New-York tribune., 1908-02-25
THE SHIPPING BILL UP
Senators Gallinger and Depesc Ad-
uocate Ocean Mail Subsidy.
TFrom The Tribune Bureau

Washington Feb A-Senator Gallinger. in ac-
cordance with notice previously given called up
the shipping bill in the Senate to-day The DILL as
amended by the Committee on Commerce reads as
follows:
That the Postmaster General is hereby authorized
to pay for ocean mail service under the act OF
routes TO South America. to the Philipp%lnes: R % TO
Japan 10 nina and 10 aust al aa % rs,a mile
not exceeding the rate appiea bic to vessels OF 'he
first class as provided IN saio act
The bill raises no new issue. introduces no new
principle said Mr.. Gallinger 1T leaves existing
and prosperous steamship services exactly as they
and without changing oEe iota the tried and
approved methods of the present law increases the
compensation routes which sixteen years OF
experience have conclusivey proved TO be made
quate-the long. costly and important routes to
South America and the Orient, the routes where
lack of steamship service is severest. and our
need of such service most imperative" He added:
Last March there were fifteen American steam
ships plying the Pacific Ocean. Now only
eight left. Since the shipping bill of the last
feeble American Pacific naval reserve has disap-
peared. and wnen Admiral Evans steers up through
shall have the grotesque dsproportion in the Pacific
of TWO battleshps TO every commercial vessel en-
gagged in foreign trade-a sight which has never
yet been seen beneath the sun.
And unless the new shipping Dill is speedy
ToSeIH1 f Ii Sc a h}tGassatnS auI not
one commercial steamer in the Pacific away from
the ports of the United States. For the remnant
now facing the absoIute extinction which long since
overlook our commercial fleet the routes to
l confident, however. that there will be
@ to ssaG e91 he neH m Goih ~e Is pT
posed and which the business interests OF the
This bill, brief and yet potent. will and
strengthen our Pacific lines of communication, and
pedbft that inf If it & % aT osst S p
Atlantic Gulf Coast, to South America. and
similar communication in the Pacific Ocean
With commercial mails going out via Europe,
h must rs9 a9 go Of N g wag m hs eon
dential dispatches of our State Department to its
and the confidential Instructions of the Navy De-
partment to our admirals and captains on the
the Postmaster General pointed out year ago in
his es Is than i9 1hf h 0 s se
battleship feet Of the United States now & on its its
the stars and Stripes almost st s and un
the Southern Hemisphere.
Reviewing the maritime history OF the nation. he
deplored the decadences into which this country
has fallen on the sea. He declared that American
shipping interests had been driven from the sea
by competition with nations that not only subsdt1e
their shipping interests but have access to cheaper
labor as well. He approved the building Of four
new battleships, and said that while a war fleet
would promote peace 1t would also protect COM
merce.
When Mr. Depew finished his speech the spec
tators in the galleries vigorously expressed their
approval and Senators. in defiance of the pro-
hibitive rule, applauded heartily
Mr. GalIinger gave notice that ne would cah up
the shipping bill next Thursday, and MT Aldrich
then asked that his financial Dill be laid before the
Senate Senator Simmons, of North Carolina,
spoke against the Aldrich bill, asserting that IN
many Southern states per cent was the legal
rate Of interest, and arguing that the Aldrich
emergency currency would not be available for the
law-abiding banker, but would put premium on
usury.
Senator whyte, OF Maryland. spoke against the
Aldrioh bill, saying he would vote for no financial
measure whatever. He asserted that the country
needed financial legislation, that legislation
could prevent panics, which bound to recur
like epdenics, and that when in often
the country gets drunk with prosperity it just goes
on one big jambCree and then 1t has to suffer the
consequences-to get il, just like other peo-
pie"
Senator Hepburn spoke the Penal Code bill.
and the Senate soon adjourned