The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-11
TAFT STANDS BY ROOT
OPPOSES FRYE PHILIPPINE
 SHIPPING BILL.
Maine Senator's Measure, With That of Lodge, is Believed to Be Entering Wedges for
 Ship Subsidies.
Advertiser Bureau. Colorado Building,

| iz Advertiser Bureau. 1 Colorado Building, | Washington. Feb. 10. | Senator Frye of Maine, in his efforts
 to obtain government favor to American
 shipping-a life long hobby of his-has
 succeeded in getting from the Commit | tee on Commerce two very important bills of which he is the author, and be- | fore their purport was known to any , one save the immediate beneficiaries. One of the bills provides that all ship
 ments by sea of government supplies shall be in American vessels. the other extends the coastw.se laws U the Phil ippine Islands, with a provision that all freight and passenger traffic between the United States and the Philippines
 shall be in American vessels.
 The object of both bills is to give an absolute and unconditional monopoly to American vessels in all Philippine busi-
 ness. At present practically all this bus
 mess is done by foreign vessels. because
 they do it great deal cheaper than
 American vessels. It is perfectly well
 known that American vessels could not
 afford to carry government freight to
 the Philippines and come back empty;
 1t is easIallyeweil known that American vessels could not go to the Philippines empty in order to bring back hemp or other Philippine products. Here the me-
 cessity to put in the two Frye bills. one forcing the shipment of government freight to the Philippines in American vessels, and the other forcing all ship ments from the Philippines in American vessels so that these vessels would have cargoes both ways, as we'll as a monop- oly going and coming.
 The Philippine trade is comparatively small. There is not enough of it to war rant the establishment of regular lines. Nearly all of 1t is now done in foreign tramp steamers. and at rate immeas- urably lower than could be maintained by regular lines.
 The government shipment bill was re- ferred to Senator Frye's committee; the other bilF to the Philippines committee. which is presided over b. Senator Lodge. Both were reported without leaFing and without consideration.
 Elihu Root. while Secretary of War, ardent Republican as he Is, sent a re- port to Senator Frye on the government bill strongly opposing it. MT. Root stated that 1t would immensely increase the governments expenses and that 1t would place the government at the mer- cy of few individuals who could charge what they pleased for freight, and that, besides. the government would be sub jected to great inconvenience for lack of vessels at the proper time to carry the business in satisfactory way. He said that a bill of this kind in the last Con- gress, authorizing ten per cent. ad- vance in freight rates for American ves- sels, was defeated by the 4- 0 because of it's ship-subedy feature. lie admitted that he would still favor such bill and that he would go further and give Amer ican vessels an advance of 25 or 30 per cent, but would never consent to give them an unconditional monopoly. This letter was official. Senator Frye had to have it published as q Senate document. and 1t Is being used against both his bills.
 The Maine senator became angry at the position taken by the Secretary of War Thereupon Secretary Root, in or der to appease the senator, wrote him another letter in which he expressed anxiety to join the senator in promoting the interests of American shipping. even going so far as to say that he would be willing to allow an advance of 50 to 100 per cent to American vessels, but that it would never do to give them an abso- lute monopoly. Senator Frye chose to regard the second letter as personal to him; 4 and refused to have it printed as a public document. It was then that it got out through the newspapers.
 The statement that 1t contained of willingness to give American vessels an advance of from 50 to 100 per cent. over what the business could be done for has opened the eyes of all observers to the real enormity of the legislation propos- ed. It Is believed to be absolutely cer- tain that under the general bill the pub lie would fare no better than would the