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The Commoner.
VOLUME 7, NUMBER 10
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Light On the Ship Subsidy Proposition
Pending Air. Hoosevelt's promised "trip to the
lntprlor" when ho will undertake Uie task of "edu
cating Hip people on ship subsidy," It might be well
for tho prospective students to read up a little on
tJie subject. To this end the house proceedings of
J'VIiruiiry 20 will be interesting.
Tho subsidy bill was then under discussion.
Mr. ltniucy of Illinois directed attention to some
of the. misstatements made by subsidy promoter.
He said:
Mr. Chairman, the arguments in favor of a
ship subsidy always commence with tho state
ment that our (lag has disappeared from the seas;
that a hundred years ago the merchant marine
of tills country whitened every sea, ami that you
do not behold it now on any sea. The gentleman
from New York (.Mr. Littaueri also made the same
kind of statement a while ago. and said that a
hundred years ago the tonnage of our American
merchant marine was as great as it is today.
These misleading statements have gone out over
the country, until the people who ilve In the In
terior at least have acquired the impression that
It is true.
As a matter of fact, our mercant marine todav
Is second in importance and in number of vessel's
only to the merchant marine of Great Hritain. As
a matter of fact, the tonnage of our merchant ma
rine today is nearly eight times greater than it
was in the year 1SO0, eight times greater than it
was in the year 1823. and the kind of statements
to which 1 have referred are absolutely mislead
ing. Why, according to the commissioner of nav
igation we had in commission in our merchant
marine in 1003 (and I happen tcrhave the figures
for that year only) 4.)7 vessels, with a tonnage
of .i.OtM.000 and more. There Is onlv one countrv
Jn the world that has a greater tonnage than this.
Germany has almost as much, but has over 2 000
less ships in her merchant marine. Now, assum
ing that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lit
tauer) limited Ids statement to vessels engaged in
the foreign trade, we had, In the year 1S00, 0G0,9l
tons in the foreign trade, and in 1S01 we had 1,
005,000 tons in the foreign trade. In 1903 Ave had
SSS.000 tons in the foreign trade. We had in 1SO0
engaged in domestic trade a tonnage of 301,000,
and today, not counting the immense tonnage of
the Great Lakes, we have engaged in our coa'
wlse trade over 5.000,000 tons.
Now. these are the facts; and what is the use
of creating this sort of an impression throughout
the country? Of course we are a bad second to
England. She has three times as many vessels in
her merchant marine as we have, but she has that
many vessels in the merchant marine because
years and years ago she abolished her absurd
navigation laws, because years and vears ago
it became possible for an English citizen
to buy a ship no matter where it was
made, and the materials out of which the ship
was built were free no matter where thev came
from. For a hundred years in this countrv ther
has been only throe ways in which an American
citizen could acquire a shin build her in an
American shipyard, capture one in war. or prowl
along our coasts until lie fouud a vessel wrecked
and repair her. Under the repai red-w reek law
within the last thirty years we have added over
300 vessels to our merchant marine.
Last year we closed that avenue and abolished
that law, and now there are only two wavs in
which au American eitiien can become the owner
of a ship. One is to capture her in war and tho
opportunities for doing that are not verv coed at
the present time and the other is to build" her in
our shipyards and pay tribute to the American
steel trust.
The statement has been made throughout the
country by representatives of the president, and
the statement was made here yestenlav upon this
floor, that we had free raw material with which
to build ships; that every stick of timber, even
particle of material of any klud that entered into
the construction of a vessel in American shipvards
was admitted free of duty. That statement is ab
surd and misleading. The facts do not warrant
ir. We have free mw material for the purpose of
building ships to be used exclusively in the for
eign trade and for no other purpose, unless the
ship is built in American yards for foreign own
ership. 1 have carefully searched the records, and siuee
that law has been in force the Arthur Sowall com
pany, of Maine, haa been the only company in this
country to take advantage of it. One other com
pany tried vit for a short time. They built the
Dirigo up there iu Maine out of materials im
ported free of duty.
