Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-07-27
A TRUST OF TRUSTS.
NEW SUBSIDY BILL A GIGANTIC
STEAL.
1t VIII Enrich the Great Corporations
by Hundreds of Millions of Dollars
A Hanna Republican Plan to Loot
the United States Treasury.

bly, reported to both the house and the
senate of the last congress, the Repub-
1can managers are committed to the
passage of the measure, the daily press
has been muzzled by the great cor
porations whom the bill will enrich by
hundreds of millions of dollars, and a
large portion Of the Republican cam
paign fund is to come from the same
source. The provisions of the pro-
posed subsidy law are thus character
lied by the most influential labor Or
ganizations engaged in the ship-build-
ing trade:
The Proposed Law.
THE Hanna-Payne bill, officially en-
titled S. 5o24, is one of the most un-
American bills ever presented in the
interest of foreign corporations, being
practically a free-ship bill, with sufi-
cient Americanism held in reserve to
enable its progenitors to loot the
United States treasury, and even bar
ring Itself from being compelled to en-
ploy American crews. 1t asks for the
admission of foreign ships to our regis
try in the ratio of two to one; it asks
for bounty to owners of these for
eign built vessels of the larger and
swifter class Of approximately Az
cents per gross ton on every 100 miles
sailed, leaving small inducement to
the owners of lesser craft.
"Its provisions would debar the ships
constructed by its requirements in
American shipyards from employment
in our coasting trade, and the bill is so
covertly worded as to mislead all but
those who are thoroughly acquainted
with matters marine, and is intended
for the benefit Of gigantic corporations
which are largely allen. We
denounce In the most emphatic terms
the bill commonly known as the Han
na-Payne shipping bill"
Endorsed by Hanna's Ohio Convention.
Yet, this infamous measure was en-
dorsed last Friday by the Republican
State Convention Of Ohio. The in
dorsement misrepresents the measure,
and Senator Hanna engineered the
scheme. The exact words Of the reso-
luton are:
For the National defense, for the
reinforcement of the navy, for the en-
largement of our foreign markets, for
the employment of American working
men In the mines, forests, farms, mills,
factories and shipyards, we demand the
immediate enactment of legislation
similar to that favorably reported to
each branch Of the Fifty-flfth congress
at its last session. so that American
built. American-owned and American
manned ships may regain the carrying
of our foreign commerce"
In this resolution there Is a delib-
crate concealment of the facts which
the labor organizations engaged In the
ship-building trades have set forth.
In detail. the principal evils of the
Hanna-Payne ship subsidy scheme are
as follows:
A Billion and a Half In Taxes.
The bill provides for a subsidy or
bounty to ship owners which, during
the life Of the franchise-2O years
will amount to something like one and
one-half billions of dollars. The pres
ent tax receipts by The United States
government are about one-half billion
dollars or about one-third the amount
which 1t is proposed to give to the mAn
whose vessels shall fill the require
ments set forth in the proposed law.
And right at this point the monopoly
feature of Senator Hanna's bill ap-
pears:
The Monopoly Feature.
1t provides for government bounty
upon each mile travelled by the ships
which meet the requirements of the
law, the rate to be proportioned to the
speed, BEING GREATER FOR THE
LARGER AND FASTER SHIPS. This
would exclude all sailing vessels and
the small steam vessels, and concen-
trate the entire ocean trade Of the
United States in the large steam ves-
sells owned by the gigantic corpora
tions which combine the railroad busi-
ness with that of steamship lines.
Then with the competition from
small corporations effectually shut off
by the discriminatory rates in the SUBJ
sidy law, the whole carrying trade on
land and sea would, in the hands Of the
few corporations, soon be merged into
what may be very properly termed a
trust Of trusts in freight and passenger
transportation. The billion-dollar
steel trust is much more difficult
combination to effect.
The Prize at Stake for MonopoIv R,ro,s
In the ship subsidy bill the prize at
stake for Senator Hanna and the other
monopoly magnates is SO mammoth in
Its proportions, and If secured will, in
combination with the other trust of
trusts which will result if the proposed
law for a banking monopoly is passed,
lead to such far-reaching results as to
make all lovers of popular government
shudder. II this consolidating process
through private corporations ever goes
so far as the passage Of the ship sub
Eidy bill and the bill for branch banks,
the result will be that to protect the
ensuing monnDnlieS Jhe mon in oh arpa