The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-18
VICTORY FOR SUBSIDY BILL
SENATE COMMITTEE AUTHoRIzES
 FAVORABLE REPORT.
Democrats Voted Against It-A Number of Important tAmondments-New Pro- visions Regarding Mail Carrying Ves- sels-senatOr Frye's Report-Tho Chief Aim the Maritime Supremacy of tho United States.
United States.

Washington, Jan. 1.-The senate
 committee on commerce to-day author ized a favorable report on Senator
 Frye's ship subsidy bill. The report
 will be made by Senator Frye Ihe democratic members of the committee voted against reporting the bill. They also voted solldly for motion offered
 by Senator Mallory to strike out the general subsidy provision of the bill.
 The committee made several amend ments to the bill. The most important are:
 Allowing mail carrying vessels under the bill to be either iron or steel insteau of steel only, as originally provided ana another reducing to one thousand gross registered tons the vessels receiving bounty under the bill.
 The report prepared by Senator Frye was read to the committee. 1t says that the purpose of the bill is to estap- fish the maritime supremacy or the United States in trade with Asia and 1n the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean Sea; to establish securely trade between the United States and South America and to give the United States respect able representation in the North Allan tic. The claim is made that all these results will be accomplished within ten years. The report also asserts that the bill will SO extend shipbuildlng as to transfer from abroad to the United States the center of that industry, as the csnters of other industries recently have been transferred, and also that 1t will give to the United States measure of maritime independence correspond ing to our industrial and agricultural independence. Senator Frye furnished the press the following summary ot the report:
 The establishment of this complete American ocean mail service, involving much shipbuilding, will require several years. It will render the United States as independent of foreign powers for It's ocean mail service as is Great Britain The cost of the American service by American mail steamers will be $4,7oo,- 900. The cost of the British and colo nial service by British mail steamers IS s4 TOO, O0O Receipts from ocean postage by the United States are now estimated at & 000, 000 The annual deficit under tUC new LAlltIiCa oy yShVia N'- cluding minor services, will be about s2, 100000. The annual bene1t under the British colonial system is $2,1SS,00o. The postal subsidiary provisions enable the postmaster general to establish an American ocean mail system superior to the systems of Great Britain, France and Germany.
 The American ocean mail system out lined contemplates a Pacific weekly mall service to Hawaii the Philippines, Japan, China. Hong Kong and fort nightly service to Pago Pago, New Zealand and Australia. The maximum cost would be s2, 335, 000
 On the Atlantic the bill contemplates semi-weekly mail services to Jamaica, Havana and Europe, weekly to Mexico, one in ten days to Venezuela and fort nightly to Brazil, at a maximum cost of $2 365 900.
 The report compares In detail Ameri- can services proposed with British ser vices, and asserts that the bill will rev. olutionize fin American favor as against the Suez route the worlds ocean mail connections with China and Japan and will affect Australian connections.
 It will give the United States forty two auxiliary merchant cruisers com pared with Great Britain's fifty.
 The second part of the report deals with the general subsidiary to all American vessels, steam and sail ex- cept mail steamers. It quotes Presi- dent Roosevelts message showing that the cost of building American ships is greater than the cost of building ships abroad; that American wages on ship board are higher, and that the govern ment should remedy these inequalities. Discriminating duties. export bounties and subsidies based on export cargoes are in violation of our international ob legations, so direct subsidies is the only practical method. The subsidy propos- ed is not naked bounty, for it is based on public service to be rendered in re- turn.
 Americans have absolute free trade in foreign-going ships, SO no shipbuilders' trust is possible under the bill. Ship builders can import now free of duty materials for ships for foreign trade, so no combination to raise prices of mate rials is practicable.
 If an American ship owner will build his vessel in the United States, employ ing home labor employing American officers and crews performing certain services for the American government and using the vessel to promote Amer ican coumerce. he will he paid a subsi- dy sufficient to put him on an equality with the foreign ship owner, employing foreign labor and serving a foreign gov ernment.
 The average cost of building ocean steamers, mainly for cargo, is S102 per ton in the United States and S76 In Great Britain. Average monthly wages on ocean steamers mainly for cargo are American s36 British s7e and German and Scandinavian SIT. The general sub eral subsidies proposed equalize Ameri- can and foreign costs on these bases.
 The bill will promote the building of new vessels, of large carrying capacity, which promote export trade at low freight rates. Combined with our geo. graphical position it gives special ad- vantages to American vessels in the Pacific trade.
 Based on actual navigation of Amer ican vessels in foreign trade in 1900, the subsidies proposed would amount to $1,- 072 900, divided as follows:
 Steam (excluding mail vesseis). $559. GOO; sail, $513,0o0. Geographically: Att lanEfo ocean, s44o.0a0; Racifics S437,10ls