Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-01-19
Their Importance in the Transpor-
tation of Perishable
Products.
UNFOuSDED OPPOSITION TO SUBSIDIES.
Value of ocean Flyers to the Cow
ernment in Time of Peace or War
build Up the Nations Ocean
Trade and Augment Ats Eaval
Power.
[srecial correspondence.l
Washington, d. c., ia

Considerable opposition to the payment
of subsidies to swift American steamship,
has developed in the press of the country
The statement has been widely circulated
that these ships mercy carry passengers
abroad to spend American money, and tc
bring back wines and silks for luxurious cit
izens, and that such ships, so employed, are
of no help to American commerce. What
is wanted these opponents declare, is car
60 carriers, the low-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 preemlnence
as a maritime power.
All this sounds plausible, and somewhat
! logical and, if not analyzed 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-coud 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-
sental that the mails be carried with the
utmost rapidity. Invariably swift ships are
parts of regularly established 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 remuneratve 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
eriul, swift ocean flyers, that are most use
ful 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 eluding capture through their swift
ness. This was well illustrated by 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 800 and 600 miles day, far out
upon the Atlantic keeping watch for
Spain's cruisers, ready TO report them to the
flying squadron at Hampton Roads. 1t was
this scouting work, so effectively done,
that compelled Spain to send Cervera far
to the south, when but for them Cervera
might have threatened if not seriously and
irrepalably 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 in
their construction, at once an effective dem
onstration of mans best handiwork, and at
the same time an invaluable aid to the ma
tion when most in need of aid. Such ships
are the final outgrowth OF regularly estab-
lished lines where trade has been built
up at great expense, after many years of
faithful effort, and through service that is
thorough, complete and attractive They
are the best of their kind and a nation whose
people fail to appreciate them does not
grasp the full significance nor the full value
of sea power.
The so-called tramp steamships, the yes.
sells that carry cargoes wherever destined,
are merely the carriers of the surplus car
goes that accumulate after harvesting, or at
exceptional times, when the regular lines
are overcrowded. But it is the regular lines
that build up a nations trade-never the
tramps--and they often do it for years at a
loss, until they are thoroughly established
and have accumulated a paying business.
And Britain's sea power lies in her great
steamship lines, not in her "tramps,"