The evening times., 1898-12-07

North German Lloyd. and the French
government. $2.9s to the Messageries Mar
itimes for the equivalent or an inferior
service TO Asia.
Spain imposed annual charges OF S5S0.OoO
on Cuba, s1z5000 on Porto Rico and $780,
0o0 on the Philippines for steam COM
munication, and herself contributed sl,-
0o0. 0o0 more for that purpose. This Span
lsh total is almost double the entire sup
port the United States gave TO American
steamships in 1887. The obligations We
have assumed by taking Porto Rico and
the Philippines, anneXing Hawaii and
governing Cuba thus require US TO make
larger appropriations for the merchant
marine, or TO confess our weakness by
abandoning navigation 10 Great Britain.
Germany. France and Japan.
We must also take steps for the quail
fled admission OF foreign ships To Ameri-
can registry in order to enter Immediate
ly into active competition for Asiatic
trade. The act of 1891 calls for 5000 ton
steamships of l6 knots. We have only
ten seagoing steamships of over 1900 tons.
-Four of these are American transatlan-
tic liners and two New York and Cuba
mail liners, already under postal con-
tract. The Arizona $500 tons. Is knots.
is the only vessel complying with the re-
qpirements of the act of 1881, and she was
admitted by Congress last June to Ameri-
can registry and bought by the War De-
partment. The China, admitted by Con-
gress at the same time, is 1, $40 tons II
knots. The two remaining vessels are the
City of Picking, $3.50 tons, but only II
knots, built in 1874 and the Ell Rio, own
ed by the navy under the name Dixie.
1t will require at least is months to
| build vessels of over 5000 tons and 16
knots, needed to meet new conditions in
the Pacific. Meanwhile a combination of
| four large German 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 transatlantic
line, and similar relaxation is now nee
essary 10 meet conditions on the Pacific.
II Is proposed that foreign-built vessels
be- admitted to American registry on con-
dition that equivalent tonnage be built in
the United States. as was done in the
ease of the Paris, New York, St Louis
and st. Paul. The admission of 40 600 tons
of foreign shipping by Congress last
spring and the purchase of nearly 100 100
tons Of foreign Shipping by the War and
Navy Departments furnish another prece-
dent. BY a similar policy, Germany has
I built up within fourteen years, its great
shipyards. From 1885 to 1891 the North
German Lloyd spent s., 500 900 In German
and $40 600 in British yards, while from
1891 TO 1876 IL spent Si6, eco in German
yards and only 81. 500 600 in British yards.
The report considers differences in cost
Of construction and operation under the
American and British flag and concludes
that on the average for cargo steamships
4 row generally in use by foreign nations,
this difference amounts TO about l cent
rar ton for each 100 nautical miles The
Vessels Is TWO and one-tenth cents the
Italian one and one-half cents and the
japanese one and one-duarter cents On
the basis considered an average annual
expenditure of about S., 900 900 for twelve
4 or fifteen years, aided by industrial de-
Velopment. viii give the United States
becoming maritime rank. This sum is
4 substantially the expenditure for sugar
bounties under the tariff OF 1890 BY in
VeStinE the necessary capital, the United
I States can become shipbuIding power
superior TO Germany and a close compet-
/ ltor with Great Britain. This autumn we
/ exported plates for the largest steam
! ship 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.
The project TO develop shipbuilding by
/ discriminating duties is in conflict with
7
/ involves an indefinite postponement of
\ action and in the end retaliation. The
I proposition to pay bOunties on exports is
not feasible, as our treaties bind US to
pay the same bounties on exports in for
J eign vessels as in domestic vessels
Trade between the United States and
/ Porto Rico now by executive order re-
4 stricted TO American vessels should be so
confined by statute. The step is desirable
; chiefly m of h. 1a
! which is not large but TO furnish a base
Of operations for American navigation in
! The Caribbean and Guif, incidental to our
/ neWly-won political prominence in that
+ sphere. In December Great Britain pro-
poses to subsidize four British lines in
/ the West Indies, IN addition TO the sub
sidy Of $4,000 already paid TO the Royal
/ Mail Line.
The restriction of trade between the
! United States and Hawaii to American
/ vessels is even more important for analo-
/ Rous reasons. OF that trade 81 per cent
4 Is already carried on by American vessels
/ and over 10 per cent OF the remainder by
! Hawaiian vessels, which will doubtless
! br admitted 10 American registry 10y Con-
! gress. American vessels now leaving in
/ ballast will suffice TO supply the trans
/ portation requirements of the islands if
I foreign vessels are withdrawn. Almost
| the entire value of the annexation of Ha-
| waii to the development of American navi-
CATION in the Pacific is involved in treat
! ing the islands as an extension of our
! boundaries, bringing us from 500 to 2. 2.0oa
| miles nearer the markets of Asia and Aus
! tralia. The opposition OF British and Ger
man interests to the proposition is anticl-
! pated in the line OF their consistent policy
| by subsidies to develop their shipping on
! the Pacific. The restrictions proposed
| however, are in strict accord with our
national policy and wit our treaties, and
does not interfere with existing trade re-
lations.
a revision of tonnage tax laws is pro-
| posed. We now charge 80 cents per ton
| annually on vessels in oversee naviga-
tion. which is much less than the
| navigation charges of Great Britain, Ger
! many, France. Italy and Norway. a
| steamship on twelve trips pays 80 cents
| annually at New York, s1-0s at Liverpool,
| s12S al London and IS cents at Hamburg
| or Bremen.
Our expenditures for maritime safe
| guards and improvements are vastly
| greater than those of any other nation,
amounting to SIS 900, ,0e0 annually for the
| past decade toward which shipping has
contributed barely per cent. Our prin-
cipal and most costly improvements are
directly for the benefit of foreign ship
ping which enjoys over four-fifths of our
foreign carrying. a table of the sixty
largest steamships in the world is print
ed, OF which bniy four are American. OF
these, thirty-three make New York ter
minal port, while only seventeen enter al
Liverpool, and less than ten make any
other foreign port a terminal. This ia,
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