I have here a letter from the other company
which was foolish enough to take advantage of
this law, and this Is the objection to it, ami the
reason why it does uot add anything to our nier-
chant marine is simply this: That the vessel con
structed out of material admitted free of duty is
excluded forever from our profitable coastwise
trade except during two months in the year. No
man wants to pay a million dollars for a ship and
have her shut out forever from this profitable
trade, and it does not do any good to admit a ship
only two months in the year to this trade.
JNow, 1 have hud a bill pending in this bouse
before the ways and means committee for four
years, and have not been able to get a hearing on
It. providing for free raw material for ships and
the material that goes into repairs on a ship. I
am prepared to show that it material were ad
mitted free 33 per cent of the actual cost of a ves
sel could be savexl. We built out of American ma
terial the Minnesota and the Dakota, ships engaged
entirely in the foreign trade. Why did not tills
company take advantage of this law and build
those vessels out of material admitted free of
duty? It cost a million dollars more to build
those two ships out of American material. He
cause during all the life of these vessels and they
might remain in operation for twenty-live or thirty
years it would be impossible to use either of thera
in our profitable coastwise trade, and that was
the reason. We have here almost under the dome
of this capitol the largest shipbuilding company in
the world, employing six or seven thousand men
every day in the year. We have near here the
largest dry dook in the world.
The Minnesota and the Dakota, completed in
American shipyards, are the largest ships that ply
the seas at the present time, and not two years
ago we finished up the Mongolia and the Man
churia in American shipyards, and iu all the world
there are only six more important ships than these,
and we own two out of those six. Tell me that
the shipbuilding industry in this country is pass
ing into decay! You give us free raw material for
ships and you will find out that our shipbuilders
can compete with any of these companies over in
England.
Vessels of '20 tons and under are simply li
censed; vessels of 20 tons and over engaged in the
coastwise trade are both licensed and enrolled,
and vessels engaged in the foreign trade are reg
istered. A vessel engaged in the foreign trade
must surrender its registry if it wants to engage
in our profitable coastwise trade, and whenever it
surrenders its registry it is compelled to pay duty
on every item of material that goes into? the re
pairs on that vessel if she has been repaired in a
foreign port, and for that reason it seldom hap
pens that vessels surrender their registry and take
out a license and enrollment. In order to show
how absurd these shipping laws of ours are I want
to call attention to the fact that vessels in opera
tion upon the Great Lakes and upon our northern
frontiers can only be licensed and enrolled. They
alone of all our vessels that are simply licensed
and enrolled can stop at foreign ports under the
law; but if they are repaired in foreign ports they
must pay the duty on the repairs as soon as they
come back. Up there along the St. Lawrence
river the Thousand Islands and St Lawrence
Elver Steamboat company, an American company,
is operating a line of boats In opposition to the
Canadian lines. There is no place on this side of
the river where these boats can be repaired.
Mr. Ivahn said: I understood the gentleman
to say that if an American ship goes to a foreign
port, if it is an ocean-going ship, and is repaired
in that foreign port, wheu she returns to this
country the owners have to pay duty on the re
pairs made.
Mr. Rainey replied: The gentleman misunder
stood me. I did not say that. Every vessel en
rolled and liceused. or simply licensed, that makes
repairs in a foreign port must pay duty on the re
pairs as soon as the vessel is brought back to an
American port If a vessel engaged in our coast
wise trade, licensed or licensed and enrolled, is
blown from her course and is repaired in a ror
eigu port as the result of any kind of accident, as
soon as that vessel comes back to an American
port the owners must pay the amount of the duty
on the repairs that go into her.
Now, the trouble with the development of the
merchant marine in this country is that no bill
ever receives the attention of this house which at
tempts to repeal or modify these absurd naviga
tion laws. The only bill that can ever get out of
a committee is a bill which provides for the pay
ment of a subsidy which provides for taking
money out of the pockets of the people and paying
it over into the cofTers of the rich who are able to
buikl ships that cost a million dollars. There are
l,loQ firms and individuals in this countrv, ac
cording to the last edition of Lloyd's Register, en
gaged in the business of building shipsrepairin
ships, or furnishing supplies for ships. And when
I introduced my bill providing for free raw ma
terial for ships, one of the simplest ways of en
couraging the development of the American mer
chant marine, I wrote to every one of these 1,150
firms and individuals, and sent them a copy of
my bill, which simply provides that -vessels may
be built and repaired-and equipped in American,
ports out of material admitted duty free, no mat
ter in what trade those vessels are to be used.
