The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-02-24

and million dollars. No effort seems
too great for our people when the in
terror Of the country is to be con-
nected with the Seaboard. But when
the suggestion is made to connect
our Seaboard with commercial cities
of other nations by lines of steam
ships, the public mind is at once dis
turbed by the cry of subsidy We
really feel as much afraid of protec
ton at sea as MIR. Gladstone is of
protection on land. The positions
of the American Congress and the
English Parliament on this subject
are precisely reversed. England has
never been affrighted by the word
subsidy, and, while we have stood
still in impotent fear, she has taken
possession of the seas by the judi
cious, and even lavish, interposition
of pecuniary aid. have already
said that the interest on the amount
which England has paid for this OBJ
iect since she began it with great
energy, fifty years ago, would give
all the stimulus needed for the rapid
expansion of our commerce. Let it
be added that if the Government Of
the United States will, for twenty
years to come, give merely the inter
est upon the interest. at the rate of
five per cent, on the amount which
has been a free gift to railroads,
every steam line needed on the At
lantic, tie Pacific and the Gulf will
spring into existence within two
years of the passage Of the act. 1t
is but few years since Congress
twice refused to give S125,OOO per
annum to secure an admirable line
of steamers from New York to the
four largest ports of Brazil. And
the sum of Ss125,00O is but the inter
est upon the interest of the interest,
at the rate of five per cent, of the
gross amount freely given to the con
struction OF railroads within the
Union. Is it any wonder that we
have lost all prestige on the sea?
The opposition to the policy of
extending our foreign commerce by
aiding steamship lines with small
sum, just as we have aided internal
commerce on railroads with vast
sum, originates with the American
Free Trader. Mr.. Gladstone cannot
fail to see how advantageous the
success of this free-trade effort in the
United States must prove to Great
Britain. The steady argument of
the Free Trader is that, if the steam
ship lines were established, we could
not increase our trade because we
produce under Or protective tariff
nothing that can compete in neutral
markets with articles Of the like kind
from England. How then can the
Free-Trader explain the fact that a
long list of articles manufactured in
the United States find ready and
largo sale in Canada7 The Canadian
tariff is the same upon English and
American goods. Transportation
FROM England to Quebec or Montreal
Is cheaper than from the mannfac-
turing centers Of the United States
to the same points. The difference
| is not great, but it is in favor of the
English shipper across the seas, and
not of the American shipper by rail
| way. 1t is for the Free Trader to
explain why, if the cost of transpor-
tation be made the same, the United
States cannot compete with England
lii every country in South America
in all the articles Of which we sell a
larger amount in Canada than Eng
land does. l append note naming
the American articles sold in Can.
ada, and the Free-Trader, if candid
will admit that the list is one which
is constantly and rapidly increasing.'
= Seaboard