Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1907-12-06

call your especial attention to the
a un y tisfa Glory condition Of our foreign
mail service, which because Of the
/ II. lack Of American steamship lines ID
now largely done through foreign lines
and md which, particularly 80 far as South
/ and Central America are concerned. Is
done In manner which constitutes q
serious barrier to the extension Of our
commerce "a E. ! @ f. s 2. + :*Ss3 r.
! 4 The time has come, in my Judgment,
20 get to work seriously to make our
ocean mail service correspond more
closely with our recent commercial and
political development. A beginning
was made BY the ocean mail act of
! March 3. 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 his.
tory. We have acquired Hawaii, the
Z Philippines and lesser islands in the
Pacific: We are steadily prosecuting
the great work Of uniting at the 18th.
mus the waters Of the Atlantic. and
J the Pacific. To a greater extent than
seemed probable even dozen years,
ago we may look to an American fu-
ture on the sea worthy Of the tradi-
lions Of our past. AS the first step III
that direction and the step most feast
BILE at the present time I recommend
1.-The extension of the ocean mail act of
| 1S91:!- That act has stood for some years
free from successful criticism of it's
principle and purpose. 1t was based
on theories of the obligations of
great, maritime nation. undisputed in
our own land and followed by other
nations since the beginning Of steam
navigation. Briefly those theories are
that 1t is the duty of "a first class pow
Ell, so, far as practicable to carry its
ocean mails under its own flag: that
the fast ocean steamships. 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
battleships must be built. ~ 20
The expenditure Of public money for
the performance of such necessary
functions of government is certainly
warranted, nor is it necessary to dwell
| upon the Incidental benefits to our for
eign commerce. to the shipping indus
try. and shipowning and navigation
which will accompany the discharge of
these urgent public duties. though they
| too, should have weight .,-.., y.
The only serious question Is whether
at this time we can afford to Improve
our ocean mail service as it should be
improved. All doubt on this subject.
is removed by the reports Of the post
office department. For the fiscal year
ended June so, 1907. that department
estimates that the postage. collected on
the articles exchanged with foreign
countries other than Canada and Mex
leo amounted to $6,579 O43.4S. or So, 637,-
t226,81 more than the net. cost of&sthes
service exclusive Of the, cost of trans
porting the articles between the United
States exchange postofices and. the
United States postofdces at which they
were mailed sor delivered. In other
words, the government Of the United
States, having assumed monopoly of
|$carrying the mails for the peoples, is
taking a profit of over So, 6Oo, 600 by
rendering d cheap and inefficient serv-8
lee That profit 4 believe should be de-
voted to streng thening our maritime
power In those direct tons where twill
best promote our prestige. Ii The coun;>
try is familiar with the facts Of our?
maritime impotence in the harbors Of
the great and friendly republics OF
South America. IT. GLOWING the failure
Of the shipbuilding bill we lost our
EonlyAmerican 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 commune ion I: with the Pa
,cific coast. Puget sound Id the year
has lost over half -four out of severn
|of it's American, steamers trading with
the orient NJ " f! S S3.y
|s We now pay, under the act OF 1891,
$4 Id statute mile outward ito 90 knot
American mail Ssteamshi lips built accord
ing to naval plans, availa Bile as &cruis-
ers ana manned BY Americans. Steam
ships Of that speed are conflned ex-
clusiYely to transatlantic trade with
New York. 70 steamships OF l6 knots
ior over only 81 d mile can be paid, and
lie ID steamship off this speed and type
which are needed to meet the require
ments Of: mail service to South Amer
lea, Asia (includ ding the PhilippinesJ
and Australia. strongly recomne Il
therefore, 4 simple amendment 20 the
ocean mail act Of 3: 1891 which shall;
authorize the postma ster general III his
discretion to enter into contracts for
the transp ton off malls To the resS
pnblics 81 South America sto Asia, the
lippines and Aus ralia AZ q rate not
ito exceed 81 d mile for steamships Of
$16 knots speed or pWard ubject to
the restrie tions ana obi ga lions 81 the:
act Of 1891 The prof Il Of SIS, 600, 900
which has been men toned III fully
cover the ma ximum annual gxpendis
8ttufe involved Id this recon dation