The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-10-27
AN IRREPRESSiBLE THEME.
American Shipping in the Columns of the
New York Newsnapers.


The shipping question willn not clown"
In spite of all the political disturbance of
| the time, the theme comes up again and
again in the newspapers. Thus the New
York Times remarks:
1--WE buitd vessels for pleasure so ex-
tremely well and navigate them so in
comparably that it is amazing how we
fail In doing the same things for profit
Last year six nations each entered at
| British ports tonnage exceeding 2,000,-
| 0C0 tons. In order they were England,
| Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden,
and Holland. The British tonnage was
| just short of 10000, 600 tons. almost six
| fold its nearest competitor The United
States is not even entitled to a separate
entry in the table.
The only remedy for this state of af-
fairs which the Times can suggest is the
old, delusiVe notion of free ships" and
the repeal" of our navigation laws, for
| it says:
IF we allowed ourselves to buy
abroad we might send after orr pur-
chases, an the vessels might then take
| what we sell abroad Provided. of
course, that we allowed our ships to be
that their operation must be more costly
than that of other nations"
Apparently the Times does not know
that our laws Go not enact that the op-
GRAFTON of American ships must be more
costly than that of other nations. Be
You'd a few officers there is no require
regular mail ships shall carry American
crews. Only their leading officers need
be American citizens. There is a stipu-
lation that officers and men shall be we'll
fed and well housed, but in these particu-
lars humanitarianism is compelling for
| eign governments to level up to Ameri-
can standards.
1t is not the laws that make American
| ships more expensive to operate than
| foreign ships-unless, indeed, it is the
| economic laws that are memorable. The
wages on American vessels are establish
ed, not by statute, but by the superior
industrial conditions of American life.
Here in the port of New York foreign
seamen will leave foreign ship on one
side of dock and walk across and de-
mand American wages from an American
vessel on the other side. These conditions
cannot be altered by Congress, unless the
whole wage system of the country and
the general standards of living of the
people are overthrow.
Does the Times desire this? We CUES
not. Free trade would not give US
great mercantile marine, for there would
still be the foreign subsidies to contend
with, The only way in which a great
American merchant shipping can be
created in our time is by the liberal and
persistent application of protection in
the form either Of subsidies or Of dis
eliminating tonnage dues and customs
duties. One of these two policies
is certain of adoption before many
years have gone. A mere free ship
plan such as the Times recommends
would be wholly useless if it We're tried.
1t is sustained by no considerable body of
American expert opinion and its loudest
advocates in the United States are the
agents and attorneys of European steam
ship Combines" who urge it because
they know that it would be perfectly i'm
potent to create an American merchant
marine. The Marine Journal.