The herald., 1897-04-01
SKIPPING INTER
ESTS-oUR PET INDUSTRY

No one interest in the United States
has so thoroughly tested the value of pro-
lection as that of our ship building We
have tried it for 1O7 years, and the
shipping proves it to have been failure.
at least so far as concerns our foreign
shipping, just as protection has causei
a failure in English shipping up to 1850
In 1888, the year in which congress first
discussed our shipping interests, there
was not shipyard in our borders. ex
cept on the coast of New England. The
southern states had the greater part Of
their fortunes invested in slaves, and it
was then tacitly agreed that in consid-
GRAFTON of New England's friendly at
titude toward slavery, the southern
statesmen should give their aid toward
the protection of ship building, and this
promise was carried into effect by
bill passed on May 20, 17s9 that no for
eign built or owned vessel should have
any part in our coastwise or milan
trade, and that American built, or for
eign built vessels owned by Americans,
Should pay 6 cents per ton as tonnage.
That vessels thereafter built in the
United States, partly or wholly owned
in the United States should pay an
annual tonnage of 80 cents per ton, and
that all other vessels should pay so cents
per ton.
In addition to these tonnage dues no
American could buy or own a foreign
built vessel, as such vessels were not
allowed to sail under the flag of the
United States. Here was a wall built
by law against any foreign built vessels
taking any part in our vast inland trade.
This was not only protection, but alb
solute prohibition. This prohibition has
developed the largest inland shipping
of the world. 1t could not have been
otherwise. We had the finest forests of
ship building timber then known, the
richest and most abundant iron fields,
and thousands of skilled ship builders,
and having the entire coast from Maine
to the gulf, and every stream which
could float a craft OF any kind, We We're
beyond the reach of all kinds of competi-
tion. The protection given by way of
discriminative duties on tonnage,
though we were denied the right to buy
foreign vessels, soon gave us a large car
rying trade By an act Of congress in
1928 all the protection which had been
thrown around our foreign shipping was
repealed.
In the year 1925 we carried 95 per cent
of imports and SO per cent Of
our exports, but our carrying trade
gradually fell off till in the year 1860 we
were carrying only 81 per cent of our
foreign commerce, while other nations
were carrying SO per cent.
In 1860 the United States carried one
half of the commerce of the world, while
today we carry less than ten per cent.
In 1857 there were forty-eight vessels
plying between Europe and America,
and only seven of them were under the
British flag.
In 1861 the United States shipped in
her own vessels 2,496,S S94 tons of her for
elgr trade while in 1898 she only con-
trolled SS3, 199 tons. Were it not for for
eign ships it would take us five years to
carry one of our crops to our markets in
Europe. Prohibition is the ultimate OBJ
ject of all real protectionists. By unnec-
essary protection against all kinds of
foreign goods they intend to prohibit
rsheir Introduction, and when this is ac-
comnlished they will have no foreign
trade, and hence will not need a mer-
chant ma rine and then they can turn
their attention to preying on the seventy