The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-28
PRINCETON WON DEBATE
Continued From First Page.)

manufactures and commerce. The ma
 rine as an instrument of commerce is
 of the highest importance. The de-
 struction of our carriers is the ruin of
 commerce. The marine must therefore
 be carefully guarded and established
 so that it may not be withdrawn or
 curtailed by foreigners.
 'The marine is essential in maintain
 ing markets against the possible re-
 striction of our exports by foreign ship
 ping interests. Alien companies labor
 for the commercial Interest of their own
 countries They can provide made
 quade transportation for our goods ana
 curtail our trade. As we have now
 changed from an agricultural to an 1n-
 dustrial people we require new markets
 more than ever before. We cannot
 trust to foreign ship lines to secure
 these for us To-day we have eXcep-
 tional advantages in the Orient to eX-
 port our trade and we should have a
 marine in that part of the world Keen
 ly alive to our commercial interests.
 "A marine is needed in time or war
 for the supplementing of the navy, so
 as to furnish a race of seamen as well
 as act as transports and colliers.
 "Both military and economic needs
 apply to our colonial system. The depen-
 dencies of any colonial power must be
 joined to the mother country by trade
 relations. These relations cannot be
 entrusted to the chance establishment of ship lines owned by foreigners. The marine is thus political and commer- cial necessity binding together the ports of our domain and securing to us con- mercial independence.
 Walter Ewing Hope, 1901, of Brooklyn, N. r., was the first speaker for Prince ton He said in part:
 "The question narrows down to the means The issue is not the necessity of merchant marine, which we freely admit but of subsidies for building up that merchant marine. We are far from admitting it's deplorable condition at the present time, and the facts to-day reveal that during the last few years our merchant marine has undergone a change for the better, into great and unprecedented prosperity. The amount of American products last year carried in American ships was one-third more than two years ago; our shipping built for foreign trade shows an increase of 93,000 tons in a single year, and Amer ican shipyards are to-day overcrowded with work, with contracts many of them for three years in advance. In the past two years not a shiDyard in the country but has been greatly en- 1arged" I
 Mason Trowbridge, 1902, of Chicago, III. was Yale's second speaker. He said in brief:
 With the need of an American mer- chant marine and the lack of one estab- lished by the first speaker, our next consideration must be that of the means to be employed for the creation of one to meet that need
 "For this purpose some sort of legis- | 1ative stimulus is necessary. It does not pay for capital to invest in Ameri- l can steamship lines because American boats cost more to build and to run than foreign boats. Hence government pro- tectionin a form to offset these disad- | and as sure profits is neces- | sary to tempt investment in American ! lines.
 All lLG great COIlllllGICldl I1dllOHS SlNG their shipping protection, and in the l very form we urge upon this country a system of ship subsidies. England is the greatest ocean carrier and she has l likewise been the most continuous and | consistent exponent of the system of | protection to maritime interests. She secured her enormous mercantile navy | by navigation acts and maintains it, whenever necessary, by the payment of subsidies.
 | Germany, France, Italy and Japan all owe their merchant marine in whole or in part to the adoption of this same policy of government aid. Our foreign rivals in the carrying trade receive in the aggregate more than twenty-five million dollars year from their vari- ous governments It would be prepos- terous to assert that this has nothing to to compete with them.
 "Indeed, were all other conditions equal, the fact that companies opera ing under other flags are so heavily subsidized would make it exceedingly lifficult for American lines to meet their and earn any profit But ,dd to this the greater cost of building md operating vessels of the country, Ind it becomes evident that competition s out of the question. There must be some compensation for these disadvan- ages and that compensation is subsi- lies" Axtell Julius Byles, 1903, of Titusville, Pa, was the second speaker on the neg ltive for Princeton. He said: Ship subsidies would introduce new lnd serious evils into our government. I f the subsidies are limited to part of , ur shipping, the remedy would be weak md inadequate; if great enough to cov- f r all, 1t would be a great and intol- , rable burden to our people At best f ve could subsidize only portion of our ! hipping, hence the operation of the s ubsidy would be unjust This limita- | ion would cause corruption and lobby f ng in congress in favor of large corpo- , atfons. England's largest steamship f Ines are unsubsidized; her great mer- f hant marine is due to trade with her , olonies. France and Japan are steadi- 7 declining under the subsidy system 'n account of the present low price of V. lmerican steel we can now underbid he world in shipbuilding." ' Yale's third and final speaker was f .obert H. Ewell, 1903, of Washington. n | c. He Said |,