Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-04
OCEAN MAIL SERVICE

ct call your especial attention to the
unsatisfactory condition of our foreign
mail service. which. because of the lack
of American steamship lines, is now
largely done through foreign lines. and
which, particularly SO far as South and
Central America are concerned, is done
in q manner which constitutes serious
barrier to the extension of our commerce
1.-THE time has come, In my judgment.
to set to work seriously to make our
ocean mail service correspond more
closely with otr recent commercial ana
political development. A beginning was
made by the ocean mail act of March
8, 1891, but even at that time the act
was known to be inadequate In various
particulars. Since that time events have
moved rapidly in our history. We have
acquired Hawaii, the Philippines and
lesser islands in the Pacific We are
stea Oily prosecuting the great work Of
uniting at the isthmus the waters of
the Atlantic and the Pacific. To great
er extent than seemed probable even
dozen years ago we may look to an
American future on the sea worthy of
the traditions of our past.
LAS the first step in that direction,
and the step most feasible at the present
time, recommend the extension of the
ocean mail act of 1891 That act mas
stood for some years free from success
POSC.
It was based on theories of the obliga-
tions of a great maritime nation, undis-
puted in our own land and followed by
other nations since the beginning of
steam navigati IN. Briefly those theories
are, that it is the duty of first class
power so far as practicable to carry its
ocean malls under its own nag; that
the fast ocean steamships and their
crews. required for such mail service,
,ia tn he
of a nation. Furthermore, the construc-
tion of such steamships insures the main
tennnce in an efficient condition of the
ship Yards in which our battleships must
be built.
Expenditure Warranted
"rhe expenditure of public money for
the performance of such necessary func-
tions of government is certainly war
ranted nor is it necessary to dwell upon
the incidental benefits to our foreign
navigation which will accompany the
discharge of these urgent public duties.
though they, too should have weight
.'The only serious question is whether
at this time we can afford to improve our
ocean mail service as 1t should he inn
proved. All doubt on this subject is re-
moved by the reports of the postoftice
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 Mexico amounted to S..
$40. .O4S. .4S, or $S,673. .226.Sl more than the
net cost of the service, exclusive of the
cost of transporting the articles between
the United States exchange postoffices
and the United States postoffices at
which they were mailed or delivered. In
other words, the government of the
United States, having assumed monop-
DIV of carrying the mails for the people,
is making a profit of over $36O0,C00 by
rendering a cheap and inefficient SER
vice.
That profit I believe should be de-
voted to strengthening our maritime
power in those directions where it Will
best promote our prestige. The country
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 shipbuilding
bin we lost our only American line of
steamers to Australasia, and that loss on
the Pacific has become serious embar-
rassment to the people of Hawaii and
has wholly cut off the Samoan islands
from regular communication with the Pa
cific coast Puget Sound, in the year.
has lost over half (four out of seven) of
its American steamers trading with the
Orient.
1--WE now pay under the act of 1881
81 a statute mile outward TO twenty-knot
American mail steamships, built accord