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, Charles Stephen 
 
 Title 
 
 shipping 
 
 Place: 
 
 New York 
 
 Date: 
 
 1883 
 
MASTER NEGATIVE i 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
 PRESERVATION DIVISION 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET 
 
 OmCHNAL MATERIAL AS FILMED - EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD 
 
 565 
 
 History of American shipping, its prestige, decline, 
 and prospect. By Chas. S. Hill New York, The 
 iunencsan news company, xooo* 
 
 iv 3 ].« 1II1-I94 p. illtts. (Iiicl. ports.) tables. 23|**. 
 
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 1. §^ippinff— U. S.— Hist 
 
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HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
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 .til i -i :» • 9 - 
 
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 AM.KRIG4.N:SHIPPmG 
 
 • •« * «*' * • r. 
 
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 • • • A ♦ * ■* * * • "* * 
 
 t ^ I • » » • • '9 
 
 « t * * 9 ■ • • It « 
 
 ITS PRESTIGE. DBCLmE, AND PROSPECT. 
 
 im 
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 XJJSlmJBkJSfm ei. JSLX lii.t T ly 
 
 **0D» mBCHAKT XASIHE," ** AXBSKUIT OK TOBEIGSr SHIPS; WHXOHt^ 
 
 New York, 
 trade supplied by 
 
 THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY. 
 
 February, 1883. 
 
■niwM iMirdiiig to Art of CoagwsM, immxy, 1883, by 
 
 CHARLES S. HILL, 
 IB tin €mm of llio Wtowurian of Congroat, »t Washington. 
 
 St JUBB M ,DBTWBII*l!It„ 
 "Wjyuiinimac, 0. C. 
 
 3 5Q>S 
 
 CONTENTS of PART I. 
 
 INSCRIPTION 5 
 
 ACCBPTANCB . 7 
 
 INTRODUCTORT. IlTZZiri.-ZIZriTZZZI 
 
 BRIEF ^ . 14 
 
 ARGUMENT IIZIII 16-200 
 
 Divisions thereof «^ „ 
 
 PRBSTIGE 1631-1856. ||||||||| 
 
 Review of Amercan Shipping coniSiliiligw*...*****^^...^. 16-17 
 
 Chronological Kecord, 1492-1882 IIIIIIII 18-104 
 
 Origin of l^avigation Laws; causes t.h nrAnf ^ 28-26 
 
 Origin of St^UD Navigation ZSZl 27-32 
 
 A^antages and disadvantag«ss presented by JeflfewonZIlIITI— S8-87 
 
 " History repeaud " in depredations upon oorCommerce^^ 88 
 
 Inauguration of daily steamboat traffic , , 8^2 
 
 Heroic enterprise in establishi ng River Steam Shipping " 43I44 
 
 The First Great Epoch in American Shipping ~--ZJS~'S 45-49 
 
 The grand enterprise in establishing Ocean Steftm-8bippine..rr 60-54 
 
 A noble record of the Democratic Party 56-62 
 
 The Second Epoch in American Shipping>_r_.lllllllllll 63-66 
 
 The Third Epoch in American Shipping 111.^-111 68 
 
 The Financial Gain to the U. S. Treasury by Steamship Bounty .68-62-74 
 
 BBCIiINB:---1857-^|MM^ -^^i 
 
 Pickle Ai'Uon qgl^ii ess Demoralizing American Shipping . 66-69 
 
 Vicissitudes of Ship-owners under discouraging conditions. 70-71 
 
 Perseverence and firmness of a heroic few I™I 72-73 
 
 The Age ot Iron 76-92 
 
 Misrepresentationi of Foreign Agantft ^ 92-97 
 
 Record of Prestige . "~ * 98 
 
 Remarkable " Questions " or Assertions oY the Joiii^'i^lect Com- 
 
 mittee _ ^ 99-101 
 
 OUR 0HIPPINO CONDITIONS ANAI.T3BBD,.-...Z1-ZII 102-180 
 
 ^TiffuaTi ^ 106-184 
 
 Pilotage Pees jo^.j^^ 
 
 lowage Fees. „ 107-108 
 
 Port Warden Fees ^ Jjjg ^ 
 
 Harbor Master Fees , II 109 
 
 Wharfiige Peea ZZIZIZIL. 109-112 
 
 Oustom House Pe«|||||| 112-118 
 
 Tonnage Fees st-.. _ 118-115 
 
 Seaman's Fees ^ _ 116-.117 
 
 Marine Hospital Pecs IIIIIIII-.IIIIIIZIIIIZ 117 
 
 Admeasurement Fees « IIIIIIII 118 
 
 Postal Restriction Fees . . . ' II nn 
 
 Local Fees --.llllZIIIinillZ 120 
 
 Consular Fees . I-IIIIIIIIIII__II 121-126 
 
 Shipping Commissioner's Pees . — .-^™I III"III " IIII 126-127 
 
 Insurance Combination..™ II. i«o~ 
 
 (Nominal.) 
 
 Lighthouse Pees ^^^^ lOfiioo 
 
 Customs Tariff HH ^ ImZiSI 
 
 Navigation Law Restrictions IIIIIIIII.. 181-|HH 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SWplwiHiiig otist compared — JS~i 
 
 Jbtesof life ©f American sMps — — — JJJ-^** 
 
 •* Free * * or Tram p Ships -«« — — 1* * 
 
 Eecapitulation of Burdens. — 
 
 total Amount of Fe« Billi u^-\m 
 
 ^^^j^^^^ZZIZIIZIZZ^^^^^ } 52-1 53 
 
 Tribute - - , ,, . loo-ioo^ 
 
 BcwIytoBriSi'iSpbuiM^^^ etc- 1«7-180 
 
 Free Ships \St 
 
 Forei*»n Lobbv , ..- — -------- -■«SB36«*'---* 
 
 Ship Kepairing.-... - ™ {iLtm 
 
 Inconsislencies of Congress \ j7\% 
 
 Mail m. Packet \li .LL 
 
 S|hmU of Warfare and the Spoils of Peace Jlrloa 
 
 WIOaMCT ;— 188*— "Americans shall own ships." — 18&-i»9 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 S&£»STIGS«— 1881-1856 
 
 H<»ii. James G. Blaine — J 
 
 The Maviower — ■ f " 
 
 Archetype of American Shipping . — *J 
 
 Caravels of Columbus — — J» 
 
 The Second Ship built by Am erigii C olonists M 
 
 He first Successful Steambo<i||i|i' W 29 
 
 The American Galley Slave — — "-"t;: * S 
 
 The Second Successful Steamboat in the World ^ 
 
 Rol»ert Fulton JY 
 
 Kobert Livingston Stevens — — 
 
 The First Bnglish Steamboal-26 ffliilliiM 
 
 William Wilson ^ — ~ • ■ - *^ 
 
 American Clipper— Great Bepublic — . •* *J 
 
 The First Steamboat that Crossed Omn w 
 
 B. K. Collins ..ix-^SZ ^ 
 
 Hteroes of Am«lwiii}.j i riM M ' ^ 
 
 ' iMnil ■■■■III iniiT mm 
 
 The Adriatic— The GrertMt Steamship of hei J)iy- — W 
 
 Jmmes. Budianan Houston — — — o7 
 
 City of Peking— The Finest Ship Afloat — . o» 
 
 Thomas Tileston, Founder of the Dramatic Line 73 
 
 The Cause of American Ship^^»>clining ' »7 
 
 jliilse Economy . _ _. ■ - t 1 iw» 
 
 Samuel Harlan— The Pioneer Iron Shipbuilder of the U. S — 189 
 
 The Asylum for Trnmp Ships — — 
 
 A ¥ictim of Foreign Subsidy and IT. a Postal Halations 167 
 
 liibor Struck Down by Free Ships — — • — — — — 1J7 
 
 The Btfoii to leslroy ma Navy and Shipping — -i^if 
 
 nMMmMT*<--I884. 
 
 "American Shipplig shall l>o B©vi«i1 " ^^9 
 
 TO 
 
 THE HON. JOHN T. MORGAN, U. S. S., 
 TH8 tmwuLtm or 
 
 AGBICULT0RE, MANUFACTURE, COMMERCE, 
 
 Am OF THE 
 
 dissemination of peacncal 
 knowledge; 
 
 ASSOCIATED BY TIES OF SANGUINARY STRUGGLES 
 
 Aim 
 
 FALLEN FRIENDS 
 
 ON 
 
 MANY CONFEDERATE BATTLE FIELDS, 
 AND KOW 
 
 RECOGNIZING WITH APPRECIATION HIS ASSISTANCE 
 
 RECENTLY AND OFFICIALLY, 
 IN 
 
 FBOMULaATING INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS; 
 
 ALTHOUGH NOT EXPECTING NOR ASKING 
 1U8 FVU. 
 
 ENDORSBlfSirlr OP THE REFLECTIONS 
 MADE HEREIN UPON THE NEGLECT 
 
 «*,. 
 
 CONGBBSS, 
 
 IN 
 
 ACTION AND NON-ACTION IN BEHALF 
 
 or 
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING, 
 
 YET KNOWING THE 
 
 ZEAL, PRIDE, HOPE, AND AIM, 
 THAT Htm ANOUnS SVERY SOUTKBRN a»fEADE 
 
 IN IHI5 DETBBMINATION TO VNTimi. ONCB MOR& 
 VlfOfi TIIK SEAS 
 
 THE AMSiUtCAN FLA0, 
 THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
 '''Mi 
 
I' I 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATE, 
 
 Washington, D. C, February 9, 1883. 
 
 My Dxar Sir : I canEOt feel that I am deserving of the high com- 
 pliment bestowed on me in the inscription of your book on American 
 Shipping, but I greatly prize your |Mliili|iM|iinion as expressed. 
 
 The allusion to our participation in the Confederate struggle touches 
 a chord that will vibrate in my heart as long as life shall last, and will 
 overwhelm all discordant sounds that might otherwise disturb the harmony 
 of our songs of ^iMKSKII^^^^^\'^y* 
 
 I Isar that we shall not Mly agree m to the best method of 
 lestoriug to the seas our banished commerce ; but as we are working 
 heartily to secure the same great end our differences as to the proper 
 policy to be observed in securing it will not separate us in our labors. 
 
 I, therefore, gratefuly accept the honor you have done me, and with 
 the best wishes for your success in this and all the other great labors you 
 are bestowing on industrial topics. 
 
 I am, faithfully, your friend, 
 
 1= Jno. T. Morgan. 
 
 TO 
 
THE 
 
 STATESMAN DEFENDER 
 
 OF 
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE, 
 
 " Steam Mail Lbtbs : Keys with wMch wise Statesmen open 
 Foreign Ports to Maritime Commerce." 
 
 (Bmquet Tmat of «h« How York Chwiiber of Goiniiioroo to Hob. Jamis ©. Bum, Mayia, im.} 
 
THE 
 
 AVANT COURIER 
 
 THE MAYFLOWER, 
 
 180 TON8| 
 i|giif«d HjnMHith Rock witli tlie^ fflgtiiii% 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 On the 7th of August last & Joint Select Oommitle® was ap- 
 pointed under the following resolution of Congress : 
 
 "That a joint select committee of three Senators and six Representatives be 
 ftppinted to Inquire into the condition and wants of American ship-building and 
 ship-owning interests, and to investigate the causes of the decline of the American 
 foreign carrying trade, and to suggest any remedies which may be applied by 
 legislation.^ Said committee shall have authority/ to sit during the recess, and shall 
 lubmit thdr report at the opening of the second session of the 47th Congress," &c. 
 
 AFFmrm dugmt 9, 1882. 
 
 ! ni_e ab ove hMtlardly been telegrapbed (on August 9th) to M 
 plHHtthe country, and to every patriotic heart, together with 
 theW>nncement of'the appointment of statesmen to that Com- 
 mittee whose names were hailed with delight and satisfaction, 
 before the New York evening papers, only two days after, 
 (August 11th,) announced, not the organisation of that Com- 
 mittee, but the happening of " one or two " members in Hew 
 York, and, instead of sitting and studying into such conditions 
 *' during the recess " of Congress, a postponement until two iveeks 
 before its reassembling — with some dialogue queries appended' — 
 was announced. In a six-da^s^ session this great politico*eeon- 
 <>il'8)||^l'i>^^ investigated, studied, compre- 
 
 heaM^ and at mee'prepared and reported to Congress. 
 
 It was to be supposed, and indeed trusted, that the trouble 
 was mastered, and that the evils existing would be destroyed. 
 
 The writer of this historical argument prepared the same very 
 hurriedly after seeing some repetilicmft of stereotyped gross am^. 
 representa^OQS, made in evidence presented, to ofPsr in rebuttal ; 
 but the book of evidenee^ ^od or bad, perfect or imperfect, was 
 completed and sealed. 
 
 The idea of requiring or allowing more than the same number 
 of days for studying the decline of American Shipping than it did 
 for creating " the heavens, the earth, the watm, and all ^t 
 thereiii is,'* was preposterous. Hence it is submitted to the 
 public as another commentary upon the character of Congres- 
 sional investigation into the condition of Our Merchant Marine. 
 
 (11) 
 
12 
 
 BISfOKT Of ailllI€.A]l SaiPPIMO. 
 
 The imrried work of the Committee has unfortmiately been in 
 min ; the names of som^^Hiilil- members 'will ike forever In the 
 hearts of the American people for their patriotic efforts, while 
 the names of others — ^whether justly or not— will be iissociatod 
 iwmllttr with the foreign Interests thpnHprotected, and for which 
 apptttenl; sympathy therewith Iheir dlirii words and actions are 
 
 alone iw^0 K m^ 
 
 During the three months* Session of Congress the " Prestige " 
 of American SMppiug was reviewed in terms of glowing elo- 
 quence by a few mthful patriots ; 
 
 Its ** Be€llne'^ was karped upon In harmonic accord of unan- 
 
 traout; lllliiili'; . 
 
 its " Prospect " was moderately promised by the provisions 
 presented for enactment to the United StategSenate, at raid- 
 night Saturday, March 8, last; but alas! that ''Prospect " was 
 effiiced by those from whom the American people expected a bet- 
 ter record, In ftipering time in-vainless eferte t|;^^ fote 
 
 a mhr^ io m defeated Oongressi^^mmiestmt" while the ^Ipes 
 of the Holy Service of Sunday morning (March 4) were tolling, 
 it it wec«^||ie sad requiem of this " national " default on the 
 part of our dying Legislature. 
 
 This argument is to tl|p|»ple that the true con- 
 
 ditlons of American Shippf%4^ay be more generally underSfood, 
 and that the trnth, sown broadcast, may bring forth in the next 
 Congress wisdom and action in reviving the " Prestige " of the 
 ■carrying trade of our country* c. s. h. 
 
 fBE ABOBBfl'FB Of AMBmiCAir SHIPPIIKI. 
 
 BUfiCM BUHK GAMOM. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 CONDITION OF OUR SHIPPING 
 
 II! 
 
 IN THl 
 
 FOREIGN CARRYING TRADE. 
 
 DIVISION OF ARGUMENT. 
 
 Burden— that weighs down American Shipping. ^ 
 
 BouMiY--^ fost^ our competitois and enaWes them to drive off 
 American Ships. 
 
 Booty— that is divided,^ in ridicule of American enterprise, by th^ 
 
 ^^HHllWic patronage of foreign ships. IPI 
 
 (18) 
 
BRIEF 
 
 Catoe of Argument. 
 
 Appjintmeiit of Joint Select Committee of Congress to 
 examine into and revive American Bhipping. 
 
 SxirofiiB' 09— 
 
 Committee's Qnestions promnlgatirftei^Why cannot we 
 iMnli iron, steel, and wooden vessels like England 
 and If not, why not give up to foreign Industry ? (See 
 subsequent pages.) 
 
 . JmmJ w J .Br -I. 
 
 !• Ameriuans revolutionijsed the world in sailing vessels. 
 
 2. Americans revolutionized the world in application of 
 steam to^ navigation on rivers. 
 
 8. Americans revolutionized the world in eomitmstmm 
 navigation. 
 
 4. Americans revolutionized the woiid in transit of the 
 msem steam navigation. 
 
 6. Amerioans revolutionized the world in Havali^ijbjgi 
 
 §. Americans revolutionized the world in yacht ^^ng. 
 
 7. Americans now huild the inest, safest, and most com- 
 
 piete irm steamships in the world. 
 
 'BlBIIIif. 
 
 American sMphuilding pves employment to emrif trade. 
 
 Americans will not submit much longer to misrepresen- 
 tation of Agents of Foreign Shipping. 
 
 (li) 
 
 ARGUMENT 
 
 AMEBIOAN SHIPPOia. 
 
 WASHnreroir, Navemter 21, 1882. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the 
 
 Joint Select Committee on American Shipping: 
 There is nothing that proves more tmthfttlly the old pruverb 
 that History repeats itself," than the existence of your Cpjn mit* 
 lee. «K' i: 
 
 From the inception of our Government to the present time, 
 innumerable acts of Congress have created committees to investi- 
 gate the condition of American Shipping, and to devise means of 
 protecting and beneiting this greatest of Industries. 
 
 Then why has this periodical repetition of investigation for a 
 long century been necessary ? 
 
 It may be assumed, un(][uestionably, that your able body will 
 concede — 
 
 1st. That a Nation's shipping is an indispensable influence in 
 national and international relations. 
 
 2d. That American shipping has generally involved loss of 
 capital. * 
 
 3d. That the American Goveranient cannot coerce our capi- 
 talists into financial loss — except through their enthusiasm for 
 national bono|g§n4 industry — Whence our national dilemma. 
 
 It is not proposed in this argument to extend sympathy, nor to 
 withhold blame for our humiliating condition ; but, ignoring theo- 
 rists and biased views, to show from official records where the fault 
 rests. Gl^here are, in fact, only three divisions of this subject, viz : 
 
 BuEMir! Bounty!! and Booty!!! 
 
 which will be herewith thoroughly examined and presented in 
 order; but it is first necessary td pre&oe such examination with an 
 insight into past history to properly connect causes and results. 
 
 The prophetic words of Lord Sheffield, in his " Observations 
 on American Comrmerce," that " the only use and advantage of 
 American Colonies, or West India Mauds, is the monopoly of 
 
 * Without national j^jj"*^!^ shipping conditions of other countries arc fully 
 givon in following pages, see heftding foreign Policies for iralaaUe infoimation. 
 
M BiiTOE¥ 09 AiiiEioAjr ssmiifa. 
 
 tlieir consompfcion niid the carriiige of their productfl," express 
 most tmlhii]] J our peculiar condition to-day ; ns 
 that this precept has heen the natural inoenlite to a perpetaal 
 straggle, thronfh warfiire and peace, between our mother-country 
 and our own for sapremacy in Indastry, and for control in fijmy-^^^, 
 Ing oar own produce. ; ^ 4 
 
 To jii%e of the future we must consider the past| mi^ if 
 ** histoi!yu«6o persistently^ — repeats itself," we mnst he guarded in 
 applying ^Wlejqmrience of the past to onr€itfvei#pid condition of 
 to^ay. 
 
 Ship-building was the first Industry of our country — ^the object 
 of envy and condemnation of the British nation. Perhaps the 
 Mayflower, being a small •* free ship " of only ISO tone, brought 
 m bad Inck in 1620, or it may be that its coming, so power- 
 folly patronized, has influenced and coiftsed our statesmen as 
 to the identity of our own offspring of industry with the orphan 
 " tree" (or foreign) ship, for our own has been treated during the 
 last quarter of a century or more, like a discarded child, while the 
 fiftoet filiiMlPiiMitinatum^ interest has been given to foster- 
 ing the foundling of foreign birth; so much so that the Hon. 
 Mr. Prye, in asking the creation of a commission as a foster 
 parentage of the American ship, reflects very properly and 
 poignantly upon the Nation's record of neglect in :j||||flw that 
 will "be i>emem.bered.. foin|||r : ' ^ 
 
 It is AH orphan really withoat jiny orplittii'8 oourl or guardian. It is a waif 
 witliont a fconMk It is a tranit to wioin nol>ody is oUiirwl to give oold victuals 
 
 With the same interest at heart, the Hon. Mr. Bingley intro- 
 duced the resolution by which your Committee was called into 
 existence, m^mm 
 
 It was expected that this severe condemnation of national de- 
 lault; the vital ii||||rtance of the subject; the deep solicitude 
 of the people ; and their confldenq||| your ability, interest, and 
 patriotism, QHmifested throughout ouirS»mntry, would have forced 
 the investigation immediatdppPi 
 
 Whether the delay in this respect — and the unseemly hurry 
 now — has been right or wrong, is not the purpose of this argument; 
 but in view of the evident uncertainty as to the national rela- 
 lationship of our country to our ships, and as to its hereditary ties 
 and claims in the tiiNi||||||^i^ tbrefiithers of their 
 
 industrial <|nalities mi pIM maintenance of 
 
 MISfORY Of AMERICAN SHIPPUfO. 
 
 IT 
 
 their commercial tnlerestancliK honor, it is not only proper 
 but necessary to establish the identity between parent and child 
 by tracing the lineage of the American ship to American inheri- 
 tance. With such object in view the following synoptieal record 
 has been prepared : mmp-^ 
 
 , Both of the political parties in Congress are confused as to this 
 identity, or they are cowardly shirking this greatest economic 
 question of the day; each is afraid to do what is necessary and 
 right ; neither dares to take the noble^ bold^ stand of the Polk 
 Administration, with such &r-8ightedne8S as recorded in ISiS, 
 and presented herewith in chronological order. 
 
 While foreign nations are fully aroused and acting, our states- 
 men are disputing, quibbling, misrepresenting, and ignoring the 
 seriousness of the question, while France, Germany, and Italy 
 are acting in energy, imitative of that wise policy so long con- 
 tinned by the fer-sighted statesmen of Great Britain. 
 
