Daily Republican., 1881-07-15
American Ship Building and Ship
ping.


ping.
A controversy has arisen betwoel
some of the newspapers of the countr.
in regard to cheap ships and cheap ship
ping. The New York World disposed
to find fault, recklessly states that i
Americans want TO buy ships they are
compelled to buy from Mr.. John Roach
and pay that gentleman or the firm Of
which he is the head, twenty-five to one
hundred per cent. more than if they
bought ships Oh the Clyde. This is
not true and the Word is taken to task
by paper of this city that assumes to
speak for the ship building interests of
Wilmington and is very properly told
that it has either fallen into an error or
wilfully misrepresents the ship build
ing interests of this country. What
ever the cause may be, there is no deny
ing the fact that the Pusey 4 Jones
Company and the Harlan & Hollings-
worth Company, the ship builders of
which Wilmington is proud, have en-
tered into competition with the build
ers on the Clyde and have secured con-
tracts for which the latter bid a larger
price. This proves at once that an
American built ship can be purchased
just as cheap in the Wilmington ship
yards as they can on the Clyde. The
paper that assumes to be the champion
of the ship building interests of Will
mington however after offering an able
defence for American built ships es-
pecially Wilmington built ships, spoils
its article by fling at the tariff or pro-
lection principles, which it thinks are a
clog to American commerce, and al |
though the cost of an American built |
ship is no more than one built on for
eign waters, it drives our shipping into
foreign hands; and were it not for this
little discrimination in favor of home
material that enter into the construc-
ton of a ship, Americans might en-
joy a monopoly Of the maratime trans
Atlantic commerce. In this connection !
there are other things to be looked at
az well as cheap ships and cheap com
mercial intercourse. IT the duty on
imported articles which enter into the
construction of ships, and this appears
to be what is most complained OF, were
removed, no doubt an impetus would
be given to the ship building interests
of the country, but what would become
of the other interests which make our
country prosperous a removal of the
duties complained of would close the
ore mines and damp the furnace fires
which give employment to hundreds of
thousands of contented and happy
workmeu, good citizens, who are the
bone and sinews of the Nation IT, as
has been demonstrated. our Whining.
ton ship building firms can build ships
as cheap as they can be built for on the
Clyde or Mersey, what stands in the
way Of Americans engaging in the car
rying trade of the oceans and com
peting with foreign shippers in that re-
spect also? Simply two things stand
in the way. One of these and the most
important is, that American capital
finds more remunerative investments in
enterprises protected by the very tariff
that is complained of, England has no
undeveloped country, no gold and sill
yer mines, no great railroad enterprises
in which her capitalists can invest
t1eir money. Her whole home terri
tory including England, Wales, Ireland
and Scotland uorlld make bat patch,
not larger than our six New England
States in this country. There is no
room in which our English cousins can
spread themselves without going to In
dia, and things there are too compli-
Gated and uncertain for permanent in
vestments, and consequently the Eng
lishm N invests his money in d ship,
and engages in maritime commerce.
On the other hand this country is yet
undeveloped comparatively. There are
rich sections of it larger than the whole
Kingdom of Great Britain that are
comparatively unsettled yet. America
has mines of gold and silver, copper
aud iron, and railroad enterprises that
pay larger per centage for invest
ments than shipping commerce pays
or can be made to pay. While this is
the case Americans will leave the mari
time industries to those who see proper
to engage in them and they will put
their money where it will do the most
good.
The other thing alluded to which mill
tates against Americans engaging in
trans Atlantic trade is, that they cam
not successfully compete with tie sub
subsidized trans Atlantic shipping lines
of Great Britain, and thi, subsidzing of
steamship lines is what the self consti-
tuted ship organ Of this country opposes.
Let the government go to work and
even moderately subsldize American
shipping lines as Great Britain does,
and then we will soon see if Americans
cannot az successfully compete in the
carrying trade of the ocei IL as they do in
building ships. 1t is not fair to COM