Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-01-18
THE SHIP SUBSIDY BILL.
Actual Effect Of the Measure Now
Pending In Congress-.

Pending. In Congress.
The report CT the minority of the
| committee on merchant marine and
fisheries thus exposes the actual eff
fects of the ship subsidy bill which
Senator Hanna and his friends in the
International Navigation company are
making such strenuous efforts to get
through the present congress-:
A carefuT examination of the terms
of the bill and OF the conditions of
shipbuilding and shipowning, as stated
by the commissioner Of navigation,
has convinced US that the real effect
of this bill will not he to encourage
the building of ships which would
not otherwise be built or to in
crease trade. but to further increase
the profits Of the already prosper
GUS lines which without subsidy have
been built or contracted for the very
| ships to subsiLize which this bill is
framed
Mr.. Griscom i'll House Hearings,
pages ~ and %. explained as to ships
which would be specially favored:
Il should say otfhand that the IA
knot ship Of the largest possible size,
that would carry about 10000 tons,
! would be the ship that under that
Subsidy bill would get the best COM
the speed that we think is economical
speed to do the business, especially on
the Pacific and also on the Atlantic.
We have ships building of between
10000 and $4,000 (tons> and of moder-
ate speed. "A great many are building
in Great Britain now which will carry
10000 tons Of cargo and not measure
10000 Registered tonnage).
"Of such ships there are compare
lively few in the world today. 1t is
only recently that they have been
built at all. In 1898, the greatest year
for shipbuilding Of which we have
read in the worlds history, but six
In all were turned out-four in Great
Britain ond two in Germany. But on
Sept. 80. 1899, there were then building
| of such vessels 16 in Great Britain aud
| several in Germany, largely for subsidy
| promised by this bill"
AS most Of these ships were being
| constructed under contracts made in
1897 and 1893 and for the lines repre-
sented on the committee which drew
the original subsidy bill and sent it to
congress in 1893, it only remains to be
stated that, as Senator Frye has ex-
planned (senate hearings, p. y, it was
in 1897 that the coterie behind this bill
was formed. Having originally plan
ned 10 let in only foreign ships con.
tracted for abroad Jan. /, 1899, they
Immediately proceeded to place their
contracts.
The date was not changed to Jan. l,
1900, until it was too late for those out
side of this coterie to secure contracts
on that date.
We see no reason why only favored
rev should be permitted to bring in
foreign ships and get subsidy upon
them and believe that the date should
be set ahead. So that all will have an
equal opportunity to take advantage OF
our country's generosity.
| The cargo" amendment. while it will
probably not hurt anybody, will Ger
| tainly never touch the owners of pas
| senger steamers. Under it steamships
like slse st. Paul would not need to car
~ more than 500 or 1000 tons Of car
60 t" get the full subsidy, while they
never leave our ports with much less
than full cargo-3,50O to $500 tons
Should it ever happen that they would
wish to leave our ports with less than
1,:aN tons the owners have but to sell
more space by the year, and the sub
sidy stream will continue to dow full
as before.
Such large amount Of subsidy prac
tif1lly put at the disposal OF the few
VINO benefit 10y this hill cannot but tend
to unite even more closely than now
the great shipbuilding, shipowning and
railroad interests concerned in thi.
;measure.
BY the time these few interests brfne
In their foreign owned ships and gel
their ships now being built into the
subsidy race the 100000 limit will
undoubtedly be reached; hence it vii,
are to their interest ito combine to stop
competition and to prevent their sub.
sh1y rates and profits from declining
We believe that such a rembination
would be completed soon after the pas
aage Of this bill.