The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-06-26
COMPULSORY PlLoTAcE
A crievous Tax for Unnecessary Ser
vices.
Costs of Entering the Various Har-
bors on the Atlantic Coast.
[Letter to tne EastpOrt standard.l

1 h0FS on the AIidHttS SCaots
uetter TO the Eastport Standard9
The much mooted Shipping Blil' as amend
ed and passed by the United states senate,
will disappoint American snip owners, In
that it contains no relief from one OIL the
most despotic laws that has ever disgraeed
our statutes-State or National,-tnat OF
| Compulsory Pilotage When in 1879, Con
| gress passed the following Act-Chapter AA'
| Section g.:
And be it further enacted, that all pilots N me
bays, inets, rivers harbors ana Ppes1 PpeasSuloteS in
United States shall continue to De re s sts.a a
conformity with the existing laws OF LIZ eS ,a,ss os
wherein such pilots may be, or with sucm sos s
the purpose, until further legislative provisions
| shall be made by Congress,
| could that body have seen to what ehoI-
nous length thatpow would be prostituted'
they would doubtless have retained the pow
er in the hands of the general government
where 1t rightfully belongs. Prior to the
date of the above act, private enterprise nau
perhaps done more in the way of marking
the channels leading to our principal ports
than had the government; and these marks
were vague, and known only to the pilots,
who in great measure contributed to their
support; hence, in those primitive days, pi-
lots were essential to all vessels navigating
those channels, and hence the inception of
Compulsory Pilotage. But in the interim Of
81 years our government has expended fabu-
lous sums of money in surveying, lighting,
buoying, marking and in every way simpli-
flying the navigation of her ports, until to-
day they stand unrivalled in the civilized
world. The wonderful improvements have
been made, not by any State or local taxa
ton, but by the United States government,
and as her whole people are taxed to main
tain this system, so, then, all should be al
lowed to share the benefits, unrestricted by
any State or local laws whatever. But un-
der the authority delegated to the States by
the act of 1889, New York has the follow
ing law, as amended in 1870, and which is a
foul blot on the statutes of the Empire State;
All masters of foreign vessels, and vessels from
foreign port, and all Uesses sailing under Regis
the way of Sandy Hook shall take licensed pl-
lot or in case OF refusal to take sttc ptot Shdtt
otage as II ore had been esployed, and such pilot
age shall be paid to the pilot first speaking or Of
feriJlg his services as pilot to such vessel
Protected by this despotlc law, there are
stationed at Sandy Hook, % pilot boats, va
rying in size from 40 to Sc tons, many Of
which are most palatial in their appoint
ments, and aggregating LOCI tons. These
vessels are occupied by cOterle OF about 1S2
pilots, who are subseryient to five Pilot Com
missioners, three of whom are elected by
members of the Chamber OF Commerce, and
two by the presidents and vice presidents
representing the Board Of Underwriters OF
New York City. With this powerful Organi-
zation, backed by the legislature of the En-
pire State, acting under authority OF an act
Congress passed 97 years ago, what are the
results to our American shipping? Let us
| illustrate.
Tuo Apoar;oap ,a.ea1s ara Ioadad at tho
Port of New York, one under Register. and
drawing IS feet of water, is bound to Cuba;
the other, also drawing IS feet, is bound to
Brunswick Ga. They are both boarded by
pilots, and as both captains are thoroughly
competent to take their vesfels to sea, both
refuse the service of the pilots nevertheless,
the registered vessel, under this arbitrary
law, pays into the Golfers OF this syndicate
S3.OS per foot, or $5544, for services not rem
dcred. These vessels proceed to their ports
of destination. and in due time both again ar
rive off the Port of New York; again they
are offered the services of pilots, again they
refuse and on arrival at the city the Regis
tered vessel is compelled to '.come up, to the
tune of $4.13 per foot, and S1S.5S "oh-pilot-
age" amounting to S9292, or total for the
voyage of S14S36, and this Notwithstanding
no pilot has been employed.
That we may not lose sight OF any enor-
mites of this compulsory measure, let us
follow the fortunes OF the licensed vessel,
and we shall find that although she is exempt
y
and also in all the Atlantic States sdurnsaH
Cape Hatteras pilotage is compulsory on all
vessels entering those ports, ercept codstuise
steamers, which, by the way, Is another un-
just discrimination against sailing ships.
