Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1907-10-11
TRAFFIC oP THE FAR EAST.
American ships Have Little Share In
Trade of Asia.


Trade of Asia.
Again the lamentable condition Of
the American merchant marine is the
subject Of an official report to the De
partment Of State, says the Boston
Transcript. The latest complaint
comes from the far east. "The share
of American ships in the immense traf-
fc Is this port" writes Amos p. Wild
er, our consul general at Hongkong, 'is
humiliating to those who know the
proud place they held in the early days
OF this colony and earlier In the CAN
ton trade. The present-day liners from
San Francisco and Seattle are the larg-
est ships that come to Hongkong. In
these levlathans every American takes
pride. and for passenger travel they
are in high favor; but while in ton
mage capacity the rank Of the United
States Is not small, the huge ships Of
the great Northern Pacific Mail, and
other lines bringing up the total, the
fact remains that great body Of the
Imports and exports Of our Pacific and
Atlantic ports are carried in ships fly
Ing foreign flag. The total number
of ocean ships arriving and clearing
at Hongkong in 1906 was 1884, of
which 1907 were British: and Of the
4,2s7 foreign" (non-British) the Ger
mans listed 1882, the japanese 594, the
Norwegians b52, the French 435, the
Chinese 406. the Portuguese 14S and
the Dutch 125, while there were 119
arrivals and departures credited to the
United States. While the immense in
dividual tonnage of the few American
ships that come TO this port made a to-
tai Of 618,115, yet the German ships
aggregated over four times as much,
the Japanese over twice as much and
the French somewhat more than the
American.
The enjoyment Of American foreign
trade by non-American ships may be
illustratd thus The 119 ships Of the
United States arriving in 1905 brought
to Hongkong total Of 41,430 tons
from the United States, yet the -four
receipts alone for the year, nearly all
from America, were 79,635 tons, and Of
kerosene oil, mainly an American
product, total of 1880 tons, to make
no mention Of cotton piece goods and
general merchandise. So of exports,
American ships took from Hongkong
but SO, 149 tons, not all Of which went
to the United States. All Of the rest
Of the huge exports went in foreign
ships. OF the 3.744.287 tons Of i'm
ports into Hongkong for 1905, Ameri-
can ships brought Al, 1,430 tons; Of the
1,940,274 tons Of exports, only 56,149
tons went in American bottoms. OF
the 2,678, 800 tons in transit only 25,-
329 tons are credited to American
ships. These figures have to do with
ocean traffic"
As for "river traffic" from Hong
kong as q center to Canton and the
Delta, while six other nations figure
In the statistics, not one item Is credit
ed to the United States. The necessity
of assisting the American merchant
marine will again be emphasized in the
Presidents next annual message to
Congress and in stronger terms than
he used last year. BY the advocates
Of the bill the Presidents message last
year was not considered sufficiently
specific as to the kind Of assistance
needed TO accomplish much in behalf
Of cause in which he is really deeply
interested. Care will be taken this
year not to becloud the issue by mere
generalities. During the summer the
President will acquaint himself with
the details Of the most practicable leg
islaton that can be enacted and he
will probably recommend In detail the
shipping law which he desires passed.