The Republican journal., 1877-11-15
Our Navigation Laws.

lIe9, says David A. Wells in the current
number Of the NORTH American Review
there were two sectional questions of i'm
portance that came before it, and two
onlN-the question of slavery and the
regulation Of commerce. The extreme
southern States wanted slavery and the
slave trade legaized and protected The
south, as whole, also favored free trade.
New England, on the other hand, largely
interested IN shipping, a not insignificant
proportion OF which, either directly or in
directly, was engaged in the slave trade
(her people, Massachusetts men especial
", importing molaSSeS from the West
indies, dlstlling it into rum, using the
rum to buy slaves on the coast of Africa,
ana selling the slaves at the South), de-
sired, through system of navigation
laws, to hold monopoly of the commerce
Of the new nation; while the Middle
states generally wanted neither slavery
nor navigation laws. The sentiment of
the country as a whole, at this period,
was averse to slavery, and the cultivation
OF cotton not having then been introduced
to any considerable extent into the South
eTn States, or made the source of profit
that it subsequently became through the
invention of the cotton gin, the anti
slavery feeling had developed itself much
more strongly in some parts of the South
than 1t had in New England So that, if
New England had been as true to the
great principles of liberty as her people
were always protesting, it seems probable
that, aided by the Middle States, and, in
part, 10y the South, she might have
brought about an arrangement under the
of f itc
formation, for the gradual, but no very
remote, extinction of American slavery,
ana an avoidance of the expenditure Of
blood and treasure which has since been
tntalled by its continuance. Seltishness
and the love of the dollar, however,
proved as omnipotent then as they ever
have and the result was a compromise of
lnlqulty; the power to regulate commerce
beng inserted in the Constitution, to-
gether with and as a consideration for,
the extension by New England votes of
the slave trade until 1903, and the pro
hlbltiOn Of export duties. When Congress
met, New England was not slow in de
nanding the fultilment of
HER PART OF THIS COMPACT;
aad in 1859, 1892, and subsequently in
i0l|, Il system OF navigation laws was en-
acted which were av0Wediy modelled on
the very statutes of Great Britain which
the Americans, as colonists, had found so
oppressive that they constituted one prime
cause OF their rebellion against the mother
country; the main features of difference
between the two systems being, that,
whenever it was possible to make the
American laws more rigorous and arbi-
trary than the British model, the oppor-
tumty was not neglected. And these
laws, without material change, hold their
place to-day upon our national statute
book. international trade, since their
enactment, has come to be carried on by
entirely different methods. Ships are diff
terent, voyages are different, crews are
different, mems habits of thought and
methods OF doing business are different
but the old, mean, arbitrary laws, which
the last century devised to shackle COM
merce, remain unchanged in the United
States alone Of all the nations and, what
is most singular Of all, it is claimed to be
the part of wisdom and evidence of pat
riotism to uphold and defend them
Their essential provisions are as follows:
No American citizen is allowed to import
foreign built vessel, in the sense of pur-
or OF using her as his own property; the
only other absolute prohibitions of imports
beng in respect to counterfeit money and
obscene objects. No foreign built vessel,
or vessel in any part owned bv a subject
ol lorelgn power, can enter port of the
lnlted States and then 90 TO anotherdo.
mestic port with any new c"rgo, or With
any part of her original c2l 90 that has
I,
Nlously vOyaged to and touched at some
other port OF some foreign country, under
penalty OF cOntiscation Bv construction
OF tins law, all direct traffic by sea be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific ports of
the nltcd States via Cape Horn or the
Cape of Good Hope, or across the 18th
mus of Panama, is held to be of the na-
ture of a coasting trade or voyage, in
which foreign vessels cannot participate.
An American vessel once sold or trans
ierred to foreigner can never be bought
back and again become American prop
clty. An American vessel ceases to be
such if owned in the smallest degree by
any person naturalized in the United
states who may, after acquiring such
ownership, reside /" for more than one
year In the country from which he Origi-
lldltu' oT more imam TWO years III any
foreign county" A foreigner may super
intend an American factory, run an Amer
ican railroad, be president of an American
college, 0rhold commission in the Amer
lean army, but he
CANNOT COMMAND
or be ;ln officer of registered American
vessel. If a vessel of the United States
becomes damaged by a foreign voyage,
and is repaired in a foreign port, her
owner or master must make entry of
such repairs at q custom house of the
nlted States as an import, and pay
duty on the same equal to one half the
cost OF the foreign work or material : and |
this law extends so far as to include boats !
that may be obtained at sea from pass
lng foreign vessel, in order to assure the |
safety OF the crew or passengers of the |
American vessel. A vessel under 30 tons
cannot be used to import anything.
Goods, wares and merchandise the pro- |
duce OF countries east Of the Cape of Good |
Hope, when imported from countries west
OF tile Cape of Good Hope, are subject to
4 untN OF lU per cent, in addition tO the |