The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-29
War Hurts
foreian Travel

The prevailing war with Spain will keep
millions of dollars in the United States
this summer. instead of being spent at
European watering places or along the
usual lines of summer travel In the old
world.
The greatest blow at foreign summer
travel since the civil war is already be-
ginning to be felt by the transatlantic
steamer lines. all of which have agencies
I'm Chicago. Practically all the lines, no
matter under what flag their steamers
sail. will feel the effects this summer of
the Spanish-American war. The American
line, which has become a leading factor
In summer excursion business. has prac-
tically gone out of commission so far as
passenger traffic goes. Its crack vessels
the st. Louis. st. Paul. Paris and New
York-have been converted into auxiliary
war cruisers by order of the United
States government. and, at least until the
close of the war with Spain, will be at
tached to regular naval squadrons. From
a business standpoint the change Is SER
viceable to the management of the Amer
lean line. for even If their vessels were
not i'm demand by the government there
would be no passenger business for them
this season. Sailing under the American
flag. they would run the constant risk of
capture on the high seas by hostile Span
ish cruisers. and American travellers on
peaceful mission bent are naturally in
disposed to such risks.
So far as ships flying "A neutral flag are
concerned, transatlantic travellers would
probably be safe enough, II they only
thought so. But there's the rub The
agents of vessels flying British. German
French or other foreign flags sailing out
of New York harbor are ready enough to
tell passengers that their lives and prop
erty will not be in the slightest danger.
even though "A succession of Spanish
cruisers should be met I'm the voyage
ACROSS the ocean They DrODHDlN fell the
truth. but their assurances are not enough
to prevent the whiting off of the passen-
ger sailing lists, as the records already
show. There are other reasons besides the
mere element of danger why this whole
sale cancellation of advanced bookings
for transatlantic voyages has begun.
There is "A general desire to be at home
i'm cases of emergency, and this is his
torically true I'm times of national as well
as family peril. Most Americans prefer
To read war bulletins of the impending
conflict with Spain while on their own
soil. To say nothing of the risk of insult
or danger i'm foreign travel. while this
country is at war with a European power.
the average American traveller prefers to
be among surroundings where his pa
triotism can find full vent, and where 9TH
er like-minded patriots can help him
whoop II up for Uncle Sam and the Amer
lean eagle. These are sentimental reasons.
but there are others that appeal to pru-
dence and business sagacity.
The average American who has prop
erty to conserve is not apt to leave 1t in
the care of others and go off on "a pro-
longed holiday jaunt i'm Europe when the
fortunes of war may at any hour change
the whole current of business values and
commercial enterprise. The fluctuations of
commercial markets In time OF war are
of vital interest to hundreds of thousands
besides the small army of stock brokers
who trade on panics and reap harvests
from unsettled values. In short, the pas
senger business to Europe will suffer this
year because thousands of business men
will refuse to run the risk of even tenn
porary absence from the pulses of COM
merce. and. being prudent themselves.
they will likewise refuse to send their
families.
Early indications for the coming sum-
mer are that there will be fewer long
vacations. either among business men or
their employees, than for any single sea-
son i'm the last - years. The mobilization
of state troops at the various state CAPT.
tails has already resulted i'm a scarcity of
men for certain skilled occupations. No
noticeable impression on the great army
of unemployed Is looked for. but in the
ranks OF professional and mercantile
skilled labor there is already a noticeable
doubling up and lengthening of the
hours of work. As the summer advances.
IL the mobilization of volunteers contin-
ues. the effect will he further felt by the
canoeing of usual vacations. This Is the
prospect that his given a body blow to
prospective European travel for IL Is from
the ranks of the great middle class that
the most profitable portion of Transact
lantic traffic has Of late years been re-
cruited. sfhe travellers of small means
who have begun TO invade Europe, like
an ever increasing army. each summer.
will be naturally the first to show timidity
and stay at home until at least the
alarms OF war are over.
Promoters of inland excursions through
out the United States say that the Span
ish-American war and the consequent
blow to European travel. will result in "A
veritable boom for interior pleasure
routes and stopping places. Their predic-
tons are based largely on the theory that
thousands Of wealthy Americans. who
have been accustomed to old world trav-
ell. VIII this year spend their money and
time hunting out new fields for amuse-
men; in their own country. Another theo-
ry IL that thousands OF residents of At
lanttC sea coast afffas will this snmmer