The rates of pilotage being about the same
in all these ports, it follows that at the end
of the voyage both vessels have been teeeed
of about the same amount, viz: Sl4S.36. Let
us pose that these vessels continue in the
same relative business for one year. they
will have made at least six voyages each
and have paid to pilots for services not rem
dered the modest little sum of Sl7S0.36.
Many of our largest coasting vessels dur
ing the spring and summer seasons find en-
ployment in the Bay of Fundy plaster trade.
Let us see how this compulsory pllotage ef-
fectS them. A vessel from Windsor, N. s.,
with 1000 tons of plaster on board, at $1.5O
per ton freight and drawing Il feet Of water,
arrives off the port Of New York, OF course
under register, is spoken by pllet, refuses
his services, takes his vessel to port, unloads,
takes a cargo of coal for Portland, Me-. is
subject to outward pilotage, pays. it, and
when he settles with hist owners they ind
the gross stock Of the vessel for the voyage
has been $2,350, and that she has been com
PEELED to pay $146.36 or about sir and h0y
per cent. of the gross earnings OF the yoy-
age, to pilots who have not stepped foot on
board, and more money than the captain re-
ceives for the whole voyage.
0, consistency, thou art jewel never seen
in the crown of monopoly! By what moral
right does the State of Maryland authorize
steam pilot-boat to be stationed at the en-
trance of Chesapeake bay, and extort exorbi-
tant pilotage from all registered vessels pass
ing in or out and levying tax OF six cents
per ton on all cOasting vessels sailing from
the port of Baltimore? Or why should
American underwriters cater to the pilots?
The ability and skill Of the American ship
masters has been proverblal since the lncep-
tion of our commerce, and the underwriters
| never question his ability to navigate his
| ship in every foreign sea. Through fogs,
| icebergs, currents and eounter-rurrents OF
the Atlantic, or amid the countless islands,
reefs and shoals of the Pacific, China Sea or
Indian Ocean-in all these dangers their
| faith in him is implicit. Having then,
| through all these perils, brought his ship to
| the very threshold of his native land, where
| the lights, beacons and buoys are as familiar
as the figures on his sextant surely he ought
| to be allowed to decide whether he can take
| his ship to port or not, and he does take her
| in safety, should her owners be compelled to
| pay pilot for doing so, though he may nev-
| er have had his foot on board the ship? At
| all our principal sea ports, there are new
| large and powerful steam tugs, provided
| with everything requisite for the safe and
| quick transportation of ships to and from
| sea, and docking them; and in this connec-
| tion allow me to illustrate a case in point;
| Two ships are approaching the port OF New
| York, each drawing say 20 feet of water.
| One is spoken, and takes pilot, who pro-
| ceeds to take the ship to port under sail.
| He gets as far as the Scotland Light-ship,
| meets a head tide and calm, where nothing
remains but to anchor and wait a more fa-
| vorable time. Meanwhile, ship No. 2,
| through some lucky chance (which by the
| way is hardly supposable) is not spoken
| by a pilot, but at the time the first ship aneh-
| ors, No. takes one of the tugs referred to,
| and proceeds to port. while the crew are en-
| ploysd unbending sails and getting the ship
| ready to dock, where she arrives in a few
| hours, the crew is paid of, while the ship is
| snug at her moorings, and the whole expense
| is $50 Ship No. has light airs, calms and
| fogs and after three days of drifting, taeking.
| anchoring, and humbugging generally, she
| gets perhaps as far as Red Hook, where she
| takes a tug and fol $40 goes to deck with
| sails not unbent as they have been in
| use Result-Cost to ship No. 1. Pilotage,
| S1O3.25; towage to dock, $50; three days de-
| tention, $50; unbending sails, $40; total,
| $2S3.25; difference in favor of ship having no
| pilot, S23325. These illustrations and fig
| ures are not overdrawn, but are Of frequent
occurrence as any shipmaster acquainted
| with the localities will bear witnesss.
| The State of Maine, to her honor and sense
| of justice, be it said, with more harbors than
| all the Atlantic States from Cape Hatteras
| to the Rio Grande, has not, with q few