Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-24
ROOSEVELT ASKS
FOR SHIP SUBSIDY
SENDS SPECIAL MESSAGE TO
CONGRESS
Urges subsidization of Steamship
Lines on Atlantic and Pacific Boats.
Says Orient Is Great CONNER
ciaI Possibility
by Associated Press.

dent today sent a message to congress
urging the desirability of legislation
to help American shipping and trade
by encouraging the building and run
ming of lines of large and swift steam.
ers to South America and the orient
The message is as follows
II call your attention to the great
desirability of enactlng legislation to
help American shipping and trade by
encouraging the building and running
of lines of large and swift steamers to
South America and the orient
The urgent need of our country's s
making an effort to do something like
its share of it's own carrying trade on
the ocean has been called to our atten-
ton in a striking fashion by the eX-
periences of Secretary Root on his
recent South American tour.
The result of these experiences he
has set forth in his address before the
trans Mississippi Commercial congress
at Kansas City on November 20 last,
an address so important that it de-
serves the careful study of all public
men.
The facts set forth by Mr.. Root are
striking and cannot but arrest the at
tention of our people. The great con-
tinent to the south of us which should
be knit to us by the closest commercial
ties Is hardly in direct commercial
communication with us at all, its COM
mercial relations being almost eXclu.
sively with Europe.
Between all the principal South
American ports and Europe lines of
swift and commodious steamers sub
sidzed by their home governments,
ply regularly. There is no such line
of steamers between these ports and
the United States. In consequence our
shipping in South American ports is
almost a negligible quantity For in
stance, in the year ending June 80,
1905, there entered the port of Rio de
Janerio over 5000 steamers and sail
ing vessels from Europe, but from the
United States no steamers and only
seven sailing vessels, two OF which
We're in distress. The prime reason for
this state Of things is that those who
now do business upon the sea do busi-
ness in a world, not of natural COM
petition. but of subsidized competi-
tion.
State Aid Is Commercial System
state aid to steamship lines is as
much a part of the commercial system
of today as state employment of con-
suls to promote business. Our CONNER
cial competitors in Europe pay in the
aggregate $25,000,000 a year to their
steamship lines. Japan pays between
SO OOOO 900 and $4OOO,000. BY the pro-
posed legislation the United States will
pay relatively less than any one of our
competitors.
Three years ago the trans -Missis-
sippi congress formally set forth an
automatic statement that every ship is
a missionary of trade, that steamship
lines work for their own countries just
as railroad lines work for their ter
minal points, and that 1t is as absurd
for the United States to depend upon
foreign ships to distribute its prod
ucts as it would be for a department
store to depend upon wagons of COM
peting house to deliver its goods. This
statement is the literal truth
Moreover, it must be remembered
that American ships do not have to
contend merely against the subsidiza-
tion of their foreign competitors. The
higher wages and the greater cost of
maintenance and crews make it almost
impossible for our people who do busi-
ness on the ocean to compete on equal
terms with foreign ships unless they
are protected some way as their fell
low countrymen who do business on
land are protected We cannot as a
country afford to have the wages and
the manner of life of our seamen cut
down, and the only alternative, if we
are to have seamen at all. is to offset
the expense by giving advantage to the
ship itself.
1.-The proposed law which has been
introduced in congress is in no sense
experimental. 1t is based on the best
and most successful preCedents, as, for
instance, upon the recent Cunard con-
tract with the British government AS
far as South America is concerned its
aim is to provide from the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts better American lines to
the ports of South America than the
present European lines.
THE South American republics now
see only our warships Under this bill
our trade friendship will be made
evident to them. The bill proposes to
build large sized steamers of sixteen
knots an hour. There are nearly 200
such steamships already in the world s
foreign trade and over three-fourths
Of them now draw subsidies-postal or
admiralty, or both.
Will Encourage American Shipyards
"Th@ bill will encourage our ship
yards, which are almost as necessary
to the national defense as battleships
and the efficiency of which depends in
large measure upon their steady en-
ployment in large construction. 1t is
OF importance 10 our navy DcCduSe IL
gives a considerable fleet of auxiliary
steamships, such as is now almost
wholly lacking.
THE bill provides for fourteen steam
ships, subsidized to the extent of over
a million and a half, from the Atlantic
coast, all to run to South American
ports. 1t provides upon the Pacific
coast for twenty-five steamers subsi-
died to the extent of two millions and
a quarter, some of these to run tC
South America, most of them to Ma
nila, Australia and Asia. Be it re-
membered that while the ships will be
owned upon the coast the cargoes will
be largely supplied by the interior and
that the bill will benefit the Mississippi
valley as much as 1t benefits the sea-
board.
Il have laid stress upon the benefits
to be expected from our trade with
South America. The lines to the orient
are also of vital importance. The com
mercial possibilities of the Pacific are
unlimited, and for national reasons il
is imperative that we should have di-
rect communication by American lines
with Hawaii and the Philippines.
1.-The existence of our present steam,
ship lines upon the Pacific is seriously