The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-08-22


its progress was not due to lack of sub
sidy, but to consular fees, compulsory
pilotage, State and local taxation, de-
termination of tonnage capacity, ship
ping and discharge of seamen and the
navigation laws. The system of con-
sular appointments, by which men
utterly untitled for such duties, and the
taxation by which they are supported,
are an oppression to shipowners. The
consular fees for foreign ship are but
small percentage of those paid by an
American vessel under similar circum-
stances.
The compulsory pilotage in the
United States is twice what it is in
England, and is frequently as much as
the pay of captain for a round voyage
to a foreign port. The State and local
taxation has grown with the decline Of
the merchant marine, and the fees to
supervising inspection, quarantine visits,
and functonaries for performing the
duties of their positions are too numer-
Gus and too large, and rarely benefit
the persons who are required to pay
them. In measuring the tonnage Of
American ships much space is included
that is not counted in British vessels.
This increased tonnage entails a cor
responding increase in the tonnage tax
collected annually from all vessels,
American or foreign, entering the ports
of the United States from a foreign
country. Thus if an American and
British vessel should come into a
United States port loaded with the
same kind of cargo the American ship
would have to pay more than the
British vessel for the privilege of un-
loading in an American port of entry.
The fees paid to Shipping Commits
sioners and the extra three months
wages for seamen discharged abroad
are a severe drain upon the profits of
an American ship owner. The naviga-
ton laws originated in a compromise
between the slave supplying and slave
holding sections of the country, and
their final enactment was retaliatory
upon the liberal policy which England
pursued for the destruction of American
trade with the West Indies, and they
have since been added to with
destructive effects. Under their pro-
visions AN American is not permitted
to import foreign built vessel, again,
to register or use her as his property,
thus classifying those articles with coun.
terfeit money and obsceneg goods, the only
other articles subjected to this restric
ton. An American vessel ceases to be
such if her owner, be he an American
or naturalzed citizen of America, with
out the expectation of relinquishing his
citizenship, resides in any foreign
country, except as United States
official or partner in an exclusively
American mercantile house. For
those vessels built within the United
| States before an American can obtain
a register he must make out that no
foreigner is directly or indirectly in
terested in the profits, whether as
owner, master, or officer. An Amer
lean vessel once sold or transferred to
a foreigner can never again become
American property, even if the transfer
had been the result of capture by a
foreign power in times of war. In ad
dition to all this the United States has
turned her seabord cities into protective
stations for foreigners to loot their
producers, made them safe anChorages,
buoyed the channels and lit their
coasts that these favored strangers may
come and go in safety. No wonder
they assume such airs of arrogance and
disregard for the customs laws as is
witnessed daily in the large ports of
entry The United States then should
not depend upon subsidies to obtain
control of the carrying trade upon the
ocean, but should abolish the consular
fees and place the consular system
upon a footing with that of other
maritime powers, modify the taxes SO
as to depend upon the net earnings and
not upon the assured value Of the
vessel. All pilots should be under
Government control and the tonnage
. capacity of a vessel should be deter
mined by the total space in which
cargo is carried. The navigation
laws should be reported and Amer
lean merchants permitted to purchase
| vessels for the foreign trade in the
j cheapest markets. For trade in ship
t is necessary to bring about the restora
E ton of foreign commerce, and the