 At a recent session of Parliament the representative of thlP* 
 British Board of Admiralty, Mr. Trevelyan, admonished that 
 body as follows : ■ „ ^, „ . „ ^'''"^^''''^^ ^""^^ 
 
 " The maritime supremacy of Britain is not to be challenged 
 by Fnince alone in the future, for the Pre^dent of the UnUed 
 States has asked Congress for a liberal grant wherewith to lay 
 the foundations of a new and formidable navv." 
 
 i^he Nautical Journal of London sounds an unnecessary, we 
 fear, tocsin of alarm about AnnriiMi action in behalf of our child 
 oi tbe sea, as follows : 
 
 "British ship-builders and owners cannot regard with uucon- 
 ^u** r/^-^ ^Parently systematic effort of the Republican party in 
 the United States to signalize its restoration to legislative control 
 by reviving the policy which proved so disastrous to British shin- 
 ping interests from 1852 to 1858." 
 
 I Oh, that the Republican or Democratic parties would have the 
 courage to imitate the Polk Administratiott in the example es- 
 tablished at that time, with such remarkable financial results in 
 surplus of funds to our Post Office Department as President 
 Polk shows.^ 
 
 To avoid error or confusion as to the history and identitT^ of 
 our ships, as Senator Frye justly reflects, let us review events 
 in the history of our shipping and then consider what is our duty. 
 
 2 m 1 See sttl>sequeiit pages, In order (1845 to ISSO) for tide raeotd. 
 
1>8 
 
 HISTORY OF AMBBICAN SHIPPIIIO, 
 
 WlMr, C^romhgical Record. * 
 
 1402. Columbas landed with vessels of aoiall tonnage, only one 
 of wMeh iiossesaod a deok. 
 
 1517. Tlie Biacayans of Spain, and the Basques and Bas Bretons of 
 France, we are told by Jefferson, were the first adven- 
 turers with fishing fieeta on our northern ooasts ; as many 
 as " fifty ships being «een lit one time.** 
 
 1577. The French had 150, the Spaniards 100, the Portuguese 
 50, the English only 15 ships in American waters. 
 
 1607. The "Virginia** w« built on the coast of Maine, the year 
 of the first settlement, Virginia, and afterwards plied 
 regularly across the Atlantic, although only of 30 tons. 
 
 1609. Henry Hudson entered the " Manhattan " river in the ser- 
 
 vice of the Butch, commanding the ship " Half Moon.** 
 
 1610. Lor^liili^lre found four sailing-vessels at Norfolk, the Vir- 
 
 ginia, Discovery, Patience, and Deliverance ; but the sec- 
 ond was British, and the last two West Indian — thus pre- 
 saging a ibreign monopoly in the history of our shipping. 
 
 1614. The Onrust** was built by Block, a Knickerbocker. 
 
 1616. England sent over eight ships from London and Plymouth 
 for trading purposes. Capt. John Smith built several 
 ships for fishing. 
 
 1620. The " Mayflower," of 180 tons, landed, December 22, at 
 Plymouth Rock, with the Pilgrim Fathers — ^the mant 
 mmrier of "Free Ships.'* 
 
 1622. The Ply|^pth Company complained of abases on their 
 coast. ' 
 
 1629. The Massachusetts Bay Company, of London, sent ship- 
 
 wright emigrants M^jS f^w England, headed by Robert 
 Moulton. •SHi' 
 
 1630. Shallops," mmUl boats of £0 tons and two masts, were 
 
 common and popular. 
 
 16*^1. The " Blessing of the Bay " was built on the Mystic river, 
 owned principally by Gov. Winthrop, and highly valued. 
 
 16S5, The great shipping name of HoUingsworth first became fa- 
 mous. Richard HoUingsworth, it seems, built the first 
 ships of as heavi/ tonnage as three hundred torn. 
 
 ^Prepared from gOToral authorities and incidental records. 
 
 THE 
 
 CARAVELS 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 WITH NINETY MEN 
 
 COMING TO AMEfilGA 
 
 ' i i" i ft ,j|.p 
 
 SAHTA MAMEA. 
 
 Sttiled from Spain Friday, August 3, 1492. 
 Arriyed at San Salvador, Friday, October 12, 1492. 
 
 (19) 
 
ONE OF THE FIRST SHIPS 
 
 < 
 
 BUILT IN NIW YORK HARBOR. 
 
 lUILT BY ADRUN BL5CK, ON MANKATTAH ISLAND. 
 
 '(Xlieteliocka- Type.) 
 
 9m page 18. 
 
 It is recorded that tlie four huts made hj Bldck for hit mon were the irtt eet- 
 tlemeots on the lower part of the Island. 
 
 Block sailed up the Sound towards Cape Cod, in the Fishery Industry, and 
 rested on the land that still bears hit iiAme-*" Bk>ck Island." (See Coastwise 
 Shipping —Fisheries.) 
 
 (20) 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAJJ SMIPFIHQ. 
 
 21 
 
 1640. Rev. Hugh Peters, of Massachusetts, became noted as a 
 great advocate of " home shipbuilding"— may his name 
 live forever in the history of his country and in the 
 . hearts of our people ! 
 
 1643. William Stephens, a shipbuilder, astonished the Goloniste 
 and the British by building ships of over 600 tonnage at 
 Gloucester. 
 
 1646. Application of the Navigation Laws of England to Colo- 
 nial shipbuilding. Here begins the remarkable jealousy 
 of Great Britain toward the rapid development of our 
 great shipbuilding Industry. m 
 
 1651. British Navigation Laws were again increased in severity, 
 called the " Famous Act," aimed at Dutch and Colonial 
 shipping. Newburyport becomes a shipbuilding yard. 
 
 1660. The act of 1651 made more severe by increased restric- 
 tions against American shipbuilding and trading. 
 
 1668. " Monopoly " begins its history in Colonial trade by British 
 aggrandizement; notwithstanding which, shipping 
 thrives at Salem and Rowley. 
 
 1686. Few York city incorporated, with a shipping interest of ten 
 vessels, and tonnage of less than 100 tons each, and 
 about 200 barks of less than 50 tons each. 
 
 1710. Contentions began between American, British, French 
 and Dutch seamen in the lishing industry ot our coasts'. 
 
 1714. The first schooner " built at Cape Ann, by Capt. Andrew 
 Robinson. 
 
 As early as 1730 the Merchant Marine of the American Colo- 
 nies began to develop so rapidly that commercial jealousy caused 
 England to impose severe tonnage dues, taxes, and restrictions 
 upon Colonial Shipping. 
 
 In 1750 there was held in London a public meeting to "pro- 
 mote British shipping and navigation," the object being to pre- 
 vent ships owned by native Colonists from being employed in the 
 carrying trade between the American Colonial coast and Great 
 Britain. 
 
 In a cursory review of the history of events relating to Ameri- 
 can shipping that followed, and that led to our Navigation Laws, 
 ' It IS only necessary to recall the "Act of Parliament in 1765,"' 
 
HISTORY 01 AMIRICAK SEIPPIKQ 
 
 restricting the exportation of Colonial products, and prohibiting 
 imports and exports, except in Britisli ships. 
 
 The " Tax Slump Act" followed the same year, and the first and 
 early denunllllli^ people of taxation for the 
 
 benefit of foreign shipping was made emphatic on the arival in 
 Few York of the " Tax Stamps," by seizure and consignment to 
 the fiames; an<| ^r, in 1774, by the seizure in Boston of tea 
 consigned to mllAants at that port. 
 
 This brief review brings ns to the struggle for Independence 
 on the seas as well as at home. 
 
 It was for the parental right of the American ship that omr 
 Fathers fought, and yet to-day it is declared " an orphan !" 
 
 Before the creation of our Goveriiment, the greater portion o 
 the Shipping of the American Colonies was owned by mer- 
 chants of Great Britain, as will be seen in comparison with our 
 present ratio, as follows : 
 
 Year. Maiiocff&rmgt^mommMp. Maiio of home ovmer»hi§>. 
 
 The Colonies! 1770 Five-eightlis . Three-eighths- 
 
 The United States *- 1882 Eighty-iv© one hiinaredths. Fifteen one hiindredtht. 
 
 Thus we are forced to look upon a proportionate deterioration * 
 
 more mortifying than we would suppose, even with the knowl- 
 edge of our decadence continually in our mind. 
 
 There has never been a time, during the long period of two 
 centuries, since the far-sighted Sheffield's prediction, that the 
 British Government has not watched, with eagle eye, the 
 progress and decline of our varying fortunes in this industrial 
 development. 
 
 Our American State Papers (commencing with Volume 1) 
 record fully and frequently the endeavors of British cruisers to 
 control even our coasting trade, and " to restrain, generally, our 
 commerce in corn and other provisions." 
 
 It hardly needs to be repeated here that " the abuse of privi- 
 leges in our harbors" and the aid contributed by the (so-called) 
 Tories " to depredations upon our ships and upon those of the 
 Prench,3 led to the enacting of our iJ^avigation Laws, based 
 identically upon those of Great Bntain. 
 
 1 Bused upon data given by Pitkin and by Seybert. 
 • See following pages. 
 
 *See official correspondence of Secretary Jefferson and "citizen Genet, Minister 
 Bini|>ot«iitiary of «i« French Bepublic, to the citizens of the United States." 
 
 MISTOEY OP AMERICAN SfflPPINO. 
 
 28 
 
 Petition after petition #as presented and ur^ed for the enact- 
 ment of navigation laws from States of the North and South. 
 
 The trials of our shippers are indicated in the following ex- 
 tracts from such petitions of trade organizations : 
 
 "It is sufficient for us to join our Northern brethren in assert- 
 ing that we have most severely felt the want of such a navigation 
 act as will place our vessels upon an equality with other nations. 
 
 " Charleston, April 2, 1789. 
 
 "Amongst the advantages looked for from the National Gov- 
 ernment, is the increase of the shipping and maritime strength 
 of the United States of America by laws similar in their nature 
 and operation to the British Navigation Act.^ 
 
 " Baltimore, May 4, 1789." 
 
 Here, and from these causes, began this system of committees 
 investigating into the condition of our Merchant Marine. 
 On Angust 7th, 1789, it was — 
 
 ^'Ordered, That a committee be appointed to bring in a bill for 
 further encouragement of our commerce, and the protecting of 
 the navigation of the United States." 
 
 The Annals of Congress are so full of interesting debates on 
 this great economic, and so clear, that it is surprising that any 
 doubt could exist in the minds of any one as to the cause of the 
 
 <}reation of our Navigation Laws, especially in the writings of 
 ■one who claims to be a friend and expounder of our shipping 
 conditions, and it is incomprehensible that any one should be*^ 
 misled by the idea that such laws could by any means be associ- 
 ated wi^ slavery restrictions. 
 
 The Annals (Vol. 11, p. 1685) record the following evidence: 
 
 On the 22d July, 1790, Mr. Goodhue, from the committee ap- 
 pointed for the purpose (of framing Navigation Laws) presented 
 a bill for registering ships or vessels, for regulating those employed 
 the coasting trade and fisheries, and for other purposes, which was 
 read twice and committed. ^ 
 
 *S«« also following pages, under heading "Navigation Laws," for importaat 
 -data. 
 
 ■ Since the above was written as an arffuinent for the Joint Select Committee, 
 •one of its ratmbers, the Hon. Mr. Cox, m a speech in Congress, January 6, upon 
 the bill n^torted hj that committee, refers to the work Siat the writer bad in 
 
HIBTOET OW AMIEIOAH Slimif0. 
 
 There was, however, no deiiiite aeilon mmn upon this hill 
 until the foH«i^g session of Congress. 
 
 On Decem.heiEiilt|iilli(||{ of Bepresentatives, in Com* 
 
 mittee of the Whole — 
 
 ^*JResdved^ That it is the opinion of this Committee that a bill 
 oQght to be brought in for the farther encouragement oC the 
 navigation of the United States." 
 
 And it was — 
 
 I **Ordered, That a committee he appointed to prepare and brin^ 
 in a bill or bills pursuant to said resolution, and that Messis. 
 Boudinot, Jackson, Tucker, Ashe, Parke, Smith, Clvmer, Vin- 
 ing, Benson, Sherman, Goodhue, and Foster be of" said com- 
 mittee." 
 
 II I I I IPT' '' 'III I I llllll^l 
 
 These w«il||M predecessors of the members of your Joint 
 Committee, and the noMe and wise patriots who framed and 
 made onr Navigation Laws. 
 
 As quoted above from American State Papers, it will be, seen 
 that opilll^^ lifll^^ upon onr people by the 
 
 collusions between a great number of Tory citizens of the United 
 ' States and the British and ** depredations upon our ships." 
 
 mind, and quotes tiM iunii m iMnrily to settle the point, without doubt, m 
 
 follows : Mr. C5o» s«i4^llli^^^^^ 
 
 ** It is bejoud douM that the origin of our navigation laws was a compact 
 with ilafery. This, David A. Wells has shown most vividly rn his volume on 
 the *]fefcanttle Marine.' New England was en^^uged in shipping and ia 
 Iransporting and selling slaves to the South. She desired to hold the monopoly 
 of that trade. This she secured for a periodi by the extension of the titti 
 
 *thQ "imm^^^^^li^ Mr. Bftncrollyii||||||^ recent " History of the Constitu-' 
 tUni,'* effectually dfnMteea of such theory fn several parts of his valuable and 
 interesting worK. He sayi, referring to the action on the slave trade, this 
 4m&mm wm mitpkd with m ilmmmmd' of priviUgm for IA« shipping interest^'* (p. 
 161, vol. 2.) ' 
 
 The compromise made between the Northern Representatives and those of 
 G«onua and South Carolina, moved by Mr. Finckuey, of South Carolina, and 
 .■4|||l|pl by Mr. Gbrham, of M'aisachusetts, was ** to extend the time allowed for 
 the importation of slavee MU lA« feur vis., for twenty years, (p. 168, 
 
 vol. 2.) 
 
 Cocke, in his "History of the Constitution," speaks of ''compromising upon 
 equal privileges of ports for the slave-trading ship^,'' but where is the association, 
 to say nothing of the van! «f irvidence, !n the opposition to slavery of our own 
 people and the protection of their own commerce, products and pride ft*om 
 racroachments of British ships running around our ports and over to the West 
 Indies. Buch an assertion is a dernier resort in the sophistry presented in 
 b«hs1f of free ships. 
 
 liOrd Sieileld attributes our laws to the British and Jamaica '' Rum trade." 
 and to *' French attachments." Tho Aitiiiils of Congress are, however, oor onljr 
 
 authority. 
 
 MISfORT 09 AlCIRICAir SRIPPIIIO. 
 
 25 
 
 President Washiegton coKimeiitecl in sitefal special m^sfiges 
 upon tbese facts, in forwarding communications of Secretary 
 Jefferson and (bis snceessor) Secretary Randolph, particularly of 
 trading vessels carrying mounted guns, " vessels loaded with 
 flour and lumber bound to Barbadoes," (from Philadelphia and 
 Charleston) " of 300 tons burden, and had mounted tour small 
 guns "—to protect trade 1 (American State Papers.) 
 
 The Qoveroor of Maryland (Thomas S. Lee) reported many 
 like cases, one of a British ship in the port of Baltimore with 
 twelve pieces of ordnance. " Those guns," he says, " are not 
 taken as an article of merchandise, but for ofiensive measures," 
 and which dodged the law and ran out of port on suspicion. 
 
 In view of the very clear and empliatic testimony of an Ameri- 
 can President, an American Secretary of State, the several Gov- 
 ernors of the States, the citizens of the port cities and coast of 
 those States, all recording in harmony the cause of the creation 
 of our iS^avigation Laws in official papers, to be told at this day 
 in argumentative work, as by Mr. Wells, in a recent publication 
 . mis-entitled " Owr Merchant Marine,"* that those laws were a 
 concession in compromise wUh slavery, is most astounding, com- 
 ing from one so able and well informed. 
 
 Mr. Wells quotes from Mr. Mason, of Virginia, " that this in- 
 fernal traffic originated in the avarice of British merchants," 
 ** about this ne&riotie traffic," Ac ; but where is the application 
 of this to the depredations of British ships upon American com- 
 merce, so distinctly described by Minister Adams, at the Court of 
 St. James, who wrote as follows: 
 
 ** This being the state of things, you may depend upon it the 
 commerce of the United States will have no relief at present, 
 nor, in my opinion, ever, until we shall have passed navigation 
 acts. If snch measure is noi; adopted we shall be derided, and 
 the more we sufier the more will our calamities be laughed at." 
 
 The only point of Mr. Wells that appears to indicate any asso- 
 ciation of the two subjects in the minds of the fathers of our 
 country is in a letter of Luther Martin, in which he intimates 
 that an agreement was made to lay " no restriction on navigation 
 
 * Regarding the right of such title to a work, the writer claims priority by 
 copyright of Library of Congress, 1877— if the copyright is worth more than the 
 cost— and has since made inquiry of the principal Librarians whether such title, 
 With prefix " Our," had previously appeared; and has been assured to the con- 
 trary. 
 
acts between wMoli (quoted) words Mr. llliott ineerto " the 
 enactment of/' It is not an original qnotatlon, bnt seems to 
 lia¥e been constroedto snlt « Elliott's BebiHes/* fdr It closes in 
 ambigoity, viz : "and the restrictive claoae, relative to navi^ 
 tiion acts, was to be omitted/' It would require a decisioa of 
 ilie Snpreroe Court as to the meaning of these words. 
 
 ThuA ^iiiilk' Am^teft Bhli^ng was stniggltng under 
 the severe rtitNplctlons of British jeriousy, and how it improved 
 under the festering care of on? ggfly fethers, the effect of which 
 will be better seen in the following statistics of loss in exports 
 and increase of im{iort% as a fweid trade upon the American 
 Cblonasts, vt«: 
 
 1697 — - . $130,000 $340,000 
 
 woe 225,000 455,000 
 
 lf« 72,000 855,000 
 
 1760 - — 87,000 2,900,000 
 
 1770 — 760,000 7,100,000 
 
 1776 - 4,000 276,000 
 
 1780 ^WtW 17,160,000 
 
 The 4rst Congress, consequently, as shown, (pages 17, 18, 19,) 
 diiected its attention to controverting the inluences above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 1772. There were 182 vessels built, viz: 128 in Euglaad, 15 in 
 Mew York, 1 in Hew Jersey, 8 in Pennsylvania, 8 in 
 Maryland, 7 in Virginia, 8 in ¥orth Carolina, 2 in South 
 Ctirolina, 5 in Georgia, and 10 in other Colonies not 
 named. 
 
 1776. It was in the year of our Independence that the first at- 
 tempts wei ijM navigate our great Ohio and Missis- 
 sippi rivers. (See following pages, " Inland Shipping.") 
 Some attempts were being made at this period to apply 
 steam to navigation, but very ineffectually. 
 
 1778. Thomas Paine reo<wd»d his " Common Sense " by memo- 
 rialiring Congress to subsidize and thereby encourage 
 the building of steamboats, " to go against tide aud 
 stream." 
 
 17iL John Paul Jones built the first ship of the United States 
 Kavy, at Portsmouth, H. 
 
 MISfOET OF AlfERIOAir SaiPPIllO, 
 
 27 
 
 1784. James Bumsey, of Ceeil coitnty, Maryland, eirhibited 
 before General Washington and others, on the Potomac 
 river, a boat propelled by mechanism — the first success, 
 ful attempt ever made in the world, of which authentic 
 testimony is at baiibi 
 
 Of this fact there is abundance of proof in the correspondence 
 of Washington, in the archives of the Department of State, Wash- 
 ington, and in the Annals ^ Congress of later years, which, as 
 will be seen, establishes the right and title of James Rurasey to 
 the immortal glory of being the first developer of the great 
 blessing to mankind of steam navigation. He possessed the 
 confidence of the "Father of our Country," and the omis- 
 sion of justice to his memory by his oountrymen, and 
 the worldy as well as its important identity with American 
 Shipping, demands public consideration, and prompts the writer 
 to more fully detail this record of history than would otherwise 
 be presented. 
 
 Report 317, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 2d Ses- 
 sion, records : 
 
 "That about the beginning of the year 1784 James Rumsey 
 built a boat at Shepherdstown, in the county of Berkeley, Vir- 
 ginia, intended to be propelled by steam ; that in the fall of that 
 
 1 A work of Thomas Gonzales, Director Royal Archives of Spain, records an 
 attempt to apply some mechanical force to a boat by Blanco de Garay. in Smunt 
 1648. *^ 
 
 The "Century of Inventions," by the Marquis of Worcester, 1665, also refers 
 to similar efforts. In 1690, Denys Papin, of France ; in 1736, Jonathan Hulls, 
 of England, of whom his unappreciative neighbors, recorded the following speci- 
 nmn of doggrel and ridicule : 
 
 * 
 
 , "Jonathan Hulls 
 
 With his patent skulls 
 
 Invented a machine 
 
 To go against wind and stream, 
 
 Bat ne beinK an ass, 
 
 Ooaldnt bring it to pass, 
 And so was ashamed to be seen.** 
 
 ^Notwithstanding, Hulls was wise and his deriders foolish, aft is generally the 
 caes, (and notably so on the part of the outsider who wrote the " Cominiltee's 
 Questions " deriding American Shipping) ; in 1769, Genevois, of Switaerlaiid ; in 4 
 1774, the Perier Bros., of France, invented unsuccessful contrivances^ all imprac- 
 ticable and futile. Hence, as will be seen further on in this argument, to Rum- 
 sey, Fitch, Fulton, and others, (see pp. 39, 41,) Americans, belongs the glory of 
 practical application of steam to vessels j and yet it is asked to-d^y : 
 
 " Can Americans build ships ? " 
 
'28 
 
 UISTOBY' 09 AifSEIOAll SBIPPIM0. 
 
 war, tlie macliiiiery and the boat being ready, said Rumsey, his 
 orother-in-law, (Cbas. Morrow,) and Nicholas Orrick went on 
 board the boat, when th^ngppiie was pushed iuto the stream, 
 the machinery was put in motion by the application of steam, 
 and the boat was actually propelled by its a^ncy, althongh not 
 to' the satls&etion of th:fl|| | j|entor?'' 
 
