Telegram-herald., 1890-08-16
TIE SHIPPING BILLS
\ MATTER or TIE eSEATEsT ~
TEREsT TO EVERY ChE.


Essrs oas sEs4La Ess Ais t@aa~ae~-
Farznsrs. uechasaics. Lsberers. buzi-
aosa all professional naen aEs al urged
thai the elesti0R u s8lp0zzlding IA this
country and sap o%rains . oas with
Ehich they naVe Nd ins~ress. thai Il Is
naensly a qaeSron u Fr0at = = few per-
saus hginx 90 uns seasn0re. Bat ~
mater 81 fzct ban ar productive indus
tries. adding 70 tas resources and en-
ulgvnents n the co1utry ~ happy as
b passess Eneu-
lt Is wei Known thai We were ~ ono
tinns the FIRST sr5pbBs dang country as
Ear fs the quality e the product = c0n-
cernef Before the war Of 1912. which
vas forced upon rs ~ Great Britain
adsh -hs hope of destroying our mer-
chant marine. We were building 0ves
10000 tons a year through the eneour-
ageme8t gwen 10 cur shipping by duties
wtish wers les GA goods imported IN
vessels bulit1lnd owned ia America. AMI
port charges which were less on Ameri-
can built vessels under foreign Gags than
on foreign built vessels under the same
hags.
The date assigned BY DR.. David A.
Wells for tho connencement OF our
maritime decline ia ''Oar Merchant Ma
rine" is 1855. This was seven years be-
fore the Aoriu Tariff.
In addition 70 the repeal OF the restric-
ton clauses OF our navigation laws. Civ
ing English ships. with thsir cheaper
capital and labor. as free access % our
ports as Our own vessels had. all subsi-
dies were withdrawn from American
steamer Ires by the act of June Ia, 1851.
II wood hal continued % be the only
material available for shipbuilding We
might have sufficiently recovered our
position after the war % again have
laws passed favorable 70 American ship
ping. but from 1910 England had been
trying % perfect iron shipbuiiding. BY
ls60 it wa an important industry there,
and az the close OF the war the business
was fully established AT that time we
were in no position 70 compete with
England IN the manufacture OF anything
from iron.
Our position is now changed. We
have yau1s which show by the speed Of
the vessels they construct that they have
not only appliances. bat that Americans
retain theiro old time skill in all branches
OF marine architecture, and. what Is
nearly as important, our proportion or
the iron made IN the two countries, the
United States and Great Britain, in
stead OF being less than ID per cent, or
one-severah, as 10 was in 1851 and 1865.
win this year be over 80 per cent; or.
in other words. we are reversing our rel
ative positions as iron producers We
are making more than Great Britain.
And the pTice Of pig iron, which for the
tgTo years 1883 and 1854 averaged be
tween $50 and S37. averaged $1s.e5 for
1883 a-d Sfg.75 for 1889.
There is now nothing in our position
as iron PRODUCERS that hinders our again
taking the first rank rs shipbuilders.
1t Is difficult % estimate our loss Of
money. employment and OF profitable
markets through the policy which has
driven Us from the oosan. During the
last fiscal year foreigners. instead Of do
ing less than 25 per cent Of our carrying
trade, dsi over 50 per cent. of it. and il
Is estimated that we pay more than
si5O. no 900 annually 60 foreigners for
carrying our freigfE-generally where
they like In addition 10 the freights we
have Lost the passenger business. Indus
tries. y London paper. says that In 1888
1s2. 600 passengers vve,e taken from Brit
ish ports IN American ships TO this coun-
try. and only rs 900 IN British ships. But
neglecting the passenger business, profit
able "A 1t If. we oslght % earn at least
half Of thnt freight nonsy, OF SO 5,OO0,- :
Coo yeo-
With sailing our-shipsshould go build
ing them. which would imply building
for other nations. This industry" 10
quote from one Of tho English technical
journals. 'fs ono which involves the
welfare q almost ali the other indus
tries in the cozntry." ft Is very impor-
tant 70 England and might be made
more valuable 70 rs
It viii be asserted that as our tariff
would prevent or selling ships TO for
eignsrs. no part Of the average Of over
uine million dollars worth % vessels an
nually sold % foreigners by Great Brit
ain should be counted among our posi-
be gains from saipbTilding but we
have for the past ten or twelve years
sold on an average over one million dol
lars worth # locomotives. In spite of
the difficulty Of securing trsnsporta-
ton for them across the lines Of trade
established for - by our rivals. and
many Of them have gone % the British
colonies
We should. after establishing business
for ourselves. sell more ships. rs before,
than Great Britain. B'1t until we again
build for ourselves We are 10 more likely
@ sell ships 20 foreigners than we are
at present 70 sell them tin plates. We
r1uat establish the nanufscture Of an
article before we can deal In it as ex-
porters
II We cuuld again control al the
sources Of income presented 70 IA by our
carrying trssie. it would douhtle-< add
fully $50 .00O. .0o0 10 our annual income.
The influence Of this large sum on OIL
money market nav be partly seen from
the fact thar bstvlseu iS4A and 1878 the
balance of our forttgn trsse wss against
ia ~ the amount II one thousand snd
Eve hundred million dollars. and IN the
t,veivs succeeding years W. recovered
The same sum. About the close ~ tht
E-st mentioned period interest on money
vas A. high. Il not higher. than az an
other HTne in cur history. Now = i
lower thsn az any other time, Il havin.
fallen. according to Mr Edward Akin
scr. 20 about one-half u what II Wa
There Is also another aspect Il Til