The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-05-24
FRANCES SORE FINGERS.

MAMMA DUnL IlNUEAD.
BURNT BY TOO MUCH POOLING
WITH SUBSIDIES.
HOW They Vorked-Enormous Bountie1
which Resulted In Discouragingiy Small
R@turns-An Artificial Stimulus Which
Unfortunately Failed TO stimulate.
The oldest freak in the craftsmanship
Of the time is the proposal Of the high
protectionists in congress to revive Amer
lean shipping by means Of subsidies at
the same time that they continue to dis
Courage foreign trade by means Of the
massive tariff wall, and pass Mckinley
customs bills, which treat importers as II
they were enemies Of the country.
If the thing they r attempting could
be done at all, it would not perhaps be
an unwise measure to pay millions in
orderto put life into Jul commerce.
The subsidy idea presents many attrac-
tions when looked at merely as a theory;
but it always looks much less attractive
after it has been tried.
It behooves us to he students of mar
kets rather than of maxims, and to take
the practical view gained by actual ex-
perience of our own or Of others. It
will be well to consider the result Of the
most recent and most gigantic subsidy
experiment Of the ten years just past.
That experiment was made by France,
and France burnt her fingers.
In 1881 the French became alarmed at
the decay of their shipping interests.
During the previous ten years they had
seen the number Of new ships built in
France, or bought abroad and entered as
French vessels, fall of nearly one-half.
They had seen their total tonnage fall of
more than one hundred and fifty thou
sand tons in ten years. They had seen In
1879 that only % per cent. of the tom
mage Of vessels entering and leaving
French ports were sailed under the three
colored flag that every Frenchman loves.
All this was most humiliating. It
wounded the national pride. Something
must be done-if our citizens will not buy
or make ships and pay the bills out Of
their own pockets, why we must reach
deep down into the national pocket and
help them to foot their bills. Perhaps,
too, some of the wise men Of France made
use of a ready made, cheap argument
that we hear from some of our so called
wise men: The money will be kept in the
country when we pay it to own be-
loved Frenchmen, and 80 who is hurt?
We take it in taxes and pay it to the ship
makers and shipowners, they pay it to
their workmen, the workmen pay it to
the butchers and grocers and other
tradesmen. And SO we keep the money
all the time swinging round the circle,
nobody hurt, and France has her fine
new ships blowing all seas and enriching
her people with the goods of every cline.
It was a pleasant vision, and appealed
most temptingly to the bright Gallo
imagination. And so the lawmakers
''got together" and passed a law which
should send the flag Of Ia belle France
into the harbors of all lands.
A Law was passed giving bounties not
only for the building but also for the
sailing of vessels. All wooden ships Of
less than 200 tons should receive So a ton
when built. Those above 200 tons should
have 81. AS iron ships are much more
efficient in the contest for supremacy on
the high seas these should have $12 a
ton, and a further bounty of $1.20 should
be paid on the machinery put into these
ships; and the government must help
also to pay for the renewal Of boilers as
they are used up~about eighty cents on
every hundredweight.
So much, then, for the building. But
these ships may not sail as much or on
SO long voyages as they ought.
Very well; then we will pay them for
too. For every voyage to for
eign countries we will pay our fine new
thirty cents a ton for every 1000
miles sailed during the first year, and
that one cent less per ton every
year.
Now il does look as If the thing ought
to go. We have buoyed up our ship on
will float.
Well, float she did-for a while.
Now let us look at q few figures to see
how she kept on floating. In 1881
had reached their lowest ebb;
France had vessels with q total tonnage
Of Oh, 1878. The next year aur beautiful
scheme begins to tell-there isa
gain of 68, 644 tons, and the government
cheerfully puts its hand into its pockets
and pays down, g, 1876, 900. In 1883 an
other gain of 10000 tons. That did not
show up SO well as was hoped. How
ever, as the ships constructed last year
have made some easy voyages, we are
navigation at least, and 30 gov
eminent pays down this time 81, 900.
Next year government begins to smile
again; we have added Q ,15O tons more
to our tonnage, and there have been
longerSvoyages than ever. Government
looks more cheerful, and relieves the
treasury Of $3,814,OO0. "a big sum this
time, but we have added ships and have
made long cruises, and we a afford to
pay for such good things.
The year 1885 ends, and government
calculates-tonnage this year, s., 814 less
than last year. How is that? Have we
not built 10000 tons ourselves this year
and bought 1851 tons from abroad?
True; but French ships have now be-
come too numerous. The old owners,
who were making money before the day
Of subsidies, now complain that they
cannot get cargoes, and SO can declare
no dividends. Hence some Of these ships
without subsidies must be sold, driven to
the wall by subsidy fed ships, which can
afford to carry freight more cheaply.
The next year the tonnage falls off