 With the above brief extract froni an official document, it is 
 proper as well as interesting to give the following affidavit of 
 Washington: 
 
 I have seen the model of Mr, Bnmsey's boat, eonstructed to 
 work against the stream ; examined the powers upon which it 
 acts; been an eye witness lo an miml experiment in running 
 
 K»rs of some rapidity, and give it as my opinion (although I 
 Mk faith before) that he has discovered the art of worlcing 
 boats by mechanism and small manual assistance i^iiist rapid 
 currents; that the discovery is of vast importance — may be of 
 the greatest usefulness in our inland navigation [!] and if it suc- 
 ceeds, of which I have no doubt, the value of it is greatlv en- 
 hanced by the simplicity of the work, which, when explained, 
 may he executed by the most common mechanic. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal, in the town of Bath, county 
 «f Berkeley, in the State of Virginia, this 7th day of September, 
 1784, Qiomoi WASHiif®TON." 
 
 Maryland and Virjgfinia immediately (October, 1784) passed 
 Acts of Legislation granting certain privileges for ten years. 
 Mew York soon granted the same privilesre. 
 ^J^y .as i^i^with a d.«lM &mUy, and coold not 
 i i^S ithe headway fin desired witiHE&dequate facilities and for 
 want of good workmen.. 
 
 In 1785 he developed his steam principle, and had a boiler 
 made in Frederick county, Md. His correspondence with 
 Washington (Ibis complains of one John Fitch " coming 
 
 around and endeav«iSii||^^^^^^^^ to take the idea of steamboats from 
 him/' By the aid of friends, Rumsey went to Europe to work 
 up his engine, and it was while absent that it appears influence 
 was brought to bear (especially upon Patrick Henry) to under- 
 mine his grants Irom th|y||||||litture8 of the several States. 
 
 It was from Europe n» soniiiy wrote to friends about a 
 young man by the name of Robert FuU&n^ in whom he took an 
 interest, as will be shown further on. 
 
 MISTOaT Of AMBEIOAN SHIPPING. 29 
 
 A Report of Congress {Mmrek 2, 1887,) says: 
 
 "Although Fulton is entitled to the honor of success, still, in the opinion of 
 your Committee * * * fhat the labors of Rumsey were calculated to direct 
 attention of those skilled in mechanical science to the subject of steam naviga- 
 tion, and to lead to tho>e imnrovements which have so eminently advanced this 
 eountry and the whole world, there can be no doubt." 
 
 THE FIRST STEAMBOAT IN THE WORLD. 
 
 OF MA.RYLAND. 
 
 Exhibited before 6eiier»1 WasMagton and many otiien, on the Fotomac, 
 near the Capital of the Nation, 1784 and 1787. ^ 
 
 The boat was calcnlated to carry 100 barrels of flour. 
 
 Vol. 70, litports of Congress, No, 817, page 6, records the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 " Numerous pereoni Hmhh llie iwunlry, as well as men, women, and children firom 
 town, attended, ^^le bank of the river was crowded by spectators. 0«^p||^ 
 Charles Morrow was placed at the helm, and James Rumsey attended to i^e 
 boiler and machinery. No gentlemen were permitted to go into the beat, though 
 six or seven ladies were prevailed on to take seats in her. After some delay, 
 while all eyes were fixed on the boat, she started, and proceeded up the river at 
 the rate of three miles the hour, * * * in the midst of cheers and huzzas by 
 the crowd. ^- * Gen. Horatio Gates, who was nearsighted, had intently 
 
 watched the boat by the help of his glass, exclaimed : ' She goes — by , she 
 
 goes! ' He appeared in ecstasies. The boat having run up the river about haU 
 a mile, returned * * * amid the tumultuous joy of the crowd." 
 
 * As explained above, the boat of Rumsey, of 1784, was not as nmch developed. 
 This illustrates the development made afterwards. See foUowiog evideaea. 
 
The following testimoniiil explains this great advance made in 
 the Shipping of the world by the genius of an American me- 
 
 ebanie : 
 
 ** OBRTIFIOAVl <m aJUIBSAL OATJW. 
 
 •*0n MoBclmy, BmaoiIiw 8, 1787, 1 wis requeilfi, to see an. ox|i6ci;iiB«n%.'Oil'"'l]io 
 Ft>toiiiftG river, iiiai« hy Jamm Bmnaojr'a timtm boat, and had no smalt pleataro 
 
 to am her get on her waj, with near half h«r httrthen on board, and move agaUui 
 li« eurrmt mi ths mlto of thrm wuim am hmtr, by ik§ foree of Mieamf vfkhoui amf 
 miermal ^plieatum whaiever. I am well informed, and verily believe, thai lha 
 machlna at jiresent h very imperfect, and not yet capable of performino; what it 
 could do if completed. I have not the least doubt but it may bo brought into 
 common use and be of great advantage to navigation, as the machine is simple, 
 light, and cheap, and will be exceedingly durable, and does not occupy a space of 
 more than four fttt by two and a half. 
 
 HORATIO GATES, 
 Late Mi4. of tU Contiamial Arm§," 
 
 Similar certiicates are on file in the Department of State, 
 signed by Charles MjMy, Eobert Stubbs, Henry Bedinger, 
 Thomas. White, AbrahOTBbpberd., and others. 
 
 This was, it is trae, an improved boat of Rurasey's over that 
 first exhibited by him before General Washington, iu 1784, but, 
 as will be seen from the foUoidng letter, was prematurely exhib- 
 ited • 
 
 **JUmjLFQLmt Beeember 17, 1187. 
 
 **'fo' Hit liiiillency, 
 
 ••0io:iWK Washiiigton, 
 
 *^ Mount Vernon. 
 
 •* Si»: Enclosed you have copies of two certificates of what the boat has per- 
 fbrmed. at some trials we have been making. I have a number more, but as 
 they are the same it tubstance, I thought it not necessary to copy them. We 
 exhibiftt|||jpBr many disadvantages, and should not have come forth publicly 
 iintll 8pri%'|jf it had not been for Mr. Fitch's stealing a march on me in Vir- 
 gi'iiia«*'' 
 
 Mr. Enmsey continues in tlAiliil6# in a strain of complaint 
 against Mr. Fitch, and ennmerating his trials and need of means 
 to support his &mily while experimenting, and closes : 
 
 *• I can lay hii|||||tiiat however unfortunate I have been in the attempts, 
 my greateit .ambit|iii|,,it and has been to deserve your esteem. ♦ « » Tour 
 letter to Oo¥ernor Johnson prevenM lir. Fiteh lh)m getting an Aet hme* Ton 
 have, sir, ny sincerest thanks for the many favors you have oonfinrred on me. 
 
 I mm yomr ni'ttch obliged and humble servant, ISMM' 
 
 HISTORY OF AMEBICAN fiHIPPMie. 
 
 The following testimony serves here to complete this record, 
 viz: 
 
 •* I have seen both Mr. Fitch's and Mr. Rumsey's machinery. Mr. Bumsey's 
 plan is much the most eligible, simple, and practicable. Mr. Fitch's machinery 
 appears bulky, weighty, and complicated, leaving little room in the boat. * ♦ 
 I do therefore give it as my opinion that Mr. Rumsey's plan is to be preferred. 
 
 «'Gi ven under my hand at Shepherdstown, Berkeley county, Virginia, Decern- 
 l>®rl|1787. HENBY BEDINGEK." 
 
 Ramsey and Fitch thus became more occupied with patent law 
 smts than with the development of their great inventions. 
 Hence Fulton (see following pages,) in 1807, carried off Ram- 
 sey's lanrels. mmm 
 
 In 1788 " The Rumsey Society" was formed with Franklin at 
 its head to aid Rumsey ; and he again went to England to per- 
 fect the building of his machinery, but the strmn upon his mind — 
 of genius, poverty, and the protection of his rights combined— 
 was too much, and the sad news soon came from Europe that 
 Mr. Rumsey had suddenly died '' from inflammation of the brain," and 
 thus he was denied the honor and reward tliat awaited his ardu- 
 ous and persevering enterprise. His last letter was left unmgned. 
 Mr. John Beale Howard wrote, (see page 5, same Report of Con- 
 gress) : 
 
 **M Mr. Fulton wns In BngUmd at the time of Mr. Bumsey's death, aai bfti 
 
 hem intimate with him it is probable that he had means of aoeass to the matured 
 
 model and pi^rs of Rumsey and may deserve %pplause for improvements made 
 
 in steam, but James Bumsey is certainly entitled to the fame and gratitude of his 
 
 countrymen for his enterprise and the original invention of propelling vessels by 
 steam." 
 
 Mr. Henry Bedinger, whose testimony is quoted above is also 
 recorded as writing : 
 
 Thus died James Kumsey, in the midst of hope of success of years of study and 
 perseverance ; and his family and descendants have remained unrewarded and in 
 poverty^ although the world of mankind have availed themselves of his invenOonat 
 and profited by them. It is siiid and believed here that Mr. Fulton by some means 
 possessed himself of the experiments and inventions of James Rumsey and after 
 his death claimed and received the honor and profit of the invaluable experiments 
 and inventions of the said Rumsey. Of one thing, I am sure, that the name of 
 Fulton as the inventor of the application of steam to propelling ships or boats, 
 was never heard of while Rumsey was making his experiments at Shepherdstown. 
 Further, to corroborate this, a certain Mr. Pitch, the author of" Fitch's Maps of the 
 liakes," appeared at Shepherdstown, incog., with the hope, as he confessed, of catch- 
 
S2 BISfORY Of AMI&ICAK SHIPPim 
 
 ing some insight of Biimsey's experiments ; he was discovered, and escaped with- 
 mt personal injury [see pg® T, Report 317, 24 Cong., 2d Sess ] I am confident 
 James Rumsey was the inventor of applying steam to purposes of navigation ; 
 and am ready to appeal to all yet living who saw his boat, and observed its pro- 
 
 Mtess^* 
 
 was inade in 1889, to aid the destitnto deacendants 
 of Mr. Bemfiey bat whicli, simila? to the neglect to American 
 Shipping to-day, Mled as will he herewith seen. 
 
 " ReMohed by the Senate and Home of Representatives of the United States in Con- 
 ^mm ametnbledf That the President be, and he is liereby, requested to present to 
 James Rumsey, Jr., the son and only surviving child of James Rumsey, deceased, 
 a suitable gold medal, commemorative of his father's services and high agency 
 in giving to the world the benefits of the Steamboat." 
 
 The resolution was read the first and second time, and the further consideration 
 thereof was postponed until Saturday next. 
 
 Feb. 9, 1839. The House proceeded to the consideration of the resolution. 
 
 Resolution (No. 46) requesting the Fresident to present to James Rumsey, Jr., 
 m gold medal. 
 When it was 
 
 Ordered, That t1i«^Hresolation be engrossed and read the third time to-day. 
 The said «MMi^ ^^^'^^iNHIlAV ^ ^^'^ pamd, 
 
 Feb. 11, lilw 
 
 Feb. 12, 1889. Referred to Committee on Jadiciary. 
 Feb. 15, 1839. Reported adversely by Judiciary Committee. 
 March 2, 18S9. Mwolution rejected by the Senate— doubtless 
 
 through influences brought to bear after It 
 passed the House of Sepresentatives. 
 
 M^re are given some pages of history illustrative of the debt 
 due by the world to American shipping, and due by oar country 
 to an American ship-builder— a phase of history so often repeated 
 of InjustiiirMHl neglect to this greatest of all Industries, especi- 
 ally to the United States. 
 
 It is here presented for the consideration of the Select Com- 
 mittee and for the people in contradistinction to the unnatural 
 and incorrect insinuation of the Committee's Questions pro- 
 pounded, and hoping HnHtMi greater the omissions of the past, 
 greater may be th e future provisions agam^soch history 
 
 being repeateJPP'^'"'^' • PiPf 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 mU^WmmA fiM- itony incid«n«|.«t MHory that Symington, of England, 
 obtaiaflillli Idea of iIMmi navigation flMilK iMliiisey'i exhibition on the Thames, 
 
 m hi» primiii was identical, (in after years,) and yet Lindsay and other British 
 writers make the severest reiectiona iipoa Fulton for imitating Symington. For 
 llirthor comintnl upon mmt points of hlitorj see following pages. (1807.) 
 
 HrSTOBY OF AMIBICAH SHIPPING. 38 
 
 The effi>rts to apply steam ('* navigation by ire ") were as many 
 fis the months of the year. 
 
 1790. Oliver Evans, of Pennsylvania; Nathan Bead, of Maasa* 
 
 chusetts; Charles Beynolds, of Connecticut; William 
 Longstreet, of Georgia, and many others, all " came 
 near" acquiring the immortal distinction of Fulton. 
 
 1791. January 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander 
 
 Hamilton, reported to Speaker Mnhlenbei^ Ae follow- 
 ing condition of our Shipping : 
 
 Total tonnage of the United States : 
 
 American vessels employed in the foreign 
 
 trade ^ 363 093 
 
 American coasters above 20 tons 11™ 113 181 
 
 American vessels on the fisheries ™ 26^252 
 
 rr X 1 i? . ■ 602,526 
 
 Total foreign tonnage . oao qiq 
 
 United States and British -11111111111111117"" 312 
 
 United States and other foreign IJll'Il'lHI'"!'" 338 
 
 Total •'^ ..766,089 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the tannage of foreign ships in our 
 ports at the time of the enactment of those laws was about one- 
 half of that of our own. 
 
 The most remarkable coincidence in the history of American 
 shipping, however, is the following exhibit of the conditions of 
 this great industry, taken verbatim from the report of the Secre- 
 tary of Staje, Thomas Jefferson, to Congress on February 2, 1791 
 in reference to the coastwise depredations upon our commerce 
 and shipping. 
 
 Secretary Jefiisrson first presents our 
 
 ADYANTACklBS. > 
 
 neighborhood of the great fisheries, which permits 
 tld ImuZT ^""""^ ^^^'"^ ^""^^^ theu" wives 
 
 " 2d. The shore fisheries so near at hand as to enable the vessels 
 to run into port in a storm, and so lessen the risk for whidi dis. 
 tant nations must pay insurance. 
 
 urnLw '^^^^^J^^herles, like household manufactures, 
 
 employ portions of tim# which would otherwise be useless. 
 
 ^Amedoan Stat© Papers— Commerce and Navigation 
 
 3H 
 
i# HISIOBY m AMBiimN SHlPPIHe. 
 
 **4tli. The smallness of tbe vessels which the shortness of the 
 ¥ojfi^ enables us to employ, and which consequently require but 
 m small capital. 
 
 *^l|lli|l|ini0 cheapness of our yessels, which do not cost the half 
 of the Baltic ir vessels, computing price and duration. 
 
 6th. Their eicellence as sea-boats, which decreases the risk 
 and quickens the feturns. 
 
 •«ttk The superiority of our mariners in skill, activity, enter- 
 pnse, sobriety, and order. 
 
 «< 8th. The ^^hMPess of provisions. 
 
 §th. The cheapness of casks, which of iliilf is said to be equal 
 to an extra profit of 15 per cent." 
 
 Secretary JefliiMii then points to the causes that even at that 
 early period undermined our shipping interests. 
 
 TiY&ATi'irA'ii'i'Aimn 1 
 
 *< lst. The loss of the Mediterninean markets. 
 
 *«2d. Exclusion from the markets of some of our neighbors. 
 
 ♦*Sd. High duties (tariff) in those of others. 
 
 *«4th. Mmmtimmihe imUmiit^ eompemm wMh m» 
 
 What a forcible illnstnition again of history repeating itself! 
 JElEere are actually the words of Thomas Jefieraon to Congress in 
 1791, telling as it were o-ifl ^^ condition to-day ; 'yet statesmen 
 seem not yet to have learned the evils and the causes of continued 
 depression of American shipping. 
 
 The pages of history tell so emphatically and stfangely the 
 iimilarity in the events and conditions to those of our shipping 
 to-day that liMpsthey rewritten Midi published as current news 
 their application would be complete. There is the same necessity 
 i>r national protection to the ship, the same Ibreign bounty is 
 paid— only greater and more cunningly — the same dependence 
 or monopoly of American commerce sought and to be resisted. 
 
 Indeed the MM^^ bf fiir to preeent to the country 
 IB history. In fiK^pSSltli^^ more eloquently than by 
 tongue or pen, will be heard the pleadings of the foreign des- 
 troyer of our Industries ; the same old Tory cry against the truth, 
 and the Mnt attempts to ridicule the efforts of those who favor 
 
 ^AoMtiiisii. Stato fi|i«r»— €oiiiiii«veo sod. Wftvifaliim. 
 
 The CflIU) OF AMEBICM INDUSTBT calM "AN ORFIAN; 
 
 AND MADE 
 
 A GALLEY SLAVE. 
 
m 
 
 BI8T0RY Of AMERICAN SHIPPING 
 
 liome ships grows bolder Ikrai discouragement and loss to those 
 who have endeavored to risk their personal wealth without that 
 hountj given to their competitors, as Mr. Jefferson has expressed 
 
 shove* »ia,aMimiw»..- , 
 
 l?i7. The three reaowned United States frigates were laonched— 
 the " Constitotton " of Boston which, while under Hull, 
 Morris, and Stewart, was proudly termed the ** Old Iron- 
 sides," from her staunchness and remarkable naval 
 reeotd--->s^ Jloaimg^ although remodeled into a Sohod- 
 ship; ihe " IFnited States," of Philadelphia, termed the 
 Old Wagon, also renowned ; and the « Constellation," 
 of Baltimore, so bravely fought by Truxtun. 
 1800. During the preceding decade American Shipping suffered 
 ¥i6is8it|i||8 that would have destroyed the commercial 
 enterprise of an J people of lees courage or perseverance. 
 The innate nautical talent and skill of Americans was indes- 
 tructible, their marine spirit irrepressible. 
 
 A singular history of circumstances in the blending of the 
 J|l«liui0% the trials, and ultimate achievements of four Ameri- 
 ciai dMliMd to revolutionize the Shipping of the world, occur- 
 red at this date, vill l i ^^ acquaintance and cooperation 
 between Chancellor Livingston and Nicholas J. Roosevelt, of 
 New York, John Cox Stevens, of 2^ew Jersey, and Robert Ful- 
 ton. 101^"- 
 As shown, (on fi^vBl,) Fulton had met Bnmsey in Fans. 
 
 Livingston was tben United States Minister there. And these 
 four all combined to develop steam in Shipping. Fulton — 
 American like — accomplished two things at once, in marrying 
 the Chancellor's daughter and in inaugurating steam naviga* 
 tion. (See pages B9-4L) 
 
 II'lM^tiring this (last) decade that Stephen Girard and Isaac 
 Hazlehurst, of Philadelphia, began their " Philadelphia, New Or- 
 leans, and San Doniingo Line," under great difficulties, but finally 
 established their success with those beautiful ships built on the 
 Delaware, mid called by Girard *'¥oltaire," Bouaseau," and 
 
 MIH^ opened a remunerative .Asiatic trade. 
 
 w'T'w II iiWiwiiirT'lp iii||i|i|fii 'HrHllli"^,! I ' ■ 
 
 Congress having taken the control of our tonnage rights, 
 placed a sacred clause in our Constitution, which, to the shame of 
 4>nr official record, has been outrageously violated, viz : 
 
 «* M S$mk »Mi wiBomt lit emmni of Om^rm lay any duiy ujmmi immaye," 
 
 HISf 0B¥ Of AMBBIGAH SSIPflirO. 
 
 87 
 
 Why the violation of this clause has been pennllted, is beyond 
 the comprehension of any " Constitutional judge," except as a 
 result peculiar to the enactments of our Shipping " Court of Errors " 
 — the American Congress of later years. 
 
 Meanwhile British depredations upon omr commerce continoed. 
 
 MsmorialB from every port of our coast were made fiom 
 time to lime and fi^m which the folloi;li(piid;ract8 are taken, 
 and of which there are volumes : 
 
 Message 
 
 0/ the President of the United States to OmgresSy JwMtary 29, 1806. 
 
 Having received from sundry merchants at Baltimore a 
 memorial on the same subject with those which I commu- 
 nicated to Congress with my message of the 17th inst., I now 
 commnnicate this also as a proper sequel to the former, and as 
 making part of the mass of evidence of the violations of our 
 rights on the ocean. ' ■-'HHIP 
 
 Thomas Jefjfersoit. 
 
 Memokial. 
 
 To the President of the United States and the Senate oM Mouse of Rep- 
 • resenkitives, 
 
 (A paper of 25 pages.) 
 
 * * * :a|l' 
 
 Your memorialists will not trespass upon your time with a re- 
 cital of the various acts by which our coasts, and even our ports 
 and harbors, have been converted into scenes of violence and 
 depredation, by which the security of our trade and propertv ha& 
 been impaired. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Mark Pringle. William Wilson. 
 
 Hugh Thompson. Luke Tiernan. 
 
 John Sheriock. Robert Gilmore. 
 
 John Strieker. J. A. Buchanan. 
 
 Lemuel Taylor. John Hollins. 
 
 Henry Payson. James Calhoun. 
 
 Benjamin Williams. Alexander McKim. 
 
 Thomas Tenant. WiUiam Patterson. 
 
 David Stewart Samuel Sterett 
 
 John Swan. John Donnell. 
 
 Thomas Hollingsworth. William Lorman. 
 
 Joseph Sterett. William Taylor. 
 
 George Stiles. Stewart Brown. 
 Balwmojus, Jmmrjf 21, 1806. 
 
 The New York Chamber of Commerce memorialized Congress 
 to evince a deeper interest in behalf of our shipping, as will bo 
 seen in the following extract: 
 
BISf ORY 01 AMIRIOAH »HIPPIlia 
 
 ** The active enterprise of ilie American mercbants is con- 
 stantly looking abroad to every part of tbe world for a market, 
 md if it is any wbere to be fonnd, or if there is only a reason- 
 able presumption that it may be found, the farmer meets with 
 a ready vent for his produce. Perhaps the calculation of the 
 merchant may be disappointed, and he even ruined, yet the mis- 
 fortune reaches not tlie &rmer,be has the same benefit of a good 
 market 
 
 "But should American vessels ever disappear, he must then 
 be entirely at the mercy of chance adventures for a market, and 
 when the demand if not verjr great the price of the freiorht will 
 be deducted from iie article itself All this must necessarily (end 
 emea^edfy to iessm ike value of the farmer's produce.'* 
 
 Here is still another illustration that the history of to-day is 
 but tWMill^^ of lamentations on account of our Shipping for 
 a centniy; 'Si; too, is forcibly presented the pecmiiary interest 
 of the American farmer, developed by shipping enterprise at 
 home, in contradistinction from dependence upon foreign ships 
 and foreign shipbuilding. 
 
