Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-02-18
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REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF LAUNCH
ING


ING.
A special correspondent of the Seat
tie Post-Intelligencer, writing of the
features Of the launching Of the big
steamship Dakota, says:
1t was at the close of the luncheon,
when the toasts were given, that the
, real significance of the launching was
made clear. 1t was to be expected
that the speakers would laud and
eulogize Mr.. Hill, and they did. But
it was the opening of the new market
to the agricultural and mineral pro-
ducts of the west, signalized in the
launching, which seemed to them
epochal in the industrial history of
the country.
Among the speakers there seemed
to be a generally accepted conviction
that Mr.. Ch8mberlain's tariff policy
would be- accepted by England in the
near future to the inevitable exclusion
of American breadstuffs.' where,
then, will We sell our surplus pro-
duct?" was the question which would
confront the United States. I'm the
vast, rich, undeveloped Orient" was
the answer, and Mr. Hill and his
steamship line were the promise FOR
!. future which far exceed the widest
dreams of Imagination.
The POSTMASTER was Charles R.
Hanscombe, president Of the Eastern
shipbuilding company. His first toast
was miss Pennington, christener of
the Dakota" Senator Hansbrough re-
Piled to the toast briefly but happily.
He said that the subject of his toast
was a fair sample of the young woman
hood of Dakota. When Miss Fleming
ton arose in acknowledgment of the
toast the 200 or more guests from
New York and other points of the
effete east gazed upon her robust 6
feet 2 inches in questioning wonder.
81 don't think she will be offended If
I tell you that she is only II years
old"
The second toast proposed was
"JamessJ. HILL" and in answer to this
Senator McCumber of North Dakota,
paid very eloquent tribute to the
man who, he said, chad done more and
was doing more for the Northwest
than any other single individual ever
did" Senator McCumber outlined
what he believed would be the future
of the tariff movement in England
He said that no thinking man would
doubt that Chamberlain's policy would
ultimately prevail. He looked upon
the establishment of Mr.. Hills steam
ship line between Seattle and Hong
kong as the first step in the deliver
the Northwest from an industrial
bondage.
In reply Mr.. Hill said: "I went to
4. thank you all for the sympathy and
support you have given us by coming
to witness the launching of the Dako-
ia. Some of the people down in Wall
street seem to be willing to furnish
US with what they call merchant
: marine. They have merchant marines
\ and navies and such things to SELL
But somehow or other the ships we
y can get that way are not laden with
gold. They turn out to be no good.
Il Il We want good ships we must build
them ourselves. Every standard of
/, life in our country is higher and bet
ter than it is anywhere else, except
Il one thing, and that thing is transpor-
4 tation. Transportation is the problem
which confronts the industrial future
Of this country. If we would gain and
keep the markets Of the world we
must furnish cheap transportation II
4 we fail In this, these great sister ships
which You have seen, the Minnesota
and the Dakota, viii soon be for sale
! and I mean sake and not sail, i
mean they viii soon be under the
4 hammer Of the anctioneer.
The problem Of inland transporta-
ton WAS q hard one. but We have
solved ~ The problem Of transport
8ing goods across The Atlantic waa
diMcrilt but We have 1t last made .
good start at solving It The problem