The times., 1900-12-31
Circulation Statement.
Hnnpn,s Defence of His Job.

ferred 10 as a Napoleonic individual. He
does not strike us that way. but as more
of an able Alexander, always hungering
for new worlds to conquer At the begin
ming of things he emerged from Mace
donian wilds somewhere. and, without the
adventitious aid of book learning to any
alarming extent, easily conquered the iron
and coal provinces. After that he effected
fierce and unrelenting descent upon
Ohio, and then upon national politics, and,
by the application of Sound business
methods" arrived with and on both feet.
Not content with these triumphs, he as
pired to the Senatorial toga. and the great
and successful fight of his forces at Co.
lumbus under his generals. Rathbone and
Dick, is still remembered from Kelly's
Island. where the sweet Catawba grows, to
lover the Rhine" in Cincinnati, where it
makes glad the heart of man at a nickel
per schOppen.
One might well suppose that these vie
tories over fortune and mankind would
fill the most voraeious man with content
II not safety. But The Hanna lexicon con-
tains not the word enough" The legend
reads: IF a little is good more is bet
ter" Thus we find him at length. though
insectifested with wealth and power,
striving to take the stump from Demos
themes and Cicero, and paralyzing hordes
of wondering Indians and cowboys with
his roaring eloquence in denunciation of
Cataline Pettigrew
- ;r he Iac ad
venture that the Alexandriac quality in
the unlimited boss displayed itself most
luridly. Although tortured with gout. ne
would charge upon any ancient Demo
cratic platform, and proceed to demolish
it, regardless of the excruciating pains
in his own lumbar region. His was not
the spirit to submit to anything this side
of the doctor and the funeral director He
remembered, from the days when he was
in the Cleveland public school. all about
"the stern old Baron Rudiger, whose
frame had ne'er been bent by wasting
pain" and he deliberately made up his
voluniaous and versatile mind that he
would never stop until he had forced his
way into the magazines. He has tegun
TO carry that alarming design into effect.
He is at 1t now.
We have no desire to be hypercritical in
considering a first offence. AS age mel
lows the mental processes of this Man of
Iron, Coal, and Brass no doubt he will rec
ognize the necessity for a literary ste
nographer." anc then, probably, his con-
tributions to the periodical literature of a
na mill CHI aI
proyement In his present and initial es-
say ne does not appear to the best ad-
vantage; but perhaps only because he has
a bad case to build out of hopelessly de-
composed materials. and with very neb-
ulous conception of his tools and their
uses
1t is Mr.. Hanna's article in the current
number of a Boston publication, THE Ma
tionai Magazine" which has attracted our
attention. His subject is THE Revival of
American Shipping" and his paper is de-
voted TO an earnest effort to show that
the way to revive that interest is for
Congress to pass the Hanna Subsidy bill
On this point he argues as follows:
''The cost of running ships under the American
flag has been computed al between thirty and
forty per cent higher than the cost OF running
foreign ships IL Is due to the higher wages
paid 10 American officers and seamen and 1remen
md to the better quality and larger quantity
a food furnished them.
The value Of the ships that are built in
the United States. and the value Of the men
who man them 10 navy in time Of trouble
in Itself will more than compensate the United
States Goyernment-the American people-for all
the money expend in inducing our people 10
build and TO ships under the provisions OF
this bill.
IF the American people can be brought 70
understand the need and value Of an American
mercantile marine TO The nation. then the bill
pending makes provision for such ac
complishment. This result II cannot be said TOO
emphatically will entirely fail Of accomplishment
Enless there is very substantial reduction in
the rates of freight charges for the carrying of
our imports and exports. only by reducing
rates can American ships expect 10 vrest any
Of the carrying from their foreign competitors.
''fhere can be no monopoly Of any route by
any line or class of ships. Every route Is open
10 any American ship that chooses to enter it.
ANY American may build that type of snip that
he believes viii be most advantageous to him
nndcI the terms Of the bill.
''Tba pending Shipping bill is equitable. honest,
scientifically drawn, an automatically adjustable
measure. destined 10 place the American Aag
once more upon the seas 70 the material benefit
Of al the American people"
In mentioning the alleged excessive
cost Of running American ships, we are
glad to observe that Mr.. Hanna speaks
in the past tense. Years ago it was also
computed that the cost OF building a
modern steam vessel in the United States
was thirty to forty per cent more than
II was on the Clyde. That was why
our mercantile flag disappeared from the
high seas. American merchants could not
afford to build on this side, and dog-in-
the-msnger fiscal policy prevented them
from securing American registry for for
eign-built vessels. Now, with the signal
advantages possessed by our shipyards, in
the relatively low cost of raw materials,
and the low net cost of our superior labor,
It is possible TO construct ocean craft of
The best description in the United States
as eheaply as they can be produced
in the United Kingdom or Europe gen.
orally.
When We come to consider the cost Of
running ships, It Is only necessary to
refer TO fact or two Of undeniable ac-
ceptation TO show that there is nothing
in the Hanna reasoning as far as the sub
sidy job is concerned. Almost sychron-
ousiy with the appearance of his maga-
zine plea. another great Western trans
portation magrate. Mr.. CounseIman, OF
Chicago. comes to the front with the
statement that subsidies are not needed In |
reyiving our mercantile marine; that