The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-19
THE HOUSE AND THE SUBSIDY BILL.

! II
The promoters of the ship subsidy
! bill have succeeded in getting II
through the Senate. Will they succeed
in getting it through the House? There
are evidently powerful influences sup
porting il. Otherwise it would not
have passed the Senate. 1t is a party
| measure, but il could not command
the full strength of the party in the
! Senate. Six of the most influential of
I the Republican senators refused to
/ vote for it. 1t did not seem to them,
| as it did not seem to the Democrats,
I except McLaurin of South Carolina,
/ that it was right to tax the people for
the benefit of the shipowners. In their
/ opinion if it is right to tax the people
for the benefit Of shipowners it is right
/ TO tax them for the benefit of owners
of other kinds of property.
The present bill differs somewhat
from the Hanna-Payne ship subsidy
bill which was urged so vigorously in
the Senate of the last Congress. That
bill provided for a subsidy of 50, 000, 900
a year. 1t was said that it would re-
quire that much to enable the owners
Of American ships to compete success
fully with the owners of the ships of
other nations. The present bill in
creases the amount to be paid for car
rying the ocean mails from 100000 to
SO 600 per annum, though this coun-
try is now paying more per pound for
carrying mails on the ocean than any
other, and it provides for a general
subsidy of so much per annum. This
general subsidy is to be paid, after
July 1, 1902. to the owners of any YES
sci of the United States duly registered
by an American citizen, and at the
time of entry engaged in the foreign
trade of the United States, at the rate
of 1 cent per ton for each nautical
mile sailed. Vessels built after the
passage of the bill are to be paid IA
cents per ton for period of five years.
The subsidy is to be paid to both steam
and sailing vessels.
When amendments were being offered
on Monday Senator Pettus of Ala
bama offered one to the effect that
the expenditures under authority of the
bill should not exceed 100000 a year,
and it was voted down. This would
seem to indicate that 1t Is the expecta-
ton of the promoters of the bill that
they will be able under it to get
out of the treasury a great deal more
than 100000 a year. The friends of
the bill did consent, however, to an
amendment that the amount paid out
for carrying mails should not be more
than 600 in any one year. In
view of the fact that the amount paid
out for ocean mail service at the pres
ent time is only 100000 a year, it is
not to be wondered at that the friends
of the bill consented to an $4,000 900
limit for the mail subsidy.
If this bill should become a law it
wouldn't be surprising if as much as
S20,O00,000 a year should be
paid to shipowners within the
next ten years. The House
no doubt will hesitate long time be-
fore passing the bill if, in fact, it passes
it at all. It's members are directly re-
| sponsible to the people. and the peo-
| pie will want to know why their money
was given to shipowners. 1t will be
a difficult matter to make the farmers
believe that it is right to take money
out of the treasury to assist shipown-
ers to get along, and not right to use
the public money to assist them
in making their farms yield a good in
come. 1t is not improbable that the
bill will be defeated in the House. 1t
will not at least be passed at this ses-
sion of Congress. The congressional
elections are too near to permit of leg
islation of that kind.