The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1880-10-28
Our Shipping Interest.

shipping has been ably discussed by
writer in the Bath Daily Times. The
destruction OF vessels during our civil
war he regards as only the beginning of
a series OF causes which have brought the
shipping interest to its present low ebb.
Our tonnage tables show that in 1851, at
the beginning OF the war, we had 5,539,-
Sl3 tons Of shipping; Great Britain hay
ing about the same At the close Of the
war in 1868, the United States had still
3,09G, ,7Sl tons; 50 that, rs many of our
ships were transferred to other FLAGS dur
ing the war, ship building must have
been quite active during that period.
But about this time the construction of
iron ships and steamers for trcighting
purposes began to develop in Great
Britain, and since then there has been
gradual transition from wood to iron, and
from sail to steam vessels. England en-
couraged her pioneer steam lines with
subsidies, whilst our struggling ship
builders were left to take care of them
selves. The high price of all kinds of
material for several years following the
war rendered it Improbable to build YES
sells here, and favored the impetus given
to the building Of iron vessels Of all kinds
IN England. The result Of the struggle
for the control Of the carrying trade Of
the world against such odds could he no
surprise From a successful rival of
Great Britain in 1861, in ten years our
tonnage fell off to /, 400, 900 tons; while
that Of England had nearly doubled. Al
though the day Of high prices is oveI and
wages have gone back to ante bclum
III laNn 1,,,a1,l, Az
own, and the statistics of tonnage Show
that our shipping has kept on declining
50 that now our loss may be estimated ut
2,OO0,O0O tons. In other words SlOO,-
WO,00O OF taxable property has been ;,b-
soutelN annihilated. The loss in earn
mgS OF this tonnage the greater part Of
winch went TO our Seamcn and trades
men, IS also serious one. The total
freight and passenger money earned w
our ships in 1850 is estimated at 5000
O0O, 600, While at present the yearly earn
ings of our shipping cannot exceed half
that amount. This shows a yearly loss
OF 800 600, 600 revenue to oul people
The years earnings OF British shipping at
this time are set down ut $3.50, eco coo, a
difference of Sl50,0O0, 900 per annum in
favor of England, or enough to paV our
enuIrc national dcbt ltI fifteen Ntals. Hills
result Is brought about by smeWd legiS-
lation on the part Of England for the pro-
lection of her shipping interests. Such
being the present situation what remedy
n,,s+ I've aInli.d F., =. ,.,,o,to ,,,,,. l.,t+,,,
mage and regain our former status in the
carry nc trade F.! The Democratic CIV of
free ShIDs is Il ueluSiOu ana snare If
yyn,,ll io.trn,, ,l,n+ shi,, Ln;I,l;,,,, /; ,,.,,,
'"''. N.'.''E "il''' Ni'P p"'r''i7 II HpN
uoIlc ~ JIlIS country Whle VnunhllT tnh
tonnage ol our mcfchallt marine hy pur-
tIItoc NouiV iilN"INe tlie outlay OF >-'o,
uo"'"oo. "hcH N"uIo "I course go INTO
the '"iieIS "l E'i7IdIu "Ild 'ilp"'riI'h
our country 90 lh9t extent: hUt lAere
+F IVY "titi IHttHV"9' NtlI hHoN \"
t"ii'htIt'' ~ NHlth HduohN H%lc httll
"cVlSI"I'INI ~ ttN"I lHciI oNi 0nII''
ist By imposing d!tielenti4i lnras M sool,
I.nP2..TT ~ IoIf,3n lotions l'9 "'S ofneF't
century 40 pirh,n4ri na,sad IN ,t ..,nt,,.-,
cotton from duty when imported in Laslsh ,h,fs.
it being at that time subject TO tariff when im
poitt" , ~ otr!' NGsst.s f9f]ern !f@f9 'a'ef
nataj in d,ti@s n f,r.ar ~ R[i.isb sL;n,
BIT tbs plan would probably call t,r the .bro-
CATION of so'ne N ynr o'mmereil' treaties aaI II
i SAtu 'la' I """Ia Proyoke reiaati'A' "A@ H
"a X ~ r,vinl Il i bJJrnt,, i ,,,..o.I
commercial nations adopt this plan to rcouP"ratc
merchant shipping BIN OF which the following Is
transcript fthe articles which refer to bouutlcs
"As AcumpeuSaiiou for changes which the Tariff
imposes on builders Of sea going vessels. they are
allowed per ton measurement. Ou iron u Steel
vessels 81 francs On wool vessels Under 900 to4s
10 francs DO over 200 tlus ~ frlncs Uu uix