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Show FOR MERCHANT MARINE. Cleveland League Advocates Government Govern-ment .aid for Ships. CLEVELAND, O., Dec. 11. Tho Merchant Mer-chant Marino Lcnguo of the United States has sent out a statement setting forth tho vlows of tho lenguo In Its efforts to rehabilitate re-habilitate tho merchant marlno of tho United States. Tho decadence of our foreign marlno Is a fact recognized in political pjatforms and variously on all hands. Two things go hand In hand: A merchant marine sufficient suffi-cient to provent unduo dependence on foreign for-eign help, a navy adequato in tlmo of peace to furnish tho assurance and, whoro necessary, protection to our commorco and our ships and goods enguged In It and their terminals. Several methods of dealing deal-ing with tho question have been brought forward from time to time. Tho most prominent are subsidy, discriminating duties, du-ties, bounties or subventions simply, postal pos-tal subsidy of subventions, tonuago tax from which to sccuro a fund providing subvention. . It would soom hnrdly possible to carry tho matter forward without government' aid. yot it also seems possible to avoid In tho beginning any undue burden on the general treasury by Imposing tonnago dues similar to thoso abroad and permissible permissi-ble by precedent and under tho laws of trade. It Is clear that any aid should bo devoted de-voted to steamships regardless of speed, and to sail vessels upon proportionate basis of actual service, or based on approved ap-proved otatlstlcs and tables of comparative compara-tive ability and sorvlco of snll or steam vessels. Every ship receiving such aid naturally would bo required to carry malls, but to encourage specific mall routes must Involvo corresponding additional addi-tional postal subventions. While tho league docs not bind Itself to what tho congressional commission may put forward It must bo recognized that tho commission Is non-partisan and composed com-posed of men of great ability who are in possession of moralnta than hns over before be-fore been gathered on this subject In this country. |