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Why Nol Support Ameri
can Merchant Marine?
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We have repeatedly said that the pre
Bent legislators were the moHt worth
less, ignorant, and subservient set of
persons that ever assembled under the
name of a legislature, but in nothing
have they shown a more dense ignor
ance and lack of genuine American pa
triotism than in their action in even con
sidering the resolutions introduced by
John 1. lheissen, a man who is ignor
ant of the needs of our countrv. ron
demning Congressman E. M. Pollard
for voting for a mail ship subsidy for
the purpose of establishing a direct
mail and merchant marine service be
tween the United States and the South
American republics. Mr. Pollard is en
titled to the highest commendation for
his intelligent, courageous, and patrio
tic action in supporting this measure.
Helow we give an extract from an
nble article by James Creelman, en
titled "The Shame of Our Abandoned
Ships," which appeared in Pearson's
Magazine for February, which is as
follows:
As the twenty thousand ton battle
ship "North Dakota" slid down the
ways at Quincy Point a few weeks ago,
a smiling girl Hwung a bottle of cham
pagne at the end of gay ribtton and
smasneci it against the bow of the great
est fighting ship in existence.
A roar of ten thousand New England
voices greeted the mightv steel hull
it struck the salt water and, by sheer
force of its weight, swept a mile and a
half into the gray fog against the com
bined power of four tug boats sent to
stop it.
Magnilicent! glorious! And all the
while a splendid fleet of American bat
tleship moving in stately procession
around the world, and a tremendous
army of diggers under the American
flag severing the western hemisphere!
at Panama, so that nor Hon frmit;...
shall be continued from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.
Yet the same week that saw the larg
est and costliest battleship in the world
launched under the American flag from
an American ship-yard, witnessed the
humiliating spectacle of two American
merchant steamships, Finland and
Kroonland, transferred to the Itelgian
flag because they could not be operate;!
without loss under the American flag; !
thus leaving only six American steam-1
ships in the whole transatlantic trade,!
where once America was supreme. ' I
inoc only that, but while the Ameri
can flag was being lowered on the Fin
land and Kroonland, the White Star
Line, swung into action, by the success
of the subsidized Cunard Company's
new vessels, was actually laying the
keels of new British merchant steam
ships of forty-four thousand tons each,
to ply between New York and England!
The same newspaper that described
the luunching of the North Dakota and
the sale of the Finland and Kroonland,
also contained a despatch from Ger
many picturing the launching of the
twenty-seven thousand ton German i
steamship, George Washington, at1
nieiun, in me presence of the Ameri
can ambassador-the largest German
built and German owned mecctmnt ves-
sel-to be used in trade with America
by the North German Lloyd Line.
It may bewilder the ordinary man to
read these facts presented in close con
trast. Yet they are the simple truth.
The American navy has become the
second naval power, while the Ameri
can flag is being rapidly driven from
the foreign trade of the world at a time
when the international commerce has
assumed imperial proportions.
Does it thrill the American imagin
ation and stir the national pride to read
oi the American merchant ships and
seamen that once made the stars and
stripes emblems of courage, enterprise
and success on all the seas and oceans?
Then consider these plain facts:
In the past year not one keel of an
American ship for the foreign trade
was laid.
In the same period not a merchant shin
carrying the American flag passed
through the Suez Canal.
The American tramp stcamshin has
practically disappeared from foreign
trade.
Our ship tonnage in the foreign trade
has shrunk from 2.4.8!M tons in ISM.
to 940,068 tons in 1908, a shrinkage of
I,.).ri,S2(! tons of American foreign
shipping in forty-three years.
No American steamshio line connects
us with South America, beyond Vene
zuela and Panama. Not a single Ameri
can steamship goes to Urazil. A wren.
tina, Chili or Peru.
The most convenient means of travel
ing from any of the great Atlantic
ports of the United States to South
American is by way of Eurone. involv
ing two voyages across the Atlantic
Ocean. That, too, is the most reculnr
and sometimes the quickest route fot
mail between the United Stales and
South America, -our greatest natural
market, which we defend from foreign
spoliating according to Monroe Doctrine
There is absolutely no American mai
service south of the Caribbean Sea
Less than two years ago the Oceanic
Steamship Company of San Francisco
withdrew its steamers carrying the
American mail to Australasia Even
with the mail subsidy of $16. GK) a vov
age paid by the United States, it could
not compete with German subsidies nf
$11, WW a voyage; French subsidies of
S17.M 1 a voyage; Japanese subsidies of
$21,917 a voyage; and Dritish subsidies
or ?2;t,077 a voyage.
In three years the number of Ameri-
can steamships regularly crossing the
i acme has shrunk from fifteen to six.
Alas for our renown as n maritime na-
tion and for the past prestige of our
llag in the commerce of even the most
distant countries. Where now is the
American merchant fleet thatonce mas
tered every sea -the nurserv and back-
ground of our naval poer?
it is almost gone. No more Ameri
can vessels are being built for the
foreign trade and, as shins wear out
and die, a few years under the present
conditions will see the American flag
disappear from international commerce.
