Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-12-18

fTOln ANY t1utt. ID hftnS hHN 'fth-ftN'NN%"
safeguard TO master, owner, and insurance
and lastly. QUARANTINE officers
to the adjacent ports and life-saving sta.
tions TO worn-out and wretched crews. lt
this is not full and complete service Tor the
paltry sum of ten cents per ton Tor one
wear then wo cannot comprehend sufficient
recompense for 40 small q charge.
in connection with the quarantine ser
vice performed by the Virginia pilots. we
submit On extract from letter written re-
Gently by DR.. T. NJ. Urquhart, United
States quarantine officer at Cape Charles;
d" The abolition OF compulsory pilota2e on
coastwise vessels will seriously affect the
carrying ont of q strict quarantine at the
Canes. | have relied almost entirely upon
the pilots TO prevent foreign and coastwise
vessels from passing my quarantine, and
do hope there viii be no interference IN
this matter" Also, letter Of DIR. William
4. Thom. State quarantine medical Oh
ficer
OFFICE OF QUARANTINE COMMISSIONERS,
DISTRICT or ELIZABETH RNTR.
NORFOLK. Va, December 10, 1889. J
To the General Assembly Of vdginia:
For nearly four years have been quaran-
tine medical officer Of the District OF the
River and its branches. During
that time each day has taught me the absO-
lutte helplessness Of my Office without the
aid of the Virginia Pilot Association. They
ere required 10y two statutes oI thls state
TO aid in the enforcement OF the quaran-
tine regulations. and are the only available
means bv which the said regulations can
be made known TO the masters of incoming
vessels. These two statutes make the pilots
the responsible parties for any breach OF
the quarantine regulations by vessels un-
der their charge. During my whole cXpe-
renee / have known but one single case
where the pilot has failed TO do his whole
duty. and that one was the case OF young
man Just ont OF his apprenticeship ana
who had the good sense - understand the
piopriety OF the fine imposed upoh him
and TO appreciate the necessity Oh eh-
forcing il.
During the last four years theirs have
been two cases of yellOw-fcyer AT my sta
tion--onc on board the l.. 5. Newman.
brought in hy tug Olive Branch, owned IN
Richmond. which I was enabled 10y the VI
gilance OF the pilots to detect. although
the vessel had passed NV station ana made
fast TO the wharf. n time 60 prevent the
Infection Ofthe city. The eotherlnstancew was
that on board the Elida. brought N 10y tho
Ajax II think. of Richmond, last summer,
which vessel. IN spite of the tlct tnaf her
captain was dying Of what WAS % The cap
tain of the tug-b0at an unknown disease,
was brought within stones throw OK the
city before she wa stopped Here thcu
we have the contrast. On two OCCASION
ships with the actual disease were brought
into our port 10y tug-bUatS both owned in
Richmond without obedience 70 law. ana
striving 70 escape consequences by Nsius
the absence of witnesses, and on" clean
ship brought IN 10y young man whose eN-
perience was just beginning, and VINO
4llr.4I u lfln g. 0 erred no Dlfa, anu
paid for his fault.
All this / lave written TO show why
deem II Of the utmost importance 70 tnis
quarantine district that the Virginia Pilots
Association should have It's hands SUI
tanned. and why none of the fees now az
lowed To the association should be reduced,
o. the efficiency of this brave, relan-e So,
Of men would he most lniuri0usly affected
by any reduction of the means necessary
TO keep up its fleet. Respectfully,
WILLIAM 4. InoM, JR., u D.,
Quarantine Medical Officer.
