Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-02-12

land.
The second act passed by the First
Congress 4, disappointed for the
protection of American shipping by the
imposition of a discriminating duty IN
favor of teas brought in American yes
sells. thereby signalling the first Fourth
of July under the constitution by dec
laration of commercial independence as
a supplement TO the declaration of pollt-
ical independence made thirteen years
before.
The third act of congress. passed SIX
teen days later, imposed tonnage duties
as follows:
Cents.
American vessels, per ton ...........---.- 10
American built vessels belonging TO for
eigners, per ton. ~
All other vessels, per ton ......---.--.---- ~
On the 1st of September the same
year congress prohibited any but Amer
ican vessels from carrying the American
flag. By the tariff act of 1894 an addi-
tional discriminating duty of 10 per cent.
was levied on all goods imported in YES
sells not of the United States, and In all
changes of the tariff prior to the war of
1912 this discriminating duty of 10 per
cent. was re-enacted. So great was the
development of our shipbuilding and
shipping interests under the fostering in
fiuence of these acts that we sold ships
amounting to hundreds of thousands of
tons to foreigners, and soon took front
rank among maritime nations.
Voicing the national pride III 1925
Daniel Webster said: I'VE have COM
merce which leaves no sea unexplored:
navies which take no law from superior
force" How like bitter irony these
words would sound in 1891! The brill
fancy of our achievements on the ocean
begat over confidence, and listening TO
the siren voice of free trade we gradually
Welded to the seductive phrase ''recip-
rocal liberty of commerce, which at
that time became very popular, until in
1928 congress swept away all protection
to our foreign shipping interest, and
opened our ports to the ships of all ma
tions on the same terms as TO our own.
So strong had our position become un-
der the protective policy of the first
twenty-five years of national life that
our merchant marine continued to be
prosperous so long as wooden vessels
were the only vehicles of ocean COM
merce and other nations refrained from
heavy subsidies to their ships.
But when wooden vessels began 10 be
supplanted by iron steamers and Euro
pean governments poured their contri-
buttons into the treasures of their steam
ship companies, the decadence of Amer
ican shipping began, and has continued
ever since. How could it be otherwise
The American people ask no odds against
any in the world. Give them an even
chance and they will distance all COM
petitors, but how can they be expected
to compete unaided, against foreign ship
yards and shipowners, backed by the
power and the treasures of their gov
ernments? The amount which has been
thus contributed to sweep our commerce
from the seas cannot be accurately stated,
but it is known to have reached l. IN
dreds of millions of dollars.
The mischief and its cause are both
apparent. What is the remedy! 1t can
not be found in the re-enactinent of the
legislation of 1889, because treaties stand
in the way, and it would not now be e1-
pedient even if there were no treaties on
the subject. Inmy judgment the remedy
is plain and easily applied. five would
regain our lost prestige, reinstate our
flag upon the ocean and open the mar
kets of the world to American producers
we must make the contest with the same
weapons which have proved so success
full in the hands of our rivals. No nation
can better afford this kind of contest
than ourselves----
Surely no object is of greater impor-
tance than the enlargement of our for
eign markets, and nothing will contrib
ute so much to that end as the command
of direct and ample facilities for reach
ing them The folly and the danger of de-
pending upon our competitors for the
means of reaching competitive markets
cannot be expressed. Aid to our mer-
chant marine is not aid to class, but to
the whole people-to the farmer, the
merchant and the manufacturer quite as
much as to the shipbuilder and the ship
owner.
Will Government Aid Pay?
But it will cost money. Will it pay?
Yes. a hundred fold. The aggregate of
our foreign carrying trade for the last
twenty-five years, while not more than
one-tenth our domestic trade, has nev-
ertheless reached the enormous sum of
500, ,465. 124, 800 Estimating the cost of
transportation at 10 per cent. of the val
ne of the goods, we have an expenditure
of about $1,000, 600, 900, at least so per
cent. of which-$2, ,400, 900, ,000-has been
paid to foreign shipowners. If we add
to this sec, 900, 600 a year paid for pas
sage money we have grand total OF
s., ,90O, ,000. 900 paid to foreign labor and
capital during the last quarter of cent
ury. . sum larger by nearly $500, ,000,-
GOO than the maximum of our bonded
debt growing out of the late war.
Are not the benefits which would &C
crue from paying these sums to our own
people worth saving? During<hat period
we have exported of gold and silver, to
pay balances of trade against us, an ex-
cess of 1907, 100000 more than we have
imported. Had we carried fair share
of our own foreign commerce in Ameri-
can ships, owned by American citizens
and manned by American seamen, this
vast sum, and much more, might have
been retained at home to enrich our own
people.
Suppose that for twenty-five years we
had given 100000 year in aid of our
foreign shipping, and reduced by that
amount the prepayments of our bonded
debt, should we not have been far better
off than we are now? Is it not high time
these vast interests receive attention?
Have we not tried the do-nothing policy
long enough? Shall we give that protec
ton and support to our foreign mer-
chant marine that other nations give to
theirs, and which we freely give to all
our other great interests, or shall we ac-
cept as inevitable our present shameful
position?
| regret to say that the uniform record
of Indifference, if not actual hostility,
during the last fifty years affords little
reason for encouragement. In fact the
tendency of late has been to surrender