Our hearts beat high when we think
of the noble fleet of battleships steam
ing around the world. We c heer as the
mighty North Dakota is launched. We
Sold only in
Moisture Proof
Packages
. &
47
jJrJr V
No
woman
For Hot Fires Get Egcnbcr-
ger'sCoal!
Sure satisfaction every time you light a fire if on
topofthekincmnffisclwny fuel from our yards,
t s heat and lisrht Riving and slate-free when it
leaves the mines, screened and cleaned again here
and served to you full weight and with celerity of
LV any way that suits both
J. V. EGENBERGER
ever onceJioiight
Unceda Biscuit
and tkenjwillingly
uuugnt any otner
kind of soda crackers.
No biscuit can te tke
National Biscuit unless it is
I
1L
i
! S
NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY
A
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vvvv;XX
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J.
STREICHT & STREICHT
.A.
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watch with a erowinir thrill nf m-i,i
the digging of the Panama Canal. VV
are a great nation now. We sit in the
world-council of the ercat nower W
are th protector of American republics.
We saved the Chinese Emnirn f,
destruction. We brought peace to
Japan and Russia. Our foreign trade
has expanded to three and third liillionu
of dollars annually.
Cut in 1825, eightv-three VPnra arm
92 per cent of our commerce was carried
on by American ships; and to-day only
ten per cent of our ininnru imiivM.t,
is borne under the American flag.
More than sixty-three tier c.nt nf iirif . I
ish foreign trade is carried in ttrit:uv
... t ivioii I
ships. I
Think of the change! J
We have spent hundreds ff mi Minna
ot dollars to build a great navy. We i
have added an empire to our national i
territory and hoisted our flag in the i
Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico and!
the Panama Canal zone. Yet nine-tenths 1
of all our foreign commerce U nn,ln'
foreign (lags and it is estimated that
American shippers pay two hundred
million dollars annually in ocean freight
rates and fares to our rivals in Ameri
can trade.
Not a new American ship is being built
for that trade, the remaining few
rapidly wearing out and our flag being
nauieu uown on some of theso.
Does that stir your blood? No? Then
recall the trip of the Secretary of State
Root around South America ivn
"Ho. South America, with its 'seven
and a half million snuare miles. mui it.
population of only forty-two and a half j
millions, whose foreign trade amounts ;
to a billion and a quarter of dollars a '
year. j
When Secretary Root rnmn harlr fr.m '
that historic voyage to our sister-re-'
publics this is hat he had to say to i
me irans-Mississippi Commercial Con
Kress as to why we sell only sixty-three
million dollars worth of American mer
chandise a year in our greatest nation
al market:
Between all the principal South
American ports and England, Germany,
France, Spain, and Italv.
and commodious steamers ply regularly.
There are five subsidized first-class mail
and passenger lines between Buenos
Ayres and Europe; there is no such line
between Buenos Ayres and the United
States. Within the past two years the
German, the English and the Italian
lines have been replacing their old
steamers with new steamers of modem !
construction, accommodation and capac-
ny.
In the year ending June III), llHl.".
there entered the port of Rio de Jan
tero steamers and sailing vessels, flying
me nag ot Austria-Hungary, 120; of
Norway, m; of Italy, 165; of Argen
tine, 204; of France. 349; of Germany,
657; of Great British, 1,785; of the Un
ited States, no steamers, and seven
sailing vessels, two of which were in
distress.
j An English firm runs a small steamer
j monthly between New York and Riode
jJaniero; the Panama Railroad Com
i pany runs steamers between New York
and the Isthmus of Panama; there are
j iwo or three foreign concerns running
slow cargo boats and there are some
foreign tramp steamers. That ia the
j sum total or American communication
with South America beyond the Carib
! bean Sea. Not one American steam
! ship runs to any South American port
j beyond the Caribbean,
j There was a glow in the cold, intel
ligent face of the Secretary of State
as he Ppoke of his own experience:
During the past summer I entered
tne ports of Para, Pernambuco, Bahia,
Rio do Janiero, Santos, Montevideo,
Buenos Ayres, Bahia Blanca,, Peurto
Arenas, Lots, Valparaiso, Coquimbo,
Tocopilla, Callao and Cartegena-all of
me great ports and a large proportion
of the secondary ports of the Southern
Contient. I saw only one ship, besides
the curiser that carried me, flying the
American flag.
j But beyond the dwindling of the
American ship-building trades; beyond
j the surrender of two hundred million
dollars in freight rates to our foreign
rivals; beyond even an honest and whole
; some pride in our flag at sea; beyond
j the mortifying lack of an ocean mail
I service possessed by other nationa-
I there are ever graver consequences to
the disappearance of the American ship
from international trade.
The powerful fleet which is carrying
our flag about the world depend on
coal for its every movement., Without
coal it would be helpless. That is true
or our entire modern navy.