 44pnnif m January 28, 1806, tbe Secretary of State, James 
 IMson, appealed to Congress for further protection to our ship- 
 ping, and setting |||^^ against the 
 
 The history of Our MEeifehant Marine for the first half century 
 of Ameriean Independence is jjlorious to review, not, however, 
 without vicissitudes and trials. 
 
 IMi^^ and protected hy^NIi wise Stateamen of their age, 
 the rapid strides made In commerce and navigation are unprece- 
 dented in the annals of nations. Yet you have asked, why we 
 cannot have ships l^g^ 
 
 So great was th^piK of our Statesmen of that period, and so 
 deteroM their judgaiMMito uphold it, that the war of 1812 
 was preferred to renunciation of their " Revolutionary prin- 
 ciples" or to the loss of American-built ships. 
 
 • mmf9^m$§gfsm Wfeated. 
 
 Sbglaiid omitinued Btrtking at onr commerce, but our Stales- 
 men then stood firm, and Amiila won. 
 
 ffPfi 1800 to 1850, the United States* Flag was prominent on 
 eveiy ocean. Our country eEoelled all other nations, and the 
 Baltimore Clipper" was the champion of the world and the pride 
 of onr people. 
 
 BISTORT OF AMERIOiyf SlIPFim 
 
 39 
 
 1807* Robert Fulton applied steam to propelling a ship in con- 
 stant daily service, ai^d practically inaugurated a new 
 era in the Shipping of the world, liunisey, as we 
 have seen, by death, lost the golden opportunity to 
 achieve immortality in fame, and Fulton harvested his 
 hard-ploughed field and gave the fruit to the world. 
 
 The failures of Fitch had caused the Legislature of New York 
 to revoke a grant given to him, and extended the same privilege 
 to Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State, and the finan- 
 <$ial, iaithful, and sanguine backer of Fulton. 
 
 "Steamship" became a synonymous term with **the €han- 
 43ellor*8 hobby," and indeed he, like Rnmsey, Fitch, and Fulton, 
 was often pronounced crazy by those who possessed no talent to 
 appreciate advancement. 
 
 It was on August, 7, 1807, that the " Clermont " steamed from 
 the foot of Gourtlandt street up the Hudson river. **The 
 wharves, piers, housetops, and every coigne of vantage were 
 filled with spectators." Of twelve berths, every one was taken, 
 at $7, through to Albany, on her trial trip. 
 
 CLBKMONT, 
 
 OB 
 
 OF CLERMONT. 
 
 Named aflar Fulton's wife, daughter of Chancellor Livingston, 
 
 BUILT BY CHABLKS BBOWK, HXW TOBBI.. 
 
m 
 
 As tit iKMit steamed out from the dook her oonmittiidir was 
 greeted with both jeers and cheers. 
 
 Fulton wrote : I ran ap in thirty-two hours and down in 
 thirif hours." It was ISO miles, thus inaMng §.w% miles per 
 li0iir. 
 
 It is Impossible here t il ll ii iui erate the incidents of sueb a 
 great episode and revolution in Shipping; the eftect was thrilling 
 to all, of delight to many, of terror to others, especially to sailors. 
 
 « The crews shrank beneath their decks firom the terrific sight, 
 and others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to 
 .protect them from the applil^^ the terrible monster which 
 Wis marching ap the Me, iigliting its path by the fires which it 
 vomited/* 
 
 "PrmifDT^ WITT 11 A TOT 
 
 Mill mm a ± M U Xj 1 11 in . 
 
 '^Hie XiegiB]i|||||||||||piii|pf BTew ^||p|^j|^||^|iad gruited a monopoly, aa 
 above stated, to Livingston ana Fulton for twenty years, which 
 precluded opposition or equal rights within the waters of this 
 State ; and, although the disposition to monopolize was the same 
 then as now in human nature, there was no Anti-Monopoly 
 I^mHi** at that timft 't» remonstrate against such injostiee ; 
 hence It was lhali all^oogh Jdin Cos Stevens only a few daya 
 
 MISTOBT OF AMEBICAN SHIPPIHO. 43. 
 
 after also snceeiied with a steamboat of his own construction 
 in Kew York, the " Phoenix," he was denied the privilege to run 
 her, or in any way to utilize her near New York. 
 
 Thus we see even monopoly is but " a repetition of history." 
 Mr. Stevens was compelled to send his boat (the Phmnix) 
 around to the Delaware river in charge of his son in order to 
 afford the public the benefit of her great advantages in steam 
 propulsion. 
 
 The first person, therefore, who ever took a steam vessel to 
 sea, as the Encyclopsedia Bntannica fairly admits, was an 
 
 American." 
 
 THE 
 
 GREAT AMERICAN MECHANIC. 
 
 NAVAL ARCHITECT, AND NAViQATOR, 
 
 ROBERT LiymOSTOir STEVENS, 
 
 Tba Ant eammudw <rf alMMt controlled on the Seftbyateam only. 
 
4S HI8X0BY Of AMSEICAN SHIPPINQ. 
 
 A fartlier frank admission is made by the same British author- 
 ity, in great contrast to the efforts of some historians to belittle 
 American achievements in Shipping, that " although steam navi- 
 gallon had been tins early introinced on American waters, U 
 was not ail the year 1812 that the tfat regular passenger steamer 
 made its appearance in this country, (Great Britain,) on the 
 Clyde." 
 
 This boat, referred to as pljlllill^^ in Great Britain, 
 five years after the regular trips of the Giermoiit on the Hudson, 
 and the Phcenix on the Delaware hid been established, was built 
 and run by Henry Bell, of London, and called 
 
 Filed on the Thmnw ri¥er in 1812, 
 
 Wmmit^'^M years afier Rumsey^B on the Potomac^ five years after Fulton's ^ 
 m Hm Bmism, md one ymr^after Moosevdi'a on the Mississippi, » 
 
 And yet, in the face of all this important history, the Select 
 ^Jsminitteo <p American Shipping has, in the year 1882, allowed 
 somebody ta«end out— apparently officially— the " Primer Ques- 
 tions,** that must ferever record in our history the bias, and un- 
 reliability of the person who perpetrated auch absurd queries 
 upon an American public. 
 
 That there is " nothii|||MF binder the sun " seems to be very 
 iirciblj proven in the history of Shipping, as in all else whatso- 
 ever in this practical and impractical world. That many minds 
 before that of Fulton applied steam to Shipping, even success- 
 
 Miy» ili^ ^« 
 
 1 Tbe " Committee " 19 asked to make a note of this, and also of Bell's claim 
 llutt Amerlimms owe everything to him I 
 
 HISTORY OF AMEBICAN SHIPPim 
 
 4a 
 
 every one ; but that it was Americans who were the heroes of 
 this grand success is impossible to confute with facts. It is to 
 be hoped, however, that no American would be willing to 
 write of Hulls, Symington, and Bell as has been written in 
 
 envious spirit of our shipbuilding heroes by several of Great 
 Britain's best writers, in the past and recently. 
 
 About this time Oliver Evans, aided financially by Captain 
 James McKeever, of Kentucky, endeavored to apply " high 
 pressure " to a steam engine, for river navigation. 
 
 The first Ferry Boat was also plied regularly. (See Inland 
 Shipping.) 
 
 1809. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas J. Roosevelt undertook the first 
 trip by steam from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Mr. 
 Roosevelt, aided by Chancellor Livingston, (the fitther- 
 in-law of Fulton,) here commenced his enterprise of 
 building the steamer New Orleans," but &8t made 
 the trip in a small boat, in exploration. ^ 
 
 Like a Maryland woman, Mrs. Roosevelt stood and sailed by 
 the side of her husband, determined that nothing should be left 
 undone that a noble wife could do in aid of her husband's ambi- 
 tion and American enterprise in Industry. Taking her maid 
 along, she was firm, in her resolve, and in November they left 
 Pittsburgh, in a boat fitted up by Mr. Roosevelt, and arrived at 
 New Orleans eariy in December, stopping a while at Loaisville. 
 
 The perils and incidents of the trip are thrillingly interesting, 
 and indicative of American pluck and zeal in navigation, although 
 too long to narrate here; but unless the fearful decline of Ameri- 
 can Shipping is soon stayed, it is not unlikely that the indignation 
 of our people will be so great, and that indignity so keenly felt 
 against Congress for neglect, and against the Tory agents of 
 foreign tramp ships, that, as in the South during our civil war, 
 the women of our country will send short garments of white 
 linen to those milk-and-water writers and lobbyists who are so 
 cunningly, cowardly, and treacherouslj, or, if posaiUe, igno^ 
 rantly — ^for it moat be one or the other — n^lei^ng, misrepre- 
 senting, and destroying the revival of our past prestige. 
 
 *The most interesting history extant of this brilliant and heroic undertaking 
 yf'iW be found in a pamphlet of Mrs. Roosevelt's brother, J. H. B, Latrobe, pub- 
 lished by the Maryland Historical Society. 
 
1111. Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt in this year again made the trip 
 fhm Pittsbnrgli to Few Orleans, but this time in a 
 perfected steamboat— let it be remembtfed and wdtten 
 in golden letters of bi8tory--oifi TiAft Buron mmn 
 
 WAS A STEAMBOAT PLYINO BEOULARLY ON THE THAMISt 
 
 om on AMY WATER uk England. 
 
 This fact is particnlarly called to the Committee's attention. 
 
 It is not snrprising that amid the startliag episodes of this 
 enterprise, the terrible current of the Mississippi river, chased 
 by canoes of Indians, alarms of ire on board, and worse than all, 
 appalled by earthiinakes of that year " that shook the earth to 
 its center/' and even ** changed the channel of the river and 
 swept awixv one of the islands near them"* — it is not 
 snrprising, we repeat, that sich an enterprise brought i^rth 
 a i ^l l l^^ American sailor;, that a child of the water 
 was born of parents so amphibious in taste, zeal, and patriotism 
 as a trophy of American Industry, from the noble Maryland 
 heroine, to the country, so lovingly faithful to her heroic hus- 
 band, and true to the maxim engraved upon the escutcheon ot 
 
 American Congress that refnees to subsidise an 
 enterprise and Industry that yields us such results ! 
 
 It such spirit and zeal were infused in more of our 
 lay, and the birthright of American Industry would 
 not be a finiud from foreign asylums, and the American Ship 
 truly *• an orphan." * 
 
 England eacpects every man to do his duty, but provides for 
 the fiHMMll liroflk^lpp Exchequer— hence her Seaman and Mer- 
 chant Mavy. 
 
 It was this year (1811) that Gonvemeur Morris established a 
 company to develop inland navigation or transit, by building a 
 Canal. He obtinned the appointment of the following commis- 
 sioners : Stephen mm^mm^^ Be Witt Clinton, Simeon Be 
 ■■ITitt, William Morth, Thoil^^ and Peter B. Porter. 
 
 Chancellor Livingston anJI^^ Fulton were ^rward 
 added. 
 
 > See Mr. LfttroWf eztracst | it is.|il|t|pt Itiitory 
 •See Beiolulion of the Hoil Mr. Hj^ page IS. 
 
 HISI01IT Of AMERICAN SHIPPim 
 
 1812. Maryland established the First Great Epoch in Atnerican 
 Shipping by the building of a new model ship, the 
 Baltimore CUpper^ which were made of " the form of 
 the wave of the ocean,'^ ^eimous for their &8t sailing 
 and as the best appointed vessels in the world for many 
 years after, carrying generally several guns each. 
 
 This Qrpe of ship wils developed by the war for rapid sailing. 
 The Interest and enterprise taken by Baltimore merchants in 
 
 American Shipping has been shown, (pages 37 and 38,) and of 
 those whose names are there recorded were as fine types of com- 
 mercial enterprise and noble character in every respect as ever 
 lived. 
 
 WILLIAM WILSON, 
 
 rOUNOER OF THE HOUSE OF 
 
 WILLIAM WILSOK 4 SONS, 
 
 1780-1SSO. 
 
 Of this old firm of four generations only two of the third 
 generation remain, and the fourth line of posterity have ^oand 
 better investments in other pursuits ; but the house wiU always 
 be part of the history of the Shipping of our country. 
 
46 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPFIirQ. 
 
 11 
 
 The names of Soiitlicorab, Leverly, Barney, and many othera, 
 slioald be written in a tablet of iniperishable stone, to comnierao- 
 mte the old Monamental City for the enterprise of her sons ot 
 Sliipi>ing|||||d,a»try and the^^iiiiflis.||^^ imnaortalized the com- 
 maEdere of the «* Falcon,'* " Globe," and " Nonsuch." 
 
 The iime of these Clippers spread to all parts of the world, 
 and grew as the success of their model became more t^ene rally 
 known. Boston, Hew York, and Philadelphia adopted the prin- 
 ciple at oMpiAid England soon after imitated them very success* 
 Ihlly,- at .J&rleen. 
 
 The names of John Currier and Donald McKay, of Massachu- 
 setts, are too familiar to need particular reference. The type of 
 Shipping merchants of that old State is marked in the characters 
 if Willim^mjrf Elias H. Derby, Joseph Peabody, J. W. and 
 athaniel Sogers, Charles Hill, (a partner for some time of John 
 rrier in shipbuilding and an extensive Shipping merchant,) 
 Brown, Russell, and many others too numerous to specify, whose 
 names are written in the ledgers of British Shipping houses as 
 €onlributingto the prosperity of the world; and yet the " Ques- 
 tions " of the Clommitlee intimate that there can be no Shipping 
 in iliMM^ unless we purchase^ the tramp stock of England. 
 
 Why must an American Shipping Committee take partial 
 British history ? Why is it always so? Why cannot the true 
 history of American Shipping be taken by an American Con- 
 gress, instead, m has been the case tor twenty-five years, of 
 going to the very partial fvritings of enterprising and far-sighted 
 rivals itt iSie Shipping Industry. ^ 
 
 The spirit of statesmen of that day — Timothy Pickering, De 
 Witt Clinton, and others — in the development of our Shipping, 
 should be emblaEoned on the walls of our Capitol, that those 
 whilllllll^^^ read to-dajigf #ie prestige of the past and the im- 
 fOlHM9^ of th e pre sent in legislative action in behalf of this 
 
 * IT. 8. Consul Potter, in a report to the Department of State, recently, writer 
 that, were British merchants consulted or allowed to dictate a policy, they coitti 
 not direct a cause more beHiliiiil to their interests tlian the destruction of Ameri- 
 can shipbuilding and consequent contribution of our Carrying Trade to British 
 Siiips. (See following pages.) 
 
 * II was in 1812 that Clinton was first authorized to submit suggestions for a 
 ftnalf but not' until 1817 that incorporation therefor was Mde. (See Inland 
 itifpliif for this history and portrait of Clinton.) 
 
 THREE EPOCHS IN AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 4,000 tons, ja$ leet long, 53 hdt wide, 37 feet deep, 4 masts, each with lis^tnlng-rod. 
 Owned by A. A. Low & Co., New IToilc. Built by Bonald McKay, Boston. 
 
 (IBee pace U.) (H) 
 
2l#if leff U Ik Ammem Mip of ^ Mlpoek 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Lindsay, an eminent Britieli shipping awtliority, 
 iilllioiigli u&aall J very par^al in bis expressions, says : 
 
 ft I already shown that this snperiority consisted mainly 
 in the fact that American ships can sail faster and carry more 
 cargo, in proportion to their registered tonnage, than those of 
 their competitors ; but their improvements did not rest here. In 
 cottiidering the current expenses of a merchantman, manual 
 labor is one of the most important items, and herein our cona- 
 .petitors, by means of improved blocks and various other mechani- 
 cal appliances, so materially reduced the number of hands that 
 twenty seamen in an American sailing-ship could do as much 
 work, probably with more ease to themselves, than thirty in a 
 British vessel of similar size. With such ships we failed success- 
 fully to compete; and although we have since far surpassed them 
 III ocean steam navigation, the Americans were the first to dis- 
 paleh a ateamer for trading purposes across the Atlantic." 
 
 And particularly by Mr. Grantham, the British historian, as 
 follows, can never be blotted out : 
 
 « Previous to the development of steamships, the preponder- 
 ance of shipping was lalling rapidly into the hands of American 
 ship-owners. Thirty years ago one of the ^reat objects of in- 
 terest at the docks in Liverpool was the American sailing packet, 
 and it was considered that a stranger had missed one of the lions 
 of the port who had not visited these celebrated ships. The same 
 prestige w^as felt everywhere — on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 
 in India, China, and in all the best trades, American abips ware 
 most in demand. 
 
 •« The navigation laws of that day, indeed, oflfered some limit to 
 this aggressive course, and when these laws were to be released, 
 the alarm of British ship-owners was general and apparently icwii 
 gmmded; but a remarkable change in the relative position of the 
 two countries is now witnessed. 
 
 ••The probability of this wis long foreseen by those who were 
 practically acquainted with the question; for exactly in fnnpoT- 
 thn to the progress of ocean Heam navigation^ especially when irm was 
 to be the material for building sh^, sa rnvld Engkmd reassert her 
 
 m 
 
 HISTOBY Of AMEBIOAN SHIPPIMa. 
 
 49 
 
 1817. Cornelius Vanderbilt first embarked in Shipping enter* 
 prise. 
 
 Bounty or subsidy granted in Act of Congress for en- 
 couragement of our Fisheries. (See Coastwise Ship- 
 ping.) The sum of which ^'subsidy paid, not includ- 
 ing rebates, to 1860, amounted to over 916,000^0<K). 
 
 And yet our statesmen to-day are afraid to talk about subsidy, 
 as though more immaculate than our forefathers in enacting of 
 laws for American enterprise. The cry of " wolf" is not always 
 sincere, but often to divert attention ! 
 
 The famous Black Ball Line of American sailing ships was 
 established, and of which the following old advertisement is 
 more descriptive than any comments of to^lay could ei^iQSS : 
 
 " OLD LINK OF LITBBPOOL FACKETS. 
 TO BAlh OV TMM FIBST AITB SIXTSBHTB itOMTH. 
 
 I, Liverpool picleti hsving met Wilb geaenl w^jjjgfjlfkm and sapport, the 
 owners of tiwoi have oonduded to add to the number of venels employed in tiiat 
 etlaUiiliment ; and they now intend that the IbUowing^ ships siiall sail hewsen 
 Hew York and LiTerpooli in regular sneeeision, twice in each month from each 
 port, leaving both New York and Liverpool on the Isl and 16th of every month 
 throughout the year, viz : 
 
 "Ship New York, George Maxwell, master. 
 Ship Columbia, James Kodgers, master. 
 
 " Ship Orbit, Joseph Tinkham, master. 
 
 *' Ship Wm. Thompson, R. R. Crocker, master. 
 
 ** Ship Pacific, S. Maxwell, master. 
 
 " Ship Jas. Cropper, C. H. Marshall, master. 
 
 ** Ship Canada, Seth G. Macy, master. 
 
 "Ship Nestor, William Lee, jr., master. 
 
 "These ships were built in New York, of the best materials, and are coppered 
 and copper-fastened. They are very fast sailers, their accommodations for pas- 
 sengers are uncommonly extensive and commodious, and they are commanded by 
 men of great experience. The prieeof passage to England in the cabin is now 
 ixed at thirty guineas, for which sum passengers will be furnished with beds, 
 bedding, wine, and stores of all kinds. For farther particulars apply to," &c. 
 
 Similar advertisements are at liand oi the Philadelphia, Baltic 
 more, New Orleans, and other lines of American Ships. 
 
 These liaes established a grand record of American Merchant 
 Shipping, and developed the genii^at and iuaie of so many 
 American Shipyards from this date antil 1855, and from which 
 came the ** Great Republic," (see pi^ 4%) the ** Flying Cloud/' 
 and many other renowned ships. 
 
 ' JDL 
 
mmmm m ambeicam sHiVFiifd. 
 
 181i. Tlie Btemnboat " Wiilk m the Water " opened trade on 
 tlie Lakes. (See " Inland Shipping Conditions.") 
 
 liia And now a record is niad^||j||fe feat in American Ship- 
 ping enterprise, of a p^e ^SUtory too little known, 
 and strange to say, even by " WoodcrofVs Steam Navi- 
 gation" declared " a myth," and by many British au- 
 thorities—the London Illustrated News conspicuous- 
 noted with-lijiHili ii|||iWI>t positive denial. 
 
 !Ilie tIeamsMp " SavawMAi" built the year previous by 
 Francis Fichett, New York, was purchased by William Scar- 
 borough, of Savannah, Ga., with the expressed determination to 
 mark our nation's Shipping with a grand record of unprece- 
 dented industry, skill, and glory, viz. : to send across the ocean, 
 efMMt Russia, a herald of the genius of shipbuilding of 
 Amit^ 
 
 Mr. Scarborough enlisted Messrs. Sturgis, Brown, Harris, and 
 «Ml€ity, in this great enterpiise to revolutionise the car- 
 rying tnde of the world, sanguine of success ; he secured the 
 services of Capt. Moses Rog«f8 Ibr command of the expedition, 
 and desiring to show the patriotic spirit predominating at that 
 #me in his commercial home— which, sad to say, has to day, 
 .mML i^kmmmvimYiAt%n of the oM house of Octavus Cohen k Go. 
 and one or two otbers, passed into foreign monopoly— 4ie namea 
 his steamship after tne city ■iinpiipnan. 
 
