The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1890-01-15
Subsidies for Farmers and for Ship
owners.

llill.
Subsidies for Farmers and for Ship
owners.
lNaiion1i Democrat
Senator Frye has introduced bill to
pay the owners of large and swift Amer
lean steamers, running TO European
ports SO for every mile of the outward
trip. Senator Cullom has introduced,
by request of an association of Illinois
farmers, bill for the loaning of pub
lie money to farmers at two per cent.
interest, secured by farm mortgages.
OF these two bills the latter is infin-
itely the more sensible and useful. OF
all employments that which is most use
full to human society and TO the nation
as political unit is agriculture. 1t is
not a munerative employment as com
pared with most of the forms of bust
ness carried on in cities, and If the Gov
eminent Is going to assist any class of
men to make living it should assist
the farmers, partly because their pros
perity concerns the nation as a whole
more than the prosperity of any other
class of citizens.
Why in the world should the Govern
ment hire men TO run steamers from
our ports TO those of Europe? Are
there not hundreds of steamers now en-
gagged in that traffic, and is there any
reason to suppose that if the demand for
shipping exceed the supply, private en-
terprise would not with great aIacrity
increase the supply? The Government
might with infinitely more propriety
pay every manufacturer a bounty of so
much per yard on all cloth made by
him or the farmer so much per bushel
on ali grain raised by him thas to pay
a ship owner so much per mile navigat-
ed by him, because the manufacturing
and farming interests are of vastly
more importance TO ms than the sea
transportation interest would be under
any circumstances, and our whole rev.
enue system and the political platforms
and speeches of the party now in power
condemn foreign commerce as hurtful
to us and as thing to be reduced to its
lowest dimensions where il is not en-
tirely cut off. Major McKinley's com
mittee is now listening-and the major
ity of the committee with willing ears
to the appeals of the wool raisers to stop
the importation of wool; Of the glass
manufacturers, who have just organic
ed trust, 10 stop the importation of
pottery, and 50 on through the whole
range of commercial articles. The
world never saw even i'll the dark ages
anything in government more idiOtic
than this effort 10 kill commerce by
heavy fines on importations and to pro-
mote commerce by subsidies to ships,
at the same time.
But if the propriety of subsidies were
admitted the fact would remain that the
rates named in Senator Frye's bill are
80 preposterously high that only Il man
with Senator Frye's well-known chamc-
ter could offer such a bill without great
damage H. his reputation. Mr.. Fryes
bill proposes subsidies for two classes
of steamers, only the lar-er and swifter
to be employed in EurOIean tra,le. lie
subsidy to the one class is to he 80 aud
to the other "a per mile rn the Outward
trip. This would give a steamer run
ming between New York and Liverpool
in round numbers $4,000 a trip 4
steamer of this class mi hi make fifteen
trips year and still have some time to
be laid up for repairs. Fifteen trips q
year ut $ls, 900 per trip would be $780,
900 year. These steamers would not
cost over a million dollars each. 30 that
the subsidy, in addition to all the steam
ers might get for freight and passengers
would be more than % per cent. on the
in years the subsidy would |
buy the steamer. The rate. of "a mile
to the steamers of the second-class
would afford about the same return to
the owners of the steamers, and not ,
content with all this, the Senator pro- ,
poses to pay subsidy to all steamers
or sailing vessels engaged in foreign
commerce ut rate which would give
a vessel of 1000 tons gross measure
ment $50 cents for every mile travelled
going and coming.
Is there a man outside of an insane