Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-12-08

TRADE IN THD PACIFIC WHICH,
HE CLAIMS RIGHTFULLY BE-
LONGS TO THE UNITED STATES.
STATISTICS OFFERED AS EvI-
DENCE FAVORABLE TO THE
PRESIDENTS DECLARATION IN
FAVOR OF BOUNTIES.
Washington, December 1.-THE an
nual report of Navigation Commission
| er Chamberlain is devoted mainly to
statistics and facts in support of the
project for the creation of the Ameri-
can merchant marine recommended by
Secretary Gage. Excluding the great
lakes, practically shut off by Niagara
Falls from foreign competition, the
tonnage of vessels entered and cleared
! at seaports of the United States in for
eign trade for 1897 comprised 7,24S,625
tons American and 1882, 419 tons for
eign shipping. In oversee navigation
to foreign ports more than 1,500 miles
| distant, American shipping amounted
to only 2,068,656 tons, compared with
| 81, 419026 tons foreign.
| Only three practical courses at the
present time are open to the United
States. First, we may retain our laws
unchanged, ignore national navigation
and continue to rely on vessels under
| foreign flags for the transportation of
our exports and imports. Second, we
| may permit foreign built vessels to reg
lister under the American flag, ship
crews abroad and increase national
navigation. Third, we may extend di-
rect government aid to vessels built in
| the United States and thus increase
both national navigation and national
shipbuilding
The last named of these courses is
suggested to very great extent by our
new relations to the rest of the world,
which expects the United States to be-
come maritime power. For the first
time we now hold aud shall doubtless
permanently hold inhabited territory
beyond the limit of the North Ameri-
can continent. If all that such possess
sion involved were the physical force
| to keep those domains against all COM
ers, the vote of some extra ten millions
every year to the army and navy would
| be sufficient. The flag of the United
States should be more than the token
of conquest by superior strength. Our
maritime position must correspond to
our pretensions, and to attain this re-
! suit American ships must be increased
and reasonable contributions from the
treasury toward this result should not
be begrudged.
| Largely through Indifference we
have lost the share in transatlantic
navigation which was once ours. Ex-
Guiding Hawaii entries and clearances
from Asia and Oceanica at the ports
of the United States in 1890 amounted
to 23S,630 tons American shipping, and
! in 1897 to only 221, 438 tons, while for
| eign shipping increased from 431 PAP
| tons to 924,720 tons. Foreign nations
are now skillfully following the policy
of government aid to develop their nav
! igation in the Pacific Toward steam
ship lines to the east coast of Asia
alone, Great Britain last year contrib
uted s1250000; France, s1,217,000;
German, s4S0,OO Spain, 1880, s416,-
600; Russia, s405, 900; Austria 100000,
and Italy s277,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 precautions to
meet competition. Liberal extracts
are published from the report on which
the Reichstag last year increased to
$4,000 marks subsidies to German
vessels in the Pacific, showing the Ger
many is already endeavoring to fore
stall the United States in securing COM
mercial 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 coz
struction, however, has already adj
vanced 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 outward
for 1e-knot steamship. The British
government pays s2.S2 to the PeniR-
sular and Oriental and $40 to the
Canadian Pacific lines; the German
government $z.54 to 14-knot vessels of
the North German Lloyd, and tie
French government SOS to the Mes
sageries maritimes for the equivalent
or an inferior service 20 Asia.
Spain imposed annual charges OF
$3.50 900 on Cuba, s125,000 on Porto
Rico and $4,000 on the Philippines
for steam communication, and herself
contributed 100000 more for that
purpose. This Spanish total is about
double the entire support the United
States gave to American steamships
in 1897. The obligations we have as
.ur,a1 bv fal-ipp Porto Rico and the