 Could the enterprising spirit of those darted patriots but be 
 revived to-day, that city would be relieved of its Rip Van Winkle 
 nature and foreign influence that handic^ lit prosperity and 
 nilllllPI^ her sons of Inj||||||^^^ 
 
 On May 11, (1819,) President Monroe visited her, and the 
 oity presented a ftte in honor of this great event— inauguration 
 of oem^mmm nav||||^ by American skUl, pluck, and fore- 
 
 Slgilt. 
 
 Hire Is another triumph of American Shipping enterprise; 
 and yet it is asked : " Can Americans build ships ! " 
 
 HISTOIF Of AMBBIOAll SBIPPim 
 
 51 
 
 THE FIRST STEAMSHIP THAT 0K08SBD THE OCEAN. 
 
 1819. 
 
 THl "SAVATJfNAH." 
 
 Ownocl lly William ScttrbOYcnigli, of Georgia. Coramancled by Moses Mogen, 
 
 BUILT, NEW YORK, 1818. 
 
 Arrived at Liverpool June 20, 1819 ; steamed to St. Petersburg, and returned 
 to Savannah in November of same year ; plied for years in Coastwise Service, and 
 Imrned off Long Island. 
 
 On approaching the British coast, she was siq^piksed to be a 
 ship m fate^ and cruisers endeavored to overtake her, with a 
 
 desire to aid a ship in distress, as ihe^ supposed. 
 
 Sailing from Savannah May 26, she made a notable although 
 long voyage — explained herewith following— 4md arrived at 
 England June 20. (See letter of U. 8. Minister Rosh.) 
 
 During the stay of the " Savannah " at Liverpool the British 
 regarded her with suspicion, and the newspapers of England, 
 with one accord, asserted that " this steam operatioa may, in 
 some mannori % connected with the ambitious views of the 
 United States." In &ct, the most ridiculous comments were 
 made and ideas suggested, equally as irrelevant to the existing 
 conditions as the insinuations thrown out in the " Queries " of 
 some person for the Select Committee. 
 
ii 
 
 iistoi¥ Of Ammmm smmmQ. 
 
 It is strange mi singukr that the record of the " Savannah " 
 is so little known in our own conntry. Only a few days since 
 the writer was disputed by a native citizen,** who posl€vely 
 contended that it was the English who first sent a steamboat to sea. 
 
 Apropos to this point, as our people are so willing to give 
 away their own laurels, it is well to cite some similar observa- 
 tion. The ^%|fjjt||pii,yBeview,*' Vol. 1, 1846, says : 
 
 •* In iMst, whM W^imii' and ' Great Brilaia ' (of Enfknd) arriTed in Few 
 York liarlwr, April », 18»8. twenty years after the exploit of the 'Savan- 
 nah/ they were received with extravagant nanifestotlOM of delight ; and in an 
 editorial of the New York Mt/preM, April U, (and othws,) rdS»enoe i« made to 
 Ihe nnninal Joy and excitement in the city, it being almost univenally oonsid« 
 ered as the t)«g>ai^M||l||^ history of Atlantic navigation. 
 
 *« the achievemeai^lirlK'^^ I was ft»rgotten-her tkillful captain no 
 iMMffMNMMMII^ figlits ; but patriotic citizens protested in the public 
 pSi'^mWi^ig^t itt the just claims of Amenca." 
 
 One would really thiiAMMN^ Iba M who wrote the 
 
 Select Committee's series of Questions " had reported the 
 above article for the New York Me^prm^ in the interest of British 
 
 Shipping, as now. 
 
 In Passage Churchyard, near Cork, Ireland, there is a monu- 
 ment to OaptallM of the Brltisb "•Sirius," with 
 
 the following inscription : 
 
 ••This stone commemorates, &c., the merits of the f rst officer under whose 
 command a steam vessel ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean (!)— undaunted bravery 
 «zhibited in the suppression of the slave trade, &c., recommended him for the 
 aidnons service."— 
 
 —Some of our anti- American Ship advocates might as well make 
 Caplalii Boberts the framer of our Navigation Laws as to try to 
 mix tlw same with slavery, in the hope of recreating old preju- 
 dices to injure American 8hippiiiPlli(8ee pages 28-28'.)— 
 
 — •« The thousands that shall follow in his trade must not forget who it was that 
 taught the world to travefse, &c., the highway of the ocean (with steam.) 
 
 —Yes, but the wommi>^ remember it wm:4U American 
 MoeeB Sogers, and not the British Richard ftoberts, and in 1810 
 Instead of 1888. — 
 
 — «<l5od having permitted Mm this distinction, was pleased to decree that the 
 rearer of this great enterprise should be also its martyr. Cuptaia Roberts per- 
 IiImI IfiA »W on board his ship-the * President,' March, 1841. ' 
 
 Here is a sacred engraved bj the Britash people un- 
 
 jusiy to one of tll^^ as well as. to the departed and deserving 
 American swlor. How gladly would the writer of the Com- 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING, 
 
 53 
 
 mittee's QueBtions have quoted this, had he known it, to sustain 
 British opinion ! But, fortunately, a noble, fair-minded English 
 writer, Mr. William Goodman, the author of the " Social History 
 of Great Britain," has recorded : 
 
 "As far as this memorial hands down to posterity the good private qualities of 
 the much-lamented and ill-fated commander, (of the 'Sirius,' Captain Roberts,) 
 it may he very appropriate ; but it is due to the fame of the United States, to his- 
 toric truth, to science and to navigation, that the following facts be duly recorded, 
 viz. : In Mr. Bash's Memoranda of a Besidenceat the Court of St. James, 2d Vol., 
 page 130, will be found, &c., the full log of the * Savannah' and her arrival in 
 America." 
 
 Thas the feat had been performed nineteen years before that 
 of Captain Roberts. 
 
 The following extract from the archives of official papers 
 furnishes proof to silence hereafter the misrepresentation : 
 
 Official Dispatch No. 76. 
 From U. S. Minister to England, Richard Rush, to the Department of State. 
 
 " London, &2, 1819. 
 
 ♦ ♦ . « * * ^ 
 
 "Sir: On the twentieth of last month arrived »t Liverpool from the United 
 States the steamship 'Savannah,' Captain Bogers, being the first vessel of this 
 description that has ever crossed the seas, and having excited equal admiration 
 and astonishment as she entered the port under the power of her steam. 
 
 "She is a fine ship, of three hundred and twenty [350] tons burden, and exhib- 
 its in her construction no less than she has done in her navigation across the 
 Atlantick — a signal trophy of American enterprise and skill upon the ocean. [This 
 clause is especially and respectfully recalled to the consideration of the Joint 
 Select Committee.] 
 
 "I learn from Captain Rogers, who has come to London and been with me, 
 [hence not a 'myth,' as declared by "Woodcroft,] that she worked with great 
 ease and safety on the voyage, and used her steam full eighteen days. 
 
 *^Hw engine acts horizontally, and is equal to a seventy-two horse power. 
 Be» wfatels, which are of iron, are on the sides, and removable at pleasure. The 
 fitel laid in was flfloen hundred bushels of go«I| wiiieh got exhausted on her 
 entrance into the Irisb Channel. 
 
 " The captain assures mo that the weather in general «om eadremely imfaoorablef 
 or he would have made * much shorter passage ; besides that, he was five daja 
 detained in the Channel for want of coal. * * 
 II I have the honor, to he, &c., 
 
 « MCHAJtH 
 
 Minister Rush also wrote of Captain Rogers as an enterprising' 
 intelligent, and patriotic mariner of our country, and expressed 
 Mmaeif anxious that he should have every opportunity to ad- 
 vance the interests of American Shipping. 
 
MISTOET Of AMEBICAir SHIfHlia. 
 
 PMeg matic stalesmen and incipient patriots may think of this 
 to-iaj as m ordinarj occnrrence, but there was far more in it 
 than all the record of the universe for the last quarter of a cen- 
 tniy. It has been termed (hj Captain LI vi ngston ) " a pmd monm- 
 im^W 'YmkeesMU;'' but we jnstly claim it a Southern (Georgia) 
 enterprise ; hence truly Yankee, because truly national ! 
 
 &mr^ maf aurprim ike world affam, 
 
 Mr. Scarborough died poor, and Captain Rogers, who had also 
 cominanded Stevens' boat, in going irst to sea — because Fulton's 
 'boftt monopolized Mew getting into the streain 
 
 from dock three i%9 naotlcal plack and skill was 
 
 wMhout rival, was buried soon after on South Carolina's soil, and, 
 like Rumsey,the progenitor of the motive power which ho (Rogers) 
 aMd«>g»iidlj to inaagnrate the great international exchange ot 
 prodMiWa interm!ngilngi|||||pOl> of the world, both died an* 
 unrewarded, and to^ay almost forgotten. 
 An American Congress, unlike a wise British Parliament, left 
 erican commercial genius and honor and prosperity to de- 
 m in national enterprise. At this very period, and for thirty 
 yearS' prevlq i|| ||| p pgland was paying mUlkm yearly In subsidy 
 to her sail packets." 
 
 Here is presented uncontrovertible evidence of American pres- 
 tige in Shipping, that has so often been denied, as a tribute to 
 our Southern peoplp, and is denied to*day to our 
 
 ISM, The iron ship "Randolph," sent over in pieces from the 
 Boulton works, in England, and was riveted and put 
 together complete In three months on relishing its 
 owner iaj||i|'anttah. 
 
 The difference it may be here added, is that the '* Free 
 Ships " sent over at this time are of such old or tramp " stock, 
 sold cheap, to destroy American Shipping, that they come to 
 pieces after, instead of before, getting here. See Gulnare, Jeaii- 
 nette, &c., some of the British Coffin "Free Ships," sold off to 
 Americans^tei/,,^ we repeat, {^^^ius evidence.) 
 
 1841. The " South Carolina," 769 tons, and the ** Rappahanno*** 
 were built. " The latter was the largest merchantman 
 ever built, at this date, in the United States," Length, 
 ISO' feti— Jfer€«iiitjle' Jmrmit Boston. 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPINf. 
 
 55 
 
 Macgregor, in his British " History of Commerce," writes : 
 
 «*The sailing ships belonging to the United States, which sail regularly from 
 Kew York, Boston, Philadelphia, Bath, and other ports, * * ♦ are equipped 
 in a style of extraordinary perfection and beauty and navigated with the utmost 
 nautical skill. Those which sail between New York and Liverpool are truly 
 magnificent, and their accommodations, though gorgeous, combine for passen- 
 gpm all the luxury and comfort of splendid hotels." 
 
 This record of a historian is submitted to the Shipping Com- 
 mittee, and to the people, in refutation of insinuations cast. 
 
 The yield of ^tm Industry that year to oar country was 
 12S|6M tons, of which the i>llowing comprised part : 
 
 Ameriem Skipbtdldivg Beeord. 
 
 Shipyard of — 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 William Brown, 
 
 1 steamer 
 
 1,300 
 
 John Williamson, 
 
 
 740 
 
 (( (( 
 
 
 - 350 
 
 Welch & Allen, 
 
 1 ship — « 
 
 525 
 
 Fisher & Tomes, 
 
 
 
 Smith, Duncan & Gomstock, 
 
 1 ship .. 
 
 950 
 
 Brown & Bell, 
 
 
 1,200 
 
 II II 
 
 
 100 
 
 Westervelt, 
 
 1 ship . 
 
 dso 
 
 II 
 
 • 
 
 
 «eo 
 
 liftwrence & Snowden, 
 
 
 m 
 
 ti It 
 
 
 
 184^. The standing of nations in Shipping at this date stood as 
 follows, vm, : 
 
 NaUom, 
 
 of Vessels. 
 
 Tonndge. 
 
 
 23,898 
 
 3,007,581 
 
 
 19,666 
 
 2,416,999 
 
 
 13,782 
 
 839,608 
 
 Sweden and Norway—— - .,.p<,^»»^-. 
 
 5,450 
 
 471,772 
 
 Holland _ 
 
 1,528 
 
 241,676 
 
 
 
 239,000 
 
 The Sicilies 
 
 9,174 
 
 213,198 
 
 
 6,199 
 
 206,551 
 
 tturkey 
 
 2,220 
 
 182,000 
 
 fiaidiAia - 
 
 8,602 
 
 167,860 
 
 Dtnmark - . 
 
 8,066 
 
 158,408 
 
 
 2,700 
 
 80,000 
 
 Tbos the ratio of Amerioan to British tonnage Men was u«hxt 
 PiB OKNT. It is now fiftbbn pbb ceki. 
 
I 
 
 m BI8I0EY OF AMBIICAII SHIPPIKa. 
 
 No country has ever possessed such a roll of sbipowners^ 
 €OiiiMn||||^^ eii'lerprise and integrity all that is com- 
 
 plete in man, as did the mty of New York, at this time, with 
 Hettiy Ghanncey, W. H. Aspinwall, G. & 8. S. Howland,. 
 Moses H. Grinnell, Moses Taylor, the Alsops, Cornelias Vander- 
 Mlt, (before mentioned,) and others, most of whom recognized 
 and msemd " sti^^" for SMppin^^ from the Government. 
 
 It was about this period that the great shipping house of A. A. 
 Low & Co., of New York, was established, which firm and 
 toie ships are still world renowned; and now begins the great 
 Sia of American Shipping, through t|e wisdom of the Demo* 
 dttbc Party, worthy of imitation ^lllll^^ 
 
 At this time, of the Democratic administration of Mr. Polk, 
 with Mr. Buchanan as Secretary of State, and Mr. J. Y. Mason 
 as Secretary of the Navy, it is recorded in the pages of our 
 country's history that ** British steamers swarmed around our 
 coast, North and South, as thick as cruisers in a blockade." The 
 history of 1776 in Shipping was repeated. 
 
 A congres^onal committee similar to your own wiis appointed 
 to Utwiagate this disastrous condition of our commerce and in* 
 dependence; and ilip% to that committee, and to the Ohiei 
 Magistrate of our country at that time, and his Democratic 
 administration, this great question of American Shipping wa& 
 studied carefully and practically— not rushed through hurriedly 
 fix days,*' nor looked upon superficdally, but searched 
 Mo tlKm>ughly, practically, and patriotically— and the wise 
 result of that Democratic administration is the only page of 
 ^ . history that has never been repeated. That result was an Act 
 '^'^^ of Goograas, approved^ March 3, 1847, by which large contract* 
 "l^^i^ilP* iilll**>r the construction and equipment of sea-going 
 ilismships, to be attached to the navy, and also far other large 
 steamships, to he employed, after construction, in the carrying of 
 the United States mails; such steamers to be constructed so m 
 to render them convertible at the least possible cost into war 
 steameE^fpid such contracts for the period of ten years' mail 
 ierrice to hi made under the direction of the Secretary of 
 the Navy and Postmaster CleneraL' 
 
 >Fr«ii«iit Jftmes.K. PoUr, and wftrmly ondoned by hii OftMnot 
 *8iii<30 tlie mhme was written, and duriag the debate in Oongren on the pas. 
 m^ot tke ME reiKirted by tbii Joial Ckmniittee, tbe queHidii mum as to the 
 
 HISIOBT OF AlfEBICAN SHIPPINO. 
 
 57 
 
 The causes that led to this wise policy on the part of Mr. Polk 
 and of Congress, under his Administration, was the able report^ 
 June 12, 1846, of another predecessor of this Committee — ^that^ 
 took time to thoroughly study our shipping — ^led by the Hon. 
 
 Thos. Butler King, of Georgia. 
 
 The wisdom of this measure is shown by President Polk in his 
 message to Congress, December 7, 1847 : 
 
 The four war steamers authorized by the act of the Sd March, 
 1847, are in course of construction. 
 
 In addition to the four war steamers authorized by this act, 
 the Secretary of the Navy has, in pursuance of its provisions, en- 
 tered into contracts for the construction of five steamers, to be 
 employed in the transportation of the United States mail from 
 New York to New Orleans, touching at Charleston, Savannah, 
 and Havana, and from Havana to Chagres ; for three steamers 
 to be employed in like manner from Panama to Oregon, so as to 
 connect with the mail from Havana to Chagres across the Isth- 
 mus ; and for five steamers to be employed in like manner from 
 New York to Liverpool. These steamers will be the property of 
 the contractors, but are to be built under the superintendence 
 and direction of a naval constructor in the employ of the Navy 
 Department, and to be so constructed as to render them convertible 
 at the least expense into war steamers of the first class. A pre- 
 scribed number of naval officers, as well as a post oflce agent, 
 are to be on board of them; and authority is reserved to the Navy 
 Department at all times to exercise control over said steamers, 
 aiid to have the right to take them for the exclusive use and ser- 
 vice of the Unit^ States upon making proper compensation to 
 the contractors therefor. W hilst these steamships will be em- 
 ployed in transporting the mails of the United States coastwise. 
 
 correctness of the endorsement of President Polk's Administration of the policy 
 of sabsidy for the maintenance of the American 0hip ; and in the course of the 
 discussion the Hon. Hr. Hammond, of Georgia, iaid:---<Oong^ Bee., Jamtary 12, 
 
 page 6.) 
 
 '* Mr. Hammond, of Georgia. The questions of the gentleman are very numer- 
 ous, but the answer to all of them is very simple. On the 3d of March, 1847, 
 JPresident Polk signed an act for the building and equipping of four naval stmm- 
 ships, which according to the provisions of the act must be ' first-class sea-going 
 steamships, to be attached to the Navy of the United States.' They were to be 
 built under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy and officered by the Navy 
 of the United States. (See 9 U. S. Statutes, 187.) They w«f« hnilt as war res- 
 aels, under the grant of the Constitution to Congress of power to ' proyide and 
 maintain a navy.' " 
 
 As this represents only the first clause of the provision of said act, it happens 
 appropriate that the full text of such provision, as written by President Polk in 
 his message to Congress, December 7, 1847, has been here given. It was uoques- 
 tionably too wise an act on the part of the Democratic party in behalf of an 
 American industry — that would be noble to imitate — ^to be lost from sight, to the 
 honor of those to whom is due the immortal fame of this patriotic act. 
 
mmmms m jkiisiiiOAii sbipf ma 
 
 and to foroign countries upon an annual compensation to be paid 
 to tlie owners, they will be always ready, upon an emergency re- 
 onlring it, to be converted into war steamers, and the right re- 
 8tf ireilill^ tliem for public use will add je^^^^^ ^^T^^Strm 
 and strenflli of tbis descnption of our naval force. 1 o the steam- 
 ers tins authorized under contracts made by the Secretary of the 
 Navy should be added five other steamers authorized under con- 
 tracts made in pursuance of law by the Postmaster-General, mak- 
 ing an addition, in the whole, of eighteen war steamers, subject 
 %om taken for public use.* 
 
 "As further contracts for the transportation of the mail to foF- 
 «fB mintries may be ^g|j||irlced by Congress, this number may 
 be enlars^ indefinitely. 
 
 "jnb adightaud policy hy wMeh a rapid communication with the 
 wrwm i&toiil parts of the wmM is established, h\j means of American- 
 huM sea steamers, would find an ample reward in the increase oj our com- 
 meree and m making owr comtry and its resources more favorably 
 bmm abroad; but the National advantage is still greater— of 
 having our naval officers made famihar with steam naviga- 
 tion,and of having the privilege of taking the ships already 
 «qaipped for immediate service at a moment's notice, and will be 
 eheapTy purchased by the compensation to be paid for the trans- 
 Bortation of the mail, over and above the postage received. A 
 just, Nationty^ide, no less than our commercial interests, would 
 seem to favWThe policy of augmenting the number of this de- 
 iMBptlon of vessels. They caa be built in our country cheaper and in 
 mmtms than in any other in the world, I refer you to the 
 accompanying report of the Postmaster General for a detailed 
 and satisfactory account of the condition and operations of that 
 Department during the past year. It is gratifying to find that, 
 within so short a period after the reduction in the rate of postage, 
 and notwithstanding the great increase of mail service, the reve- 
 nue received for the year will be sufficient to defray all the 
 expenses, and that no further aid will be required from the 
 
 Treasury for thai purpose. , . . . .1. 
 
 •« The first of the American midl steamers authorized by the act 
 of the H of March, 1845, was completed and entered upon the 
 service on the first of June last, and is now on her third voyage 
 to Bremen and other intermediate ports. The other vessels au- 
 thorized under the provisions of that act are in course ot con- 
 struction, and will be put upon the line as soon as completed. 
 Contracts have also been made for the transportation of the mail 
 in a steamer from Charleston to Havana. A reciprocal and sat- 
 
 tHere iilPWlWdent Polk's eviPbf i^ghteen imUmd ^^"^'J^^^^ 
 
 •ml quote the same completely in hlrtorical argument, for it cannot be sympathy 
 wiHi iwiign induitriea thmt etmm pwvtrsion ? 
 
 A Noble Martyr 
 
 TO 
 
 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE. 
 
 E. K. COLLINS, 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE FIRST AMERICAN STEAMSHIP LINE to LIVERPOOL. 
 
 Vietta mi mm* CMMpreasioAal PUsbtedl Faitfe. 
 
 In his zeal to establish the best record in running time — driven also by the 
 exactments of Congress — rashness naturally supplanted judgment, and on the 27th 
 of September, 1864, by collision with the Vesta, the Arctic went down. 
 • Mr. OolHot loit wife, son, and daughter, and others nearest and dearest to him. 
 Family and fortune were gone, Congress was trifling wi^ him in ^amaaak mctlent 
 and other misfortunes followed in quick succession. 
 
 Through the six years of his contest, the tide of success ebbed and flowed to 
 both nations. England stood Arm and supported her Ounaid by the heaviest 
 grants from the British Exchequer ; America weakened — deserted t In the very 
 hour of need, we struck down Collins, by abrogating his contract, and the United 
 iStates flag went down upon the Atlantic. (See page 65.) 
 
 (59) 
 
01 AXisi€jyi mmwmet. 
 
 Wm BATS OF 8ML. 
 JSie Trarmt Gloria, 
 TMM DAYS OF SAIL. 
 
 Mecori #/ Ifa Jfawiws American Vmsds ijf -BKtr^ -Bafi litiie, 1846. 
 
