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Show SHIP SUBSIDIES AND THE TARIFF. Bourke Cockran has in what is claimed as "the speech of his life" denounced the ship subsidy bill. The bill proposes to pay subsidies to American Ameri-can steamers to enable them to maintain themselves them-selves on the sea. Of course this will result in a loss to the treasury for a brief period. Dealing with this phase of the question Mr. Cockran "did not suppose that even the gentleman from Ohio (Grosvenor) would advise making up the loss in any other business out of the treasury." And this was late in April, 1904. That same argument has been ringing down the years since John C. Calhoun began to justify nullification on account of the tariff in 1832. It was worked by the Democrats to prevent the building of modern warships from the close of the great war until Mr. Cleveland's first election. It was pictured as spoliation to lay a tariff on tin plate, the robbing of the poor man's kitchen. But now Democrats are proud to state that the foundation of a new navy was laid by a Democratic secretary of the nayy, and they are mum as oysters as to the direful dire-ful effects of the tariff on tin plate, because despite de-spite that tariff tin plate was never so cheap before be-fore and quite $25,000,000 per annum Is saved to American artisans, which, except for that first tariff would, every year since it was laid, have been sent to Wales. What are the facts about our ships? They cannot run in foreign commerce without help in some form, for the simple fact that they cannot compete with the subsidized ships of Great Britain, Brit-ain, France and Germany. This has been re-peately re-peately tried and has eveiy time failed, though some of the lines have been backed by the railroads rail-roads behind them. What is the result? This country's exports and imports are carried in foreign for-eign ships. All the freight and passage money goes into foreign coffers. Again, when American competition is beaten off the freights are raised. Much that we export is made up of cheap material. ma-terial. A large proportion of our grain and live stock is paid to foreign shippers to carry the freight abroad. We tell of the balance of trade In our favor. It Is quite absorbed by the freight and passage money paid to foreign shippers. Then our ship yards are soundless and our artisans are idle save for what can be built or repaired for the - - '" ' H coasting trade. If we want a cargo of sugar from Brazil we pay the freight on an English cargo 'I from Liverpool to Rio, for that is paid for the H sugar with freight added. Then the sugar is car- H ried to Liverpool with the freight up from Rio H added. It is exchanged for an American cargo on H which the freight has been paid to a foreign ship- H master for carrying it across the Atlantic, and fin- H ally the freight is paid on the cargo of sugar to H another foreign shipmaster to bring it to New H York. And this has been the rule since the Col- H lins and Vanderbilt trans-Atlantic steam lines were H killed by the Democratic administrations of H James Buchanan. Great Britain has paid ?360,- H 000,000 In subsidies during the past fifty-five years. H The result at the close of the Franco-Prussian war H was she was the undisputed master of the world's H ocean carrying trade and the outside world de- H pended upon her for what it needed. H Before that war France had begun to pay ship H subsidies and was encroaching on her trade. H When Germany received the mighty indemnity H from, France she began to build up a merchant H marine by the only means that can be success- "H fully used, with the result that now she has the . H finest ships afloat and she has taken away from H Great Britain one-third of her ocean-carrying H trade. With these examples how pitiable are the H wails of Bryan and Cockran over "the ship sub- J H sidy steal." There is still another feature. When H the news of tho Manila victory was flashed to the H world, orders for American goods in larger volume H than ever made before came from all the countries H of the orient. The power of the great republic H was thundered from the guns in Manila bay and H the world recognizes power everywhere. Our S ships are not seen in foreign ports, hence our flag H is not respected. A Salt Lake man saw in Gal- tfj- H veston harbor last year twenty foreign ships and H only two craft flying our flag. "He went over to Vera Cruz. There were two and twenty foreign ships and but one American ship. The trouble with H Bourke Cockran on this question Is two-fold. First, he has no conception of the significance of money H or the effect upon trade and business when its , H volume is increasedor decreased. This made him H a furious anti-silver shrieker ten years ago, ' though he knew no more about the real merits of the question than a Hottentot. His hate of tho tariff is hereditary. The first protective tariff was laid by southern statesmen. It was done to spite New England and did cause much distress ( for a while, but New England went to building ships and manufactories and in fifteen years began be-gan to pass the south in progress. Then the Calhoun Cal-houn school determined to smash the tariff and ( Democrats, including Bourke Cockran, still wor- f ship in that school, and Cockran, Irish as he is, would rather see our ship yards decline and our ! goods carried In subsidized English ships than to I see passed a like subsidy to American ships. |