The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-25
ENGLAND Is PROMPT.

Much of England's greatness has been
produced by the generous assistance which
she lends in the way of mail subsidies to
English steamship lines connecting the
mother country with her colonial depen-
denotes. This is the policy not only of
England herself, but of all her dependen-
cies as well. Some of these carry the
policy much farther than England. Thus,
the Canadian Government, recognizing the
enormous advantages which would accrue
from railroad traversing the domain
from the st. Lawrence River to the Pacific
Ocean, offered inducements for the con-
struction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
which make those originally extended by
our Government to the Central Pacific
appear ungeneTous. As a result of the
Canadian policy, the Northwest has re-
ceived large number of settlers both from
England and the United States, and the
Canadian Pacific, unhampered by I'M
friendly legislation, and aided directly
both by Canada and England, has been
enabled to put line of steamers between
Vancouver and the Orient, which have
almost completely robbed the Pacific sea-
board of the United States of its traffic
with the far East.
England now sees another rich oppor-
tunity. The London Times rightly de-
clares that "if there is one feature by which
the history of the twentieth century is
likely to be distinguished beyond all
others it bids fair to be the development
of the open shores of the Pacific by a
movement of the civilization of the world
like that already seen on the shores of the
Mediterranean and of the Atlantic" 1t
therefore AYERS that the British Govern
ment would be justified in. expanding
100000 in subsidies on the mail and cable
service of the Pacific.
This is a recognition of the fact that the
result of the war between China and Japan
has been the unlocking of vast resources
to which Europe and America have never
had adequate access, and that England
will be the first to develop the Pacific
Ocean as means of securing them. And
of course every subsidy that England gives
will be for the forwarding of the interest
which England has in her own prosperity
and particularly in that of her colonial
possessions which are washed by Pacific
waters. This policy OF England makes
Canada more formidable rival to the
United States than ever before.
Our Government has never entered into
the lists with England to develop foreign
commerce by means of substantial aid to
ocean transportation lines, in whose hands
such DEVELOPMENT SO largely lies. 1t has
been thought that for the development of
the interior resources of our vast territory
there could be found sufficiently profitable
avenues for the expenditure, of our ener-
gies. We have not encouraged Pacific
steamship lines with generous subsidies,
and as Government have never con-
sidered the adyisability of giving any aid
to the laying of a cable which would be a
completing supplement to traffic con-
Quoted by steamship lines. Now that
England has stepped forward so promptly
to avail herself of the opportunities which
the recent readjustment of Oriental affairs
has made it might be worth while for the
leaders of American thought and patriot
ism to give the whole subject of foreign
commerce the most ample consideration.