 ;|lorlii. AinofioA 
 
 Columbus 
 
 Soutli America 
 Bnglana 
 
 Cambri%Q^ ..... « 
 Europe^.... — 
 Oxford - 
 Mmr Ymk 
 
 Hew York 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 Liverpool. 
 
 Slll]}i'a 
 
 'Time. 
 
 
 
 Cambridge 
 
 19 
 
 Orpbeiis 
 
 24 
 
 
 18 
 
 Oxford 
 
 22 
 
 8<mth America ^ 
 
 2a 
 
 North America 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 26 
 
 OrpiieiiB — 
 
 Liirerpool 
 to 
 
 New York. 
 
 Time. 
 
 m 
 
 29 
 4$ 
 U 
 27 
 
 81 
 
 29' 
 
 iMage trip outward 
 
 Average trip homeward—! 
 
 Longest trip outward, " Europe " 
 
 Longest trip homeward, " North America n- 
 Shortest trip outward, " Sugland " 
 
 ShortMt trip homewardt «* Orpheus " — . — 
 
 88} 
 
 36 " 
 
 48 ** 
 
 18 *• 
 
 22 " 
 
 THS BBT]i|||||« OF' BTSAM. 
 Ammmn Ocem Mail Steamers y 1865. 
 
 (From official reports.) 
 
 OMmt Idne, 8 ateamera, 9,727 torn. 
 4,144 Ions. Atlantic, 2,849.toni. Baltic, 2,783 tons. 
 
 Aictlc. ^ . Pacific. 
 MM^^iimm^f 4,648 torn. 
 ▲lago, 2,210 torn. Fulton, 2,808 tons. 
 
 Vmtim-MU Brtmen Mm^ t tAmmera^ 6»ii28 ttma, 
 |ftmll ||ai . 1,867 tons. Ariel, 1,298 tons. Tanderbilt, 8,360 tons. 
 
 |Ais<«< StfOta MaB SUmmaMp Cbttjiatif , 6 jleomer*, 8,644 ima. 
 nfinoia, 8,128 tons: Empire City, 1,751 tons ; Philadelphia, 1,238 tons ; Granada, 
 1,058 toni; Moses Taylor. 1,200 tons j Star of the West, chartered, 1,172, (con- 
 tracting for a new ship.) 
 
 Faeifie Mail Steamship Company, 13 steamers, 16,421 tons. 
 €k>lden Gate, 2,067 tons; Golden Age, 2,280 tons; J. L. Stephens, 2,189 tons; 
 ibnora, 1,616 tons; St. Louis, 1,621 tons; Panama, 1,087 ton«; California, 1,085 
 tons: Oregon, 1,099 tons; Columbia, 777 tons; BepubBc, 860 toM ; Northeraer, 
 Igniiiiia; Ffemont, 676 tons; Tobigo, 189 tons. 
 
 ' ^mmim ^ Smmmmk, J% Wm, md Bimm 1 ««eamfr, the Imbel, 1,116 tont- 
 WmmmmmidmMlm, ^ l,149|'toB.. 
 
 HISTOBY OP AMEBICAN SHIPPINa, 
 
 61 
 
 isflMstorj postal arrangement has been made by the Postmaster 
 General with the authorities of Bremen, and no difficulty is 
 apprehended in making similar arrangements with all other 
 powers, with which we may have communication by mail 
 steamers, except with Great Britain (!) 
 
 " On the arrival of the first of the American steamers bound to 
 Bremen, at Southampton, in the month of June last, the British 
 post office directed the collection of discriminating postages on 
 all letters and other mailable matter which she took out to Great 
 Britain, or which went into the British post office on their way 
 to France and other parts of Europe. The effect of the order of 
 the British post office is to subject all letters and other matter 
 transported by American steamers to double postage, postage 
 having been previously paid on them to the United States, while 
 letters transported in British steamers are subject to pay but a 
 single postage. 
 
 '''This measure was adopted with the avowed object of protecting the 
 British line of mail steamers now running between Boston and Liver- 
 pool, and, if permitted to continue, must speedily put an end to the trans- 
 portation of letters and other matter by American steamers, and gives 
 to British steamers a monopoly of the business, A just and fair 
 reciprocity is all that we desire^ and on this we must insist!'' 
 
 There is no duplicity in these words of President Polk, but 
 his rioj^ng aimouncement of the necessities for subsidy to 
 American mail steamsMps is in strange contrast to the striking 
 harangues of those who misrepresent our shipping conditions in 
 and out of Congress. 
 
 Again, the following year President Polk presented in his 
 message the benefits reaped under this liberal policy of his ad- 
 ministration : 
 
 '*The increase in the mail transportion within the last three 
 years has been five million three hundred and seventy-eight 
 thousand three hundred and ten miles, whilst the expenses were 
 reduced four hundred and fifty-six thousand seven hundred and 
 thirty-eight dollars, making an increase of service at the rate of 
 fifteen per cent., and a reduction in the expenses of more than 
 fifteen per cent. 
 
 "During the past year there have been employed under con- 
 tracts with the Post Office Department two ocean steamers in 
 conveying the mails monthly between New York and Bremen, 
 and one since October last performing semi-monthly service 
 between Charleston and Havana ; and a contract has been made 
 for the transportation of the Pacific mails across the Isthmus 
 from Chagres to Panama. Under the authority given to the 
 Secretary of the Navy, three ocean steamers have been con- 
 
SSI. 
 
 m Of mmimiss sBippim 
 
 structed and sent to the Faoifio, and are expected to enter upon 
 the mail nervice between Panam and Oregon and the interme- 
 diate ports on the first of January next, and a fourth has been 
 engaged by him for the service between Havana and Chagres, so 
 that a regular monthly mail line will be kept up after that time 
 between the United States and our Territories on the Pacific, 
 notwithstanding this great increase in the mail service, should 
 the revenue continue to increase the present year as it did in the 
 laet, there will be received nearly four hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars more than the expeid^res. * * 
 Message of December 6, 1848. " Jambs K Pole." 
 
 Ifobly did President Polk fulfill his promise to the country and 
 the Party that nominated him to advance commerce, navigation, 
 and agriculture. 
 
 And yet all that was then gained, the noble prestige that was 
 tiiii established by that Administration, was doomed to destruc^ 
 tion by the undermining influence brought to bear upon Congress 
 by i>reign agency to reduce and fiially abrogate solemn obliga- 
 tions in contract. The followins: comparison shows the 
 
 Bmiemm i^f Mmnty against the American Ship in 1851, when the Ship wcta im^rUd 
 by Congress. (From official figures, "Ocean Navigation.") 
 American Merchant Marine. (Created by the Polk administratio n.) 
 
 
 1 
 
 llMl. 
 
 
 XHstvnces. 
 
 Snbsfdf. 
 
 OromB»8tage. 
 
 I'otal Miles. 
 
 PlqrperMito. 
 
 OoiliiiB •••••• 
 
 Jtoidnwall.. 
 
 ■Mai perTtai.^ 
 
 . 20 
 13 
 IS 
 
 mk 
 
 24 
 24 
 24 
 
 8J0O 
 4,200 
 
 669 
 900 
 
 
 |38o,0()0 
 128,937 
 88,484 
 290,00U 
 348.2iS0 
 60,000 
 29,062 
 
 t41fi.867 
 128,037 
 88,484 
 130.610 
 183,238 
 8^ 
 5,960 
 
 124,0<X) 
 96,000 
 85,020 
 153,600 
 201,600 
 32,112 
 43,200 
 
 1.00 
 
 oo 
 tm 
 
 M 
 
 
 9968,384 
 
 735,532 
 
 91.80 av'ge. 
 
 Bmrrisa MxBcaAHT .Mavims. 
 
 Uae. 
 
 Tripe. 
 
 1Mb* 
 taiie«i. 
 
 Snliaidy. 
 
 Gross 
 Postage. 
 
 Total 
 Miles. 
 
 .Hiie. 
 
 Bamada and St. Tlioinas...... 
 
 Fanama and Val|iaiaiao.....».. 
 
 S2 
 
 SM^ 
 12 
 24 
 24 
 
 12 
 156 
 
 730 
 112 
 
 '891 
 
 ■•*••* 
 
 8,100 
 11,402 
 
 • 
 
 14,080 
 2,0tt 
 
 2,718 
 6,245 
 132 
 8i 
 10 
 200 
 
 1*220,000 
 
 92.5.000 
 73,5(X) 
 125,0(X) 
 116,250 
 
 9118,337 
 534,525 
 800,932 
 166,408 
 
 ^,.596 
 15,980 
 
 304,000 
 547,296 
 796,637 
 336,000 
 98,000 
 130,434 
 14!<,880 
 41,184 
 93,440 
 14,560 
 20,800 
 
 92J0 
 9.48 
 
 IJBS 
 2.76 
 0.76 
 C.96 
 0.62 
 
 
 
 372,150 
 180.790 
 
 50,160 
 
 mi^&imM.m»d Oikm 
 lotMidgr' 'pid i 
 
 iial'irvar... 
 
 
 11,3111,800 
 
 
 S|088|881 
 
 9i.M»T 
 
 VoW amife per mile, $2.loJ4 Average of four prm 
 
 91^,733 American ts. 90h913,086 British Subsidy. 
 
 HEROBS OF JiMBRIGAN SHIPPING. 
 
 IIIIl Mr itateOMMiBlaiaJMMMRieaalaM (68) 
 
IHlll BP0CBS IN AMERICAN Sllf HNG 
 
 THE MOHARCH OF THE ATLANTia 
 
 The first iron ship of their fleet (Canard) the Peitk, was dispatched to compete wiA 
 
 the Adtiatic."— Ztiw/j«/* BriHsA Skippit^, 
 
 Ijwnclied ApnUith, 1855, ^ll^ of Congress with 
 
 the Mail Contract, the financial embarrassments of the Company pre- 
 vented the sailing of this great ship until November 23, 1857. 
 
 Sold (by JmiiMiire) to the British sitbsidized Galway Line in 1861, 
 and held the lipiipilMship of the seas for years, making a record of 
 5 days, 19 hours from Galway to St. Johns. Owned in Russia at last 
 .acGotmts. 
 
 (64) 
 
 filSfOET 09 AMimi€A]r SBIPtlNa. 
 
 The American ships made the best time, and became the most 
 popular and successfiil. 
 
 The records of Congress show, however, that two years had 
 not passed before emissaries from abroad and at home were 
 undermining the line and poisoning the minds of our law-makers 
 with fallacies of economy and with offers to cheapen the service. 
 
 The magnificent industrial struggle that followed has been 
 folly and frequently presented by writers, and in eloquent 
 appeals; and it is well known that England greatly increased 
 her system of supporting her ocean commerce by (so called) sub- 
 sidies, or heavy compensation, not for mail service merely, but 
 for national prosperity and pride. 
 
 For awhile American statesmen were aroused, and met the 
 contest with a like but moderated policy towards our shipping. 
 For six years it waged manfully, fiercely, and nationally. The 
 American flag made by far the best record for some time, but in 
 such a contest, driven by National insecurity, through weatoess 
 o^ statesmen, is it surprising that anxiety and too much enthu«- 
 asm created rashness ? 
 
 Alas ! the pages of the Congressional Record cannot be de- 
 stroyed as Congress destroyed our Merchant Marine. 
 
 Yielding to foreign influence, the majority of Congressmen 
 abrogated these mail contracts, and, scuttled and deserted, our 
 Merchant Marine went down on the 27th of September, 1854, 
 when the "Arctic " sunk with commander at his post and the' 
 Washington lad, the young hero, at his gun— sending homeward 
 the sad signal of distress and farewell, as if a premonition of the 
 doom ot American honor on the Atlantic, and a reprehension to 
 the statesmen at the capital of the Nation, ior their tril^ng admin- 
 istration and Unfaithfulness in bonded agreement and national 
 honor.i See remonstrances and speeches of statesmen of that 
 day, viz : Webster, Bayard, Badger, Clayton, McLane, Hunt, 
 Folk, Rusk, and all practical, patriotic statesmen. 
 
 Although family, ships, and fortune were lost, Collins soon 
 put forth new zeal and built the Adriatic, still larger and grander, 
 and which animated the English to building the Great Eastern,' 
 built 1858. But one month thereafter, at this moment of greatest 
 need, with odds, expenses unlooked for, and losses of ships against 
 
 *8ee also following pages under hending « Shipbuilding and Sbipwroeki." 
 5 H 
 
ii 
 
 HISTOmY Of AMIMOAM «■» FW®^ 
 
 AtnericMi plwck, a bill was presented in Congress " aboUsbing tbe 
 present ocean steam service, &c.," wbicb was fongbt all ibat ees- 
 sion of Congress, but finally passed I 
 
 Meanwbile, in 1858, tbe " Great Republic," of 4,000 tons, was 
 bnilt hj ow enterprising sbipbnilders— tbe largest ship ever built. 
 
 TIm taadiiig of tbis sbip seemed to create a spasmodic mania 
 for tremendous tonnage, and in tbe determination to «x<5eed us 
 tbe English shippers undertook the elephantine sbip of 80,000 
 tons, tbe "Leviathan," (dias tbe "Great Eastern," alias tbe 
 " OlMtf fillip." again tbe " Great Eastern ;" which was com- ^ 
 menced in 1853, and not finished nntil 1858. 
 
 in 18il this sbip brought over 2,000 soldiers at one trip to pro- 
 teel tbe border of Canada in anticipation of trouble during our 
 '^ivil warfbre* 
 
 TIbe noble spirit of Collins and other of onr then prominent 
 iajhip-builders— Brown, Westervelt, Steers, Webb, Harlan, and 
 milingsworth— struggled for the life of the American sbip nntil 
 1857, wbea weighed down with hope deferred and national de- 
 Motion ftn«6liibnptcy,snnk beneath the main-topsail, the smaller 
 shipowners were glad to sell their indiscriminate craft for civil 
 warfiire and to foreign pnrcbasers. 
 
 If ever one special enterprise has rendered good results to onr 
 country, tbe Pacific Mail Steamship Company stands preeminent 
 titrongb »fidthful service of thirty-five years ; through the period 
 
 uT liiljiliit liiiii only survived and preserved its nationality 
 
 and flag, and in prosperity or adversity of our country, the nation's 
 commercial armada, and from time to Um^ Ameriea'e lone 
 guard on the seas. At times prosperous ; at times sijuandered 
 by stoefejobbing management j at times on the verge of the abyss 
 of a recelw j for a long time unappreciated ana abused in un- 
 just identity of stockWiier ^a^^ saved by one firm 
 
 band of integrity, that stood ' iB^ management and a bank- 
 rupt decree in 1875-76 ; resuscitated through a bard struggle by a 
 wise reorganization of a new and thoroughly commercial raanage- 
 Ml^tbe Paeii%|fi||^ has not only maintained itself, but with 
 tbe eaw^tion of tbeiioble e&rta of tbe Braail service, has alone 
 maintained tbe maritime credit of our country in foreign seas, 
 aojl is to-day tbe pride and boast of tbe nation.* It is a sbame-^ 
 
 tBm -....1 'iWriWHi nndwliiiMliiig "Sewiwii Nftutical Wucalioii." 
 
 The Lone President 
 
 OF AN 
 
 AMERICAN PASSENGER STEAMSHIP COMPANY. 
 
 Solitary and Conspicuous, Firm and Skillful. 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN HOUSTON. 
 
 Amid the changes and trials of " Pacific Mail " for the last 10 years, through 
 bankruptcy and calumny, the hand and mind that has guided over the breakers 
 into waters less tempestuous, the captain that has stood on the bridge throi^h 
 storm, and still directs tbe <Hily ile^ of steamships in foreign parts under 
 
 With a nautical and scientific education, an ex-Naval officer and descendant of 
 the gallant Truxtun, a successful financier, and able disciplinarian, no one was 
 more qualified for this peculiarly severe but successful struggle. / 
 
 167) 
 
fHSEE ITOCHS IN AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 SHALL AMERICANS OWN SHIPS?"!!! 
 YES! IF COBfPBSS IS WISE AND PATRIOTIC! 
 NO! IF CONGRESS LISTENS TO THEORISTS 
 
 AVB 
 
 FOREIGN AGIITTS; 
 Or to the "jittering geiicialities** of those who apply dead literature 
 
 ''cm Of PEKING AND "CITY Of TOKIO/^ 
 
 mamc mml company's steamships. 
 « nw 1111 iniiiMn 
 
 38 " 
 
 Capacity — — -.^ — — ..— — ————— 5»S^ tons. 
 
 BUILT BY JOm ROACH & SONS, 
 18*7 3- 
 
 Ei8foB¥ Of iMsmoAN saippmo. 
 
 60 
 
 a bnrniiig shame — that the reward for such service has been the 
 abrogation of National or rather Congressional iiith. With 
 heavy competition i*oni the Eoglish and f rench companies, 
 which are richly subsidized under long contracts, bringing and 
 carrying, via the Suez Canal to and from our Atlantic side, 
 merchandise at lower " through rates " than can be obtained via 
 San Francisco to New York, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company 
 has had to contend. 
 
 In presenting this consideration and illustration of the fruits 
 reaped by that wise provision, the harvest of the labor of that 
 practical and far-seeing Committee — in seeing what that bar- 
 harvest was, or what would have been the impotent condition of 
 our country, even through that decade, that shed a halo of glory 
 for once over the American Ship — ^let us look also at the analogy 
 of that period with the present. 
 
 " History has truly been repeated ! " 
 
 And why ? Not only do British Steamers swarm in our ports 
 North and South, on our Eastern coast, but such steamers are to- 
 day evading our Consular Officers on the Facile coast, by clearing 
 from San -Francisco for Victoria, and running from there, 
 indeed, even directly from San Francisco, to Portland, Oregon,^ 
 and there seeras no redress for this abuse of our Coasting laws — 
 those terrible so-callerd restrictive laws for which appeal is made 
 to you f^r r«|>eal — ^for they are imperfect, as shown in the dodg* 
 ing of the law and Customs Oiicers by Uiose vessels in falsify- 
 ing their clearance invoices. 
 
 It is the same circuitous dodging practiced so long between 
 our Southern ports and the West Indies by British Ships — re- 
 peated even now. 
 
 The control of our own Commerce has been wrested from as 
 again— entirely on the Atlantic, and almost entirely JlHie Pa- 
 cifici our ports, their entrance, condition, advantage, and weak- 
 ness are known only — ^as a thoroughf^e and familiarly — by for- 
 eign Seamen, while we sit, in investigation, .and compbuQy with-* 
 out the manliaefls of a nation to repair our coadidon and rostore 
 our honor as a maritime and commercial people, by unfurling 
 our flag upon the seas. This inertness, you have been told, is 
 
 The British ship Sardonyx is breaking and dodging our navigation laws at 
 this time on our Pacific coast, thus spoliating the trade of our Oregon line, with- 
 out fair competition. 
 
11 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERWAN SHIPPINO. 
 
 because we, as Americans, want to build American sMps, 
 and to develop American Industries ! Was there ever greater 
 duplicity? 
 
 Wot only mutt it be evident tbat tbis pretence is nntrue, bat the 
 absnrdity tbereof and falseness are so apparent tbat they shcnild 
 immediately suggest a deeper research into the trne condition 
 of the cause of such a resnlt.^^^^*^*^ ' 
 
 Again and again, history records, one Committee after another, 
 appointed to investigate these conditions ; that any year (since 
 1865) might faM^^rvo* to-morrow iavolve us in the most em- 
 barrassing relatio»», and make us nm duly ashamed of our de- 
 pendence, but also the al§ict subjects of foreign adversaries, and 
 we are told that our only help is in patronizing foreign ship- 
 building! It is folly to look at these conditions merely in a 
 ^MW^^t^^^^^^NlM^ CHT jpMliistrial questions simply — 
 
 it is a questioTrfl^Srt vital imfii||iance to the perpetuity of 
 our national existwi*' that we ftiiiM-ilPi-'iim:S%»---that we may 
 know how, if we do not know now, as asserted, and be able to 
 build them when necessary in emergency.^ 
 iii^^flht^lMiM^^ permanently without shipbuild- 
 
 ing enterprise. 
 
 m nation has ever, nor cJHMMNPIVer, developed such pro- 
 digious power, such monopolizing control, influence, and finan- 
 cial beiicAi to the whole people, and under so many interna- 
 €iin«l dissensions, so many years 
 
 nf agrkmSmwme and dependence— as has has been the 
 peculiar and steady decline IMMH Industry in Oie«t Britain for 
 the last quarter of a century — without shipbuilding tlirift. 
 
 This was the diplomacy of England abroad, the charitable 
 Industrial schools and homes of her working people at home, 
 and the seepHa of her prosperity and power, that draws the 
 trade UNlie world to the center of her small domain, London— 
 from Yokohama to Suez or to Cape of Oood Hope, from St 
 John's to Magellan— around that rich trading coast, wherever 
 trade can be found or built up in any part of the globe, " it is 
 carried to London," which the shipbuilders of Great Britain 
 il^^ the giJij^^ <^epot. of the world. 
 
 The theories of Adam Smith and of all advocates of" general- 
 ities" of principles, whether of so-called free-thinkers, free 
 liaders, or protectionists, and especially of advocates of Free 
 Ship, {see Booty,),iSM» ^mfty and absurd, when given in argu- 
 
 BISfORT Of AMBRIOAlf SEIPPINe 
 
 71 
 
 ment, in application to England's prosperity and power as it 
 would be to aiisert that her soil had deteriorated in Its fertility 
 from the application of such economic laws. 
 
 It is shipbuilding that has employed her people, that has yielded 
 great results to her people, that has increased the earnings of 
 all other trades of her people, (see powerful argument of Mr. 
 QlSkn, President British Board of Trade, under " Bounty,") that 
 has returned ten-fold to both people and Exchequer for the 
 liberal subsidies granted as investments for such results ; and 
 that power has been developed and is still kept alive by granting 
 such subsidy, " bounty," or whatever it may be called, as will be 
 seen by referenee above given. 
 
