The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1905-09-26

American people for nation of
idiots. Our long-suffering patience
under robbery, varied, shameless and
wholesale, may lend some counte-
nance to such an opinion, but let the
politicians be assured that it is, never
theless, a mistake. Whatever our
national disease may be-. severe or
trivial, fever or anemia, quacks of the
Lodge school have one remedy, one
sovereign panacea for all cases.
"Blesd the patient" is their advice
first, last and all the time. Is there
deficit in the treasury? Never think
of lessening the exorbitant tariff
which shuts out imports and cuts
out revenue, but bleed the consumer.
Tax his morning coffee. Do the trusts
wish to extend their power over for
eign markets? Bleed the home con-
sumner until their domestic gains are
heavy enough to balance a foreign
loss. The American consumer has
learned to shudder whenever there is
talk Of establishing new industry or
extending foreign trade, for he knows
that sooner or later he will be bled
to pay for it.
The senator complains that he could
not pass the ship subsidy fraud
through congress last year ON account
of the prejudice ''it seemed to ex-
cite" The senator may rest assured
that the prejudice was not mere
seeming, blissful or otherwise; it was
one Of the most real things he ever
came up against, and it still exists in
all its pristine substantially. The
American people do not propose to be
buncoed out of $4,000, 900 year for
the benefit of New England ship
trust, and the sooner Senator Lodge
gets that fact thoroughly wedged into
his scholarly brain the better for his
peace of mind. The sum Of $4,000
900 is what the trust wishes to begin
with, but once graft gets its suckers
fastened into the treasury, everybody
knows what happens. A graft is like
a woodtick, or devil fish, all suckers
and belly. The more blood it draws
the bigger it gets; and the ship sub
sidy graft is no different from others.
y ** The argument for ship sub
sides, such as it is, runs in this way.
We have protected every industry in
the country except that of shipowners.
Foreign nations subsidize ships to
such an extent that they can carry
freight cheaper than American ves-
sells can. The result is that our goods
are carried across in foreign bottoms,
and that we pay foreigners some
eighty millions every year for trans
portation charges. Why we ought
to prefer to pay this sum to domestic
trust magnates who would go to
Europe and spend it for champagne
the argument does not state. What
we should really have to pay the ship
trust, which would spring into being
at once If the subsidy were granted,
would be not only the eighty million
but this sum plus the subsidy. The
VI uSo WOuAu AOb Ootly SOOu5 Aol HULL
ing any more than the foreign owners.
We should be out of pocket on the
transaction exactly the amount of the
subsidy plus what foreign trade we
should lose on account of throwing
the ships of other nations out of bust
ness. Part, at least, of what we pay
for freight is spent by foreigners for
American goods. If we cease to pat
ronize them, of course they will cease
to patronize us, even if they do not go
into bankruptcy.
The probabilities are, however, that
many foreign shipowners would so
into bankruptcy if we should bleed
ourselves to pay an American trust to
take away their business; for, as
every body knows, there are plenty of
ships now in existence to do the carry
ing trade of the world. II there were
any lack of ships, freights would
raise and go on rising until it would
pay Americans to build vessels with
out a subsidy. AS long as foreigners
will do this work for us cheaper than
we can do it for ourselves, why should
we add to our burdens simply to take
Aho 1,,n.,,.s.. .,..x.... e,s.~x II