Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-12-08
BOUNTIES FOR SHIPS.
Navigation Commissioners Views For
Aid of Merchant Marine.
HE RECOMMENDS SUBSIDIES.
In His Annual Report He Draws At
tentiOn to What Has been
Done by other Nations
In This Respect.

Washington, Dec. S.-The annual re-
port Of Navigation Commissioner Cham
berlain is devoted mainly to statistics
and facts in support of the project FOL
the rehabilitation Of American mer'
chant marine recommended by Secre'
tary Gage. In, part 1t is as follows:
Excluding the great lakes, practically
shut off by Niagara falls from foreign
competition, the tonnage OF vessels enter.
ed and cleared at seaports of the United
States in foreign trade for 1897 comprised
724S.625 tons American and 3263Z,4l TONS
foreign shipping. II line be drawn ev-
erywhere 1900 nautical miles distant from
our seacoast, trade between foreign ports
inside that zone and the United states
comprised 5l79969 tons American and
5,2l3. 1893 tons foreign shipping. In over sea
navigation TO foreign ports more than
1900 miles distant American shipping
amounted to only 2063, 656 tons, compared
with q, 419, OPS tons foreign.
Only three practical courses at the pres
ent time are open to the United states:
First.-We may retain our laws I'M
changed, ignore national navigation and
continue to rely on vessels under foreign
flags for the transportation Of our ex-
ports and imports
Second.-We may permit foreign built
vessels to register under the American
flag, ship crews abroad and increase ma
tional navigation.
Third..-We may extend direct govern
ment aid to vessels built in the United
States and thus increase national naviga-
ton and national shipbulding.
Our New Relations.
The last named Of these three courses is
suggested to very great extent by our
new relations to the remainder of the
world, which expects the United States
to become maritime power. For the f1rs'
time we hold and shall doubtless hold per-
manently inhabited territory beyond the
limit of the North American continent.
If such possession involved only the phys
ical force to keep those domains against
all corners, the vote of some extra tens OF
millions every year to the army and navy
would be sufficient. The flag of the Unit
ed States should be more than the token
of conquest by superior strength. Our
maritime position must correspond to our
pretensions, and to attain that result
American shipyards and American ships
must be increased, and reasonable con-
tributions from the treasury toward this
result should not be begrudged.
Nations and individuals that dissent
from the general theory of government
aid to private enterprise concede on po-
litical grounds an exception in favor OF
shipbuilding and navigation. Largely
through Indifference we have lost the
share in transatlantic navigation which
was ours once. The growing trade Of the
Pacific is slipping rapidly from us. Ex-
Guiding Hawaii. entries and clearances
from Asia and Oceania at ports of the
United States in 1880 amounted to 23s,96O
tons American shipping and In 1897 to
only 221 43s tons. while foreign shipping in
creased from 49, 242 tons to 1924. 800
What Is Done Abroad.
Foreign nations are now skillfully fol-
lowing the policy of government aid to de-
velop their navigation in the Pacific. To-
ward steamship lines to the east coast of
Asia alone Great Britain last year con-
tributed $1250000. France H,217,000 Ger
many $4,000, Spain US9O $416 900. Russia
$4O5, OOo Austria 900 and Italy 277.O00
The United States paid only $4,000 to
American lines to Asia at regular mail
rates. We have deluded ourselves into
the belief that the Pacific trade will be-
come ours without taking ordinary pre-
cautions to meet competition. Liberal ex-
tracts are published from the report on
which the reichstag last year increased
to 5,590.o0O marks subsidies to German
vessels in the Pacific, showing that Ger
many is already endeavoring to forestall
the United States in securing commercial
control of the Pacific.
Spain imposed annual charges Of $780,
900 on Cuba, $l250OO on Porto Rico and
$4,000 on the Philippines for steam COM
muncation and herself contributed 81 .000.-
900 more for that purpose. This Spanish
total is about double the entire support the
United States gave to American steam
ships in 1897. The obligations we have as
sumed by taking Porto Rico and the Phil
ippines, annexing Hawaii and governing
Cuba thus require us to make larger ap-
propria tons for the merchant marine or
to confess our weakness by abandoning
navigation to Great Britain, Germany,
France and Japan.
The report also considers legislation
for the Improvement of American sea-
men, pllotage charges. seaworthiness OF
vessels. allotment of wages and other
The annual statistics Of the
report were published in October