The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-03-09
THE SHIP SUBSIDY BILL.
4 Meas .rc Put Forward In the In.
tecests of Protected
Monopoly.

| publican hcnators voted with the Dem.
ocrats against the bill-Burkctt, Of
| Nebraska; Dolliver of Iowa; La Fol.
lette and Spooner of Wisconsin, and
Warner o. Missouri. These men. says
The indianapolis News Und.), not only
followed Iublic opinion on this ques.
lion, but they were on the right SIDE
1f IT, We regret exceedingly that the
| Indiana senator's one OF whom voted
Tor the BIZ, and the other OF whom
was paired In its favor, could not bring
| themselves - antagOnize this subsidy
| grab. 4 rather remarkable thing
about he vote is that 1t was so small.
| Only GJ senators voted, and only SO
are recorded for the bill-or &c. in
,luding Bavcridge, who announced
that he would have voted for il had
he not been paired with Clark, Of
Montana The bill goes to the house
discredited a. was the case with tho
bill passed year or so ago by the
Ienate.
The proposition Is 10 grant sub
yention Of I've dollars per gross ton
per year TO cargo vessels engaged In
the foreign trade of the United States,
and OF $3.50 per ton to vessels engaged
In the Philippine trade, A naval re-
serve OF 10000 officers and men is pro-
yided for all of whom are to receive
'retsiners' Vessels are TO be re-
CURED tn carry a certain proportion OF
this naval reserve among their crewa.
The total compensation of mail lines
Is about $4,000 600 annually. The bill
establishes 10 new mail lines, and in.
creases the 'subyention" TO the Gee.
anic line which runs from the Pacific
coast to Australasia The new lines
are to run from Atlantic ports to Bra.
lil Uruguay. Argentina and South AZ
RIGA; from Gulf Of Mexico ports TO
Brazil, Cuba, Mexico. Central America.
and the lsthmus of Panama and from
Pacific ports TO Japan. China, the Phil.
lppines. Hawaii, Mexico. Central
America and Panama. No steam veg
sci OF less than 1000 tons is to re.
ceive n subsidy. But sailing vessels
rating as low as 20 tons are brought
within the provisions Of the bill.
These, Of course, are fishing vessels.
Other sailing vessels must be AT least
200 tons
Such arc the main provisions Of this
measure. In spite OF all the fine
things said about II. in spite Of tho
patriotic motives urged in its behalf,
Il II simply bill taxing all the people
II the United States for the benefit OF
a few men who seek 10 he hired To 20
Into business That Is all there Is to
Il. In the course of the debate, Sema.
tor Frye. Of Maine, who has been one
n the most persistent pushers Tor
subsidy said that the 5000 O0O. 900 paid
annually TO foreigners for carrying our
freight would be- used In developing
the American merchant marine. This
foolish argument shows how far
astray our great men are. The the
DRY Is that this money Is lost TO the
natlon-indeed Il seems TO be the
idea that II is the nation that pays II.
The truth Of course, Is that this money
Is paid for n service rendered. and II
Is paid by the men who get the scrv-
ice as an equivalent Further than
that II would not be paid 10 the men
who get II unless they provided the
cheapest and most efficient service
available. II Is now proposed to tax
the people to build up u service which
shall be more costly. and thus again
% burden the people.
hfpagaif 40 ho1
away when he said that the cost Of OPP
Grating American vessels was double
the cost OF operating foreign vessels,
and that the difference ought to be
aQualizcd by bounty For this Is to
admit that the only reason our people
DO not go into the shipping business
Is that they are more proftably EN-.
ploycl. This being the case, II Is pro
posed to attract them from work
which now pays them we'll into work
that would not pay them except for
subsidy. We hope that the house will
make short work OF this measure The
members Of that body must know that
the people are opposed 10 IT, They
mn see no reason why they should be
thus taxed to create an instrument to
serve needs which are already served
We think that the question il not one
~ creating merchant marine. but Of
creating n marine that shall be built
in this country II We would but throw
down the bars. remove the present
burdensome taxes, allow our people
to buy ships where they can buy them
'heapest and then have them admitted
to American registry. and lower our
prohibitive tariff duties we should
soon have a marine.
Engineer Wallace has thrown con-
siderable light on some dark spots in
the Panama canal grating game.
THE chief engineer says the Pan