Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-12-04

on theories of the obligations Of a
great maritime nation, undispnted in.
our own land and followed by other
nations since the beginning Of steam
navigation. Briefly those theories are.
that It is the duty Of "a first class pow
er SO far as practicable to carry its
ocean mails under It's own flag; that
the fast ocean teamships and their
crews, required for such mail service;
are Invaluable auxiliaries to the sea
power Of nation. Furthermore, the!
construction of such steamships in
|,sures the maintenance in an efficient
condition Of the shipyards in which our.
attleships must be built.
The expenditure of public money for
the performance Of such necessary
functions Of government is certainly
warranted ], nor Is 1t necessary to dwell
upon the Incidental benefits to our for
| eign commerce, to the shipping indus
try and shipowning and navigation
which will accom- the discharge Of
these urgent public duties, though they.
too, should have weight. 81
The only serious question is whether
at this time we can afford to improve
| our ocean mail service as 1t should be
improved. All doubt on this subject
| is removed by the reports Of the post
Office department For the fiscal year
ended June 30. 1907, that department
estimates that the postage collected on
the articles exchanged with foreign
countries other than Canada and Mex
leo amounted to Sc 1918, 043..4S or So, 637,-
t226.81 more than the net cost Of the
service exclusive Of the cost Of trans
porting the articles between the United
/ States exchange postof1ces and the
United States postofices at which they
were mailed or delivered. In ether
words, the government of the United
States, having assumed a monopoly OF
carrying the malls for the people, is
| making a profit of over S., 600, 900 by
rendering q cheap and inefficient serv-
lee That profit believe should be de-
voted to Strengthening our maritime
power in those directions where it will
best promote our prestige. The coun-
try is familiar with the facts Of our
maritime impotence in the harbors OF
the great and friendly republics Of
| South America. Following the failure
Of the shipbuiiding bill we lost our
! only American line of steamers to Aus
| tralasia, and that loss on the Pacific
has become serious embarrassment
! to the people of Hawaii and has Who'll
" cut off the Samoan islands from
regular communities ton with the Pa
ciflc coast Puget sound In the year
has lost over half -four out Of seyen)
OF its American steamers trading with
/ the orient ms ";
|. We now pay, under the act of 1891,
/ So a statute mile outward to 90 knot
American mail steamships built accord
Ing to naval plans, available ais cruis-
iers and manned by Americans Steam
ships of that speed are confined ex-
/ clusiyely to transat lantic trade with
New York. To steamships of 16 knots
or over only 81 d mile can be paid, and
1T is steamships of this speed and type
| which are needed to meet the require
ments of mail service to South Amer
lea, Asia INCLUDING the Philippines}
and Australia. I strongly recommend,
therefore, a simple amendment to the
ocean mail act of 1891 which shall
authorize the postmaster general in his
ldiscretiOn to enter into contracts for
the transportat ton of mails to the re-
publics of South America, to- Asia, the
Philippines and Australia at q rate not
to exceed 81 a mile for steamships Of
1S knots speed or upward, subject to
| the restrictions and obligations OF the
act Of 1891. The profit Of So, 800 900
which has been mentioned Twill fully
cover the ma ximum annual expendi.
ture involved In this recommended n
and, it lis believed, will In time establish
the lines SO urgently needed. The
proposition involves no new principle,
but permits the efficient discharge OF
public functions now inadequately per-
formed or not performed at all
Not only there 10 not now. but there
never has been, any other nation In the
world so wholly free from the evils OF
Imilitarism as Is ours. There never has
been any other large nation, not even
China, which for so long d period has
had relatively to its numbers so small
Q regular army do has ours. Never at
any time In our history has this ma
ton suffered from miiitarism or been
| IN the remotest danger of suffering
from militarism. Never ait any time Of
our history has the regular army been
of 4 sire which caused the slightest
Eappreciable tax upon the taxpaying
citizens of the nation. Almost always
e has been Too small lii size and nm
derpaid. Never In our entire history
has the nation suffered Iii the least par
ticuIar because too much care has been