Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-07-03

| successfully tEteu, INV ose@no
| substitute for wood. aud hulls were thus
! built that would last as long as the engines.
| These several changes, with some minor
/ inventions. increased the carrying capacity
! Of the steamship beyond all anticipation.
| A very Intelligent and enterprislpg owner
| Of British steamships illustrated to me the
actual difference by this simple statement.
| A steamer OF the old kind, capable Of car
ryiDg three thousand tons, might sai' on Q
voyage so long that she would be compeii.
| ed to carry twenty-five hundred tons o.
| coal, leaving room for only eight hunoreo
tons Of freight; whereas. one OF the new
| Kind. OF same capacity, would make the
same voyage and reverse the figures, re-
| ouiring only eight hundred tons OF coal
| and carrying twenty-five hundred tons OF
| freight. This Was, In short. . total revolu-
| ton on the sea-almost - great as the
| steamboat had wrought in the carrying
trade on our rivers, or the railway ON iand.
| The palpable result has been that the trade
| Of the North Atlantic, the greatest high
way Of commerce on the globe. has been
transferred to the steamship, to say moth
| Ing of what has been done by The same
| agency on all seas and between all CONT
| nents.
| The close OF the war len US IN most
| discouraging situation commercially. Our
| finances wer. disordered. prices OF mater
isl we're abnormAlly high, aud IL was sn
| idle effort TO attempt competition with
| England 10 Any held where our expanded
paper currency had to contend with the
| solidi,y OF her gold Oar sailing vessels
received less and less employment 10 the
carrying OF cotton, provisions. and bread
s,uffs to Europe, and We did not oner hny
| encouraxcment for the building OF steam
ships. Perhsps with the prices Of that pc
Rod success 10 any event would have been
| impossible. England. meanwhile. feel
| log her advantage, aud eager TO push u.
| lid not leave her commetc. To Its own de
| Ielopment. even with all the elements "
her favor, but she stimulated its growth By
| enormous boauties paid TO those who woulc
, build and sail steamships. From the Gloss
| OF our civii war down TO the year ls.i-s
| period Of twelve years-Great Britain palc
| to her steamship lines for mail service
sum total OF SIS. $50 .st3 10. or an asersg'
| OF nearly five And a hall millions per al
nun. wnh all the advantages accrulng
Brush shipping by our disasters 10 ih'
| war. aud With these advantages surpie
| mented by the great pccuniary aid extend
| ed by the British government. II was,
| course, impossible for the commercial me
| Of America to enter iuio competition 10 th'
| building and sailing OF steamships No
| could the policy favored BY many OF buying
| our ships from England. have availcd any
| thing 10 the contest. unless our guvernmen
Was ready 10 eI,end as generous aud COZ
t!nnous aid pecgniarliy as was extended D
the government Of Great Britain
| Under the continued operation Of cause
thus hastily summAfized, the America
| carrying trade has steadily and rapidly de
| ellned. until by the Official hsures In ISIS
! with an aggregate foreign commerce. oa
| going nd incoming. of well-nigh 81 200
\ COO 600, Americae ships carried but lite
| over three hundred millions aud foreigu
| ships carried nearly nine hundred milliot'
Or to be accurate aud specific. America
ships carried e3l3 $50. .sO5, aud for-igi
ships carried es76.g9i.is9. Contrast ,hc~'
|, figures with those Of 1851 given above, ant
the result seems iamentable indeed u
1887 American ships carried fvc-seventh
| OF all VIC exported and all We imported
| aud ships OF all other countries carried INT
,~o-sovenths. In ls7s American ships car
| ried less than iwo-sevenths aud ships of.il
| other countries more than rye-sevenihs
| IL must be specially observed that vile
| our total foreign trade increased in De
| tscnty-y-ars named from seven hundr,i
| million. TO twelve hundred millions per A.
| nun. the amoun, carried 10 American shbS
esdiiy decreased. not only relatively bii
| absolutely. so that We carried only thre-
niths ss much IN ISIS as We carried 10 lsS.
| Had ~e been able To maintain in ISIS a.
| sams proportion that We carried in leS,
| American ships would have ,ransporui
over eight hundred millions OF our total
commerce, being les per cent or $500 o.
| OOU more than ws actually did irsnspor-
l, would have been justly regarded as mot
discourAging II In sn increase OF 20 pr
cent. Ia our foreign commerce We had
| merely retained the same absolute amoIt
We carried In 1857, leaving the whole OF ue
| increase TO other nations. But our case s
far worse than that, for we have not ony
yielded ail the Increase TO the forelgne,
but we have quietly surrendered. in lss,
two hundred millions OF the amoun, We
transported 10 1857.
As The profits Of the navigation Inter
est are reckopcd 10 be ten per cent. on tie
amount OF freight transported and the pa
| sengers connected herewith, 1t Is quite sy-
| ident that We are annually meeting with q
most serious loss as compared with our
| condition before the war. Then We car
| ried moro than - per cent, OF both exports
| and imps cts, now We carry 70 per ceat.
| A. freight moneys are practically paid in
gold, the country in whose Golfers they sc-
! cunulaie must have M over~ he lining si-
vantage 10 all matters pertaining TO Ge
| specie standard. Alter the October pA,c
1 OF 1891, WINCH WAS severe anu Wlufspfcsl,
the banks of the United States very prompt
ly resumed specie payment. and IL was
said by close observers in finance hat
such q result would have heen impOs-
| sible but tor the large earnings OF our SHIPS
| amounting 1t that tune TO ffty mililons
per annum In gold. This brings 10 light
the important and pressing question as to
| the effect on the specie standard 10 be pro-
duced by nearly IS per cent. OF the freight
money on our foreign commerce being
paid to European countries. The prents
Of the carrying trade In The foreign CON-
| merce OF the United States have largely
| exceeded a thousand millions 10 gold since
1863. amounting indeed to nearly twelve
hundred millions, and we,l-nigh three
quarters Of this vast sum have gone to en-
rich Great Britain, France and Germany.
| As We have now entered upon an era OF
| specie payment 10 the United States, our
| ability 10 maintain that condition with all
| It's advantages becomes u question OF the
gravest Importance. What will be the ul-
innate and permanent effect OF this constant
and increasing drain OF gold coin becomes,
therefore. . question OF deep interest TO
| every man OF business la the cOuntry-ior
IL touches the welfare of farmer and manu-
| fActurer. OF laborer and banker alike.
When all these depressions and discour-
| oktuSuts teotALcop CCtt0tu potttiNS
economists come forward with the sugges-
ton that our remedy lies in the repeal Of
oar old snd honored navigation laws and
the admission Of foreign-built ships 10
American registry. We can then get En-
glish steamers, they say, As cheap As En-
glish merchants do. and Gao at once enter
Into successful composition on the ocean.
or course the adoption OF this policy would
be an abandonment Of all effort aud all am
bition Oh the part OF the United Safes to be
q great maritime power. and would be
formal proclamation at our subserviency
to England and our dependence upon her
for our ships. II We 60 to England to get
our iron ships this year because We can get
them cheaper, would We not be compelled
to do the same next year and the year
after, and would we not indeed be still less
able to compete with her each succeeding
yesrf Increase OF patronage to the En-
Ylish builder would tend continually to
lessen his prices. and decrease Of patron-
age TO the American builder must necessar-
| lv ha ve the ODDOslta effect and In a very