The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-12-12
Senator Clay of Georgia. Commit
tee on Commerce Member. Scores
senator Hanna's 5 Measure.
WHO WOULD BE BENEFITED.
Asks the Senate if II Proposed 10
Levy a Tax on On. Man to
Make Profitable Another
Mans Business.

| Washington. Dee. r.-TEN first speech IN
! opposition 10 The slip-sr:bsiiy bill in III ,
! Senate was delivered to-day 10y Mr.. Clay Of
! Georgia. ore of the minority members Of
! the Committee on Commerce which re
ported it to the Senate.
| He Is recognized one of ,he most Wig
! orouS opponents of the bill in the Senate
and during nearly two hours WAS accord
! ea clos" attention by Senators on both
| sides Of the chamber Mr. Hanna. who ex-
poets To reply TO Mr. Clay's argument. gave
him particularly attentive hearing.
There was a sharp debate over the Mon
| tana senatorial ease. but no action was
taken. the matter ly consent going over
temporarily. To-morrow no business s.s-
sion of the Senate will be held. rs the day
will he devoted to the celebrate of tn"
centennial Of the establishment of the seat
OF government in Washington.
An order presented by Mr.. Cockrell of
Missouri was ratified by the Senate. direct
ing that the vacancie. on the committees
of the District of Columbia. Geological Sur
vey. Indian Affairs Mines and Mining. Pa
ciiC Islands. Territories and Railroads to
filled by the appointment Of senator Towne
of Minnesota
The resolution offered yesterday by MIR.
Hanna for the appointment by the PrcsI-
dent pr" tempofe of a committee of tire"
Senators tn make the necessary arrange
mcnts for the inauguration of the Pres.-
dent Of the United States on the 18th of
March was adopted without debate.
Mr.. Carter called up his pending motion
Ia refer the credf n'ials Of William a. Clark
and Martin Mc';inni&. appointed Senators
from Montana. "a the Committee on Privi-
leges and Elections. and after some discus
sion the motion prevailed without division.
Mr. clay of Georgia then was recognized
10 d.liver speech upon the pending suhsi-
dy bill.
senator CIsy's Argument.
In beginning. Sr. Clay cont -enl,d iaa; the
promotion of commerce and the Il; 'reasinS
Il foreign trade OF the trited state. two
of the most important objects II tho r"nd-
ing measure, would not follow the enact
ment of the hill into law.
The one definite thing that WIS brown
about the opera ion of the proposed l. sis-
lation tina. ~ would take from the
treasury of tn. United States s3.V.ltNj a
year for p"ri"d Of twenty years. and
donate that vast sum to the ship wners
carrying the foreign trade of his country.
In other words. one mans business T. To- lie
heavily taxed in order to advance ana
to make more profitable the priVa.. huSi-
ness of another citizen
Nr. Clay entered upon an analy Sis OF II =
pending measure. He pointed ont that an
additional amount was paid owners ~ vtS-
sells for greater speed. regardless of f:"iCht
capacity.
vessels up to twelve knuts. which are lily
our great freight carriers. ~ only u 2 &c nts
per gross ton. while the subsidy given to
a fast steamer: which carries chiefly r&s-
IS cents per ton for a twenty-nne-knot
ship,
that the tw",ye-knct vessel. which really
carried the products Il the country. would
receive only a lt;le more than one-thrd
of the subsidy paid to the fast Passenger
steamer"
IL. elaborated what he deemed % he the
injustice an! Inequality Of the measure
In this respect. presenting q comparison of
cargocs carried by tn, ST Paul a swIft
steamer of the American Line and .. the
Manhattan; "me of the great freish'.rs If
the Atlantic Transportation Company.
Fast Ships Are Favored.
The comparison showed that :hr Mauna,-
tan a fourtcen-knGt shin. carried in.;~cnse
quantities Of agricultural AMI :nanufac-
tured products. while the s;t. Paul ,.l.rle,i
practically no manufactures or agricultural
products of any kind. Yet. conicndcd Mr..
Clay. the Manhattan will r.ceivc little mlre
than cne-third Of the subsidy given lie -.
Paul.
How those who favor this measure" he
declared. (which donates annually To the
ST Paul more than S"io03. maintain
that the farmers ana Producers Of this
country ar" the principal heneiiCiarI.s of
TINS mn paSSrS hA crnipiyh'ns.iun. I am
not surprised that AZ tn" hearings before
thc committee not single farmer OF p:"-
ducer appeared to advocate the paSs:tg,. of
the bill: and | arn rot surprised That th@
ship owners alone monopoliz.d the Tim. nr
The committee i'm pOinti,r out great benefits
passage of the bill. An analysis of tn, h'ii
viii demcnstrate that tGcy alone are TIE
bsneficiarics ~ this lcEislGtion.''
MIR. Clay commended tnlt the greater rrlrt
Of the exports ~ the United States were
carried in steamers of boss than eleven
knots sweep. and that il wa- not thc-a-
fore. within the bounds Of reason or iusti,,.
that the fast vessels. which carried only a
small percentage of the exports. should r.-
caive the great bulk of the subsidy Iir
Clay ridicuied the proposition llid down in
the majority report Of the Commerce. Com
n'ittee OH the bill that the enactment of
the measure into l3U would b. of creatrr
benefit "a the agricultural interests of the
country than il woyld bv to the sSip-buiId-
ing and ship-owrinc States
Mr.. Clay maintained that the bill. as for !
r:ulated by the committee, would NOT tcnI
TO increase the merchant marine II the
United States.
IT, said he. Senators will examine III,
testimony taken before the committee the
conclusion will be reached that the ch;p
owners have a thorough organization Ia
carry through this legislation They arc
not seeking opport unities to bui'd S',ips b-!t
they are trying TO secure legislation that
Will ena BILE them to so into ihe publ, ,-ca,-