The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-03
ALesson in a Dispatch.

day or two ago IL was announced in
a dispatch sent out from Philadelphia
I that a British steamship had cleared from
that port for Libau. Russia having as
part of her cargo sixteen locomotives. val
ued at $4,000.
A New York man. in a letter TO the
New York Times, commenting on the
dispatch, says:
Now. II the permission TO import ships
from abroad would ruin all our shipyards,
why has not the permission We have a.
ways had from the time when railroads
were first built in this country ruined all
our engine works. Is there more skilled
labor IN building an iron steamship than
there is in building an iron locomotive.
In fact, is not the skilled labor in the
former case very much lessy We began
without let or hindrance TO import rail-
road engines from England TO equip our
railroads Then we had to build shops
10 repair them, and this led TO building
them Now, this dispatch shows the re-
suit. Philadelphia is much further from
Russia than IS Glasgow or Newcastle.
The freight and insurance are consequent
ly greater, and yet the directors of the
Siberian Railway Company send TO Phila-
delphla for their railroad engines-to Phil
adelpnia, the city OF Mr.. Cramp, who
went to Washington last year and found
means TO kill the free ship bill, which bur
for his Vaccinations would have passed
by large majority"
We should like very much to see
the answer of Mr. Cramp or any other
shipbuilder to the foregoing. If we can
build locomotives more cheaply than any
other country. why is It that we cannot
build iron steamships, or wooden vessels,
as cheaply as they can be built in Eng
land or elsewhere? Pretty much the same
kind of skilled labor is required to build
iron steamships that is employed in build
ing locomotives. As far as the material is
concerned, namely, iron and steel, it is
cheaper in this country than it is any
where else in the world. Only a few days
ago we published the announcement of
the sale of pig iron by a Birmingham, Ala.
firm, to an English firm. In other words,
we are shipping iron to England, selling
steel rails to Japan and building locomo-
tives for Russia, and yet it is claimed
that in building ships we cannot COM
pete with England. why cannot we COM
pete? We should like to have that ques-
ton answered.
If we had reformed our navigation laws
Immediately after the civil war, remov,
ing all obstacles in the way of Americans
acquiring ships wherever they could buy
them for the least money, not only would
the United States now be doing at least
half of the carrying trade of the world.
but they would be building a dozen ships
where they are now building one. What
has taken place in the building of loco
motives would have occurred in the build
ing of ships.
Congress, however, has listened to the
arguments ofthe few men who have ship
yards when it should have yielded to the
dictates of common sense. The time
will come. of course. when our absurd
navigation laws will be repealed, and the
United States will do the bulk of the
ship-building and carrying trade of the
world, but what a vast amount of wealth
We shall have missed acquiring in the
meantime!s That Philadelphia dis
patch which we have quoted
contains a lesson that every con-
gresham should learn. Each congress-
man should cut it out. paste 1t in his hat
and give the time to studying it which
he now devotes to drinking apollinaris
water or something stronger.