The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-11
oUR MERCHANT MARINE.
~ EMINENT SHIPBUILDEB UPON
So ITS DEYELOPMENT.

nRNRnuo NuNH SNNA
c.,merc,nI Independence NJ stake-En-
enlargement for American ships Needed.
~ Charles II. Cramp Of the famous ship
hiding firm Of Philadelphia read tho sub
- MINER before q conference held in the
"".u,,tcc room OF the Senate on
can'ucrce on the 9TH inst. It 10 q very interesting
s.orsaion of the means and methods required
sr tho development OF our merchant marine;
y. r A Grisco,n, Chairman Of the sub ommtftes on
The Merchant Marine.
yyo hive TO deal with real facts and 40
81" Ironditions. The interests OF ship owning
t u sbip building are identical, because no ma
ION ,an successfully WI ships that cannot
'g V Hotion can. either build or own ships when,
unprotected and unenconragea' u rs prought IN
% T NJ Is The existing condition of the ship own:
ine and ship building interests OF tho United
sT TRS resulting fact I, that the enormous reve-
n ENf Fep oSr commcrco and travel is constantly
Sraipcd out Of this country Into British, Ger
pan, and F Pri,isb pV %SiIo ;h hS vast saS 2 InaSst nanlf IN:
Cement represented ythe necessary ship build
ins inures almost wholly to Great Britain.
sheer loss. 1t is the principal cause of our exist
tnr financial condition.
ma monetary policy can restore the national pros
pTTtmniiifl we mako some provision to keep at
n aVH odd millions annually sucked out Of this
country by foreign ship owners and ship build
efs. no other legislation can bring good times
pY " is q constant stream Of gold always flowing
0TTSie foreign s%hipowner who carries our over
,ea commerce makes us pay the freight both
ways. ma. IN. foreign martet
nri,e. less tho freight
piFFE For our imports We pay the foreign market
price a PIns sn ,ne theory 90 of any cloistered or collie
siate doctrinaire can wipe out these facts.
,orrirn shipowner. so long will It be q foreign
profit on u foreign product, Ii fundamental and
TbS English steamship is a foreign product.
and it's earnings. which we pay, are n foreign
pF Sa sane man will argue that a foreign profit
n n a foreign product can be q domestic benefit.
Add to this the fact, equally important, that
n he ne condition OF commercial, financial. and
Industrial subjugation Is complete. such Is our
Great Britain has many outlying colonies and
ffbe greatest two are India and the United
She holds India by force of arms, whereby her
control Of that country costs her something. She
has to pay sGm c III SSn 1Sr her financial and COM
She holds the United States by the folly Of its
own people. whereof, her control OF this country
costs her nothing. She has to pay nothing for
her financial and commercial drainage OF tho
United States.
Hlt the R1nOunI ii nCE uLlhuNA - Boho
from the United States far exceeds that from
India.
valuable Of all the dependencies OF Great Brit
II the relation of England to India, there is
something pitiable because India is helpless.
land there is nothing that is not contemptible.
s ,sss eSai i il ss The hs M,asllfPEff s ssey wonia. OF " n"''0n
England is wide awake to these conditions,
and Eeenly appreciates their priceless value to
The United States blinks at them, half dazed,
half asleep, insensible of their tremendous
England, clearly seeing that. in this age more
than ever before, ocean empire Is world empire,
and exhausts her resources to double rivet the
letters which 10 fastens upon mankind.
600 for new ships OF war and their armament.
During eleven years she has built 80 nrst-class
battle ships. $ seGond-clsss battle sh.ps. . ar
ond-class cruisers, SO third-clsss cruisers, 80
~gunboats, IL composite sloops, and e torpedo
destroyers, including the vessels authorized In
'H TS Ss@ aFsres gate Is 10 vessels of 1867 tons
", N the navy England already had in 1885
there remain available AZ arnored ships, "a
boats. which she 10 ~re-engining. rearming. and
otherwise undermining as rapidly r as she can.
to la P PsoS e. 600 an IN is Sc to mo ioo. S Soo In the e sat
In other words. England has doubled her navy
Ill ptT OuuCl III AoA eAe ~ sNN teN~
rupled 1t in warlike efficiency during, eleven
years OF the proioundest peace the world ever
Even greater ~exertions has England put forth
In the augmentation Of her merchant marine.
During Dur Ing the calendar .tss, year Sbirn 1sse 81 snI b saa @sr r:Ss;.
feet. breaking up meantime 10000 tons OF old
and obsolete shipping which could no longer pc
operated prottably; o net addition OF e5O.OOo
tons to the total Of her merchant marine by the
register. but a practical, addition Of the whole
1,3s0!OO0 tons, because the $4,000 tons broken
up had done its work for her aggrandizement
and simply passed through the scrap heap and
No great fact can exist without q great reason.
In recent years Germany on a large scale ana
In systematic way and this country on a small
scale and in a spasmodic way have put forth ef-
forts in the direction OF sea power.
England instantly takes alarm. To her the
e comparatively small and It's extent compare
lively feeble, is a peril second only to none to the
England is determined that she shall be not
only the supreme sea power, but also that except
s5hst 81 ii% PS@.r st Ct Z. x herself there shall 6' no
She viii! tolerate the growth of any, other sea
power only SO far as the point at which 1t be-
the ocean monopoly OF her merchant marine.
me moment any other national aspiration to,
must be prepared TO crush 1t.
t]r sna %.i i G s5s sd 1T By sh i9' Wifi crush SE .s sfSs IS 2 SqsDd by
derating force II she must.
Ever since two irst-class American ships were
put In the transatlantic trade under American
wv v Vi IOul play IhdL
selfish ingenuity can invent and every resort
that INSCRIPTIONS rivalry can suggest have
been exhausted by the English press and the
English administration TO defame and discredit
them.
English officials abroad. from Ministers and
Consuls down. industriously reproduce In the
newspapers of Japan, China, Chill, Argentine.
and Brazil the misstatemonts Of the English
press about American vessels.
The British Post Ofico delays the American
mai!s for days In the slower ships OF the Cunard
line rather than send 90 much as one letter by
the American line.
Our Poat Office responds by liberal arotmenta
eiits European mails TO all the British lines.
The result of all this 10 that while this coun.
ny has never known such industrial sta9nation
And such financial distress. England has never
known such Industrial activity and financial
prosperity as now.
Does t not occur TO men who look the least bit
below the surface that tho warfare for ocean
empire and the strife for commanding sea power
winch England forces upon the rest OF mankind
nave reached q stage 30 acute that her pros
PeIlly unaltcrably means the misery Of every
Uody else. and that everyb0dy's loss Is newt
ably her gaini
What Is the response OF the United States tc
Inia from m IN NAwtsA- 90 A-ItaA