The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1901-02-06
Their Importance in the Transpor-
tation Of Perishable
Products.
UHFoUADED OPPOSITION 70 SUBSIDIES.
Value of Ocean Flyers to the Gov
eminent In Time of Peace or War
Build Up the Nations Ocean
Trade and Augment Its Naval
Especial Correspondence
Washington, D. c., Jan.

Washington, D. c., Jan. 16.
Considerable opposition to the payment
of subsidies to swift American steamships
has developed in the press Of the country.
The statement has been widely circulated
that these ships merely carry passengers
abroad to spend American money, and to
bring back wines and silks for luxurious cit
liens, and that such ships, so employed, are
of no help to American commerce. What
is wanted, these opponents declare, is car
go carriers, the iow-poWered steamships
that take cargoes wherever they offer, and
carry them wherever they are consigned,
regardless of established lines And these
are the ships, they go on and assert, that
have given Great Britain her preeminen
as a maritime power.
All this sounds plausible, and somewhat
logical, and, If not analysed by those hav-
ing knowledge of the facts, helps to create
an unfavorable and hurtful sentiment to-
ward the shipping bill now pending in
congress which properly considers swift
steamships as well as slow ones. AS mat.
ter of fact, the swift steamships carry those
products from the United States that are
the most valuable, and, in many cases, the
most perishable. Were it not for the fast
steamship California fruits - growing
business-cou.d not be exported to Europe;
with them, the expectation OF Pacific coast
fruits steadily grows and prospers: All
kinds of dressed meats, ham, bacon, lard
and an infinite variety of agricultural or
farm products, that have gone through va
rious stages of manufacture are sent abroad
in swift ships.
Swift ships carry the mails; and it is es-
sential that the mails be carried with the
utmost rapidly. Invariably swift ships are
parts Of regularly esta blished lines, and
they make regular and frequent voyages to
and from their terminal points. The swift
er, the greater, the more powerful the ships,
the more profitable their use is to their re-
spective terminal countries, but the truth
is the less remunerative they all are to their
owners. They carry the most expensive
cargoes that go both ways, the manufac-
lures upon which labor and skill have been
expended, and which return the largest
sums to their producers.
But these are the ships, the large, pow
erful, swift ocean flyers, that are most use
full to the nation in time of war. They are
at once available as carriers of important
dispatches, in cases where celebrity is of the
utmost Importance; they are useful as aux
iliary cruisers, they can be quickly trans
formed into cruisers and then prey upon
and destroy the enemy's commerce; they
can act as scouts for fleets, and keep them
informed regarding the movements of the
enemy, keeping in touch with the enemy
and Guiding capture through their swift
ness. This was we'll illustrated t-y the four
great ships of the only American line in the
Transatlantic trade, during our war with
Spain. They were steaming at full speed
between 500 and 900 miles a day, far out
upon the Atlantic, keeping watch for
SPANS cruisers, ready to report them to the
flying squadron at Hampton Roads. 1t vas
this scouting work, SO effectively done,
that compelled Spain to send Cervera Ear
to the south, when but fer them Cerve-a
might have threatened if not seriously ar d
irreparably injured our great Atlantic and
Gulf seaports
The swift steamships are the nearest at
tainment to the ideal, the consummation of
the highest hopes of the artists engaged i'll
their construction, at once an effective DEM
onstration of mans best handiwork, and at
the same time an invaluable aid to the ma
ton when most in need of aid. Such ships
are the final outgrowth of regularly estab-
lished lines where IA trade has been built
up at great expense, after many years of
: faithful effort and throrrh a e.orv;co that is
+baranab oarn n Ia and a.trsct;ne 10 Thon
oroth bas+ - - L;nd ~ nat;on whose
49, 80 - annraa;ata thaa, dnas 49,, not
pup, ~ ell $50 AZ f,,n ,,.,,e
e s. ~ w 49, : = w -
NJ Ill 4- ..oA: -,
sells that carry carpoes wherever destined.
are merely the carriers Of the surplus car.
goes that accumulate after harvesting, or at
exceptional times. when the regular lines
are oyercrowded. But # is the regular lines
that build Mn 4 nations tradenever the
ira mns-and thew often do E for Years at a
loss mt, they are Thoroughly esta blished
and have accumulated : navine business
And Britain's sea power lies in her great
steamship lines, not in her 'tra1nps."
EIf the 40 ents. Of foreign s. eamshins are
dalihans ta2v IS orlIiing j. defeat tha nand;no
SHINING hill--as Is 'beine sa;d ali over the
conn trr,cono rass should ho warned The
American neo,la are moi il tbs. mood 70 see
legislation he nful - Great 1 ,ner;can IN.
dustry defeated in the interest of foreign