The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-09-12
A New Reason for ReciprOcity.

ANova Scotia correspondent Of the New York
Tribune advocates n reciprocity with the Dominion
on the ground Of the great gain to be derived from
the construction Of composite ships He athrms that
the frames for these cannot be brought from England
10 Canada with any advantage. What he wants Is
10 get his iron frames from the United states, for
the following reasons:
American iron il twelve per cent. stronger and
tougher than British. That is to say, the Canadian
builder who may undertake the construction Of n
composite ship viii have just II per cent. the less
iron to pay for. while his ship will be also u per
cent. lighter, and therefore, c0feTis PdTibus, Of -
per cent. higher carrying capacity if he chose 10 en-
pIoy American iron instead Of British. Cost Of the
eoastWise transhipment IS also trihing compared TO
the transatlantic. And the Dominion tariff frees
everything TO ships, making no discrimination
against American or foreign iron, or other metals,
IN no matter what form (save only iron Uindlnsses,
which are subject 10 Log per cent. al rGtOTem) pro-
sided il be declared for ships use This Is the ex-
sting condition Of things. Add to it the reciprocity
which permits American citizens 20 buy and register
at home Canadian-built foreign-gOing tonnage, and
the American hag will be rapidly restored 10 its
woutel position on the highway of nations, borne,
TOO, by that class Of vessels which will most nearly
approximate the ideally perfect ship, until copper be-
comes 50 c~heapened that she may ne reaiized IN that
material.
The writer maintains that composite vessels are
much better than iron or wood tonnage. With iron
frames, water-tight compartments can he made, and
the bottom coppered, which is n very great adyant-
age in preventing foulness. But it IS admitted that
the best planking material 10 Canada is black birch,
which, outside Of the Dominion. has never ranked
high for ship-builJing purposes 1t certainly would
not eorlpare in quality With fir and pine Of this coast.
Per eO4fru. here comes the New York World, and
after quoting an article from the Bulletin about the
amount Of fIeight-money TO be earned this year by
ships sailing out Of this port with eargoes OF wheat
nuts the case as follows:
But Pennsylvania irOnmongers step IN and say
that the whole country would be ruined if Americans
we're allowed to buy foreign ships and sail them.
They have demonstrated TO Congress that the great
est prosperity to the United States is attained by
compelling Americans % stick their hands in their
rockets, and to look on while Englishmcn, SWedes,
Germans, and Danes buy ships on the Clyde and
come to San Francisco. for instance, TO the number
Of coo in q season, carry of the grain, and earn this
SO. OOO. 900 in freight. These gentlemen insist that
onr prosperity would Immediately 90 to Dayy Jones
locker II Americans should buy 600 foreign ships,
own them, sail them, and earn Sl2,oOO,OCo year
By 80 doing
time an learning why that Sl2,OOO,OOO annually
paid 20 foreigners for carrying California wheat Is
utterly beyond their reach. In the first place, they
cannot buy foreign ships, because the navigation
laws positively forbid them 10 do so in the second
place. they cannot buy them at home, because the
tariH on iron and other ship-building materials gives
the owners Of foreigu-buiit ships so great an advant-
age over the owners Of Ameriea1-built ships in the
competition for freights that to buy American ships
for the foreign carrying trsdst simply to 60 into
bankruptcy
The high tariff on iron has all the faults and ex-
crescences Of a protection measure where very little
protection Is needed. The Nova Scotia ship builders
show that, even with the high prices Of American
iron, there would be a decided advantage IN having
the iron frames made in the United States, II they
could be taken 10 Canada free Of duty. Well, the
-hiu-builder at home has all this advantage what
ever il may be. The Canadian to-day would only be
TOO glad to have these advantages, which, IN his
own estimation, embody all that are offered on the
part OF the irOn-makers Of Great Britain. When
Roach undertook 10 build the Pacific Mail steamers
he showed before n committee Of Congress that he
could build them 50 low that there could be no ad-
vantage gained in having them built on the Clyde.
He has, We believe, made good his statement The
tariff on iron ought TO be reduced, but Il cannot
fairly be said that it Is an insuPerable obstruction to
ship-building in the United States-S T, RUhshR.