The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-08-29
OUR MERCHANT MARINE.

American registry two English
built steamships, the City OF
New York and the City of Paris.
The law was enacted with the
condition that two equally we'll
| built vessels should be construct
ed in this country. One of them,
the St. Louis, is finished and i'll
the Atlantic service; the other
will probably be completed next
year. AS all these steamships
fly the stars and stripes it has
been thought by many that a
new era is opening for American
shipping; that the seas once
ruled by us as merchantmen are
to be regained, and that day of
maritime prosperity has really
dawned for the American people.
In this connection it is inter-
esting to note the recent profits
made by the steamship lines Of
Great Britain, the mistress of the
seas, the nation with which all
others must compete. Out of
147 statements it is found that
thirty-six companies paid no div
idends at all, thirty-nine paid
less than S per cent, seventeen
paid slightly over 5, eleven paid
6 Or 6 and a fraction, and forty
seven paid 7 per cent. or over.
The Cunard company, for exan-
pie, paid 4 per cent. i'll 1890, 3
per cent. in 1891, per cent. i'll
1892 and 1893, and nothing last
year, but during that period It
has built and put in commission
the Ca1npania and Lucania, two
modern 1eviathans, costing three
OF four million dollars each.
Her shipping has always been
the apple of Britain's eye. She
has fostered it in every way man
could conceive of. Bounties,
subsidies, liberal shipping laws,
reasonable port regulations -ev-
erything which would build up
her maritime interests-has been
tried and whatever served the
purpose has been adopted. AS a
result, on the ocean British bot
toms practically carry the rner-
chandise of the world. She is
envied by all nations whose peo-
| pie go down to the sea in ships,
and by none more than the Uni
ted States, the merchantmen of
which were at one time found in
every port all over the globe, and
were feared as competitors by
every seafaring people that
sought portion of the carrying.
trade.
In view of the constant agita-
ton now being made to deter
mine what may be done to revive
our shipping, it is we'll to look at
the influences which were instru-
mental in raising our marine to
$50 high rank in the early days
of the republic. Two systems of
protection to our ocean carrying
trade were adopted by Hamilton
and Madison in 1880. One dis
criminated by duties in favor of
goods brought in American bot
toms and the other Disseminated
by rates On tonnage Of vessels
arriving in American ports. For
example, teas, if brought in
ships all the way from China,
paid a duty of only from E to 20
cents per pound, and if brought
in American ships from Europe
only from s to 26 cents per
pound; But if brought from
China in foreign ships they paid
from IS to As cents per pound.
The result was a marvellous
growth in our shipping. The
trade was thrown into the hands
of American owners with no
increase in the rate of freights,
but rather with a marked de-
crease, because of the rapid
increase in the competition of
American vessels. Our tonnage
in the foreign trade grew from
127,32o tons in 1889 to 848, 3o6
tons in 1907, while the British
tonnage engaged in American
trade fell from 2o6, 6,oo5 tons in
1892 to 1860 tons i'll 1896.
This splendid showing would no
doubt have been maintained had
not English high-handed out
RACES On the seas called forth
Jeferson's embargo and finally
resulted in the war of 1872.
One outcome of the war was