The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-06-03

there would be no hesitation by Amer
leans to enter upon such ownership.
Mr.. Hill, while rather pessimistic on
the subject, sees in the admission of
foreign built ships free, a decisive
remedy and, if congress is not willing
to do this, he believes a solution will
be found in an export bounty. This
a subsidy, of course.
1t is noticeable that, while our
coasting trade has developed beyond
that of any other country in the last
thirty years, because it has received
adequate protection in that most eff
fective method Of excluding foreign
built ships and reserving it exclusive
ly for American bottoms, little has
been said about it in the discussion of
the subsidy question. The coast-car-
rying trade has been made attractive
to investors in American ships, and
building in this direction 1t is evil
dent that abundant capital can be OBJ
tainedif there is chance offered to
Americans in the ocean freighting in
dustry.
In 1902 this country built more ships
than Germany and France the figures
being, United States, $4,000 tons {:
Germany, 214,O0O tons, and France.
10000 tons. Of American ships built.
one steel sailing ship of 521S tons,
the largest sailing vessel yet built.
may be mentioned, along with the
mammoth Hill freight steamers for the
Pacific trade.
Thus, there is no lack of ability to
excel in shipbuilding and in the coast
carrying trade, where capital infested
in ships is subject to the same laws,
rates and taxation as other capital
employed in that trade, there is
no deficiency in the investment of
capital in American vessels In the
foreign carrying trade. however. Amer
lean capital comes in competition with
the capital of foreigners who enjoy
better conditions of taxation, interest
and labor, and American capital is
naturally hesitant.
The first fight we made against the
effort of Great Britain to drive this
nation from the sea, was simply the
carrying out of Jefferson's counsel to
meet English prohibitions, duties and
regulations, and the third law passed
by the first American congress in
1899, imposed a tonnage tax of so
cents a ton on foreign ships, offsetting
the English tonnage tax on American
ships Under the successive retalia-
tory acts our shipping increased 400
from 1915 to 1914, our tonnage in
creased from 700,500 to 1,977,43S. In
1851, the London Times warned Eng
lishmen that American clipper ships
We're running the British merchant ma
rine by their superior speed, and that
the starred flag is now conspicuous
on every sea and will soon defy our
thunder
This felicitous shipping condition
was lost by reason of Britan's resort
to steam, and iron shipbulding, with
which we We're not able to compete.
1t is questionable if we are able now
to compete in that line. If we are
going into the policy of making in
VeStments in American-built shiDs at
tractiVe to capitalists, as in the coast
carrying trade, Mr.. Hills suggestion
of an export bounty would be as good
a way as any. The great trouble
about our shipping Industries is that
other fields afford so much more prof
liable investment that capital is not
attracted that way. Certainly, Mr.
Hills experience building his big
freighters is not encOura ging to Amer
lean capitalists to venture into the
business