The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-28
BANQUET OF BUSINESS MEN


You should have direct, frequent and
rapid communication with all the lead
ing foreign ports by steam vessels,
These facilities you can secure only by
the united action of all your business
men. The key to success is intelligent,
harmonious and persistent cooperation
The success of your industries adds to
the wealth and consuming power of
your citizens and thus adds to the pros
perity Of the community. You cannot
secure the prosperity Of New Haven
without contributing to the we'll being
of other cities and communities. The
more you extend the field of co-opera-
ton the greater will be your prosperity
and the resultant benefits to the COM
munity. AS a New Yorker, therefore, /
wish the business men of New Haven
the largest degree of prosperity obtain
able.
The question of the American Mer-
chant Marine is now being seriously
considered. For years / was not in ia
vor Of the government substituting
American shipbuilding I considered
any donation made by the Government
to any corporation for business pur-
poses as a tax on the people from which
they would derive no benefit. / have
come to the conclusion, however, that /
was mistaken, and L am more thorough
ly convinced Of it since the Spanish
American war. In regard to outlay
made by the government in assisting
the building Of the ships controlled by
the American Line, as one of the very
best investments the government has
ever made. In time Of peace the ships
are kept in repair by the company,
while in time of war, they are subject
to the call Of the government. 1t would
have been more economical for the
government to have subsidized the
building of such ships than to have paid
out millions of dollars for tugs and in
different vessels, picked UP all over the
world by government agents, for the
purpose of assisting in the conduct Of
the war, and I am quite sure that you
will agree with me when I say that the
services rendered by the steamships st.
Paul, st. Louis, Paris and New York
during the Spanish American War, |
were Of greater value to the government |
than the combined services of the tugs |
and vessels which were purchased at an |
outlay Of more millions Of dollars than |
1t would have cost the government to
subsidize the building of a dozen or
more first-class merchant ships.
Foreign nations subsidize ship build
Ing, England, France and Germany,
Japan and other countries, contribute
largely to the building of merchant
ships If it Is good policy for older
to encourage shipbuilding
1t is also good policy for our govern
ment to encourage it. England would
not have the great prestige which she
now enjoys upon the seas, were 1T not
for her merchant marine and powerful
navy We ought to have the greatest
merchant marine in the world, and 1T
appears to me that none oppose 1T ex-
cepting those who do not fully consider
the importance of it and the good in
store for the country at large in the fu-
ture or that class of men who are inter-
ested in foreign enterprises.
The time has arrived when the Ameri-
can people should seriously consider
their own interests and seek legislation
to that end and be prepared at all
times to protect their own interests. We
not only want fleet of merchant ships
which will compare favorably with
those of any other nation, but we also
want navy that can successfully meet
any other navy in the world and to at
tain it we should supplement our navy
by large merchant marine subject to
the control of the government to in
crease the American building of ships
and thus accomplish the desired result.
Then, too, we should consider the inn
portance of using our own products,
giving employment to our own labor
and keeping all the money we can at
home This is the policy practiced by
other nations, and why should we give
for building ships for our
use on the other side of the Atlantic,
which could, if the government gave en-
be built at home?
There are gathered here tonight dem- J,
ocrats and republicans, expansionists
and anti-expansionists. We may differ
as to the correct idea of the government
extending it's territory; we may also
differ on the economic and financial
questions, but there is one thing upon
which we are all agreed, and that is
that the government of the United
States is the grandest in the world and
hat it is our duty to preserve 1T, sus-
.ain it and protect it.
No matter what our political affilia
ions or inclinations may be, as good c
,itizens we should sustain the law Of the {
and. IT majority of the people elect to
adopt the principles advocated by either 6
If the dominant parties, those princi-
pies should be accepted in good faith
,y all. and instead of finding fault with !
he administration we should do every !
hing to strengthen it in order that 9TH =
sr nations will respect us in proportion ;
% the respect we show our own inst1-
buttons If the conditions of the peo- j.,
oles Of all nations We're alike, if their
manners of living were similar, II their II
necessities and requirements were the +
anne, if their productions and resources
we're such that commodities should be :
on equal terms in all re- .
pects then free trade would be the in {
vitable law, but according to my judg- ;.
nent our country is not yet in a condi- g
ion to adopt that theory. l believe -
hat our interests are best conserved by
Ldherlng to the policy of protection -
The best people of the country are =
to realize the Importance y
# supporting the government. The =
government must be supported either
" internal taxation or by levying du-