The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-20
problem is doubtful. should the Nor

problem is doubtful Should the Nor
gan marine contingent conclude, for good
reasons, to join forces with the Hanna
Payne-Frye interests the lobby which
the combination will put into the fight
will be next to invincible A presidential
veto may become the only remedy.
1t may be, however. that the thorough
airing which the Hanna subsidy scheme
has received during the past year will
discourage its hackers and cause them 20
drop it.
the supremacy of British carrying trade
is the result of liberal subsidies has
been so often denied and proved to be
utterly false, that nothing further need
be said. But a similar allegation ac-
counting for the rise of German COM
merce in German bottonlss has stood
uncontradicted
The following letter on this question
of German subsidies from the director
general of the neutrality-suspicious. line,
to the London Times. is timely and
should meet with wide circulation in this
country
To the Editor-Sir: For long time
past the assertion has repeatedly been
made in the English press that the sue
cess of the German merchant marine
is to be attributed to large subsidies paid
by the German government.
This statement does not only appear
in the daily papers. but frequently even
in periodicals especially devoted to the
American line has thus been partic-
ularly pointed out as owing to the ma
terial assistance received from, the gov
eminent It's ability to run steamers like
the Deutschland and it's development
into the largest shipping company in the
world.
1 have, so far, never looked upon
these statements as sufficiently important
to demand public rectification. Observ-
ing, however, that of late in your coun-
try intense interest seems to be taken in
this question, so that hardly a day pass
es without prominent English papers
dealing with this subject, l now think
l ought to correct this erroneous idea
about German shipping subsidies, and 1
therefore beg to state that up to the
year 1900, the Hamburg-American line
never received any government subsidy.
Since last year we are sharing in a SUBJ
vention granted for the maintenance of
| a regular fortnightly mail service be-
tween Germany and the far East, and up
to the present two of our steamers are
running under this contract. Last year
the share which we received of this sub
sidy amounted to about &13,C00. For
this the mails have to be forwarded
without further payment, and there are
so many conditions relating to the high
class of vessels, speed, itinerary, ETC.,
that the subsidy, so far, has proved to
be insufficient for the realization OF a
profit.
For none of our other lines is a con-
tribution paid by the state, and for the
conN eyanee of mails on all these lines
we receive nothing but the customary
rates. which are certainly not larger In
Germany than in your country
We do not even receive the subsidy
which the British government pays 20
the large British steamship companies
fo- fitting and keeping certain specially
suitable steamers at the disposal of the
admiralty in case of mobilization. The
large German steamship companies have
hitherto agreed to render like service
without demanding any payment in re-
turn I am, sir, your obedient servant
Director-General of the Hamburg Amer
lean Line.
Hamburg, Aug %.
The Germans have made success of
the carrying trade by a strict adherence
=
not handicapped by American navigation
laws which prevent them from going into
the markets of the world to buy ships
where they can be bought the cheapest
There is no protection for German ship
building, and yet the German shipyards
have developed as none others.
Before the facts of German marine de-
velopment all the theories of the hori-
zcntal ship subsidy advocates fall to the
ground. Some public money might be
spent for mail and freight routes to new
and distant parts of the East, but he
yond this the ship subsidy problem should
be eliminated from the proposed work of
the Fifty-seventh congress.