Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-02-06
CURRENT AFFAIRS,
Mr., WINDOWS LAST SPEECH
A Strong Plea for our Shipping mlrr'''S
AND FOR A SOUND CURRENCY.


The Reception of Mr.. Wpdoms bouy
in Washington---Univers1 GrIel '' MS
Death---the Funeral
The subject Of Secret ary Window 5
speech at the banquet Of h. New ork
board of trade aud tranHortauon laS'
week Thursday night, when li, death look
place so suddenly and tragidhly, was '"r
country prosperity dependfnt upon "S u"
struments of commerce. Nr.Winl'" na',
prepared himself in writing aud, inspired
bv the occasion and the tb,ihe. read with
great force and vigor The t"' "stru-
ments Of commerce Of which be 'P
were transportation and71onrt 10y '"'
former of which. he sa, c'hu'''''
change places and by tl,e, attr- they eN f.
change owners Mr. Wins | spoke hI'' ''
the onderful developmt of our g.
trade. giving these figuraf when nFe 'I
interest to every intelligent ier'on
"For the accommodating aud 1rveIop-
ment of our home trade, wA have h'lt -
per cent Of all the railroadj OF the "orld
We have more miles of failruaI man an
Europe Asia and Africa cbmhned lhe
floating tonnage uf the Cnitt states en-
gagged in cuastwlse cOmtnpre, ann 'll our
lakes aud rivers is very Par 900 excess "i
that of any other nation }lue or t'o com
parisons will convey some ilea "i tls stu
pendous commerce The Fouuas' "hich
passed through Detroit rivf alone during
the pa days Of navigation in lN~H e. ceeued
10y ,. 4GS l21 tons the eiitre Bri'sh aud
foreign tonnage which entered andcleartn
at London and Liverpool hut Yea IN the
| foreign aud coastwise tradA lh' freight
which passed through the f. Mar Fails
canal in 1889 exceeded 10y ~ -, siitous the
entire tonnage Of all nat oN' whlc passed
through the Surz canal In ~ The
| freight carried on railroad, Of the Culted
States exceeded bv over b.upO,h tons
the aggregate carried ON tI the nlruads
Of the United Kingdom, G1mauy France
and Russia in 1881 Com notifies are IN
tprchaugrd among our .r"n prullr with
greater facility and at chrni'r tate> dis
tance being cor sid, rcd ttnn 90 hIG other
! country on earth he Ia .'a~r OBJ NATIONAL
wealth and prosperity, larrr'F i1r to this
system Of protection {" oW h"mr markets
and domestic trade, and POO in" generous
! development Of these iu{ rumrnthtirs oi
commerce. has become I lr marvel OF the
world. In mauufactur5 We tEceeded
| Great Britian in 1850 b, ,l1," $40, l9l
! France 10y 81. Ia. .OOO, 600 and Germany 10y
-. 3ol .OOO. OOO In produft- Of a- -irulture
we exceled Great BritiaI b, s. f21, 900,
OOO. France 10y SG3j, ,0O0.d" uui Germany
! hv sg9l Uuu 600 cur earuu-- r income
! for 1850 for conn cree, agil uItgr,, mining
manufactures. the carving trade snd bank
ing exceeded those Of (iisal Hr';inn from
| the same sources hy - % p"WO. France
| bv -, 3Hl, 0OO 600 and Gel hauy ~ S2.t1j,
| OOO. 600 Cur Increase Of taith 'rpm 1870
| to 1850 as compared with ,hat ui other ma
/ tnnS was United States ! I,l iiSl ,i9i
| Great Britain, 81 2ju, ,OOUln rance. 81
/ -. UOO. 600 aud GermAnl >itt5 uOu, ,0OO.
/ In 1850 our home markru 'ou>unied about
| so. 900 600 OUO worth of Ir mi products.
an amount equal to the e ire % rumulated
wealth Of Spnin, three ~ o. the increase
/ of wealth IN Great Brtat for ten years.
and seven times the mcr 81 of France for
the same period
81 do not clam, the ;, Artary went on
to say. that all this III MELONS, develop
ment Of our national wed l. iue to our
railroads and ships, but "a them such
growth would have berI' Shle. But
/ for these instrumentaliIi HI commerce
/ the rich farms Of the WeS r. South, and
even Of the Middle II Ate. you'd have
| slumbered in primeval ii enc, hd the myr-
lads of shops aud factC rI-, ould never
have existed We're th,l ship I'd the rail
road Withdrawn business Wou.i be paralyz-
ed aud dtsolation woui % ry supreme
over more than half Of dhur boz I'd domain 90
The contrast hetwe1u th. wonderful
groWt tn Of our home tra BE al the humili-
atingly los ehh Of our fore n carrying
trade was sketched in stIfkus SOrd,
Contrast these grand ire,uIsof our lib
orally developed domestic nmerce, OPP.
Grating upon our protect4 VI lu nstries, with
the present shameful corldrou OF our for
eign carrying trade which has not only
been sadly neglected, bug .ougtines treated
with actual hostility by ta- government
/ There was II time when vB stood first
4 among the nations in ,hptuildiug and
Great Britain alone eGctI-l us IN ocean
tonnage. Once nInety-fye pr cent of our
exports were carried in Am- rican bottoms
and our merchant marine b. ame the boast
/ OF every cltlZen anu the envy Ot the world.
Now, so far as our foreign trade is con-
cerned, our shipyards are comparatively
silent and our flag has almost disappeared
from the high seas The relative decline
in our foreign shipping aa, been constant
aud alarming, until in lNNg only l2t per
cent of our imports and Exports were car
ried in American bottoms. Icing the small
est percentage in any year since the for
nation of the government Noic-
ing the national pride in >2l Daniel Web
ster said We have a commerce which
leaves no sea unexpltred navies which
take no law from SUPERIOR force How
like bitter irony these words would sound
in 1891"
The cause for this decline is not far to
seek. 1t was the poIry of the fathers,
shown by their acts in The early Congresses,
to give proper encourasynent to our ship
owners, through duties levied as to dis
criminate in their fawr. But when, in
lS2S, yielding to thel ,ren voice of free
trade, as expressed nlta- seductive phrase,
reciprocal liberty Of frii iinerce, ' Congress
swept away all protef h to our shipping
interests, and opened Iou' ports TO the ships
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