Aoain. tEev say compulsory pilotago on
coastwise vessels has already been ABOLISH
cl m twentv-seyeu States: tiat theamount
of tax thus collected of the people - NOT 50
bad as the ruinous effects upon our COM
merce. driving vessels away from our
wntors. \ few more years ol the operation
of this law will almost entirely destroy on,
c0astwi,e trade in sailing vessels. ana
consequently the poor farmer and mintf'
the consumrrs. viii greatly ,uher, ETC.,
etc. We say it - untrue that twenty seven
States have abolished compulsory phot1ge
on coastwise trade. but assert without lear
ot fuccessful contradiction tnat thv '.A
States. Massachusetts, New YORK, new
jersey, Eennsylyama, Delaware, ana thll j,
forua, having only four commercihi
ports. to wit-BostOn. New York, Pblia-
delphia. and san Francisc0-are the
0uh States that have abolished conf
pusOrv Vilotagc on codsiwl,e Yea-
sels. The remaining tweniy-one state
mover had any compulsory pdotase %
abolish, most Of them beng inland
States. These six states only abolished t9e
same when their pilot systems were Amply
-ustainelhvco compulsory pilotaeeon i's'iSn
commerce alone. That with one -lusic eA-
cepfion (Georgia. where the hcense-tlS D.
- cents per ton. every state south oi if-
ginia requires full compulsory piioi-iee
upon coastwlsc vessels. as they do upon
foreign, for every trip made. We supmi
that we have shown that the amount oi tue
hcensc-taX per ton on cOastWiae NtsSel-
regularly engaged ia the cOastw.se trade ls
so infnite--lmally small that the poor
farmer or miner. the consumers, VIII mover
be benefitoy by the relief from the ehaIge
oftWO thirds OF one cent pcf ton, bnt tu''I ln'
northern ship-OWn,r VIII pocket the same
the ship-broker and tug-owner. especlllll
when combined m one, as Is the case ot a'
least one ardent friend and promoter ol
this measure, Will pocket many times tu,
amount Of the same. and sluile out loul ~
the gullbility of the tariners and miners
the consumers. They who are really nte
rested in having cheap freight rates WI
wait IN vain for the same from th.s sout, '
so long as Their charges are limited only bi
theirc capacity 10 squeeze ana ihe uochd-'
on vessels in Richmond, amounting "a ls'f
according 10 their statement, - rzl,OJD
over seven times the amount OF lcsnse-ta'
collected this yeaI to VIII, cZ.1JJ.JD. ina
this tax affects the trade of q grent cltl
claiming % 900 inhabitants, claiming 10 b'
seaport (and she seems 10 be claiming
everything clso1. appears To as 70 DC tp'
ridiculous and absurd TO merit serious con
sideTatiOn. The truth j.. her frQtc has 50u
Ia deep ,r0fer-West Point, Newport New
aud Norfolk. The United States Comiui-
siOner Of Navigation say ID ms last Itfoi
that the cOastWl-e trade ~ IN prosperou
condition: but Richmond viii not gec,2
nize the old saying, that 1T ~ hard 4
make silk purse ont of sOw's ear
that il is hard 10 make Richmond, natural,
and essentially place for manufacturing
q seaport when she j. up on the hills IL
miles from sea, beautifully situated on tn
historic james, which IN tho sunmef-tlM
you can almost step over dry-shod, an'
which the United States coast survey, u
in their report for 1896, estimated II woul'
cost about S5 000.0 900 to dredge out 10
depth of twenty-five feet from IT. mouth
when twenty-eight feet depth Of water =
had at NewpOrts News without any dredging
Ut all. Where will these coastwise vessel
(9O per cent. Of which are owned north o
u.s. be driven to If this license-tax Is no
repealedy If driven away they must Ia,
UP at their homes from Maine TO Boston
or 20 10 ports south # Us, where the pilot
age IS absolutely compulsory for each trr
except IN Georgia, and whore the pilotag
or license, as the case may be. IS from tW
and "a half to ten times as much ~ IN II
ginia. The truth is, the persons beuetite'
by the repeal Of the hcense-tax will be Tn
ship-owners. nearly all of whom are non
residents, the license being the only IA
which they now pay. They Will traver5
our highways, receive all the benefit Of pre-
lection given under our laws, without on
cent of return: and this. too, they woul
have you authorize them 10 do 10 the detr
meut Of hardy, courageous, law-abidin
and tax paying natives ana citizens. u
Virginia pilots, who, wherever known. ar
respected and regarded az the peers of an
Virginian, who at Virginla's call responde
10 O man. gave faithful, ski!tul, and