The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-15
BLOOD-sHEDDING POLICY OF THE
PAST MUST GIVE WAY
FROM NOW ON
DANGER IN WEAK MARINE
National Legislation Held Not to BE
Necessary to Attract Capital
and Make Ship Own
ing Pay.
MUST OWN IsTHMIAN CANAL

ATLANTA. Ga, Nov. 14.-At a smoker
given tonight by the Southern Cotton
Spinners' association, United States Sen
atcr John L. McLaurin spoke on tx
tension of Our Foreign Trade" He said:
1--WE are at the dawning of new Gay
of progress in the history of the worlu,
when all peoples will have more perfect
understanding of the brotherhood of man
and the interdependence of nations. For
2,G00 years the politics of the world have
been conducted upon the inhuman idea of
shedding blood. This has served useful
purpose in the civilization of mankind.
awful as it is to contemplate; but that
purpose has now been accomplished IN
til very recently commerce was not
deemed a proper subject for governmental
consideration There is no direct depart
ment of commerce in any government eX-
cept that of Germany. The moving con-
siderationS prompting the settlement of
the Chinese trouble were commercial.
The time will come when the best minds
of every country will be called upon to
adjust the complicated questions of for
eign trade, and the consular officers al
the leading ports of commerce will equal
In Importance the diplomatic ambaSsa-
doris.
Must Have More Ships.
In connection with the extension of the
south's foreign trade, Senator McLaurip
advocated an American marine.
"Our weakness upon the sea is the one
great danger that confronts the nation
said the senator. "If ships could be
built in the United States as cheaply and
operated under our flag as cheaply as
they are under other flags it would be
unnecessary for our government to do
more than to offset the subsidies, boun
lies, naval reserve, retainers and other
methods by which foreign governments
attract capital into merchant ships built
and managed by their own people.
I'VE must not imagine that American
capital is dependent upon national legis-
ation in order to make ship owning pay.
We have ample evidence of large Ameri-
can investments in foreign-built ships,
manned and operated by foreigners in our
foreign trade However much our people
may have invested in foreign ships they
are unavailable under international law
when at war as naval auxiliaries.
Another thing we should remember.
These very ships and the men employ
ed on board of them may be turned
against the United States in the event of
our becoming involved in war with the
nation whose flag they fly.
Isthmian Canal Should Be Ours.
"The object of extending government
aid to the upbuilding of our merchant
marine is to secure adequate protection
for the nation upon the sea- and the
mere fact that the investment has been
made attractive to American capital is
an incident of the transaction. We do
lot want to see the isthmian canal be-
come merely a foreign highway of COM
nerce,' said the senator. I'VE do not
want our millions expended merely to
become a bounty to foreign shipping. 1t
should be an American highway, and we
should so develop Our merchant marine
hat with the opening of this great canal,
our own flag shall predominant at the
masthead of a majority of the ships that
1t accommodates, The South will be the
immediate beneficiary of that waterway
when it is constructed.
In conclusion Senator McLaurin said:
what we need in this country today is
non-sectional patriotism and statesman
ship more devoted to the building up OF
our country than the achievement OF
party success. Great national or bust
ness questions involving the glory of our
republic and the prosperity Of our peo-
pie should not be dwarfed into mere party
questions"