Milford chronicle., 1921-08-12
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
THE STORY OF AMERICAN SHIPS

II old sea chantey, whiting and tinker
q ing for dear life, and Ruth and Jac
i rounded the corner of the house t
n discover the product of his labors tax
: ing form. 1t was beautiful mode
. of three-masted schooner. With tn
e stepping of the masts, the fasteninj
of the rigging and the bending of tn
5 sails the model was completed, ant
both children calculated: "Oh, Uncl
' Ted, what a pretty little boat! Wha
are you going to do with it,"
"We will take it over to the duel
pond and see if it will SAIL" replied
Uncle Ted, "and after we have trieC
it out 1 will tell you a story about
) the American shipping industry" Al
hour later, Uncle Ted having proved
his ability as a shipwright, the three
mariners gathered under a shady elm
and Uncle Ted began:
Before the Civil War the flag OF
the United States adorned every port
in the world. We had the makings of
splendid maritime race in the Eng
lish of New England, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolin-
as, the Dutch of New York, the
Swedes of Delaware, and their de-
scendants who had migrated to the
Pacific COast-the worlds best sea-
faring stock. Shipbuilding is the most
ancient of American industries, as old
as jamestown and older than Ply
mouth. The first vessel was launched
at the mouth of the Kennebec in 1907,
the first decker was built on the Hud-
son by Adrian Block in 1914. The ia
ther of American maritime policy was
Governor John Winthrop, of Massa-
chusetts. The growth of our ship
building industry was so rapid that it
soon excited the jealousy of the mo-
ther country, England, which began
to pass laws to handicap it. AS for the
part our ships played in the ReVOlu-
tionary War, you may read the record
of John Paul Jones during that per-
iod.
I'm 1888, after we had gained our
independence, British hostility to our
shipping was illustrated by letter
from Benjamin Franklin relative to
the effect of the Barbary pirates prey
ing on our commerce, in which he
quoted London merchants as saying,
"if there were no Algiers it would be
worth England's while to build one!
The first Act of the first Congress of
the United States, passed July 4, 1888, /
was a protective tariff law-tO protect
our new industries from the fierce |
competition of European combinations. |
That law allowed a reduction OF ten !
Der cent of the tariff duties upon i'm
ports brought to this country in ships
built and owned by American citizens.
In 1884 this clause was changed so
that an addition of 10 per cent was
made to the duty rate on goods
brought over in foreign ships. This
law worked wonders in aiding our
marine, and notWithstand-
ing all that England could do to i'm
pair it. by 1907 we were carrying 92
per cent of our entire foreign trade
in our own ships. The seizures of Ma
Doleon after that year, and the War
If 1912 which paralyzed our carrying
,rade, had reduced it in 1915 to IA
,er cent Of our foreign trade.
1--WE made peace with Great Brit
Tin in 1915. Soon after, Great Britain
induced us to sign a commercial trea-
Y which was our first great mistake
10 far as our shipping industry was
for we thereby bound OUR
ielves to impose no discriminating
luty on ships or products in the trade J
this country and the United :
Kingdom. Immediately thereafter, ;
treat Britain excluded American :
hips from her West Indian possess {
ons. which placed in idleness $4,000 +
ons of American shipping; while the il
epeal of the discriminating duty rates
nabled British shippers to regain q
heir ascendency in our ports. Since
hat time we have negotiated 80 or 40
reaties with foreign powers aband-
ming discriminatory duty rights.
Shut out of the West Indies we be-
an to develop a carrying trade else
and during the decade 1820-30
e were again carrying 80 per cent
{ our foreign trade. In 1928 the Re-
procity Act was passed which prov
/ another blow to our shipping.
reat Britain availed herself of that
It but gave nothing of consequence
return, while Spain exacted large
larges on our tonnage in Cuban and
OrtO Rican ports.
In 1881 the steamship became a
ctor, and until the mercantile pan
of 1887 there was steady growth
American shipping. Along about
40 Great Britain began her policy
giving subsidies, that is, the pay
ent of bonus to packets for carry
g mails. The Cunard line received
er a million dollars annually for
out 20 years. This line laid hold of
e choicest passenger and freight
ade. About this time William Wheel
light, a native of Massachusetts,
nceived the idea of a line down the
9st coast of South America, but on
eking capital to promote it in this
untry he was told a subsidy would
necessary. Congress refused to
re him this, so he went to Liverpool
d received a generous one and
lrted the Pacific Steam Navigation
Had we encouraged Wheel
light, the United States, instead of
eat Britain, would be dominant
ing the west coast of South Amer
today.
In 1845 Congress adopted the mail
1sidy policy, and our steamship
'rying trade grew from 5000 to IFS,
tons. This period also saw the de-
opment of the celebrated Yankee
Dper engaged in the long voyage
de to China and India. But in 1858,
North and the South being hope
sly estrangled, all aid to American
piping was withdrawn. Jeff Davis
5 then in the Senate from Mississi-
, and he said he saw mo reason
Y, if we can get our mails carried
rQ1v Ase1. l., EtA