The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1885-09-10

.,,.;.:
''"iP4''"S '1'9' VI '7di + I"HcISco says
IN saturday evening, the Bulletin pub
Iished the following special dispatch from
New York:
The Sun says; "A curious feature of the
Cailfornla freight market -aid ship owner
s rora, h;n .ilG ~ tiia, dolelsn slipS lcso
on Wheat TO The continent nr tn IivarnodI Han
American ships can obtain. But when al Am
eflcan ship Is sold and gets foreign register
hd M hIG huIbe.I r4 .iefgTi % cufe ana she receives W
fact hat foreign insurance ..omnnnia. ehar@e
higher rates on American than on ships of Ell-
iopean nationality, some people assert that
ilT > n 'i'it''t,o it i ,n que 90 ant ueSe oi Inc
When he i, down bIt othnrs TN the American
merchant mariner is either dead OF is making a
living as a raiiroa!!er, ana there is, therefore,
o"t'o,' ,iI % lil''iniI2 AlnaIlfan $hdPs'
AID thI, the risk on Ihnm is ore4tnr Than on
foreign ships, which are manned by sailors of
ihcir own nationality.
The Commercial III commenting on the
above says:
The shpowner, that the sun 50 inno-
Gently took az an authority, knew moth
ing OF the California freight market. and
apparently little about SHIPS the SUI. in
trying to find a reason for the condition
of affairs as stated by the shipowner.
showed itself equally ignorant. The item
is only a fair sample OF much Of the stuff
sent over The wires. but it is astonishing
that paper with such commercial bias
Is the Bulletin, should publish ii without
remark. and that the Alta should serve
it up oil Sunday as news ..along the
wharves." Every statement made in the
item referred to is false. The rate paid
ships carving grain is based on the long
ton, not on the quarter, and the dscrjm-
nations made are based on material.
quality and age of the ship and not on
the flag. The iron ship T. +. Oakes,
American built. and tlying the American
flag, obtained full going rates for her
class when last at this bort. She is one
Of the very few iron sailing vessels built
in the United States. Iron and steel
ships insure better and are able to obtain
higher rates than wooden ships otherwise
equally as good. A first class American
wooden ship will ALWAYS command a bet
ter price than anv foreign wooden. The
best Of the British soft wood vessels find
it as hard to obtain the price paid for the
best American hard wood, as the latter
do to get the best rates paid for iron.
When an American ship is sold foreign
it is usually after having seen service
for the number of years for which
she classed us A /, and instead of
getting II better rate under foreign flag,
she gets less, not on account of the
change of flag, but of increased years.
That American sailors have disappeared,
is partly true, but it is equally true that
the British tar is a rather scarce article.
over forty per cent. the sailors shipping
on British vessels being foreigners. large
ly the Dagos, 50 scornfully mentioned.
As Jack is not very particular about the
flag he sails under. he goes inditfereutly
on English and American ships, taking
the one at the moment offering the most
advantages, or rather taking the one his
boarding house keeper selects for him.
American ships are as wen manned, ana
are better prGvjsloned than any forejpn-
ers, while they are commanded ~ men
who, as a class. have no superiors in the
dangerous calling in which they are EN-
gagged. If our politicians from the great
interior get their views on maritime
affairs from sources as unreliable as that
which inspired the foregoing item. it is
not to be wondered at that national led