The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1908-07-16

Slldlaeter OF this cOastwlse ~, -.
you'd he remaTkable II tns S. 80 -,
ne Particularly along Sne Ala no, sniov
a fair ness,,. ~ If success. II Is hard on
our insllsr 1nSSessions. but II neips
American sh,bs plying the local waters
81 the mainland. / can see some Is--5 49,.
LOT the law under which tnis oss ssS
~ nloHopoly has been creasou a.i1 .hs ,ss,l,s.v
Il is not altogether good. for me poncx
Is sOme.imsS carried TO a foolish ex-
IRENE as II the case of the Hawaiian
Islands, bp, !, AZ least has the merit or
partial success 10 commend II But tne
coastwiss trade and foreign Isos are W.
wholly different things. ana VIVA. na
o'sn measuraolv so ~. oshar II has
been long demonstrated that the same
or similar rniss are inapplicable 10 potn.
We Can grant monopoly OF our own
waters and n,rts. but we cannot mon
opolize the high seas or the p1rs oi S,e
world. eOastwise Meet rs varuap en-
gagged in the commerce of the world, u
is, from a broad national standpoint, OF
minor impor,anca. when We turn from
the coast and lakes to view the Wiue
oceans rolling from continent " S ,..
nent, 1t is a rare thing to see an Anerisan
vessel riding their eresteu mS aag nj
the masthead of an American merchants
man In 4 foraisn port. The magnificent
commercial na,f We once had swarming
the high seas has disappeared. Our ior-
eign mails are carried IN toreish sn,Ps,
and less than ten per cent OF our Io,ssS
commerce enormous as II Is, rs carried
In American bottoms. Some impressive
facts have recently occurred which IL
lustrate how low we have faiien as
maritime power. 4 year ago the gov
eminent had occasion to sena trvoRS nS "a
Cuba. No American ship oouia pe touno
70 convey them, ana tne wS,,. 49,
spectacle # seeing American soldiers, In
the uniform OF the American army, penny
transported for Immediate military duty
under the British nag, Again. recently
a great fleet OF war ships was marsnaiieu
at Hampton Roads, and from 1nehee
Ocean. Never III history was there a
more imposing array of battieships con-
gregated under one command. 1t was
splendid. inspiring spectacle to see THIS
Incompatible armada sailing out 10 sea,
and the people in Central ana SCUM
America viewed with wonder the wnite-
painted leviathans, with .ponderous arma-
ments, as they sailed along their shores
or rested In their harbors. But another
fleet accompanied this aggregation OF
men-of-war, following In Its wake and
constituting a part of its equipment. inns
other fleet was composed or merchant
vessels, carrying coal and supplies loi
ply ships were not American vessels. but
foreign vessels, floating a foreign nag
II was a strange spectacle the world Pc
held that of the most powerful nation
on the globe sending the most powerful
war fleet ever assembled nearly hait'
around the earth accompanied by supply
ships flying a foreign nag ana owing nc
allegiance. except that based upon,
momentary contract, to the nation they
served. Foreign ships were engaged foi
this service because there were no Ameri,
can ships to be had. What has produced
this situation? It is not accidental; there
must be a cause Tor il. We are q ma
ton of nearly a hundred million people
our domain is continental In extent we
have thousands OF miles Of seaboard OF
the Atlantic, the Pacific and the CUR
we have insular possessions In both th'
great oceans; we have enormous trad'
relations with both the Occident and tn
Orient, and therefore every reason ex
lists why this should be the leading mari
time power Of the world. There mus
be some cause for our pitiful failure
and there Is. In fact, there are severa
causes, and l would like to speak o
them except that II is impracticable, II
an address like this to, discuss the sub
ject In detail Generally speaking, tn,
vice of 1t all will be found In our navi
cation laws. The policy Of the Repub
-lieaR- Party-has mes been so much u
create a merchant marine and put ship
on the sea, as to establish and secure
prosperous monopoly for few shipyard
on the Atlantic seaboard. The policy o
free ships, and even the narrower polio.
Of a discriminating tariff to encourag
American shipping, and all such things
have been abandoned. Long ago we In
augurated the scheme, which has be
come the controlling principle of .ou
maritime policy. of forbidding American
flag to any ship pt constructed in a
amer,sss ~ az s Amsa,ean Of cS fop
under the prote1 of the 49,
flag. There are numerous instances Q
ships owned by American citizens which
fly foreign flags and sail under foreig1
registry. Last summer l rode across tn
China Sea in an English-built ship own
ed by the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany, an American corporation, which
was under the command Of English OIL
GERS and bore the British flag at hel
masthead, This was done because Oul
navigation laws forbade the use Of thu
American flag. Few American ships are
built for the foreign trade and but few
are engaged in it. This is due to two
principal causes: First, the cost of con
structing any kind of merchant vessel ir
one-third greater than the cost of con-
structing it in European shipyards, and,
secondly, the cost of operating an Ameri.
can ship Is also approximately one-third
more than the cost of operating a foreign
ship of similar class. These Items Of
larger expense have made 1t impossible
for, American ship owners to compete
with foreign ship owners for the trade
of the world. The American cannot ar.
ford to pay million dollars for a vessel
which can be duplicated by his foreign
competitor for approximately sos, 0O,
and, in addition, pay about one-thtrd
more In the way of expense for running
statesmen are as thoroughly conscious OF
this situation as any of u.s., and they
have been long struggling to devise some
remedy for it: but they are hopelessiy
hampered by their environments. Ship
yard corporations, opulent and powerful,
them in every effort at intelligent prog
ress. The Republican policy now Is to
try the experiment of rehabilitating the
merchant marine by the payment OF
subsidies out of the national treasury
During the last session OF Congress q
bill passed the Senate appropriating ~
induce the establishing Of steamer lines
to South America, Australasia and to
Japan and China. A large majority OF
the Republican members Of both houses
Of Congress favor this policy Of subsi-
dies, but there is minority OF that
party, which so far has been SUFFICIENTLY
strong, acting in conjunction with the
Democrats, to prevent Its adoption. This
shows that the Republican party. which
has succeeded in destroying. our mer-
chant marine. is incapable Of developins
a policy for its restoration. The Kansas
City Journal. in the caustic criticism to
which / have alluded, charged, that
while complained of the deterioration OF
our maritime interests, constantly
voted against every proposition intended
for their betterment. The criticism was
unjust. I aid oppose the subsidy PROPOSE
ton, as many Republicans did, because
under the circumstances, Deneveo II
would be a wasteful expenditure result
ing in no substantial benefit. The term
Subsidy" in itself does not alright me:
England. France, Germany. Japan and
all the maritime powers give subsidies
out of their public treasures to their
merchants marine. JEFFERSON was not 9p-
posed 10 subsidies. nor would be unoer
proper conditions and circumstances. but
/ do NOT wish to give subsidies - pre-
ents. as mere gratuities to !hipbuilde1
or shin owners. II the. public revenues
are to he employed In this way, must
be reasonably sure Of substantial re,
turn. and that the public Interest VIII
be promoted. AS long a. me PrS,ens