River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1900-07-26

easily overcome. Then again wages
the American than under foreign
flags. In the cases of officers the
wages on American ships are on the
average twice as high as they are on
foreign ships.
Worse than all this, however, for
eien governments pay their merchant
ships great subsidies and bounties.
Great Britain spends about $4,000, 900
year in this way; France spends
over 100000 year. Germany,
Italy, Spain, Russia, Austria and Jap
an all give large subsidies to their
ships In all the subsidies and boun-
ties paid by foreign governments to
their ships amount to more than $780,
100000 each year.
Unaided American ships, it must be
clear, can not proftably compete with
foreign ships under the conditions
above described. That is why it is
that foreign ships have driven Amer
lean ships from off the seas. The re-
publican party. recognizing the un-
equal conditions which confront
American ships in the foreign trade,
Is committed to a policy of substituting
American ships in that trade. The
amount of the subsidy proposed is
barely enough to enable American
ships to compete on terms of equality
with foreign ships.
This bill democrats have singled
out for denunciation in their national
platform. They oppose the accumu-
lation of a surplus to be squandered
in such bare-faced frauds upon the
taxpayers. as the shipping subsidy
bill, which under the false pretense
of prospecting American ship-building,
would put unearned millions into the
pockets of faorite contributors to the
republican campaign fund" The al
formative of the shipping subsidy bill
is to keep on paying nearly $20O00O,-
600 a year to foreign ship owners,
whose governments in paying them
subsidies enable them to prevent
American ships from competing.
Rather than have our government
pay subsidy to American ships the
democrats would prefer to have our
people send nearly 5000, 5000 out of
the country each year to build and
sustain foreign ships.
In their platform the democrats
especially condemn the ill-concealed
republican alliance with England"
When we remember that democracy's
platform denunciation of the shipping
subsidy bill will nowhere be received
with such favor and gratitude as in
Great Britain. whose command of the
sea and especially of American for
eign carrying the democrats would
perpetuate, and which present Brit
ish monopoly the passage of that bill
would do much to destroy, the insin-
cerity and the secret pro-British
leanings of the democrats are clearly
discerned.
Not a word have the democrats TO
utter in behalf of policy that would
cause the building of the ships our
foreign commerce employs out of
American material and with Ameri-
can labor. instead of. as now. their
construction out of foreign materials
BY foreign labor in other countries.
No policy is suggested by them-they
merely denounce the republican policy
that would substitute American for
British and other foreign ships in our
foreign trade. Having no plan Of their
own to suggest for building up our
shipping In the foreign trade. express
ing no regret at seeing nearly $780,
100000 annually paid BY Americans TO
foreign ship owners tehiefiy British
for carrying our commerce. the dem
ocrats. en the shipping question, at
least. proclaim themselves the allies
Of EAnland