Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-06-22
OCEAN MARINE HARD-SHELL.
Something Which Free Traders Are
Respectfully Invited
to Crack.

American free traders unhesitatinGly
assert that protection is the only OBJ
stacle to the creation by the citizens of
the United States of an ocean marine.
They are never very clear as to the mode
in which the policy works to prevent
such a consummation, but they usually
leave it to be inferred that ii is the hlgh
price of the raw materials used in ship
building which makes it impossible for
us to butt into" the oversee carrying
trade. That this is not the real obstacle
is easily demonstrated, says the San
Francisco Chronicle If high-priced raw
materials were a hindrance TO the de-
velopment of a great, cheap and efficient
transportation system, the United States
would not have, as it admittedly has.
the best and most economical railway
service in the world.
In 1903 there were 207604 miles of
railway operated in this country. The
rails and other steel used in their equip
ment were almost wholly produced in
the United States, the iron and steel i'm
ported in the early days before we had
puiII up a SlOot Ioiilhto iieA' - .
long since rusted and rotted. During
the time we were importing, however,
the free traders were unceasing in their
denunciation of a policy which they de-
clared impeded railroad development.
They were too short-sighted TO see that
the erection of rolling mills and the
creation of great steel and iron indus
try were helping to build up the country,
thus furnishing business to the railroads
and assisting in bringing about that
prosperous condition which alone can
materially promote development.
Here is statistical account of the re-
suits produced by the alleged impedi-
ments offered by protection to our rail-
way development. There were 207, ,604
miles of railway in 1903, employing
1,309,640 people in all departments,
whose combined wages and salaries in
the year mentioned amounted to $775,-
100000. In one form and another the
stupendous sum of S13. .525, ,623, 300 is in
vested in these railways, and their gross
earnings in 1903 footed up 81, 90S, ,S57 ,S26.
The vast traffic of the roads required
1894, 332 freight and 2S,64S passenger
cars, and they carried 696, ,908. 1894 passen-
gers one mile and III, ,290 $40, ,6S5 tons OF
freight were moved one mile. But the
greatest achievement of all was the re-
duction under the protective system of
the average cost of moving a ton of
freight one mile from 1.99 cents in 1870
to IA of a cent in 1908.
In the face of such an outcome it is
manifestly absurd to say that protection
has been a hindrance to transportation
development on land Under its benefi-
cent workings a railway system has
been created in this country which has
carrying capacity greater than that of
all the ships of the world, and which
moves more freight than the latter,
and does it more cheaply than the rail
ways of free-trade England perform a
like service for the people of that coun-
try. 1t is equally absurd to charge that
the high price of raw materials and pro-
lection generally are responsible for the
failure to develop an American oversee
carrying trade. The failure is due to
the opposite cause. The refusal to pro
tect American shipping against the COM
petition of LasGar labor at three dollars
a month, and the almost equally cheap
labor of northern Europe explains why
we are not lin it" on the ocean. When
we recognize this fact we shall see the
American flag flying in all the ports OF
the world, and later the cost of freight
ing on the ocean will, through Ameri-
can methods and ingenuity, be cheap
ened as it has been on the land If we
can improve our railways under protec.
tion so as to make them beat those of the
rest of the world, what is to hinder us
from making an American shipping
system equally effective?