The daily gazette., 1876-06-16
From the baltimore Gazette.
Can ace Profit by War in Europe 4?

Nah fEe I-tOktG w ~ UT tt 1LufORC z
In 1888 the entire tonnage required
by the commerce of the United States
was 600, 900 tons, of which two thirds
was American. At the present day
the annual entries and clearances at
our ports aggregate 81, 200, 600 tons, of
which one fourth only Is American
In 1860 five eighths OF all our commerce
was carried in American bottoms; in
1876, less than one fourth. The causes
of this decay of our commerce are va
rious, and we will not discuss them,
since some at least of them are debat.
able still. There is one cause, how.
ever, about which there can be no
question: the transfer of American
vessels to foreign flags during the civil
war. The confederate cruisers were
not numerous, nor very active, but
the dread of them was very great, and
the commercial flutter in consequence
almost convulsive. Between 1S61-64,
tbs American vessels, with total ton.
nage of 4e0,6 ,6S2 tons; were transferred
to the protection of the British flag
alone. A great many were sold to
France, to Germany, to Spain, to the
Netherlands the various South Amer
ican republics lent their flagsto others;
some were transferred to Hawaii some
to Italy, some to Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, Greece. The aggregate ton.
noge thus lost was tremendous, 1t
was lost forever, because our naviga-
tion laws do not permit such transfer
red vessels to return again under pro-
lection of the stars and stripes.
But what we wish to call attention
to is the fact that the few confederate
cruisers, the Sumter, the Nashville, the
Florida, the Alabama, the Georgia
and the Shenandoah, which captured
in all not to exceed four hundred
prizes, were able so completely to
startle the commercial world, and to
drive half the commerce of the United
States from the ocean. Put the case
of the general European war, which is
almost certainly impending "a war
involving England, Turkey and Rus
via at the start, ,and destined eventual
ly to involve Germany, Austria,
France and possibly Italy also-what
will be the effect of such war upon
the commerce and navigation of Eu.
+; rope? A dozen agile feluccas, dodg.
I ing in and out the Greek islands,
would paralyZe the entire trade of
Great Britain through the Suez Canal.
Twenty Russian cruisers, getting to
sea from the Amoor river, would drive
the British commercial flag from the
Pacific. True, Great Britain could
retaliate with crushing force. She
could destroy the trading fleets by
which half the population of Greece
lives. She could annihilate the CON-
merce of the Baltic: She could make
grass grow in the streets of st. Peters,
burg, Odessa and Marseilles. But she
J would feel none the less secure for
working all their destruction. In fact
in the case of a war in Europe of the
dimensions that now threaten, the
! Netherlands and the Scandinavians
would be the only strictly neutral flags
and these could not furnish one tenth
of the tonnage which the commerce of
Europe, and that part of the worlds
commerce carried in European bot
| toms would require. The commerce
of Great Britain alone, entrances and
clearances, aggregates $4,000, 900 tons
per annum, of which the portion in
American bottoms is only 100000
tons. The annual tonnage needed for
French commerce is Is, 600, 900 tons,-
The clearances from Turkey alone are
6, ,000, 900 tons per annum. The tom
mage of the world must exceed $50, :
OO0,060 of tons in every year. Our
present share in this business is insig-
nifcant. AS we have shown we carry
only one fourth of our own foreign
commerce and only one fortieth of
that of Great Britain, In the case of
n general European war, the United
States would be the neutral power
Commerce would instinctively turn
to us for protection, for we alone
should be perfectly sure of not being
involved in continental complications.
The whole world would beg us to
trade it for. But we could not accept
the offer. We should have to sit idle.
Before we could build navy ade-
buate to the demand upon it, the war
would be over. Our navigation laws
do not permit US to buy foreign built
ships The stars and stripes are not
allowed to wave over any but the pro.
duct of American shipyards. If, in
case of European war, Congress
should permit the purchase of foreign
built iron steamers by our merchants
for taoo gears eniy, we have no hesita-
ton in predicting an immediate and
complete recovery of the commercial
rank we occupied before the civil war