Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-01-28
xLyl CoxGRess-sEC0ND SESSION
WASHINGTON. January q.
SEIArE.

| Congress TO observe treaties heretofore mad,
with the Indian tribes, AMI in future IN Dc
justice 10 the remnants of the red people
1t was referred to the committee. on Indian
affairs.
The following bills were reported from the
committees and placed on the calendar.
BY Mr.. Conkling, from the commerce com
mittee, with one amendment. 10 authoriz,
the construction and maintenance Of rail,
way bridge across he Niagara River
BY Mr.. Allison from the appropriation
committee. reported favorablv on the House
bill providing for the deficiency in the appro
priatien for interest on the IDS loan of tn,
| District of Columbia and for other purposes
Mr.. Beck addressed the Senate in adyo
cacy of tree ships, taking as his text his res
olution submitted Monday for the repeal O
! laws prohibiting our citizens from purchas
ing ships to engage in foreign carrying trade
which prevent the registration of them a.
| American ships when owned. commanded
and Differed bv United States citizens.
/ Mr.. Blaine followed Mr.. Beck and con.
strued Beck's speech an admission tina
his policy proclaims the permanent depend
ence of this country upon England for her
| ships. He could not allow such a speech t.
go out for single dav without an answer.
Mr.. Blaine followed Mr.. Beck. He SPOKE
without notes and carried his hearers with
him through every utterance from the open
| ing to the close. Mr. Blaine said il in.
dulged he woald take a few moments. not 10
reply to the Senator from Kentucky with any
elaboration, but briefly to answer him Il,
least in part. as he did not like to have a
speech of that kind go out from the Senate OF
| the United States unanswered for a single
dav. That Senator admitted and did not at
tempt to argue the other side of the question
that this policy looked to the permanent
| dependence of the United States upon Eng
land for her ships. His entire argument
went to show that it was the presumption the
only slight attempt made by the Senator to
refute 1t; that 1t was his statement that he
hoped THAT out of the repair shops that
would grow up on this side there
might sometime grow up machine shops and
shipyards enough for us to construct steam
vessels Mr.. Blaine did not believe that the
people or the Congress Of the United States
were prepared to make that declaration. 1t
was a remarkable fact that for 20 years
or from the time of the war to this
hour, Congress had not done one
solitary thing to uphold the nav
igation interest of the United States
The great march forward of our old CONNER
cial rival had been witnessed and every
where recognized, and the representatives of
the people of the United States had sat in
their two halls of legislation as dumb as
though they could not speak, and had not Of
fered a single remedy or single aid until
the Senator from Kentucky (Beck) had
risen in his seat and proposed TO make the
proclamation of the perpetual dependence of
this country upon England for such COM
merce as she may enjoy. holding up to us
Germany Italy and other European countries
that are as absolutely dependent upon Great
Britain for the commerce they enjoy as is
the District of Columbia upon Congress
During these twenty years this Congress had
passed 81 acts in aid of internal trans
mission by rail. and it has given poo. 600, boo
acres of public land, worth to-day
81 900, 900, to which it had added
SIC, 000, 900 cash to the same end, and
vet it had not extended the aid OF
scarcely single dollar of that vast external
transportation, whose importance had not
been exaggerated by the Senator from Ken
lucky, but an energetic man who found the
great ocean highway unoecupied and had the
enterprise to put American vessels of great
construction and great power upon it had
been attempted to be made a scorn and by
word of reproach because he came to the
American Congress and said ''If you will
do for this line what the empire of Brazil will
do will give you great line The en-
pire of Brazil had said to this enterprising
man, I'VE will pay you a 500, 900
year if you will run this line. $
But he (Mr. Blaine) regretted to say that
that New England since representing the
protective system of this country said
with quiet complacency-'-lf Brazil is will,
ing to pay for that, we need not. Brazil,
however, got tired of paying all and we pay
ipfr Ips f,,t,,
would not pay at combination of English
shipbuiders, they said. 1--WE will put on
our ships and run that line off. We will
carry the coffee Of Brazil to the United
States for nothing. We will break down
this attempt of the United States to
begin race upon the Ocean
and they have pretty nearly
succeeded. Yet during the whole of Great
Britain's mastery of the sea when she had
been seeking every line that could be found
on which a steamer could float she had never
put on lines to carry from New York to any
foreign ports except to her own. You cannot
get a British steamship line. except on a
triangular system, that will go from New
York to Liverpool taking breadstuffs from
Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro, taking British
fabrics from Rio de Janeiro to New York,
bringing coffee and dye woods. but when the
shall 20 back from New York
to Rio they don't wan, to interfere with the
prosperity of England at home by furnishing
transportation to any point for American
fabrics here. The result Is. that if this
Brazilian subsidy be taken off, as in all
probability it will be if the United States ex-
tend no aid, then the letters of the United
States, of merchants in New York, Phiadei-
phia and Boston, will be conveyed TO Rio de
,janeiro via Liverpool. and will reach that
point over two great lines of British steam
ships.
The frank admission of the Senator
Beck had taken away a large part Of the
argument which he (Blainel thought he
Should have to use and that
was to prove that the United States
to-day Is incompetent 10 compete with Great
Britain in the manufacture of iron ships, and
if you admit iron ships from Great Britain
absolutely free of duty it will be still more
incompetent to do it next year. 1t takes, i'll
the language of trade, what is called great
plant to manufacture steamships. Ii takes
large outlay of money, huge and powerful
machinery. and the investments of millions
to begin with. If in addition to all that bur
den abroad to build up English shipyards we
pour into the lap of that patronage all that
can come from this country. He
Mr.. Blaine would like the Senator
from Kentucky or anv other Senator,