Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-05-06
OUR NAVIGATION LAWS.
Their luxurious Effect Upon Our
Merchant Marine.
Phfladelphio Record.

Philadelphia Record.
Mr.. John Roach is one of class of
political economists who make their own
vocation, whatever it may be, the hinge
upon which everything else swings.
These people look at the general welfare
solely in the light of their individual in
terests. Mr.. Roach is a shipbuilder, and
his shipyard is, in his view of the mat
ter, the centre, if not of the entire uni.
verse, at least of that part of it which
belongs to the United States. He in
sists, with .monotonous iteration,
that this country must first of all
build ships before it can become
maritime nation. The COM
mon error of confounding the construc-
ton of vessels with the employment of
them in the carrying trade and calling
both commerce" find in him one of its
most eminent and verbose opponents.
Commerce is the exchange of commodi-
ties either for money or for other COM
modities. 1t is the buying and selling of
merchandise on a large scale. Ship
building, ship owning and ship running
are only incidents and conditions of com
merce, but they are not commerce itself,
any more than the manufacture of
ploughs and other farming implements
is agriculture, or the making of pickaxes
and blasting powder is mining.
1t is not necessary to the successful
pursuit of either of the great industries
referred to that those who prosecute
them should make the machinery they
use. 1t is, on the contrary, more con.
sonant with the wise economic principle
of division of labor that somebody else
should make them. There are plenty of
ships in the world to accommodate the
worlds commerce, and there is
no danger that the supply will
not constantly meet the demand
The price at which ships
can be bought in the worlds open
market is low enough. The trouble is,
however, that American citizens are not
allowed to purchase in that market, and
since ships cannot be built at home
cheaply enough to permit their owners
to compete prOf1tably with foreigners in
the business of ocean transportation we
have, outside our coasting vessels, sub
stantially no mercantile marine.
Bountles, subsidies and fat postal con-
tracts, for which Mr.. Roach has such a
tender and longing regard-not so much
perhaps for himself as for his customers
are not going to relieve the buyers of
Mr.. Roach's vessels from the serious dis.
advantages under which they will labor in
comparison with foreign shipowners.
The subsidy proposition amounts
simply to plan for making
good, at the cost of the govern
ment, the business losses which must
inevitably result to the purchasers of
Mr.. Roach's high-priced vessels. But as
it is not proposed that everybody who
buys ship Of Mr.. Roach shall enjoy
subsidy, it is not easy to see how the
benefits of this pretty scheme are to be
made to go around. How is A helped to
struggle against British. German or Nor
wegian rivalry in the carrying trade by
the fact that B has big grant of the
national money as mail compensation,
while he himself has nothing of the
kind?
The fallacy of all such schemes con.
sists in the circumstance, which Mr.
Roach and his associates scrupulouslv
keep out of view, that the high seas of
the globe are free We can apply the
protective system to our own territory,
but we cannot put tariff upon the
ocean. The foreign competition that we
can shut out from our jurisdiction on
shore we must confront when we 90 out
upon the great highway of communica-
ton between the nations of the earth
Grants and subsidies may build
up a railway system within our
own borders, where we encounter no ri
valry from abroad, but they cannot avail
to build up distinctively American lines
of transportation upon the sea. The
policy which has forwarded the building
of locomotives, on which Mr.. Roach
lays great stress, so that we now have
IL, 900 or thereabouts on our various rail
roads where we had not one fifty years
ago, will not answer to promote the
building and employment of ships for
the foreign carrying trade. The number
of locomotives would probably not be less
if it had cost 80 per cent. more to build
them, because the home manufacturer
had the whole field to himself. But
unless our citizens can procure ships,
whether built here or abroad, Just as
cheap as foreigners can get them, we
shall have no American mercantile
marine other than in our coasting and
inland trade Our railways, canals,
lakes, rivers, and other means of
domestic transport of commodities are
not exposed to foreign competition We
can shut strangers out. 1t is not worth
while, however, to try to get up corner
IN the ocean carrying trade.