship-building interest, and
through it the great carrying trade OF
the United States. He wants no boun-
ties and no favors from the Govern
ment, nor does he ask remission Of
the duties and taxes on ship-buildine
materials to the injury of any other in
terest. But if the whole amount Of
taxation to be raised is to be lower next
year than i'll the past. as it necessarily
must be, he thinks that no more appro,
pirate direction in which to lower it ex-
lists than that indicated by the sore ne.
cessities of the ship-building trade.
Donald Mckay, of East Boston, says
1.-The only effectual reraedy is to take Oft
portion of the whole mass of taxation Thei
we could compete with foreign ship-builders
and more. o-1E H,e
Joseph Titcombe, of Kennebunk.
Name says: 2-as4
"a remission of taxes is the true remedy fol
the bad state in which this industry has fallen
Mckay & Aldus, of East Boston, test
rify that the depression of their bust.
ness is due to the high taxes, while
Messrs. Cur lis & Smith repeat the story,
and attribute it to the same cause. W.
w. Webb, of New York, testifies as fol
| lows sa a=r-r.