National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-06-24


abandon our surplus TO foreign bottoms aud
our few forecastles TO Foreigners reduce aud
de-Amoricanize our marine, forbid retention OF
our metals by purchase with our commodities,
pledge protection to manufactured products
snye as their output at the seaboard, gainsay
the righteous claims Of national growth and
Independence, and keep shorn the Samson OF
labor which they profess to cherish, Is 70 me a
marvel; and VI to render such disservioo, 70
deal such grevous injury, be within the con-
ception by Congress OF It's duty In the premises
10 Insure domestic tranquility, provide for
the common Defense and promote the general
welfare of this great people, II should not re-
beTs are TO-DAY O busy taxing that peoples
revenues for sluggish rivulets that can flow
only by virtue ofa rain and an act OF Congress;
who champion commerce by a creek aud dis
countennnce Il by an oceanl
our labor has not achieved kingship on
land simply 10 sneak on the sea. II has right
to lust wages from the moment 1t siezes the
raw material and on through the mechanical
stages of development till the consummate re-
suit is thrown upon the remotest counter Of the
world, and the diffusion OF these results, is a
vital condition of our distribution of such fair
remuneration. Wherever Is an expenditure OF
labor on the thing or on the vehicle for the
thing there should flow. American encourage
ment TO common helpful American end. Be-
cause this labor has no crouch In Its back and
better wages IN Its pocket, rears better homes,
and is kindled with greater intelligence, are
we TO betray iY The aDtl-Amercan hcrcsy
would benumb the industrial power and point
To the distcnding dropsy In the nation as an
evident gain in ilosh aud health. When Eng
land finds, after period OF depression, that
trade for t. When she found that she must
import American timber for her ships, and
that because OF our less cost In floating
magnificent clipper ships iicw swift petreIs
across the seas, she wen. into her mine and
and soon told us, II will not take your timber,
but shall carry your goods. proclaim tho
age of ironp She was mistress of the seas,
because she had stood behind engineer, artisan,
and owner and leased their inventive faculty
and enterprise by every expedient; aud, hay
Ing assured her supremacy anew as carrier
and become n dextrous builder for the world,
she wholly reversed her prOhihltory policy
under which Our colonies had been planted
and had grown her robust rival upon the seas.
need not advert in detail 10 the melan-
choly decline of our seal going fleets but wish
In what have said TO commend her lesson in
dispatching nm over production of tonnage, In
to new markets, and in employing her utmost
resources of material, mechanical skill, and
ttatesmanship. to the end of maintaining her
marine dominion. She rejected our timber In
order the better to command the ferriage of
our goods; let us more confidently dispute her
control because of her example; let us ask
why her. marine Is, of so ready avail. In
thirty.eIght years she has paid her steam
lines sll70OO,OOO in subsidy In 1881
France paid over 100000 and Brazil over
100000 in subsidy-and, as in tho case of our
quantity OF mail but because OF the road to
growth which the carrier wears twas brought
out during the recent debate upon the Senate
West, .46 cent per mile; from New York to Rio
dc JHneiro, ,03; from Norfolk to Baltimore, rs;
from Norfolk 10 Cape Charles, 49,; from New
York to Cuba, Oh; from New York to Hayti,
.0118; from San Francisco to Hong Kong, DIX:
from New Orleans to Port Eads, 500 7l0; from
New Orleans to Nicaragua, s2i50 from New
Orleans to Honduras, s3S, 81, and from Memphis
ArEanslQ
from Tampa to Key West received more than
"the American lines for the whole gulfservice.
south Atlantic and TRANSATLANTIC service aud
the service to Mexico, Central and South Amer.
lea, and Europe"
We ask nothing unreasonable of Congress,
but demand thatit shall exhibit that patriotism
which is jealous common sense, and consist.
emily succor the American ship and the Amer
lean labor.right TO 1t rs It properly succors tho
steamboat and locomotive that are its tribu-
taries.
farmer, ready with his eggs and vegetables
for market and sure both of prompt sales and
of needed stores. does not forego the venture
and leave his cupboard bare, his horse idle,
and his produce TO waste because fore-axle
holds its wheels 100 tight. Nor does he wait
| till some other wagon may pass and reduce the
| purchase power OF the produce It carries for
lar trips and inspire that expectation and con-
| fdence which insure steady sales OF his sur
plus. He corrects the infirmity with lubri-
cant and spins on with his head up over the
road, to suffice the wants of others and his own.
| He has simply that common. sense which
| is surety for his labor, and which in a
| the mine where our wagons and thousand
| horse powers wait to bear forth surplus prod.
| ucts with which we may command foreign
| faith and exchanges and maintain that indie
pendence which Is at once self-respect aud the
| respect of sister nations. What Is immedi.
| ately wanted is the lubricant of Just remunera.
steam power can and viii then be hafnessed
| for service. The especial purpose of the com
| initial to Congress OF q regulative power as Il
was loyalty Interpreted BY the grave men wis
sat In the first Congress, and whose second en-
actment was ian act for the encouragement
| and protection of manufactures" The pro
tective. principle was the marrow of the very
| bone Of our industrial system. Men who had
| just passed through the ordeal OF saving O
country knew, how its vigor should be cher.
| ished and its defense maintained. The ship.
yard has equal claims with the mill; a com,
mon franchise belongs to both, and TO share II
European labor swarms upon US and invests
| itself with full American manhood.
The ship, the envelope of the commodity, Is
equally an industrial product. ] feel that
cannot be too urgent In this matter. The In.
| dustrial forces of this nation make demand
for their own health and vigor "Nothing.''
as was said by distinguished student of his
tory eighteen years ago, "can prevent the
MhsssspPi Valley rom becoming, In less than
| One generation has nearly gone. That val
| ley, forever nmassing strength, wants sub
| etnntlal prOtectl0n 10 accompany her products
out from the mill, down her great pathway
| and out upon the sea. j venture TO voice heI
demand. She gave me my first breath, and
shall receive my last.
She reaches forth her river arm and with It.
delta fingers seizes the sea as yours and hel
own; she bids you remember that through the
Mexican sleeve your isthmian arm should bC
laid upon South America as your especial do.
main; she demonstrates against the folly o
claiming longer for the thimbleful a bushel'
power, and she deplores that the communica
tion between our glut of supplies and waiting
markets Is suspended, because a Postmaster
General bargains with foreigners for cheaI
mail routes, In which he disarns us of power
publishes our impotence over the seas, ant
puts them In commission by contracts which
are virtual letters OF marque against the com
merce OF his own country. He retires thu
cheapness OF the rate Is the sorest cost to us
and the foreigner would rather carry our mai
for nothing than not be accredited
as our messenger. In Its cor
riage is surrendered line o
| traffic, and from all South America, SAVE
| Venezuela and Brazil we are to-day who'll,
cut of. protest against this wanton sacrifice
| of advantage In the name of economy, agains
this barren pretense levelled at q magnidcen
Investment as a subsidy by which pretense W,
| whet the marine appetite OF these hawks tina
iatten on subsidy-against the relinquishmen
Of q. grand and rIghtful domain which is not y
be signed away In every petty mail contract
the American carrier, but, and first of all, 4
the American people, whose errands he SHOULD
discharge, and out of whose pockets the forelgi
| shipper extracts eighty annual millions, Con