Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1900-07-18
PARTY ON SHIPPING.
DEMOCRACY HAS NO PLAN BY
WHICH TO BUILD UP.
Expends All Its Efforts in Attempts
to Tear Down-AIways Opposes Re-
publican Policy, but Has No Policy
of Its Own.

The platform utterance OF the Demo
cratic party regarding American ship
| ping is a clear index of the inherent in
ability Of that party TO construct 1t
| seems only to be able to oppose and
denounce the constructive policies Of
its progressive political opponents.
The foreign commerce of the United
States is regarded the world over as
the most important Of ali. TO this
country come the nhesl foreign ships.
The greatest and most powerful steam
ship lines vie with each other for our
trade. The largest, the swiftest, the
safest and the most luxurious ships
that are built are for the carrying of
the trade in merchandise, passengers,
specie and mails from and to the Unit
ed States
But S per cent Of our foreign trade
is carried in American ships. Foreign
ships carry % per cent This carrying
is worth fully S2O000O0 each year.
All but per cent. of it goes out of the
pockets Of American producers and
consumers for paying foreigners for do
ing our foreign carrying. Not only
does II 90 out Of our peoples pockets,
but 1t goes out of the country. II goes
abroad ana is there used to pay for the
building and running Of foreign ps.
II gives the employment to foreigners
that the carrying Of our foreign com
merce creates.
People ask, Why is this? The an
swer is simple. Foreign ships are built
more cheaply than American ships
This. however. is a disadvantage that
could in time be overcome if the ship
building industry were put on basis
of permanency. Ii a steady and large
demand were created for our ships very
soon the cost Of their construction
would be reduced 10 the level of foreign
prices II is the uDsteadincss. the ir-
regularity. and the uncertainty of en-
ploymeut in American shipyards that
keeps the cost of American ships from
10 to - per cent higher than the cost
Of foreign built ships. Better food and
more of it is given on American than
on foreign ships. This also creates a
disadvantage which the American ship
cannot easily overcome. Then again
wages on shipboard are much higher
under 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 fC eign
ships.
Worse than all this, however, foreign
governments pay their merchant ships
great subsidies and bounties. Great
Britain spends about SG0oO,0 600 Il year
in tlis way; France spends over 81
00O,000 a year. Germany. italy, Spain.
Russia, Austria and Japan all give large
subsidies 10 their ships In all the sub
sides and bounties paid by foreign gov
ernmcnts to their ships amount to mere
than $4,000, 600 each year.
Unalded American ships il must he
clear, cannot profitably compete with
foreign ships under the conditions
above described. That is why it is
that foreign ships have driven Ameri-
can ships from Off the seas. The Re
publican party. recognizing the unequal
conditions which confront American
ships in the foreign trade Is committed
to a policy of subsidlzing 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 tul Democrats have singled ont
for den'nciation in their national plat
form. hey oppose the accumulation
Of surplus to be squandered n such
bare-faccd frauds upon the taxpayers
as the shipping Subsidy bill. which I'M
dor the false pretensc of prospecting
American shipbulding would put I'M
earned millions into the pockets of IA
Yorite contributors 10 the Republican
campaign fund" The alternative of
the shipping subsidy Till is to keep on
paying nearly S2o0.so,00O a year to
foreign shlpowuers whose govern
ments, in paying them subsidies. en-
able them to prevent American ships
/ from competing Rather than have
| our government pay subsidy to Amer
| lean slips, the Democrats would pre-
! fer 10 have our people So nj nearly 500
/ 000,00o out of the country each year to
! build and sustain foreign ships.
In their platform the Democrats
/ ESPECIALLY condemn the illconccaled
/ Republican alliance with England
( When we remember that nemocrac,-'s
/ platform deuuncation ri the Shipping
/ Subsidy bin will nowhere he received
/ with such favor and gratitude as in
/ Great Britain, whose command of the
1 sra and especially of American foreign
carrying thu Democrats would perpeul-