Omaha daily bee., 1890-07-15
WHAT WILL TT COsTf

In advocating the ship subsidy bills
before congress Senator Frye submitted
estimates Of the cost of the proposed pol
icy to the government One Of these
was made by the commissioner Of navi-
CATION, who estimated that for the first
year the cost would be little less than
three million dollars, from which it
would gradually increase until in ten
years IL would amount to seven mill
lion dollars, the proposal OF the
subsidy bill being to bind the govern
ment to the policy for fifteen years. Sem
ator Frye was q little less conservative
than the commissioner OF navigation,
saying that he should be disappointed if
the aggregate in three or four years did
not rise to seven or eight mil
lion dollars n year THE larger
the figure it reaches" remarked
the Maine senator, "the more
effect it will have upon commerce."
The difference in the estimates
of the commissioner of naviga-
tion and those of Senator
Frye are suggestive. 1t is simply inn
possible to say with any degree Of ac-
curacy what the probable cost of this
subsidy business would be in any year or
for scrics of years, because the effect
Of the policy in stimulating ship build
ing is wholly uncertain. If it would
have any such influence as its advocates
profess to believe the figures Of the an
nual increase of tonnage upon which
the estimates OF the commissioner
of navigation are made are
far too small and Senator.
Frye is the more nearly correct But he
also was careful, considering what the
subsidy advocates promise the country,
with much patriotic rhetoric, would fol-
the adoption of their plan of restoring
the nations merchant marine. Accord
ing to this we should in a few years be
in position of Independence of foreign
ship owners and be fully provided with
the facilities for transporting our prod
ucts of the farm and factory to
every land that wanted them.
Certainly if this were attained
seven or eight million dollars an
nually would fall short OF paying the
treasury would be several times that
amount.
Apart from the objection to the princi
pie of subsidies, which the large major
ity Of the American people regard as S.
sentially hostile to our governmental
system, this uncertainty as to1coSt is a
reasonable ground of opposition to the
proposed policy. No trustworthy esti-
mate regarding it is possible and a
scheme Of public expenditures intended
to be continued for number of
years, the cost OF which cannot be ascer-
tanned with any degree of certainty, is
one to be avoided Moreover, if there is
| was committed to this policy it would
| fail to produce the effect expected of it,
| it would be wiser not to adopt it. This
subject has never been presented with
greater plausibility than by its present
advocates, but they have not succeeded
| any better than their predecessors in
demonstrating that it is the duty
of the government to take the
| money collected in taxes from
the whole people and thus apply it to
the direct profit OF the few. Every
American citizen would like to see his
country possessing the means of its own
to transport it's products to other lands,
but while there is another way of attain
| ing this desirable condition the great
majority of American citizens will not
approve the subsidy policy. The party
in control OF congress should think twice
before taking leap in support of sub
sides.