Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1875-10-16
COMMERCE. OF THE PACIFIC COAST.
NECESSITY FOR SHIPS AND sHIp-BULDlNG on
rat WEST COAST or THE UNITED STATES.

The late famine in the East Indies,
the disasters resulting from which could
only be everted by supplies from Eng
land of maize, wheat, barley, etc., has
taught the Hindoos that they can sub
sist on these cereals with more comfort
to themselves than is afforded them by
rice only, and hence new market and
o yast field for commercial enterprise is
opened to Washington Territory. and
to the States Of Oregon and California,
for wheat and corn'and for the exchange
and sale in the Eastern States of the
Union, of the products of the Indies,
of China and Japan. 10 49,,
This trade. fairly opened, may prove
the salvation of the entire commerce OF
our country, as we'll as means of pre-
venting direct taxation to meet the de-
crease in our customs revenue, not
caused by any large diminution in the
amount of our imports, for that has not
occurred, but by nearly the entire Of
that trade having passed from American
into foreign hands. The goods repre-
senting our imports are purchased by
foreigners, shipped in foreign vessels,
received here by foreign agents, and,
specially in New York, passed through
the custom-house by men more inter-
estsd in foreign matters than in our
own. So injuriously open have these
frauds Of under-valuatons and snug
Cling become, that some cities of the
lakes and of the Mississippi valley, as
stated by the New York Tribune, have
sent representations to the Government
that they can no longer import goods
without ruinous loss, because of the
same, by conniyance or fraud, being
sold in New York at far Less values.
~ There can be no permanent change
in these ruinous conditions of our trans
Atlantic commerce, until we regain our
fair proportion Of the ocean carrying
trade-what before the war was II per
cent.-and we cannot regain that in any
other manner than by the restoration
and protection of ship-building, to pro-
dnce American ships, as superior to
those of our present competitors, as
were our clippers to the slcw-sailing
hulks of their foreign owners twenty
Eve years ago. s.... t-.. sac
As an evidence of our degradation in
ocean trade and of the absolute necess-
ity for relief therefrom, let us look at
the following facts: In 1880, of the total
tonnage entering our ports, the Amer
lean, was seven times that of the for
seign. For a period of more than
twenty years, that is from 1910 to
1851 inclusive, it averaged more than
double; 'buL in the last fifteen years the
adverse change to us hos been more
: humiliating. Thus, of all the tonnage
entering our ports in 1860, we had an
e.rcess in our Ame,,ican ships of 8 ,567 ).
374 tons, while AT the close of 1878,
sthis excess had not only been swept
away, but the foreign tonnage entering
our ports in that year exceeded ours by
4,470, 456 tons, change against us, in
fifteen years, of 8,037 $50 tons! And
We now pay tribute to foreign enter
i, prise Of about $l3o, 600, 600 annually,
for freights and passage money on the
transportation of American products,
imports and passage money, which
: would be earned to us in American
ships and would sustain the country in
specie payments. How it is SO much
additional drain upon the, national
wealth and completely retards our pros
penty. II is even worse than q re-
taraaticn, for tits first an absorption of
our means. and then the use of these
means to crush out our commercial in
dependence and bind down our people
'andsr direct taxation to support Gov
srrtncnt which fails to use the powers
granted by the constitution 10 "regu-
late commerce with foreign nations"
BY government We mean Congress, for
to it 10 given this express power; vet
for fifteen years each Congress has been
too ignorant to comprehend, and too
sIofhful to act with even sufficient in.
'dustry in research to learn or under
stand the cause Of this commercial de-
cay, which, il history speaks truly, has
been always the precursor to the down
xaH OF nations permitting it 10 go on
unchecked. ~ -3 1850
. As one evidence Of the absorption and
use of our wealth against us. tata Tho