Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-27
VERMONT SENATORS SUSTAINED
What Various contemporaries Say Re
Rarding Their Course.
(From :he Brattlcboro phoenixJ

From the f3rattlebcro Phucnix)
What is tho matter with Vermont"
was thc cry Of the BcstCn Journal OF We'd
nesday. In headlines introducing long
editorial which scathingly c1ndcmneI
Senators Proctor and Dillingham; for their
action IN voting against the ship subsidy
bill. Vermont was pictured as taking hcr
stand with Missouri, Kentucky and Ar
kansas. The Journal might have said with
equal truth that Ncrnt mt took her stand
with Iowa and Wisconsin, and Senators
Allison and Dolliver Spconer ard Ouarlos
nave never been classed oyactly as reno
gades. The journal says: This republi-
can bill aims to give American shin owners
Just such protection as Senator Proctor
enjoys in his marble qua,ries--enough 10
onset the DIFF nee betn &c n American and
foreign wagcs-and also to offset foreign
sutsi1es There is a striking difteren. q
between protection end subsidy. SUBSIDY
is more analogous to bounty.
The matte: with Vermont, in the present
instance cited by the journal is that she
mas Two United States senators who have
cohN lotions, and who act accordingly. re-
gardless of the crack Of the party whip
very large percentage of the proposed
subsidy, under the conditions existing to-
day, would go to steamship line whirn
has already received Large aid from the
United States government. Only American
built ships Differed by American citizens.
can secure the postal subsidies, but any
ships' built in the United States or abroad.
when can secure Amer, an registry come
" thin reach Of the general subsidy. Nv
eolnihS American registry the steamship
tHndlcate organized ty the ubiquitous j.
L. Morgan could socn have scores of
steamships available to get their share OF
the general subsidy.
Senator Vest was right when he said
that there has never been in the histor.
tnf
protected or moro prosrefous Interest
IMAM that OF the American shipyards to
day Everybody knows that the Shin
yards on both the Atlantic ard Pacific
coasts are hives of industry. and that for
eign nations, notably Russia and Japan,
nave come to America to have their war
ships built
England has not built up her merchant
marine by subsidies. SHE pays postal sub.
SldleS ~ the steamships carving her
ms lis. but England dominates the carrying
trade CT the world with her iron trainps
when never received a cent in subsidies
The subject is too extended to admit Of
general discussion here. but cur American
merchant Marie would perhaps b. built
up as much by some up date navigation
laws as by subsidies. and the objection Of
taking money from the pubic till to throw
TO rich shipowners could not then lie
raised. 1t rs strar &c. that With all the dis
OIL congress in regard to ship subsidies,
so ittle has been said in regard 10 the
Eetd OF changes ir the nav igation laws
The Phoenix conpratulates Senators
Proctor and Dillingham; On their indcpcn-
oent stand 1t telieyes they were right.
ara 1t believes they believed they wrre
right If tho Republican party wishes to
go into the next campaign loaded with an
GA man of the sea it will find itself i'm
mat predicament if the House concurs in
the action of the Senate
CFrom the Rutland Ncws.)
The Boston Journal is exceedingly ocr
rled over the action of the ermont SEM
tors in opposing the ship subsidy bill and
asks What is the Matter with Vernon
we nave no reason for knowing how III
Vermont senators will defend their pU-
sltion. they are amply able to take care
OF themselves. But we can guess at the
grounds for their action, however In the
rrSt place. as to their republica nism: IL
cannot be stated that President Mckiu-
ley or President Roosevelt approved of
the Frye bill They favored protection to
American shipping" and so do the Vermont
senators. The Nermonters had as company
three OF the strongest republican senator's,
Alison Spooner, Deliver That's pretty
good partisan company to be in. AS to the
merits OF tbs Frye subsidy bill 1t can be
said that the measure is vicious aud
wrong in principle That is probably the
reason that Senators Proctor and Di!ling-
ham voted against 1t. Their sense of right
was more potential than the party whip
Many republican senator's who voted for
the bill believed 1t wrong in itself and a
mistaken party policy, but they did not
have the Independence or character to
stand up and be counted as did the Yer
mont and Iowa and Wisconsin senators.
The whole scheme Of the bill is to take
money which has been contributed by tax
payers for public purposes and hand it
over to steamship companies, The meas
urc provides for paying indefinite sums out
OF the public treasury, as pure gratuity,
to some of the wealthicst men in the Uni
ted States, for throughout the whole bill
there was tendency to shape It rather
for existing steamship lines than for those
that are to be established with thu aid
of government bounty. This is not ''protec-
ton to American shipping it is a pres Mt
to wealthy steamship lines.
The Vermont senators were true to the
sentiments of their constituents. were true
to principle in their opposition to the bill.