 It is this oircuitous, this concentrative power in trade, drawn 
 to a focus, to London, that is the secret of her diplomatic, com- 
 mercial and financial success and prosperity. Does it not pay 
 a nation then to subsidize, not shipbuilding, but shipowning ? to 
 rettini a quid pro quo for something given to government and 
 people — to pay honestly to an American ship for carrying our 
 mails, as we pay for such service over land ? Is it honest to deny 
 such fair payment — for the United States Government at present, 
 through the wily interventions of hired foreign a^nts, does not 
 now pay saffieient fiir cartage from post oMce to steamer, (see 
 "Bounty,") and yet 'withholds a "clearance" from a ship of 
 American birth. Such refusal is imposition and subjugation under 
 outrageous discriminations in favor of the ships under foreign 
 flags. This outrage in our Statutes shows the fine interlineation of 
 a hireland'a hand^ of whieh the American people are not but will 
 soon become aware, and hold responsible those who have per- 
 mitted such handicapping, injustice, and paralyzing effect upon 
 our passenger mail steamships, the cost of supporting which is 
 80 much increased over packet lines by the necessary expense 
 of luxurious oonaJ9rta||||^ &c. (See foUowiag pages, Mail vs. 
 Packet Lines.) 
 
 It is then the existence of the ship after being built at home 
 that needs simply proper and just remuneration, for services ren- 
 dered, to revive American Shipping, thus combining the interest 
 of the laborer and the merehant — a concentration of home power 
 in home Industries and in home thrift. 
 
 This great combination is overlooked or misunderstood by our 
 people and Congress, but not by the sly agents who trade away 
 
72 HISTOBT m AMBIIOAN Bitimm 
 
 American hooor and lit© bj tli©ir misrepresentatioii and per- 
 wrsion of facts. 
 
 It is the same rivalry that took from oar heroes, the Steers 
 Brothers and Stevens, the " prize Yacht cap " of England, in 
 18frl«.ftBd that, in the jiiBtice and nobleness of her character, the 
 Qneen repaired by a personal present, thereby shaming the an- 
 foirness of her sahjects to oar yacht "Ameriea.*' 
 
 The remarkable foresight of that noble statesman of Ghorgia, 
 Thomas Butler King, told in 1848 to the American people the 
 whole ator]r.j||||^^o-day in the following forcible words : 
 
 "It is suffici«ii£W allow tlifti iliey (British statetmen) are resolved, as fur as prac- 
 tfo&ble, to mon0fi0ke the intercourse l>etween these two important points. This 
 movement showi dhiarly that the time has arrived when we mwit decide whether 
 we will yieM this emential branch of navigation and this indirect means of ex- 
 tending our naval armamenis to our great commereial rival, or whether we shall 
 promptly extend to our enterprising merchants the necessary means to enable 
 them to brinf to America energy, enterprise, and skill into successful competi- 
 tion with Bri«h sagacity and capital. Of all the lines of sailing packets which 
 cross the Atlantic, not on© ia owned in Enrope, and it is not doabted that 
 American merchants, properly en^oaraged, will assuredly excel in them as they 
 hate done in sailing vessels; and when we reflect that this may be accomplished 
 to the mutual advantage and advancement of our commercial and military marine, 
 'H would Beem||||iho tiateaman ought to hesitate for a moment to give his sup- 
 port tO' a meas|||Miftieh ;'is demanded alike-by prudence and the necessities of our 
 *ition.** 
 
 Now and then great men have gone before Congress to appeal 
 for j'QaHMMiM^^ ollllil^^ in the iice of abuse 
 
 from tho^^npatriotic tnltrests, which are threatened hy every 
 proposed revival of American Shipping. 
 
 Of such men whose names will live forever and increase in 
 Iknie and in the affection of oer people, is that of Thomas Tiles- 
 ton, whoM#(MMlgth portrait in the council Chamber of Com- 
 merce, New York, looks down soggeetively upon Its members in 
 session, and indignantly upon those who misguidedly, thought- 
 lessly, or willfully prate and disseminate the theories and fal- 
 lacies of those insidlons agents, whose interest it is to paralyze our 
 Indnstry, by attempts at ridicnle against the fostering care of Gov- 
 ernment, that they may barter away the birthright of the Ameri- 
 idfein Ship, and convert New York Harbor and other of our seaports 
 Into grand "orphan" asylums, for the encouragement of tramp 
 ships from abroad, thereby creating idleness and ruin at home. 
 
 Had Mr. Tileston lived, his earnestness, courage, and jodg- 
 inent, together with the magnetic ininence he posseatei, would 
 bave aronsed statesmen and merchants to defense of American 
 rights, ability, and dignity, which he knew so well can never be 
 preserved nhless we build oiir own ships. 
 
 THE AMERICAN TYPE 
 
 OF 
 
 Mediaiue, Jouroalist, Orator, Banker, Md MerM Siuj 
 
 (SPOFFOKD & TILESTON,) 
 1822—1864. 
 
 Founte <^ packet Uaes between Boston, New Yorlc, CubA, and South Anierica. 
 
 ** Although I have p as se d the age of three score and ten, I hope to live to see 
 
 steamship lines established between New York and Rio de Janeiro and San Fran- 
 cisco and China, and with this beginning, we may then extend our lines to Eu- 
 rope and other places. * ♦ * For, as matters now stand, England has the 
 advantaf^e over us. For instanoe, a merchant in Bio de Janeiro requires an 
 invoice of China or Calcutta goods; does he send his order to New York, where 
 these goods can be procured in bond as cheap and on as good terms as they can 
 be purchased in Europe? No I for the very reason that before his order could 
 reach New Ywk, these goods might actually be on the way to him, by means of 
 the regular steamship lines plying between England and Brazil. And what is 
 applicable to Rio de Janeiro is equality applicable to other ports where her (England's) 
 steamahip lines have^ under a liberal and wise policy of that Government^ been 
 estabU»ked.**'^Bmiruei from Memorial of the New York Chamber tjf Commerce to 
 Qtmprsss, yreaented fly 2%Mmi» Ckairmem C^mmiaee. 
 
 AtiAS ! Congress did, but also undid, the good work, and to* 
 daj we are in the same ignominious condition. 
 
 (79) 
 
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 UlO^ltUfZ UF AJilillMJADl sfttlFJfJIJNIt* 
 
 75 
 
 THE AGE OF lEON. 
 
 " Who ever heard of floating iron f " 
 *^An irm ship — ifs eontrmr^ to m^me! " 
 
 the doubt of the world. 
 
 Virginia was the first of the American colonies in which iron 
 was found, worked, and pronounced in England of equal qual- 
 ity to any in the world." But iron was ignored for the easier 
 pursuit of tobacco, or the James river would have been the 
 Olyde of America — and may be yet ! 
 
 While we are willing to concede to Great Britain the credit 
 . and fame of the development of this great Industry, as also that 
 of the steam engine, the genius of our Stevens and of our Stock- 
 ton, if properly encouraged and aided by foresight in our 
 statesmen — as were the progenitors of this greatest of products 
 in England — our record and condition would have been in the 
 screw propeller and iron ship what liumsey and Fulton recorded 
 for steam navigation. 
 
 To Stevens, Allaire, Collins, Thurston, Sharpe, Morey, Stock- 
 ton, Ogden and others, our country owes much ; 3^et while Eng- 
 land pensioned those of her sons who endeavored to develop steam 
 navigatfon, American geniuses have been left to struggle and die 
 foor, unaided, unrewtfded, aye, unremembered — ^Bumsey esp^ 
 ially — ^without monument, without any recognition but criticism 
 and derision, often, for the public benefit rendered. 
 
 Although the first iron ship of this country was built by Har- 
 lan & Hollingsworth in 1843, it was not until 1870 that rolling 
 mills of adequate capacity, and heavy machinery sufficient for 
 the building of large iron ships were provided in oar country. 
 The first iron ship was built in Bngland in 1836; and the 
 British Lloyds accepted the " Sirius ** in 1837 and the " Iron- 
 sides " (British) in 1838. Captain Stockton, of our Navy, 
 ordered, in 1839, a small iron screw steamer in England, and 
 sent her home as an experiment and curiosity in American 
 waters, but, unfortunately, his endeavor failed to animate his 
 countrymen. In 1840 iron for ships was earnestly advocated in 
 England, " in deference to the Right Honorable First Lord of the 
 Admiralty, then Chancellor of the Exchequer," but was not per* 
 fectly utilized until some years alter. The knowledge, howevert 
 
Of AMBEICAN SHIPPING, 
 
 i 
 
 ■■■■ 
 
 ■I 
 ■ill 
 
 mired, and British statesmen foresaw the advantage, and 
 abollflli«d tMp navigation laws in 1849, in order to invite the 
 woril llMMif 10 a sliip market, because a monopoly was already 
 eiHMHMnii of Iron ship building and of the carrying of foreign 
 trade. 
 
 This was the cause ; this was the " principle of political econ- 
 omy this was the philanlbropy that moved the abolition of 
 the British navigation kmni^ 4nd which took elect January 1, 
 
 1850. ^^^m 
 
 The " free-ship laws and the commercial laws of Great Bri- 
 tain were antipodal in their nature— the former, monopoly; the 
 latter, dependence, neither of which peculiarities applies to 
 American conditions. 
 
 foundries of dtr «^«ititry were inadequate and appar- 
 ly incredttlonfl to this new and jreatly extended ield for their 
 Industry.* ^'^^^ 
 
 The Allaire works were established in the early part of the ceri- 
 tufy — ^the industrial Alma Maier of Mr. Eoach, who has developed 
 more and givipMli^each year to our country by his enterprise 
 and skill than the Allaire did during its whole existence— and also 
 the " Kovelty, ' « Vulcan," " Fulton," " Morgan," the « Penn," 
 (Eeany,) and others. All, more or less, were watchful of this new 
 application, but were content to pursue the even tenor of " the 
 »ld way" of building ships. 
 
 ii * Wg9^ i ii il' — ■ 
 
 » In referfimg, a few days ago, to the very valuable report of the Honorable 
 Mr. Hewitt on the •* D«|ilil||©ii of Labor," House Mis. Doc. 29, 1879, the writer 
 ohterved, for the first time, the following, as a note to the testimony of Mr. C. H. 
 llarehall, page 259, and purjwrting to be taken from an "Address of Charles H. 
 llarshall, February 19, 18W," *^°^*^Stii^ir'^ tabulated official figures 
 
 given by the writer : ^'^^■'i"' 
 
 **Tbe fotlowiBft table, takm flrom a little book oalled 'Our Merchant Marine/ written bir 
 Mr. Ctmtim S. Wte tlM mimimxy of Milwiiilfle, mi in Ii0 Mamt «f CdrHrfa $kipbmiUimg f,m4$ 
 
 It wmm^ very singokr tliat that gentlemen should have commented upon a 
 matter that he knew nothing about, and thus make such a misrepresentation ; and 
 it ia not eroditable to the high reputation that gentleman bears to do such an 
 iTi3n>tice, as it is weH known by some of Mr. Marshall's friends that the work waa 
 prepared and printed before any one but the writer knew of the intention. 
 
 It is the same reflection thrown at every advocate of American Shipping. 
 
 The writer's inheritance in American Shipping antedates that of Mr. Manluinf 
 (of 1817,) and it was, therefore, with the greatest interest and pleasiire that Mr. 
 Marshall's address (referred to) in the Convention at WaihSngton, Felaruary 18, 
 1878, was liflined to ; but had the above assertion been made at the time alleged, 
 it would have been refuted immediately and proven to be nntfoe. 
 
 HISfOtT OF AMKRICAir SHIPPING 
 
 77 
 
 Why American iron founders were so slow to see the great 
 advantages of iron and of the screw to the ship, and so neglectful 
 of the opportanity to graip the beneits within their reach, at this 
 period, when tbe Polk administration was so patriotic and ready 
 to stand by them — and, especially, why the Novelty works did not 
 in 1865-1867 build iron instead of wooden ships — is an unwrit- 
 ten page of history that contains the explanation of British 
 monopoly of our commerce, of onr ports, of oar birthright, in 
 Industry of the prestige of American SJiipping. The excuse of 
 incredulity cannot be accepted ; it is not American. The san- 
 guineness — aye, call it proudly " visionary enthusiasm"— of Rum- 
 sey, Fulton, Livingston, Roosevelt, Stevens, Rogers, Scarbor- 
 ough, as has been shown, was an incentive less reasonable and 
 more derided in their day ; hence it is to-day in<iredtble that the 
 abundant and versatile inventive genius of America— our boasted 
 brain capital — ^failed to utilize the scheme and the occasion. 
 
 But to pardon the omission in 1845 is not to pardon the omis- 
 sion in 1865. 
 
 The Novelty works, to which large contracts were given for 
 building our Pacific line of steamships, knew or should have 
 known better than to have built wooden crafts, that were sure to 
 bring disgrace and decrepitude upon our national Shipping repu- 
 tation, fyr our Sapping is a national Industry; and as Congress is 
 bound to aid it, so alzo are our shipbuilders obUgcOed to sustain our 
 national honor by the development of their genius in developing and 
 enterprise^ in continuing the prestige of Aynerican Shipping. 
 
 The pioneer developers of iron shipbuilding in our country are 
 Mr. Cramp, Mr. Harlan, Mr. Eoach, and Mr. Reany, and to 
 these Iron kings of industry and indomitable zeal oar eoontff 
 owes a debt that Congress cannot repaj-, even in millions. 
 
 At last we have a prospect of recovering some, if not all, the 
 ground that we have lost; but it requires the mutual determina- 
 tion and cooperation of our Congress with our own amd not for- 
 eign shipbuilders. 
 
 The first Iron steamer built in America was the " Bangor," 
 built in 1843 by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., of Wilmington, 
 Del., the first firm to combine the shipyard and the foundry in 
 tbe United States — an honor more creditable and patriotic on 
 account of the omission on the part of other old works, (as men- 
 tioned above,) and of tbe wisdom and firmness essenlial under the 
 
iurrotindiiig discoaragemcnts. The irm was established in 1836» 
 at wliieh time Mr. Fosej was a member of the iirm, bat soon re- 
 ti,red, and in 1858 Mr. J. wbo bad bo long been con- 
 
 neiiilM became «!pPner, and Is now the head of4his 
 
 thriving and splendidly eqnlf^d iron shipyard of the Harlan & 
 Hollingsworth Oo. — with a Dry Dock, of Simpson's patent, capa- 
 ble of taking in a iressel of 340 feet in length. And yet British 
 historians and jonrnalists write to4ay in London, and these 
 agenii ht^jf^ country write in our daily joftmali, that American 
 sbipyardtSve no fiicilities Ibr building or docUng." 
 
 Hwerj Ininstry, fluni miner and workman to architect and 
 luglneer, is herein emfiloyed — concentrating nearly fifty trades — 
 and has developed from an area of about two acres of ground 
 to a frontage of 2«8(I0 feet, on both banks of the Delaware. 
 
 The late head, the venerable Mr. Bamuel Harlan, died in En* 
 rope a few weeks ago. 
 
 The irm of William Cramp's Sons was established in 1830, 
 and although it was not for some years after that the facilities of 
 iipt lUpbuildiqp'Yere developed, this house looked with just 
 plMd to its clai«im one of the oldest shipbuilding firms in this 
 try. 
 
 WILLIAM CRAMP, 
 
 1830. 
 
 HISTOET Of AMERIOAlf SHIPPINU 
 
 By 1860 this firm had so greatly developed their foundry 
 works and ably applied the solid advantages of iron shipbuild- 
 ing, that they were enabled during our late civil war to build 
 the most powerful ironclads that the world has known. It was 
 from this yard that came, and by this firm that waa built, that 
 powerful floating battery, of eight guns broadside, called the 
 new "Ironside," that was unquestionably the most terribly 
 destructive instrument created during that terrible conflict. * 
 
 THE HEW "IRONSIDE," 
 deaUi monitor of Btttcry Wagn«r, Obftrketon Hsrlior.) 
 
 AmwieMif can build Ships-~let thorn try I 
 
 » Of the fearful death results of this ship in its bombardment of Battery Wag- 
 ner, Morris Island, Charleston Harbor, in July and August, 1863, the writer 
 bears personal testimony as one on artillery duty at that point. The nearing of 
 the several Monitors for the evident purpose of opening fire— even in concert of 
 action with the land batteries of the Union forcei— was regarded with compara- 
 tive indifference to the approach of this Ironside "death inonBter," aa w« termed 
 it, that so frequently ricocheted her ftill broadside upon, our sand Fort, shaking 
 the Island to its very center, always striking with remarkable aoenrw^ upon the 
 dame point, caving in our forty-foot traverses, and temporarily burying na with 
 an avalanche of sand, or sending so frequently the forma of mmj noble comrades 
 in fragments into the air. Hallowed be their memory I 
 
m 
 
 mwm%Y OF AXIEIOAll SlimilQ. 
 
 ■■I 
 
 ■liP 
 
 IngiaQd may boast of her programine of ironclad ships which 
 Bhiffiii^ ^.^ll^im^ut the world will quake 
 
 wherever this American ship 0|N»n8 her hroadslde port-hole in 
 naval action. ' 
 
 It was thia firm that bnilt the splendid ships for the American 
 Line,^ of Philadelphia, which, although so entirely complete and 
 
 ■mmmm^^* ^ "^-^y ^ «>"'*^ into freight p^k^t,, be. 
 0lwie of the impossibility to make a passenger maU line pay ex- 
 penses peculiar to such service. The Penn Works, (Reany & Co.) 
 pf Philadelphia, established in 1838, are also building iron ships 
 can class with the ships of the Clyde. 
 m Philadelphia and Reading Bailroad Company recently 
 extensive works for building iron colliers, but abandoned 
 the idea. " 
 
 The spirit and judgment that was not only conspicuous and 
 ■greatly beneficial to the Pilgrim Fathers in Governor Winthrop, 
 ^Wf^i^^ conspicuously alike in Mr. John lioach, 
 
 our great (iron) shipbuilder of to-day. What Qovemor Win- 
 throp did for the Colonies Mr. Eoach has done for our country, 
 and he deserves the deepest gratitude of our countrymen, and 
 their posterity will read in the pages of history, as lasting as 
 ^jUlHlpr country's fiime — ^when their intereated tradueers will have 
 passed from notoriety as 1b«y pits Ifom sigkt-encomiums 
 
 'I'lfliilli Unterprise and determination in so advancing American 
 
 Shipping to the atHldard of Al, and in model, comfort, and 
 completeness, un equaled in the world. 
 
 There is to-day but one iron shipyard in ' Great Britain that 
 equals this burgh of every Industry. Mr. loach built up the 
 iP^lkM WoiMIfy degrees, and has since bought the machinery of 
 the Allaire ; also, in 1868, the Morgan Iron Works ; and further, 
 in 1872, he developed his grand shipyard at Chester. 
 
 ^^^1^1^ irott ilainnge built in the yards of these three largest 
 American shipbuildera has been as f^loirs : 
 
 The Harkia M HdliiMEtworUi Company — -fjjS^S G4.C96 
 
 William mSf^'M' Worn ™.J25TI 64;397 
 
 John Roach & Son ^ . 146,693 
 
 llH ^''^ 'iMi^^ — . S75,(S86 
 
 H shipyards are IIH for the small amount of tonnage 
 
 Shtphuildlng Conditions." ' 
 
 * Since the above was prepared, these works have heen purchased hy Cap! J*. J. 
 Cbrringe and others, and active Industry has been established. 
 
 The Most Abused, yet the Best, Friend of American Labor 
 
 AMERICAN SHIPPING 
 
 JOHN EOACH. 
 
 When we read in the mistitled but able work on dipping hy Mr. Wells, 
 page 5, that "nine-tenths of the Colonial merchants were mere smugglers; that 
 one quarter of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence were bred to 
 commerce, to the command of ship«, and to contraband trade ; that Hancock, 
 Trumbull, (Brother Jonathan,) ana Hamilton wwe known to be cognizant of, or 
 participants in, contraband transactions, and approved of them ; that Hancock 
 was the prince of contraband traders, with John Adams as his counsel," is it not 
 natural to hear those who admire euch caricatures, chiming in similar abuse of the 
 man whose «iergy, earnestnees, and integrity have developed Ameriean shipbuild- 
 ing, and whose pay roll oontribates $82,000 per week to American labor? 
 
82 
 
 WBIOIII OF AMfiBICAN SHlPma. 
 
 HI8TOBT OF THE PAST AND PBBSBIIT. 
 
 pEisiBiNT Washington, January 16, 1794. 
 
 I tmnsfiiit for your information certain intelligence lately re- 
 |pl¥ecl from ^i^~lll|M|||||iiM|fr to tlie sabject of my pm% com* 
 mvnications. ' 
 
 ■''^m^,^ Gioaoi Washinotow. 
 
 Tie™lowinj5^^^^M^tract from |ucli. : 
 m ♦ ■ ■ ■* "" * * * 
 
 '^To force sMp-biiilding ia to establish sMp-yarcla; is to form 
 maittainea; to multipty usefol bands; to produce artists and 
 workmen of every kind, wbo may be found at once for the peace- 
 able specnlations of commerce and for the terrible wants of war.'' 
 
 **To force ship^bnilding at home is to augmmt mmqation^ by the 
 neMliiy of seeking timber [to-day, iron]; is to increase vessels 
 iir transportation; is to anement the nnmberof sailorsi is to 
 pigment the beneits of freight; is to centaple onr esehanges, 
 r commercial relations, ana onr profits." 
 
 a 'Wmigating people to purchase its marine afloat would he a 
 siremge speeuhtion^ as the marine would always be dependent on 
 the merchants furnishing them. Placing, as a reserve, with a 
 foreign nation, or in a foreign ship-yard, the carpenters, black- 
 smiths, calkers, sailmakers [and, far more to-day, ironmongers], 
 and the vessels of a nation, would be a singular commercial com- 
 
 Alth tli ip r iiot the words of Washington, by the above message 
 he endorsed the sentiments as his judgment and advice. Were 
 he President to-day, and this his message, (see American State 
 ||paperS'i) 'Some of the Hew York papen wonli editorialize' him as^ 
 jobbist wtA tnMdistk 
 
 lilllllliH 
 
 HISIOBT OF AMKRICAN SHIPPINa. 
 
 here exhibited, it is the fault of Congress, and not, as insinuated, 
 inabi|||B||, There are but two pleas for such an assertion as ina- 
 bilityS^^t of full information or wilfbl misrepresentation. 
 
 if these ship-yards do not largely increase this amount propor- 
 tionately, yearly, hereafter, the fault will rest upon the failure in 
 the harmony of your Committee's report 
 
 OHE PBBSENT MERCHANT MARINE— IRON AND WOOD. 
 
