The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-28

ted States, and providing further that 1t should be left discretionary with the President of the United States to exempt rom tolls our ships engaged in foreign trade, was an effort on the part of Com sress to discriminate in favor of Ameri- can shipping and to re-establsh our ner- chant marine. This has been a policy of the democratic party since the begin ning or the government The democratic party has never stood for direct subsidies but has always favored subventions and determinations in favor of our shipping It was through discriminating tariff dutes that our merchant marine was develops. in the first three decades of our covern- ment's existence. The democratic tariff law that is now on the statute books carries in it discrimination amounting to a reduction of per cent of the duties on goods imported in American ships If We have built the canal for the benefit of an American merchant marine and not for the practical exclusive use of foreign shipping we must adopt a policy of dis crimination in favor of American ships or we must in the end pay indirect sub- sides to enable our ships to compete with ships of foreign nations. The sub sidies and discrimnatons that European governments have given to their shipping interests have practically driven Ameri- can ships from the seas. American ships carried only S0.206, 464. or S7 per cent of
 
 try, which amounted for the year 1911 to S3.210, ,642,97 Our ships for that year earned about $11,5O0,0 ,0o0 and we paid the foreigners for carrying our freight about $135, ,000.000. In 1870 American ships carried about 35 per cent of the total import and export trade of the country Today they , carry less than per cent
 Cost of Operating High
 'The cost of operating American ships ic xyHA tAts flnr1 as shown by the report of a congress sional committee made some years ago. According to that report. salary and wage cost for a month was as follows The St Louis (American) $11,306 or 97 cents per gross ton. Oceanic (British) $9S91 or 51 I cents per gross ton. Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse $1Il6 or 54 cents per gross ton "A comparison of the obunties and subsidies paid by the United States and foreign countries shows the inn possibility of our developing a mer- chant marine unoer present conditions. For the year 1911. the United States government paid to American ships S1074945 and to foreign ships S2,129,- 645 for carrying our mail That year Great Britain paid in bounties and sub sides SS,I00,c00 ard France S13,425,OO Japan pai6 in 1909 $6.1S3,000 and the total amount paid by all foreign gov ernments for the year 1911 amounted to over S46.000.000
 Let us examine the policy pursued by foreign governments as to their ships going through the Suez canal Great Britain pays the Peninsular and Oriental Steamboat company direct sub sides which amounted for the year 1910 to $1,4S5,G00. nearly enough to pay the toll charges the ships of that company haAe to pay going through the Suez canal. Germany paid the North Ger man Lloyd company in 1910 $1,3S5,000, which was sufficient to pay the Suez tolls. France paid the three French lines going through the Suez canal S2,145,00 which paid their tolls three times over. Japan paid her ship lines going through tho Suez canal for 1909 $1, ,S36 GOO, which was 21h times the tolls, and Russia paid the canal tolls on her ships going through the Suez canal.
 Will Follow Policy
 Already Spain and Russia have passed laws and made appropriations to pay .neir ships going through the Panama canal the amount of the tolls. There can be no question that Germany, France and England will pursue the same policy in reference to the Panama canal that they have always pursued in reference to the Suez canal and grant to their ships going through the canal bounties and subsidies to the amount st least equal to the tolls that are being paid. and yet today we are asked to acknowledge to the world that we cannot discriminate in favor of our own ships without a breach of faith with foreign nations and must in the end, if this bill becomes a law, aban- don the democratic doctrine of discrim- ination in favor of American ships and at the same time abandon American ships and be content to let the future commerce of our country be carried in foreign bottoms or adopt a system or indirect subsidies which are not only more costly and less effective than discriminating caral tolls but are in | direct conflict with the principles for which the party now in power has always contended.
 After you have written this bill in | the statute book. do you propose to maintain the canal solely for the ben eft of foreign ships or do you pro- | pose to turn the country over to government that will subsidize Ameri- | can ships so that they may have an opportunity to conpete in the carrying | trade through the canal?
 Not Violating Treaty
 For the reasons given above l be- | lieve that the democratic party was both wise and patriotic when 1t an | nounced a policy in favor of discrim- | mating in favor of our coastwise ships | going through the Panama canal and l
  why we should abandon a solemn prom | ise made to the American people in one | of the most prominent blanks in our | party platform, but we are told that | we are violating a solemn treaty made | with another nation and in good faith | that we should abandon the canal to | foreign rivals without contest or dis | pute in order that we may keep our | standing in the family of nations. Not | for one moment do l believe that we have violated a treaty right and not for one moment do I believe that the | English government seriously contends that we have violated a treaty right. | Our whole difficulty in the matter | arises from the un-American spirit of surrender that some of our own people have exhibited toward this important question from the very beginning. If the Congress had unanimously passed the canal tolls bill two years ago. l do not believe that the question would have ever been raised that we do not have the right to exempt American ships from the payment of tolls when