The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-04-06

4 FETNA1Al letters 10 A'A0A- AAAAf RsAH -
/ Arch street. Philadelphia Pa answered
| With free medical advice Cor any diseasr.
-
volye 4 great contest. chiefly with Eng
land, not OF arms. but as friendly RI
| walls Tor commercial supremacy"
! Il is the province % English states
| manship TO maintain the commercial
] supremacy Of Grea, Britain on the seas
| II Is manifest destiny that the United
States shall dispute this supremacy aud
\ from lis position coatnoi not only us
oWn. but the Larger part OF tAe carry
ing trade OF the world.
! We may agree with England on most
| subjects. but on the subject OF shipping
ard commercial Interests We never can
/ Lord Robert Cecil. IN the English Par
lament. early IN 1852. said.
] Everyone who watches the currept
% history must know that the Northern
| States OF America never can be,ouF true
| friends. for this simple reason: Not
merely because the newspapers write
| al each other. or that there are preju-
d!ces on both sides, but because we are
rivals; rivals politically. rivals COM
merclally. We aspire 10 the sane POSI-
ton we bo;h aspire 20 the govern
meni Of the seas. We are both manu-
] featuring people. and "a every port. ~
in every court. Ee are rivals 10 each
| other
This Is true and candid statement
| OF the factS a. they exist End wsn COZ
| tlnuc % s1lst We cannot. and should
| not. attempt 10 conceal them. Great
! Britain VIII not easily give Up what she
| has gained on tae sea In two hundred
! years She knows that a struggle with
| the United States Tor commercial su-
! preuiacy is Inevitable, and is preparing
/ Tor t. England. an island in area not
greater than one OF our states. Is at
once the child and ruler Of the seas.
Mr.. Blaine In his Twenty Years OF
| Congress, volume !. page l6e says;
| The principle OF protecting the ulaa-
uGacturts and encouraging the naviga-
| ton Of America had been distinctly
| proclaimed In the first law % the new
l government. ADD vas thus made IN
] suggestive and emphatic sense the VeTy
| corner stone OF the republican ediiice
which the patriots OF the Revolution
| were aiming 70 construct"
The original acts OF Congress pro-
vld!ng discriminating duties were TAX
| en- from the navigation laws o; Great
Britain. then IN force. and which had
| been Tor more than one hu1dre3 years
and which TeTe not repealed for near
| y sixty years Afterwards. The poles
| OF profession 10 our manufacturing In
| tgreSts has been continued sroTn i1Sg IN
/ ~ the present time. and the results
have justified the wisdom not only OF
adopting such a policy in the irst in
stance, but IN adAering to II.
MIR Elkins here went into n history OF
the legislation In Congress on the sub
feet OF shipping. showing that in the
early days discriminating duties had
been followed BY beneficial results In
the way OF building up our merchant
marine and extending our foreign
/ trade. He gave many valuable stats
tics He showed that even the free
| traders OF England favored this sort Of
protection, which built up Englaud's
| great ocean trade.
| Adam Smith. despite his horror and
Intolerance OF all protective measures.
made an exception In favor OF the naSi-
CATION act, which he regarded as a wise
ana patriotic law. II was in his eyes
not only an act regulating commerce,
but measure Of public safety
Reciprocity Gradually Applied.
Step by step the enclnciiug ring o.
protection was broken. but never With
such rapldity that English shipping
could suffer from the change Of conll-
lions. To each country in turn Ia
| which England desired freedom 10,
her Gwn ships she granted freedom IN
| her home and colonial ports Few. X
any, false steps were taken. and none
| out OF consideration FOR her compete
| tors The result speaks for itSsn.
| Great Britain to-day controls IS per
cent OF the carrying trade. oJ7r.s half
the floating property Of the globe. IN
| flrls her nag over one-Quarter Of lp9
area, and rules nearly one-thlrd OF its
| population. Could this position have
been achieved or maintained save By
nrst excluding foreign built vessels
from her commerce. and by dlscgimi'
mating duties. together with subsidies
and mail pay on an enormous scale,
| and other forms Of suppOrtl
England, under this system OF Laws
IN full force for about one hundred and
thirty years. laid the foundation for
the present prosperous condition Of her
shipping and commercial supremacy.
We are told that England has free
trade In shipping and maritime seci-
proesty. and, as n result controls one
half the carrying OF the world. and
| therefore this policy Is best FOR the
United States. But the conditions are
not the same. In the matter Of ships
| ping the United States Is In one sense
now where England was when she
adopted her navigation laws. and we
are not as well OF as when We adopted
| discriminating duties in l19i II the
| United States had enjoyed for one hum
dFed and thirty years the benchi Of
! such navigation laws and had followed
them by discriminating duties. euOr-
nous subsidies, and mail pay. then our
people might be Wiling to adopt free
trade in shipping. We would then start
| In the struggle on an equal footing.
| Great Britain adopted free trade on
land before she adopted i; on the sra,
! and the United States would do wen not
to adopt free trade In shipping until
after Il is tried on land.
The. policy NJ discriminating duties II
only form Of protection indeed. prOtcc
| ton Is based on discrimination. We
| protect our manufacturing industries
by discriminating in their favor and
| against foreign manufactured products.
| II the United States had sixty hyeiFS
ago abandoned the policy OF protection
! and II should be proposed now TO r.
| viye the law TO restore duties by impos-
ing a tax OF ~ per cent on the value OF
| one-haif the goods, wnres, and mer-
| chandsse imported from foreign Cnun'
tries. the same or stronger arSiaicnis
would be made in opposition TO such
bill as IRE now made against restoring
| discriminating duties In favor u Amer
lean shipping. il would be said Mt
once that we would have instant retail
latiOn from the nations Of Europe which
[ We could not stand. But ne nations Of
Europe do not retaliate now. Such
| proposition would be set down NJ mar.
| row, nllberal. and Rntiuuated. Yet the
people OF the United States know and