The record-union., 1898-12-08

taking ordinary precautions to meet
competition. Liberal extracts are pub
lished from the report on which the
Reichstag last year increased the
$500, GOO marks subsidies to German
vessels in the Pacific, showing that
Germany is already endeavoring to
forestall the United States in securing
commercial control of the Pacific
The Act of 1891 was designed to Sc
cure the largest and quickest steam
ships in the world for the American
service on the Atlantic. Marine con-
struction, however, has already ad-
yanced beyond the size and speed con-
templated when that Act was passed
1t has proved inadequate for the Pa
cific. It's maximum rates for that
trade are $3.50 per nautical mile out
ward for a sixteen-knot steamship.
The British Government pays S2.S2 to
the Peninsular and Oriental and $40
to the Canadian Pacific lines; the Ger
man Government pays $2.54 to four
teen-knot vessels of the North German
Lloyd, and the French Government
! SOS to the Messageries Maritimes,
the equivalent for an inferior service
to Asia.
Spain imposed annual charges of
$3.50, 600 on Cuba, $125.000 on Porto
Rico, and $4,000 on the Philippines
for steam communication, and herself
contributed $1,OO0,00O more for that
purpose This Spanish total is about
double the entire support the United
States gave American steamships in
1897 TIE obligation we have assumed
by taking Porto Rico and the Philip
pines. annexing Hawaii and governing
Cuba thus require US to. make larger
appropriations for the merchant ma
rine, or to confess our weakness by
abandoning navigation to Great Brit
ain, Germany, France and Japan.
We must also take steps for the quail
| ified admission of foreign ships to
American registry in order to enter i'm
mediately into active competition for
Asiatic trade The Act of 1890 calls for
5000-ton steamships of sixteen knots.
We have only ten seagoing steamships
of over 1900 tons. All of these are
American transatlantic liners, and two
| New York Cuban mail liners already
under postal contract. The Arizona,
$500 tons, sixteen knots, is the only
vessel complying with the requirements
of the Act of 1891, and she was admit
ted by Congress last June to American
registry and bought by the. War De-
partment. The China, admitted by Con-
gress at the same time, is 4,940 tons,
seventeen knots. The two remaining
vessels are the City of Peking, $3.50
tons, but only fourteen knots, built in
1878, and the FL Rio, owned by the
navy under the name Dixie.
1t will require at least eighteen
months to build vessels of over 5000
tons and sixteen knots, needed to meet
new conditions in the Pacific. Mean
while combination Of four large Ger
man lines, aided by the Reichstag, is
Fastening to completion steamships to
carry out German imperial policy in
Asia
! A relaxation of the registry law was
necessary to establish our transatlan-
tic line, and a similar relaxation is now
necessary to meet conditions on the Pa
! cific. It is proposed that foreign built
vessels be admitted to American regis
try on condition that equivalent ton
mage be built in the United States, as
was done in the case of the Paris, New
York, ST. Paul and St. Louis By a
similar policy Germany has built up
within fourteen years its great ship
yards. From 1885 to 1891 the North
German Lloyd spent 81, ,500,000 in Ger
man and 100000 in British yards,
while from 1891 to 1897 it spent $16,
100000 in German yards, and only ST.
100000 in British yards.
The report considers difference in cost
of construction and operation under
the American and British flags, and
concludes that on the average for
cargo steamships now generally in use
by foreign nations this difference
amounts to about 1 per cent per ton
for each 100 nautical miles. On the
basis considered, an average annual
expenditure of about S5,000,O00 for
twelve or fifteen years, aided by indus
trial development, will give the United
States a becoming maritime rank. This
sum is substantially the expenditure for
sugar bounty under the tariff of 1890.
BY investing the necessary capital, the
United States can become a ship-build-
ling power superior to Germany and a
close competitor with Great Britain.
This autumn we exported plates for the
largest ships now on the ways in Great
Britain Five years ago we imported
the plates from Great Britain for our
first large steel square-rigged ship.
Trade between the United States and
Porto Rico, now by executive order re-
stricted to American vessels, should be
so confined by statute.
The restriction of trade between the