I received nearly live hundred replies from
firms and the individuals who are directly inter
es J? ?is ,ndusfry. and every one of them, ex
cept twelve or thirteen, favored this kind of leg
islation, and those twelve or thirteen companies,
every one of them, expected to obtain a subsidy
either by this kind of a bill or by some other bill,
and tney were therefore opposed to it
.Ni?' n ve!sel simply "censed, or licensed and
enrolled, can touch at a foreign port except the
vessels engaged in trade upon the waters of our
northern frontiers. And up here on the St. Law
rence river we have an example as to the effect
of our navigation laws in this particular. The'
Thousand Islands and St Lawrence River Steam
ship company, an American company, is operating
a line of American boats. Every year thousands
and thousands of American citizens take the trip
down the grand rapids of the St Lawrence to
Montreal, but nearly all of them go on vessels
owned by Cauadian companies. Under the law.
vessels licensed and enrolled, or simply licensed,
if repaired or equipped or even provisioned in a
foreign port. must pay duty on the provisions or.
the repairs or on any new equipment as soon as
they get back to American ports.
The Chairman: The gentleman's time has ex
pired. ,
Mr. Goulden: Mr. Chairman, I yield 'five min
utes more to "the gentleman.
The Chairman: The gentleman is recognized'
for five minutes more.
Mr. Rainey: This American line of ours is
struggling along there, competing with the Cana
dian lines. There is no place within the bound
aries of the "United States where they can repair
or equip their vessels. They must do It all on
the other side, and before they can even stop on
this side of the river they must pay 50 per cent
duty on every item of material that goes Into nnv
repairs they make. And in this connection I want
to send to the clerk's desk
Mr. Littlefield: Mr. Chairman
The Chairman: Does the gentleman from Illi
nois (Mr. Rainey) yield to the gentleman from
Maine?
Mr. Rainey: Yes, sir.
Mr. Iittlefield: I just wanted to inquire under
what provision of the law duties were imposed
upon repairs made under such circumstances.
Mr. Rainey: Under section 431S of the law,
and if I had the time I would read it to the gen
tleman. Mr. Littlefield: Section 431S of the Revised
Statutes?
Mr. Pollard, republican of Nebraska, in his'
speech in favor of the subsidy asked this question:
"Can any one explain why our merchant marine
commenced to fade away from the seas about the
year 1S60, when prior to that time it had been
such an important factor in commerce upon the
high seas?" Mr. Pollard refused to allow Mr.
Rainey to answer the question in Mr. Pollard's
time. So Mr. Goulden yielded five minutes in .r
der that Mr. Rainey might answer the question
pur by Mr. Pollard. Mr. Rainey said: "The ques
tion is not a difl&cult one to answer. Prior to that
time we had free raw material for ships, because
prior to that time ships were built out of wood
and our forests were full of material free to any
body who wanted to take it Earlv in the la?t
century they commenced to roll iron in England"
and as soon as they did that persons and firms
engaged in that business in this countrv insisted
upon a tariff against the rolled iron of England
in order that they might continue hammering oat
iron until their establishments fell into" decay
They got a tariff that was exclusive, and they con
tinued to hammer out iron until, in 1S55, the first
iron Cunarder plunged across the Atlantic ocean
and it became apparent atnce that the ship of the
future would be an iron ship. But our factories
protected by a protective tariff, had been hammer
ing iron. They were not prepared to roll iron, and
so, with our mountains full of iron ore, we wee
unprepared to build iron ships. For GO years Eng
land had been rolling Iron, and she commenced to
build iron ships, and our supreiriaev upon the hih
seas commenced to fade away at once. It was on
account the fact that we had no free raw ma
terials for ships It was on account of the pej
n clous effect of the protective tariff. We are
building today more wooden ships than anv othe?
nation in the world. We are building today mo
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