The San Francisco call., 1910-11-17
PACIFIC COAST CONGRESS
AT PALACE HOTEL.
PROGRAM FOR ToDAV

is nrSt session today and viii continue
fts sessions Friday end saturday
the Palace hotel. Wen prominent in the
Affairs Cf tic west VIII he present and
Delegates Viii attend from California.
NashinEson. Oregon. Id2ho. Nevada,
tan. Ar-zona. New Mexico, Alaska and
Hawaii
Tho objects of s.,ost importance TO
the p i6c coast viii he discussed, in
cludiar go rehabilitation OF the Amer
fcan Er~-~'s-Et marine. Z Pacific battle
snip ~-cf. rermancnt organization of
the cc1-TcSs ard the Panama-Pacihc
eTpos.t-oa.
Thi. y-enIng the California club re-
cePtiou ~ be held.
ETridn- g. ching z banquet will be
Gfren a-t she Palace hotel.
%z-Urdas afternoon the deEelateS VIII
To r-iseB for r ride on the bay on the
tACstrrn Pacific ferry boat Telephone.
coast interests VIII receive
6ae-.el tnpetus, beginning today, when
the first session OF the Pacific coast
cong .ess is held I'm the ballroom a the
Palace hotel The congress has been
called under the auspices-Of the Aer-
chant Marine league and the CONNER
ciaI orEaniza cions of San Francisco.
While Tie subject which may be said
to have inspired the congress is the re
labilitati0n Of the American marine
through national legislation. other
topics or prime Importance to the Pa
cifc coast VIII he discussed. The four
big themes Of the congress Will be:
Rehabilitation Of the American mer-
chant marine.
A Pacific battleship feet
Pacific eXpositions-The Panama Pa
cifc exposition at san Francisco in
1915.
Permanent Organization of the Pa
cidc coast congress.
h..
resented by delegates, many of whom
have already arrived. are: Washing
ton. Oregon. Idaho. Nevada, Utah. Ari-
z0na. New Mexico, California. Alaska,
Hawaii.
METHOD N DISPUTE
The question Of ship subsidy and the
rehabilitation Of the American mer-
chant marine viii be the big issue of
the congress. While the delegates may
be held TO be committed TO the need
of rehabilitation Of the American mer-
chant marine. the method by which the
federal government may accomplish
that upbuiding viii be debated before
The congress.
Two opposing views will be pre-
scented. The Humphreys ship subsidy
BILL which provides that vessels Of 16
knots speed shall receive the subsidy
now accorded vessels Of % knots for
mail carrying. viii be presented for
approval and its passage by the ma
tionai congress urged by George ".
Dickie 0f san Francisco, Representa-
tive George \. Bartlett Of Nevada and
j. r. Mclaughlin Of Seattle IN oppo-
sition 70 this solution OF the marine
problem William w. Bates, former
comm issi0ucr of navigation in the
United states and author Of two i'm
portant books on the subject of mari
time laws and commerce. viii present
his views.
NOTED MARINE AUTHOR
Bates viii be the most picturesque
figure in the congress. He is a vener-
able man who has devoted the last 40
years. half Of his life, TO the problems
of American navigation and the mer-
chant marine. He is the author OF
American Marine" and American
Navigation" and Of numerous maga-
zlne articles and pamphlets on the sub
fect- Bates viii appear before the con-
gress Friday morning and present his
views. He arrived at the Palace hotel
yesterday. accompanied By his daugh-
ter DIR. Mary +. Bates, a physician of
Denver. where Bates also lives
b tes is the proponent of the theory
Tor rehabilitating the merchant marine
by discriminating duties and revival
of the tonnage tax. which was the
original form Of protection, or "en-
couragement" Of American shipping de-
vised by Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison.
The authority for this form of sup
port and encouragement of American
shipping" said Bates yesterday after
noon, is given in clause 3, section S,
article ] of the constitution of the
United States, which empowers con-
Rress To regulate commerce with for
eign nations. and among the several
states and with the Indian tribes
Congress originally provided the
methods Of the tonnage tax and duties
but they were suspended by ongress
under the administration of John
Quincy Adams, through conventions and
other nations have since by trick and
device assisted their shipping, while
ours has been neglected.
TONNAGE TAX EXPLAINED
"A tonnage tax is an arrangement by
which vessels entering American ports
are taxed in proportion to their carry
ing capacity. Under the original law
in force In this country American
built and owned ships were taxed 6
cents d ton. foreign built ships under
the American flag or owned by Ameri-
cans were taxed 80 cents a ton, and
vessels built and owned by foreigners
were taxed 50 cents a ton, which last
tax was later raised TO 81 ton. Under
that system American ships could
charge less freight than foreign ships,
and in that way make up for the
higher cost of construction.
THE other method of aiding the up
building Of the American marine is by
discriminating tariffs. This system
would be arranged that goods brought
into America from foreign countries
would secure a tariff rebate or pay less
duties: goods brought into America
from a foreign country and carried on
vessels f.-ing the flag of the shipping
country would pay a higher rate, and
goods brought into the United States
from a foreign country in a ship of a
third country. foreign to both the
shipping and the importing countries,
,..o1rld r,a " q still hi1ller d1Ifv,,