The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-05-10
Concerning Compulsory Pilotage.

take pilot. and the burden, well As the inl-
position of the law that in this boasted seat Of
civilization compes what there is left Of Il
once prosperous merchant marine to support il
monopoly of pilots against their wish. The
injustice of this unnatural law, cannot be over
estimated 1t has Its origin from an org;lnizi-
ton of people in direct opposition TO the inter-
est> of shipping, which is compelled to support
these people. 1t is Il genteel blockade of every
harbor in the United States, over which Is
stretched the toll gate of mono poly. and it has
been permitted to exist and thrive at the eX-
pense of shipping. The pilots grow richer
while we grow poorer from the load that this
uni ust law heaps upon Us. 1t would not seem
so unjust if we had any voice in the matter,
but we have no power 10 change the law and
| like faithful vasSai> must pay the bills and
keep the pot boiling that this monopoly may
live at our expense. have said time and
| again that pilots were unnecessary: that We
could get along without any such safeguard
| being thrust upon Us by any State; that the
waters Of the different harbor> and bays be
long to the people who choose to carry thcir
commerce from Que State to another, and that
| they shonld not be compelled by law to pay a
toll. | now propose to show that have not
been far out of the way in this reasoning.
| sailed from New York. Feb. 9TH for Balt-
more TO finish loading cargo for Parabyba
Brazil. had never been TO Baltimore by wa
ter. and on arriving of Cape Henry the morn
| ng of the 9th inst. with light breeze from
the : f.. darkened my lights and took every
| I1tI 10 lac l,,r tIn tnn ,.G.l.
saw the Baltimore steam pilot boat. but escap-
eli him and passed on up the Chesapeake to
see if ] could find Baltimore, place | had
never been nearer Icy water than the Potomac
river. The only information possessed was
from an Eliridge chart | bought before eav-
| inc New York. | arrived off Cove Head at 6
O'Clock Friday morning. Feb II. 1t was snow
| ing fast that | could not see half mile and
the wind was \. +. Two tu- boats came. but
| wanted &l20 to tow me to Baltimore. This
| amount my purse would not stand and ! dc
cline,l. whereas if the law that protects the pi-
lots extended to the tug boats, | should have
been obliged to take the first one who offered
| his services. They left me and beat up the
bay until within II miles of Baltimore. when a
| tug towed me to the city and to the dock for
| 500. arrived at p. NJ. and when went to
| the custom house to inter- the toll collector
met me and inquired " ho my pilot was John
| W. Kane" said. Il do not know of any pi-
| lot by that name in Baltimore" he replied:
Where did you take him:' an y. w. said.
And he is Baltimore pot:' queried the toll
collector. Il do not know about that: all
have got to say /, he brought my vessel safely
| up the Chesapeake in a snow storm, and ! am
here with Il small towage bill, where other
vessels who We're obliged to take the Cape
Henry scavengers had 500 pilot bill and
| Sl20 towage bill "You will be obliged to
take pilot when you 60 out. When do YOU
intend to COZ "When | get ready for sea-
replied, rather short.
was ready to 90 the night of the 18TH and
when went to the custom house to clear at
p. NJ. pilot came to me and said lie was my
pilot, and asked me how far | wa, going to
tow. | told him that | only intended to tow a>
short distance as would be safe for me To
sail. | did not intend to employ tow boat
and pilot both. If he was to be my pilot
wanted him 10 earn his money. | made no
further reply. | finished up my business at
5.20 p. NJ. and started from the dock and tow
| ed twenty miles below the city, when | told
the pilot could sail her my self, and did not
propose to hire tug boat when | could 20
faster under sail and equally AS safe. | then
discharged the tug and proceeded under sail
and arrived at Cape Henry AT =. p. NJ, the 10Th.
| when the toll collector boat came and relieved
me OF my incumbent, to whom gave an order
for Sj6 for toll down the Chesapeake, although
every inch of the way | could have come equal
y as well without pilot. The pilot told me
his gross receipts for the month of January
were S22l, and his share of that amount was
| 500. \ on can have AN idea Of how many this
monopoly is obliged TO support when the pilot
gets only % per cent. of his gross earnings.
This is plain statement of the facts in this
one ease, in free country like America.
where We are obliged to pay toll before we
can leave on a foreign voyage. and this under
| the eyes of the general government. which
permits monopoly to plumber what remains
| OF once prosperous merchant marine. Why
compel all TO be obliged 10 pay this toll: Why
not license every American shipmaster who
may apply, and be qualified to receive a branch
the same As the captains of steam vessels are
licensed and thus exempt them from pilotage
| have never seen a pilot yet who had very
much information of place, only in The chan
mel. They never look on chart, and if YOU
ask them how much water there is over that
shoal, and they tell you it will be mere guess
| work. The question is this: Is it right for
ne to be obliged to pay pilot 556, for per-
forming duty that | can do equally as well: !:
Is the State of Maryland separate power
with authority to tax the commerce of another
State. when the constitution forbids that one
State shall tax the commerce of another State.
Every State in the Union except Maine does
this unconstitutional act, and Congress remains
silent by laying the bill for relief on the table.
Will Congressman interest themselves in this
matter and give us relief in the shape of IL
cense to captains of American sailing vessels,
if nothing else. This method if adopted will
give breathing spell from the obnoxious
law of compulsory pilotage. What right has
State to make a law compelling the commerce
OF another State to pay toll before they are
allowed to depart from their harbors: The
subject of compulsory potage came up on my
way down the bay and told the pilot that no
reasonable man could blame him, or any other
pilot. 1t was the law l took exceptions to, a
law that compels me to employ person did
not require TO perform services | could do
equally we'll myself. 1t is the cursed law
that compels us to submit to such toll that
object to, and not the men who prosecute their
business under the shadow of that law. The
simple idea of compelling vessel to employ a
pilot in a free country like America is sufl-
cient proof that it is unjust and should be abol-
ished without further delay or debate. Abol-
ish this system and let the pilot rates remain,
and those who choose to employ them can pay
the rates. The idea of a State compelling us
to support their monopoly under the very VIM
dows of the capital of this great nation, and
the representatives of the people looking on
in comparative silence while their consttu-
ents are being plundered by process of law
contrary to every element of the constitution
, of the United States.
Let any State pass law fixing duties on in,-
ports, and how quick would this action call
forth from the general government law ST.
lencing such an arbitrary power usurped bv tbe