Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-10-18
AMERICAN SHIPPING INTERESTS.
A Great Falling on In Our Merchant
Marine.
n he Editor of he Dispdic.

To me fludOr OF ne DtSputt''
have noticed in our papers several
times that Mr.. G. i. Huntington and the
Chesapeake and Ohio railway had con-
tracted with the Furnasse Steamship Com
pany. of Glasgow. Scotland. to run line
OF steamers between Newport News and
Iiyerpool. We have now great many
regular lines from the nlted States 10
Iurope. New York takes the lead with It's
Cunard. White Star. 1nman. Guion lines.
Boston also has its Cunaid lines. fnlla-
delphia, Baltimore. Portland. ana New
Orleans also have their lines OF steamships
and every seaport IN the country that ex-
ports abroad employ what i called tramps.
These tramrs. as | call them. seek
business wherever they can get 1t.
| have known them to SAL from
Liverpool or London and call at Sandy
Hook or Hampton Roads aud then tramp
their way down 10 New Orleans or GalNes-
ton. That Is the reason call them trainps,
as they have no regular trade. Ihey seek
The best market. Now oil these steamers
| mention came from abroad TO carry our
produce away to foreign countries. lhele
arrived in New York in July. 1871, from
foreign parts Isl steameIs-2s OF them were
American. against III British. "a NorWe-
gian, 81 German, Italian, Is DutrD'
French. 6 Bel gan, 6 Spanish. Portds uese,
DANISH, and Swedish. Now, does IL not
seem strange 10 tho tNo VI M -N- 49,
that in TINS great maritime ana pro-
duclnc country we have to call
on nearly all nations To carry our
produce away from our ports and THINK
that We have not one single Inc OF steam
ers crossing the Atlantic flying the amer.
can flag, though We have the credit or
having built the first steamship IN 1877
that crossed the Atlantic from Savannahto
Liverpool? Now 10 90 back II the hitles-
60 Lanlr a | rpPnllspt-trOfQ
fifty 10 sixty American ships had nearly
the carrying trade OF the world. New
York, Philadelphia, Boston, and New Or-
leans had regular lines OF salling-shlps TO
Liverpool. London, and llayrc. New York
wharves were full at all times OF SHIPS
landing from oil parts OF the world.
New Orleans, Mobile. and Savsn-
nah were the great cotton ports
and have seen at the levee OF New Dr.
leans upward Of $50 large ships landing
cotton for Europe, and every ship flying
the American flag and owned III this cOup-
try. In the cotton trade ships made two
trips in the cotton season and during the
summer months many were employed ID
the lumber trade from British America 10
Europe. The greatest part OF ships en-
ploved i'll the European trade brought
back large cargo and emlgrants. linen we
had the world-renOwned clipper ships that
trade to China and India and brought the
tea 10 New York and London at the CHI
cha Islands on the cOas, of Peru. One
could see Mt any time 80 American cup
pers loading guano for Europe and tie
United States. In London and Liverpool.
American chpper-shlps Lad the pre-
ference TO load for Melbourne. carrying
mails and passengers. Even dUIln@
the Crim,an war many OF our large ships
were chartered 10 the British and french
governments as transports. The Mediter-
ranean AMI Back Sea was full of our finest
ships. Cur ships III those days coined
money and gave employment 10 thousands
Of men. Those ships were all built and
owned in this country; the greatest part
were built IN the eastern states. Inc sulp-
wards of Maine had an army OF men en-
Moved and getting good wages. Carpcn-
ters. ioiuerS, ringers. and sail-makers were
in great demand. Fleets OF new ships Often
sailed from the kenncbec river on their
maiden VOYAGE manSed with crew or
Young and able American seamcn. Many
q Young man lift Name before the mast
10 return IN very few years IN COMMAND OF
fine clipper SNIP. Those good days, Ike
our ships and sailors, ale oil the past, Tor
the smallest nation IN Europo mas To-Day
more fore IN trade than We have from oar
own seaporis. Look at the Ndrotme 4.
qls',r. published weekly III New ORR. and
look over the list oil ships employed III the
California. China, Japan, lndia, AID Aus
,raIa trade and YOU viii find but poor
showing OF American ships. anu II seems
t. metha, they are getting less every year.
We cannot expect 10 have Goou sailors
NOWADAYS, foi there ~ no encouragement
for our young men L. start gong 10 sea,
and a young American would AOt Ike 10
start under a foreign las.
The majority of our ships TO-DAY are
manned bv foreigners, even Ia the lnlted
States navy. Suppose French or British
rnen-ofWar ship anchored IN Hampton
Roads say with crew Of 800 or 400 men.
venture to say that You would find every
mau Oh the French shlpG citizen OF France;
the same with the British ship. Now,
take one of our war vessels with ihe same
number OF men and see how many native
Americans Won would find. / venture TO
say not half.
There is but one cause | can ascribe for
the decay of our merchant shipping From
1851 10 lsG5. during the civil war, many OF
our shlp-owncrs were afraid TO run ships
abroad under the American tag on account
Of southern privateers, for many OF them
were destroyed by the Alabama and other
cruisers. SO on tins account many OF our
ships were sold abroad and put under tho
fiag OF other nations. and during those
tour or five years very few ships were
! built ut the North. Then was the tme
that foreign ships got foothold on our
trade and have gained year by year, and
our ships have been losing ground ever
since. Every seaport on the Atlantic feels
the loss of our. shipping, and our ship
yards at Maine have done but little Ill the
way OF building large ships for years. We
still have large fleet of coastw;se
schooners. but coastwise steamers are fast
taking from them their best business, and
il looks TO Inc that before many years rail-
roads will take large portion of the busi-
ness now done by coastwide steamers
that is 10 say, on short distances.