The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-02
Congressman Donovan, in Let ter to Assessor Thomas O'Brien, Asks Why American People Should Subsidize Monopoly Which is Placed Beyond Competition.


 Beyond Competition.
 In letter addressed to Former AL derman Thomas .O'Brien, member of the board of Assessors, Congressman Jeremiah Donovan, outlines fully his attitude on the canal tolls question. The letter is an interesting discussion of the problem, and is as follows: .I beg leave to acknowledge your favor of the 2sth inst will assure you that am with you. first last and all of the time. against relinquishing any of the rights of this country in the matter of the canal to John Bull, or to any other nation on Ged's foot stool
 Permit me to state that I am going to vote just as you would vote upon the question, for am going to try to be good juryInan and hear all of the evidence before I cast my vote. .It is settled. however, no matter which way we vote upon the Sims bill. that the United States of America is going to fortify the canal. operate the canal and collect the tolls of the ca nal from those who have to pay. It l is going to be4our canal first last and 1 all of the time, and the Union Jack Twill have to dip to the Stars and Stripes every time one of the ships of l Great Britain go through, the piffle of the lingo press and Republican party organs notwithstanding
 s.Now from what have read of the subject and heard from my colleagues,
 
 only class of American shipping that is going through the canal free. 'sAmerican coastwise shipping is that class of shipping sailing from one American port for another. This free toll bill. passed by the last Com gress. failed to include American 1 ships that engaged in. or might en- gage ins foreign commerce. They said 1 that it fnterfered with our treaty rights to include anything but our coastwise shipping
 England does not compete in our coastwise shipping. would never of this business, and the United States has never allowed foreign ship to participate in the coastwIse trade. f American shipping interests have a | monopoly of this business and. as the debate goes on, I have begun to think l that it is not right to give this sub sidy to coastwise shipping alone. but that we ought to .subs1dize our ships l engaged in foreign commerce as well, if any.
 l This is the kind of ships that will compete with Great Britain.
 why should we put a ship flying l the Stars and Stripes and bound-for l China in the same category with a British ship. and make it pay tolls ? I do not believe that you want me l shipping that does not compete with Great Britain. and ignore the class of I shipping that we look to to build sup 1 our merchant marine in order that in I the course of time it will be Columbia and not Britannia that rules the seas. Yet that is what you ask me to do, and I think that the reason you do ask me is because you are inspired by pa triotIc motives that lead you to be heve that our President is leading us astray.
 |. It is going to cost us SIG, 6,006,000 a year to operate and maintain the ca nal. If we vote to have free canal, I you and I have got to pay our share I of our own commerce and the ship: of other nations But the coastwise shipping exemption means that we | will be taxed for a special class of vessels now enjoying a monopoly, and that our ships engaged in foreign commerce will have to compete with l the world with no help. Our coast wise shipping interests are strong. our foreign shipping interests very weaL and yet there are many good men whe believe we should subsidize the strong, but not the weak.
 ..The strongest opposition to revo- cation of free tolls measure is based ! on the fact that it was@in our party platform. but since the President has found that there is good ground Iir when we find that we are going tc tax the American people to run 2 canal for shipping industry that we
 give a monopoly to, is it not bes
 to stop and listen before deciding tot quickly upon the matter?
 .I do not believe that any of tn, European countries are kickins
 against our coastwise shipping being
 free as much as the South America1 countries, because it is a foregon conclusion that the ultimate consum
 CT will pay the freight, and the Soul Americans do not like the idea of ou
 agreeing, in a treaty, to treat all ma tions alike and then charge a toll fo
 ships. flying the American flag, or an. other flag. which clear from Nev York for South American Pacifi , fports, and then say that vessels whicl sail from New York to our own port 1