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Show ' Ship Ahoy! Yankeeland is right smart in yachts but not much in merchant marine. We take the gimcracks of navigation and leave the substantial to our esteemed seventy-first cousin, J. Bull. The Puritan Puri-tan takes the cup but all Britain takes the cake. Our competition in yachts is magnificent and overpowering, but when it comes to keels for carriage we are out of the race. British cutters as play-things are not equal to Yankee sloops, but if we lead in pleasure craft how infinitely Britain Brit-ain leads us with the bottoms that visit every sea and bear the great bulk of the world's ocean commerce. In the marine line Brother Jonathan can beat all creation crea-tion if the competition is limited to an excursion ex-cursion boat, but he admits without a protest that when it settles down to business busi-ness the ship wrights and the tars of John Bull sweep the sea. America is in ecs-tacv ecs-tacv of delight because the Puritan, which couldn't stow away a hundred barrels of sugar, shows a clean pair of heels to a bit of canvas from over the sea, but into the worthier, as the more profitable competition competi-tion which would bear the flag of the j Union to everv quarter of the globe we do not enter. "There was a time when America had a marine, when its flag, w hich for a generation has been unknown in distant ports, was a familiar sight in everv quarter of the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. But we prefer to abandon the high seas that we may se- j cure the failure of 8hip contractors who can pav two hundred cents on the dollar. AVc hedge ourselves about with absurd navigation laws in order that we may not interfere with the plans of protection- : ists. ' , . ' Poor fools!. We split our throat over; the victory of a little cloud of sail swept i to success within sight of our own shores, ; and we lorget that once we had ships ! : and seamen ; You have the pvrrhio dance as yet, Where is the pyrvhio phalanx gone r. ' Of two such lessons why forget j The nobler and the manlier one? t Chicago Herald, 17th. |