Coal has taken the place of the wind.
The motive power of our warships has
been transferred from masts and sails
to the steam boiler and propellor shaft.
What, then, are we to think when we
learn that the United State goverr.
ment had to employ foreign vessels,
flying foreign flag, and operated by
foreign officers and and crew to provide
coal for our battleships fleet 89 it mov.
ed from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Of the 238,258 tons of coal dispatch
ed for the use of the battleships in
steaming from our Eastern to our West-
j ern coast, not one ton was carried in
an American bottom. ?
In addition to what was sent to the
fleet, the Navy Department, between
July 1, 1907, and November 1, 1908, for
warded to the Pacific coast, 195,616
ions or coal; to Honolulu, 74,673 tons,
and to Cavite, in the PhilinDines. 5fi.i
605, tons. Thif makes 565.152 ton
carried in connection with the hattle-
ship voyage. Of this i mmense acure.
gate only 74,596 tons borne under the
American flag.
We sent forth a great fleet to show
both the civilized and uncivilized world
the immensity of our armed poweri
That fleet is powerless without coal.
Yet all but thirteen Der cent of thii
coal sent to keep our battleships alivo
ia carriea in ioreign merchant ships.
It is a matter of record that the small
army provided by the United States
for the last intervention in Cuba waa
taken there in foreign ships, under for
eign nag9.
Even the American war material
sent recently to the Philippines was
carried in Japanese shins under the
Japanese flag; and that, too, while
there was a widespread newspaper talk
of a possible war between tho United
states and Japan.
Yet American statesmanship has
made no answer to President Roose
velt's message to Congress:
"To the spread of our trade in peace
ana tne defense of our flag in war a
(Treat and prosperous merchant marine
is indispensable. We should have ships
of our own and seamen of our own to
convey our goods to neutral markets,
and in case of need to reinforce the
battle line. It cannot be but a source
of regret and uneasiness to us that the
lines of communication with our sister
republics of South America should be
chiefly under foreign control. It is not
a good idea that American merchants
manufacturers should have to send
their goods and letters to South Ameri
ca via Europe if they wish security and
dispatch. Even on the Pacific, where
our ships have held their own better
than on the Atlantic, our merchant
flag is now threatened through the
liberal aid bestowed by other govern
ments on their own steam lines."
It was Washington who declared that
''to an active, external commerce the
protection of a naval force is indispens
able." It was Jefferson who said:
"For a navigating people to purchase
its marines afloat would a strange spec
ulation, as the marine would be denen-
dent upon the merchants furnishing
them, t'lacing as a reserve with a
foreign nation or in a foreign shipyard,
the carpenters, blacksmiths.
liilmakera and the vessels of a natfciK
WnnTrl Ka a B:Mm.lA. - i j
Wnation. We must, therefore build
them for ourselves."
, iHave We SO soon tartrnttan ft.o J...
I 0 "--" u(ti uur-
infe our recent war with Spain one of
ine ureal uerman steamship lines
whose cheaply-built and cheaply-oper-sted
vessels ply Jn and out of New
Yk on equal terms with high-priced
tnd dearlv-onerateH A
offered to sell steamshiDs to Snoin ts
be armed and used against the Uunited
States, that we can calmlv
j "iivva wir
disappearance of our flag from foreign
wimercet
We have set our irovemmonf
thousand miles from th Ami..
tieDt. We have develnnaH an lf
, . ---r-" in naiiuii-
1 wmmerce amounting to three and a
half billion dollars, and we insist on be
ing recognized a one of the great
world-powers; yet so swiftly are Amer
ican shiDS vanishing
o --"' ura IUIIIIUUI1
Wh-way of the nations that we have
t9 trust our mails to alien ships and our
ned fleet must depend on foreign
flp for coal.
Meanwhile our Rritinh nnd n.-xxrr?" i
mii mail -
rtvlas are launching greater and swifter
tr tf T v ' u w people or the
utilted States are face to face with the
plain fact that already nl
i..rioreigntradeisIn foreign ships
deiMndent upon foreign governments
for brotection. ' ' j
A jwar between England and a foreign
ntin, Germany for example, would
iDMjst paralyze the ocean transporta
tion facilities of the United States, and
the results would be felt throughout
tne county in enormously increased
ireght charges-due partly to war '
nwihe insurance-not only in the fac
toriefc and mills, but in
of tre West, the cattle ranches of the
jwuwwest, the cotton plantations of
wwaouin, me lumber camps of the
Noithwest. Even during the Boer war
whtij the British withdrew some of
their merchant ships from the North
Ath jtic trade to send troops and muni-
increased sharply.
unogeri Mistake. j r
I have a great Joke on the ol.i
an." said Pat. "I ,hlnk rld(9t
be get.iug a bit near-sighted. She wa
out for ten minutes this morning, call
Ing to the scarecrow to come to break
fast. What do you think of that'"
'Well, If I were you." said Mike! "I'd
either get a new ,ult of cloth ' '
juiuigw wife. r
