The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1922-02-02
Shipping Legislation-Tariff or Sub
sides?

ton, as made in the Merchant Marine
Act of 1920, in favor of discriminat-
ing import duties and tonnage dues,
and enact ship subsidy law instead,
a law that, if it coforms to what the
assembled shipping interests at Wash
ington some days ago favored, will
take from the national treasury at
least $5O,OOO,OOO a year.
The Los Angeles Examiner, in a
recent issue, says, in its heading,
LET Us All Help Our New Merchant
Marine" and then it proceeds to dis
discuss some points in connection
with the formation of a single corpor-
alton to include all of the active lines
now operating under the American
flag out of Pacific coast ports. Then
the Examiner declares: eve would
prefer preferential duties and ton
mage taxes to subsidies" But it has
"but!' ''The present administra-
tion is opposed to the methods the
Examiner favors. Therefore those
methods are not available. And since
they are not, we would far rather see
the administration methods used
than to see none at all used" 1t is
unusual for the Examiner, or any of
the Hearst newspapers, to give up
thus readily to something different
than they believe in and express their
willingness to accept something that
they do not believe in. More than
that, what assurance has the Exam
iner that the plan the administration
does favor will be acceptable to and
I adopted by Confress?
Congress has uniformly shown an
indisposition to adopt a ship subsidy
policy. Presidents Mckinley and
Roosevelt did their best to induce
Congress to adopt such a policy, but
to all of their appeals Congress turn
ed deaf ear. On the otehr hand, the
administration of President Mckinley
opposed discriminating duties, not
withstanding which during his admin
istration there was inserted in the
Dngley Tariff partial provision for
the restoration of a discriminating
duty policy, a policy that the Depart
ment of Justice took two diametrical-
ly opposite positions upon, and
which the administration refused
| even to test out in the courts. And
President Wilson approved of the
Underwood Tariff Act, but opposed
to the uttermost every attempt to Sc
cure the enforcement of provision
in it to allow a discount of 5 per cent
of the duty on imports in American
vessels. Just as he approved the
Jones Merchant Marine Act of 1920
and then refused to give the notices
! to nations parties to trade treaties
with US of our intention to modify
them, although he had not baked at
giving similar notices in order to have
a special provision eliminated from
those same treaties so as to give full
effect to the Seamen'sAct.
So that, three times during the
past quarter of century Congress
has gone on record definitely as favor
ing discriminating duties, even if ex-
/ ecutive power has been used to pre-
vent the enforcement of the law as
enacted What is more to the point,
the administrations of Mckinley,
Roosevelt and Taft were eager to Sc
cure ship subsidy legislation and all
of the vast power of those admins
| trations was invoked to put through
ship subsidy bills, but unavailingly.
Time after time ship subsidy bills
were voted down.
Another thing has not been made
clear in the recent discussion of ship
subsidy legislation. The Hanna
Payne, the Frye-Grosvenor and the
Gallinger ship subsidy bills all car
ried provisions for fixed compensa-
ton for mail lines, according to their
speed and size, and they also contain
ed provision for direct subsidy aid for
freighters; but, almost invariably all
provision for the subsidizing of
freighters was stricken from these
/ bills in committees, committees of
! Congress appointed for the purpose
| of puptting through ship subsidy
legislation! And when, finally, either
branch of Congress was permitted to
vote on these ship subsidy bills they
contained provision merely for sub
sides, or compensation, for regular
/ lines. That was not always true IN
! the Senate, but it was invariably true
1 in the House. The House always
baked more strenuously against ship
subsidy bills than did the Senate, and
it was generally the House which