The Washington times., 1905-10-11

passed an act giving TO the American
| shipbuilder and the American snip
owner a monopoly of our coastwise
| trade. Administrations have changed
again and again. but that old law re-
mains intact. AS result we have the
largest and cheapest coastwise trade in
the world The Detroit river floats
more tons of American freight than all
the foreign commerce that enters Lon
don. Liverpool. and New York city COM
bined, and under every ton is ship
can workmen, owned by American cap
| ital. operated by American enterprise,
and over every pound floats the Stars
and Stripes.
| Practically a half century ago the
present minority party inaUgurated.
and the present majority party adopted.
gave subsidies of money, or subsidies OF
| land or both money and land. TO en-
| courage the construction of translate
| and transcontinental railways.
Subsidies Common.
| Not only has the General Government
subsidized domestic commerce by direct
appropriations from the public treasury
| IN aid of railroads, but 1t annually sub
sidizes commerce, both domestic and
foreign, by large appropriations for the
f! Improvement Of rivers and harbors. No
difficulty is ever experienced in passing
a river and harbor bill If its benefits
are sufficiently distributed.
The Government is now enlarging not
only the scope but also the amount OF
its bounty. 1t has paid fifty millions for
the right to dig a ditch In aid Of inter
national commerce. and proposes 10 pay
two hundred millions more. or five hun
dred millions more. If necessary, in the
construction Of that international ditch,
ether millions in its maintenance, and
1 - f~.,- T.
defense.
The completion Of the canal will move
the line of equal distance from the
eastern to the western shore of the
Pacific. We will get the worth OF our
! money. provided we place ourselves IN
position 10 get our share OF the use OF
the canal.
The markets of South America. South
Africa, and the adjacent islands are
just being developed. The eyes Of the
world are upon them. The merchant
| nations of Europe know where they are
| located, and they are establishing banks
and warehouses within them, and they
| have already established regular and
fest lines OF steamers 10 them. The
United States has neither banks nor
commission houses, nor warehouses in
these ports, no. has II means Of com
Tunication with them, except through
| old: worn-out. dilapidated ships. sailing
under foreign flags, and making eight
or ten knots an hour.
/ do not need TO tell you of the great
| number of European ships that sail the
triangle. They start from home with
a cargo of finished products which they
leave in those southern ports, then load
with coffee. rubber, hemp, sisal. nahog-
any. dye woods. and fruits for the
United States, then take load of our
| raw materials, cotton, copper. oetro-
leum, and food product, back TO europe.
Permit few Nextracts from Prof,
Hutchinson's report to the Department
! OF Commerce and Labor:
Condition in Brazil.
Suffice it TO say that the service
from Europe is carried on by large and
fast steamers. thoroughly equipped in
! every way for freight. passenger. and
mail business, running on accurate
schedule time. and giving regular com
municaticn between Brazil and Europe,
In each direction, at least six times
per month. while the steamers from
the United States are small and slow,
nave only inferior accommodation for
passengers, and, with the exception Of a
single sailing each month, are more or
less irregular as TO time of departure
and arrival. 1t rs thus often possible
to get much quicker delivery of an or
der from England or Europe than from
the United States"
Most of the popula tion. all except
the very few who have Travelled IN the
United States. have exalted ideas as
to the greatness or England. France,
and Germany. and the fashionable
ness of using commodities produced in
those countries. There is not the slight
| est question that these Impressions are
deepened by visible illustration of the