 Registered Vessels of tlie United States, 1878-1882. 
 
 Kindly Axmiaiiml ftt>iii the office of tlie R^toter. 
 
 
 1878. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1882. 
 
 Bimm vessels, wood 
 
 do. iron 
 
 Ships. 
 
 130 
 48 
 
 91,815 
 79,028 
 
 Ships. 
 
 88 
 44 
 
 Tbna. 
 
 66,462 
 00,142 
 
 Ships. 
 
 81 
 68 
 
 7bn§, 
 
 51,688 
 102,982 
 
 Total steam 
 
 178 
 
 170,838 
 
 132 
 
 146,QP4 
 
 134 
 
 154,570 
 
 Sftiling ▼OMols, wood 
 
 do. iro|i....^ 
 
 1,868 
 1* 
 
 1,469,747 
 462 
 
 2.245 
 If 
 
 1,205,115 
 1,091 
 
 2,049 
 2 
 
 1,135,636 
 2,088 
 
 Total tail 
 
 1,864 
 
 1,660,209 
 
 2,246 
 
 1,206,206 
 
 2,051 
 
 1,137,724 
 
 Total registered vessels 
 
 2,087 
 
 1,629,047 
 
 2,878 
 
 1,862,810 
 
 2,185 
 
 1,292,294 
 
 •Lost t British wraek redeemed. 
 
 Bark Annie Johnson, iron, 997 tons, is enrolled at San Fran- 
 cisco. There are two sailing vessels of iron, with total tonnage 
 81 tons, enrolled at New York. 
 
 Of steam, six ships^ (wood,) 531 tonnage, are on the lakes. 
 
 Of sail, twenty-two ships, (wood,) 8,847 tonnage, are on the 
 lakes — hereafter to be deducted from Merchant Marine. 
 
 The events connected with the United States and Brazil line 
 under the administration of 1865-1875, and the etibrts made since, 
 at heavy personal loss to re-establish that service, are fresh in 
 yonr minds, and, it is to be hoped, folly appreciated as to the focts 
 rather than the fictions written in essays and books in the inter- 
 est of the foreign lines that now make a circuitous line between 
 that country, the United States, and Great Britain. 
 
 It has been published in an anti-American steamship argument 
 that 'Uince the withdrawal of the Roach monthly steamer be- 
 tween Kew York and Brazil, two lines of steamers carrying 
 
the Bfilieli flag have come on in Its place, cariTing merchandise 
 at lower charges and the mails as promptly and more fre- 
 qnently." 
 
 This is so absolutely incorrect that the soft expression in favor 
 of the foreign line can only account for the misrepresentations. 
 So contrary is the fact, that such service takes, and indeed our 
 United Putm a||ii"i"1tf(Mp^ months en route; and where 
 now are those stMadM 7 
 
 So deeply interested in the Wition, the progress, and the 
 chances of our shipping are our friends across the waters, that 
 every action is watched and reported, every result cabled the 
 same day, b|p.,ijf^ of high authority, and obedience by subordi* 
 nates and agents. 'Tis strange, but true. 
 
 «i64iill4nder oilii American ship Is looked upon witb dis- 
 like: the indefatigable American ship-builder is hated, abused, 
 and misrepresented, officially, semi-officially, and privately, as the 
 following will, in a single evidence, of many evidences at hand, 
 prove : 
 
 [Jl'iwi the BriUsh TVade Meports of June, 1880.] 
 
 AMIKIOA JkfTBMFrS TO 
 
 AWO OOBAH OABRYIH0 
 
 Tn my report on the American Carrying Trade, which appeared 
 in Trade Reports, current number 17, 1878, I pointed out the 
 means taken to further this. Mr. Roach, the ship-builder at 
 Chester, in Pennsylvania, had then tried, but ineffectual ly, to 
 obtain from Conorress a subsidv to enable him to extend Ameri- 
 ean trade with Brazil, he having acquired one from Brazil of 
 $100,000 per year for ten years. Mr. R. has again renewed his 
 attempt on Congress, &c. 
 
 And yet American statesmen stand idle or permit our great 
 ghipping interest to lie dormant, to be possessed by foreign skill, 
 foreign capital, and profit from foreign subsidy, with picking of 
 bones from onr own penny-mail payments. 
 
 W>»lWiit il pW P *»m tigablBmifcctarerg ridiculed and 
 abused abroadl snd, sad to say, at home, when their lives 
 are exemplary and their characters, noted for integrity and 
 honor? Why is Mr. Roach thus signalled out in a reflecting 
 manner for his enterprise? With indomitable perseverance, 
 remarkable ability|||||^^ has labored nobly, 
 
 pttriotlcally, and saccessfully, and can challenge tho world to 
 
 HISTOKY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 86 
 
 ^oel — even to-day — his iron ships, the Pekin and Tokio. For 
 years the British Lloyds and all foreign commercial interests — 
 of the writer's personal knowledge — endeavored in the Asiatic 
 ports and in our own por|pp|||||j||^cry and belie these steamships 
 by the most wilfal misrepfesenlations, and were aided in this 
 effort by stockjobbing operations in Wall street ; but, neverthe- 
 less, time has worn out the falsehoods; but those noblest steamships 
 afloat have worn out time and defy all calumny that has caused 
 such queries as that appearing to — because it actually did not — 
 emanate from your Committee, viz, : ^ Question 1st. Why can- 
 not this country build iron * * vessels?" 
 
 This great industry is now struggling grandl}^ for existence. 
 Senators and Members, will you, like the far-sighted British 
 statesmen, develop it, or like their adversaries, aid in destroying 
 its existence ? ~ . 
 
 Every investigation of Congress has strangely ended In conclu- 
 sions more adverse to the petty features of those conditions that 
 handicap American Shipping, viz : fees of consuls,^ who are al- 
 most starved already ; the fees of th.e tempest-tossed pilot,^ local 
 and tonnage fees, and many other small points, rather than in 
 finding the trne cause in sensible and scientific study of the 
 real non-apparent obstacles, and the means for removing such 
 causes. 
 
 In fact, there has appeared to be more a desire, on the part of 
 investigating committees, not to find out the true cause than to 
 really ascertain what has been the impediment. 
 
 Some few patriots — ^in every Congress — ^have repeated the en- 
 deavor, and considered, with spirited discussion, the yearly favor- 
 able Report of the Committee on Post-roads, looking to the revival 
 of our Merchant Marine, but each effort has been met by a rush 
 thitherward of notorious foreign agents, and with misrepresenta- 
 tions made to the majority of Senators and Members. Defeat has 
 resulted through these emissaries of foreign Steamship Lines or 
 Agents of foreign capital — lobbyists, partners, agents, or con- 
 signees of foreign houses — who have found it more profitable to 
 act thus under a foreign fiag rather than to bear the yearly losses 
 and deterioration of their bushiess under our shipping condl- 
 
 1 See Exhibit of Consular Fees. 
 'See following pages—" Pilot Fees." 
 
86 
 
 iiiojtiiifti vW it.MJiiiki.vim fiiiiAjr« Ajxit. 
 
 il lll 
 illl 
 
 tioiis. From the want of appreciation of our Congressmeii, emh 
 one of nmh bills 
 
 When your Joint Committee was appointed, and the names that 
 comprised the Committee were heralded throughout the country, 
 there was a thrill of joy and a hope of relief indulged and ex- 
 pressed from onr seaports to the interior of our land. 
 
 The c^MftV ^^mmilm eloquent and patrioMe words by 
 the distinguished Bepres4ittti#mjta Maryland, Mr. McLane, 
 who, thirty-one years ago, in tMNKiiM of Representatives, while 
 defendinir a Bill for the Encourafi^ement of Building our own 
 Ships, said : -f««l«iSpp| 
 
 ^ I tew^MMi^ will tmtiiiiie^Sirote to give a liberal dona- 
 ll0il| m HbMki MH of monef W CMVf Ibe mails between New 
 ' . ITmc and Liverpool, between other cities and foreign eoontries, 
 wbm ^<^i^eign Jms have established linel. I can well conceive 
 HMrt tbe iiiH»ill|t'!fl|l|riiiiiiii would establish lines from oar coasts 
 olnts in would be ready 'to act on the o&n- 
 
 * *|||K the contracts that existed are loosely made, 
 »aii mlHiif to Mtand those m^raets and sustain them, 
 ilntain'them :agiiinst the w4l|||||lf need be. lam (^nite 
 ing to see tMs Government interposing to protect its citizens 
 against the monopolies eBtabiiaiicd by Great Britain, France, or 
 _;aiiy otfaer Ibteign country." | 
 
 And also, and particularly, the many brilliant and pathetic 
 l^peals, in patriotic sliriils, that have echoed through the walls 
 of oar Capitol, and reverberated throaghout onr land, from the 
 iis^ngaished Representative of New Tork, Mr. Cox, in eloquent 
 demands for protection of American citizens abroad, American 
 lights, American life-saving service, American labor, and indeed, 
 
 ^""^ ji iiiiyi u|n||||i III III i iiiiiiilliiiiii iiiiiniliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiilliiiiiiliiliiiiiiiiiiJiiiiii ilUilliillBiliii 1 ill lllliiidlll ill 
 
 all that is iHlMHIMII^^ expected by every American to 
 be a "protector" of American industries— especially of the 
 American ship, which combines all Industries — and that glowing 
 Irlbate of his to our past laurels and prestige, and the hope given 
 for the fntare, is fresh in the ears of oar people. 
 
 ••For reasons ndt necessary now to elaborate, connected with 
 the models, proportions, size, and lading of vessels, the percenta^je 
 of total loss in the American Mercantile Fleet is, to our credit, only 
 about one-half of the British marine. Strengtli and buoyancy to 
 carry safely upon the sea are indispensable conditions to luunan 
 security and profitable trade. The time is not far distant, I trust, 
 fer the old renown of oar American Shipping under liberai* 
 i*ei.iciis." 
 
 HISTORY Of AMIRIOAN SHIPPINO, 
 
 87 
 
 Here is the key-note given. " Under Ubemi policies/' most truly 
 said, only, can American Shipping be revived. 
 
 That hope indulged and enjoyed for a season has, always, soon 
 been dispelled and gladness turned into disappointment and 
 sorrow. Such " history has been yearly repeated! " 
 
 The series of questions, issued only a few days after the an- 
 nouncement of tbe appointment of your Joint Committee, at 
 once threw a shadow of prejudice, unfortunately — no matter bow 
 unjustly— over your deliberations, fymii the peculiar converse 
 tenor of their phraseology. 
 
 They were the same old familiar evasions and perversions — 
 instead of open inqairies — that somehow come oat in stereotyped 
 expression at every Investigation ordered to search into the 
 Condition of our Shipping," and Appeared in three of oar daily 
 Ifew York journals. 
 
 It was evident that these questions were not matured by 
 j^ny of yoar honorable body, and it appeared useless to argue 
 the subject upon interrogatories tbail a<^ally prejudged con- 
 clusions. 
 
 Since reading, however, the telegraphed extracts of the testi- 
 mony being given before your Committee, in New York, by the 
 Bhipping Commissiqner, whose ofiice is one of the encumbrances 
 or burdens upon our Shipping and Shipowners ; and also of the 
 eonsideration by your committee of a "prize essay** thai; 
 emanated from an academic contest, rather than from the prac- 
 tical experience and wisdom of old seamen, and also of a decla- 
 ration from one who has given his whole vitality, physically and 
 mentally, for the last quarter of a century, to British Shipping 
 interests^ — or so-called free ships — and who has done more harm 
 to American Shipping and made more misrepresentations 
 thereof than any other living man — that he represented fifty 
 millions of people, but has not a dollar in American Shipping 
 or American Industry; it becomes the duty of everyone to make 
 an appeal to your Committee to ascertain truth, by a deeper 
 research and a longer consideration by your able members into 
 a politico-economic question, that is second to none in import- 
 ance to the present and future prosperity of our country. 
 
 When such a declaration is made that Subsidy is not demanded, 
 and that Free Ships are needed and wanted, for whose interest is 
 the appeal made ? Not in the interest of men who are, and who 
 
BISTOEY 0V AMIUCAir SlIFfIll0. 
 
 wpwsent Ameriam commercliil intereits ! The official records of 
 our coenliy sliiiiip a most pr onoenced refutation apoQ smcli aster- 
 tioiis 
 
 Are yoii to believe such loose assertions as the foregoing, or 
 the appeals of mm East and West, who have publicly recorded 
 their remonstrance agpnat and dennnciations of such misrepre- 
 sentation and of snch Qtajgressional tergiversation, when the 
 anacondas hissed at AmerMn shipping and the weak minds wer& 
 influenced to believe in punishing the Pacific Mail Steamship 
 Company because the stockjobbers had seized and pillaged her 
 treasury* * 
 
 The voice of tlMfimte of ^ 50,000,000— here speak^ 
 
 not by projcy, but fo» Ikemselves, and representing the pare bnsi- 
 neea of the country, appeal for Subsidy " or bounty without 
 fear or mumbling : 
 
 1 * { Mis. Doc. 
 
 4Sn ConoEiss, 
 
 Ut Seaaion f H^pg^ REPBBsraTAiivBS. | ^j^' 
 Smanalnmce of (MMmmerckanta. 
 
 Mat II, ISf4^]|#iNrred to the Oommittee on the Fott-OIEce md Po8t-Boad» 
 
 •ud odtoMd 'to h» printed. 
 
 San Francisco, Cai.., May 8, 1874. 
 
 lb l^e iofioniNe the Semdars md Mepresentaiioes to Omgrm from 
 
 the Fimfic mmif Wasftmffim^ D. C: 
 
 The policy of the California Legislature in regard to the Public 
 If Mail Steamship Company subsidy is suicidal, the result of tem- 
 
 Iporiil infatna^on. If confirmed by Congress will involve the 
 portion of the oriental trade to American shipping 
 and iSrow it into the bands of subsidized English line*, which,, 
 with the aid they receive from the British government, can carry, 
 via Suez and London, at little more than half the cost by Amer- 
 ican lines running direct to this port. The Peninsular and 
 Oriental English Company have a subsidy of over $2,000,000 
 per annum, making it impossible to compete with them with- 
 out this further subsidy. The refusal of Congress is almost tanta- 
 mofnt to a surrender of the carrying trade to the English, and 
 a luia of a large portion of the direct trade to this port. Since 
 the establishment of the China line our trade increased from 
 one thottsand tons tea in 1867 to over ten thousand tons in 1871^ 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING 
 
 80 
 
 and other merchandise in proportion. To provide for further 
 increase pending the construction of new steamers the Pacific 
 Mail Steamship Company employed outside vessels, when the 
 Peninsular and Oriental Company, to keep the trade, dropped 
 their rates so low that the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 
 without the additional subsidy asked for, could not compete, and 
 our direct trade fell off* to seven thousand eight hundred tons. 
 With the subsidy, the trade could be retained and increased 
 to the entire amount of American consumption, and to the great 
 benefit of American interests here and in all the large cities of 
 the Western States, as we have the advantage on time required 
 for transit l)y a direct route. It is needless to dwell upon the 
 vast importance of the oriental trade to the nations controlling 
 it. We can have it with half the aid from our Government that 
 England gives to her steamers, and the advantage to oar Gov- 
 ernment will far more than compensate. 
 
 The Pacific Mail Steamship Company are the pioneers in the 
 direct trade ; have no American competition ; and have estab- 
 lished a line-and prepared for trade at enormous expense, relying 
 upon the laws of Congress. The^ are entitled to aid. The sub- 
 sidy cannot be refused without violation of the American prin- 
 ciple of protection to home interests, extended to every other 
 branch of our commerce. The past action of Congress has crip- 
 pled and almost destroyed the efficiency of our merchant marine ; 
 and it is now time to adopt the more liberal and wise policy 
 which the long experience of England has found essential to that 
 most important interest and to the increasing demand of com- 
 merce for rapid eommunication, which has made all nations her 
 tributaries. 
 
 W. F. Babcock, B. Poixotto Frank & Co. 
 
 President Chamber of Commerce, Locke & Montague. 
 Parrott & Co. W. & I. Stinehart & Co. 
 
 Wm. Alvord. Loup & Haas. 
 
 La&yette Maynard. Qeo. 0. McMullen & Co. 
 
 Fredk. F. Law. F. B. Faylor & Co. 
 
 G. T. Lawton. Marcus C. Hawley & Co. 
 
 Geo. H. fioward. Reddington, Hostetter & Co. 
 
 Thomas H. Silby & Co. C. Adolph Lowe & Co. 
 
 Kittle k Co. Williams, Blanchard & Co. 
 
 John Parrott. Wm. T. Coleman & Co. 
 
 stle Bros. H. P. Walker, 
 
 illiam Peck & Co. David D. Cotton. 
 
 Murphv, Grant & Co. J. C. L. Wedsworth. 
 
 B. M. Hartshorn. J. W. Reymond. 
 
 Luis, Sloss & Co. Jones & Co. 
 
 Wooster, Shattuck & Co. Oliver Eldridge. 
 
 Wilmerding & Kellogg. M. Heller Bros. 
 
BI8fO&¥ Ot AlflEI€Alf SttlPHM 
 
 . W . Dodge & Co. 
 Brittai:e, Holbrook & Co. 
 Phillips, Tillior 4 Co. 
 Whittier, FWler & Co. 
 Erastein Bros & Co. 
 McCain, Flood & McClure. 
 Tubbs & Co. 
 Eosenbauni & Friedinaii. 
 Isaac Fried lander. 
 Levi Strauss & Co. 
 Bachman Bros. 
 B. N. & E. Walter & Co. 
 Seliolle Bros. 
 
 Michaels, Friedlander & Co. 
 L. & M. Sachs & Co. 
 Morrison, Harris & Co. 
 Hoffmau & Co. 
 Weil cab u & Co. 
 Schweitzer, Sachs & Co. 
 
 A. B. Forbes, Crane k 
 
 Farwell & Co. 
 
 J. D. Farwell. 
 
 Baker & Harailtoo. 
 
 W. C. Ralston. 
 
 Geo. C. Johnson 4 Co. 
 
 Neustadter Bros. 
 
 Christy & Wise. 
 
 L. & E. Evertheimer. 
 
 L. Deiikelspiel. 
 
 Albert Man & Co. 
 
 A. S. Rosenbaura & Co. 
 
 Weil, Woodleof, Hooker & Co. 
 
 Frankeiithal & Co. 
 
 Richard Patrick & Co. 
 
 E. E. Morgan's Sons. 
 
 Jacob Underbill 4 Co. 
 
 A. Hayward. 
 
 Helbin'g & Strauss. 
 
 This was followed the next year with an appeal of the repre- 
 flenHilives of American interests in New York, that Congress 
 preflerre inviolate the bonded contraet and honor of our country. 
 
 Mmmisimmjmm Mm Tm'k Mmhmis. 
 
 43d CoNoaiss, \ SENATE. f Mis. Doc. 
 
 M Semm. j » \ No. 94. 
 
 Fbbbvabt 17, 1873.>--Ordered to lie on the table and be printect. 
 
 Niw York, FebrimrM 16, 1875. 
 
 To the Congrem of the United J^tes : 
 
 The undersigned, bankers, merchants, and others of the city of 
 New York interested in the trade with Cliina and Japan, have 
 viewed with great solicitude the recent proceedings in Congress 
 towards a withdrawal of the semi-monthly mail service between 
 those countries and San Francisco. 
 
 They would, theretbre, respectfully represent to your lionora- 
 We body that the interests of all engaged in this trade would suf- 
 fer irreparable injury in its discontinuance. 
 
 The large and tapidly increasing commerce between the East- 
 ern and Western hemispheres, yet in its iiitancy, needs the sus- 
 taining support of Government to develope it by aiding this com- 
 pany to meet the increasing wants of the merchantile community; 
 and a withdrawal of mail-facilities would be fatal to progress. 
 We cottiiier that the vast commercial interests of the country at 
 large in the maintenance of the said line are of paramount im- 
 porlanise to that of this or any other company. 
 
 iWd^W*' if 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SH1PPIN0. 91 
 
 Your petitioners, therefore, respecfully remonstrate against 
 annulling the contract with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company 
 for the said service, and humbly prav that you will ffive their pe- 
 tition lull consideration. 
 
 A. A. Low & Brothers. B. D. Morgan & Co. 
 
 Brexel, Morgan & Co. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Com- 
 
 Howland & Aspinwall. pany, by Charles Dennis, vice 
 
 Wetmore, Cryder & Co. president. 
 Pabbn & Chauncey. Mercantile Mutual Insurance 
 
 Bucklin, Crane k Co. Company, Ellwood Walter, 
 
 Oary & Co., 90 Pine street, president. 
 Wni. H. Foggs A Co. Orient Mutual Insurance Com- 
 
 Olyphant & Co., China. pany, by Eugene Deutilly, 
 
 Beebe & Brothers. president. 
 Wood, Payson & Colgate. Great Western Insurance Coin- 
 John Middleton k Co. P»5y> Ferd. Molz, president. 
 W. H. Smith & Son. W. K Jessup, Paten & Co. 
 Thompson, Knapp & Co. HiWSbhn Caswell & Co. 
 Hewlett & Tormoce. Caleb F. Smith & Co. 
 E. P. Arensted & Co. J. B. M. & R. Montgomery. 
 Carter, Hawley & Co. Geo. W. Lane & €o. 
 E. W. Corlies. Sheldon, Banks & Co. 
 Fred'k Mead ^ Co. H. B. Claflin & Co. 
 Frazar & Co., of China. J. & W, Seligman & Co. 
 Spencer & Havemeyer. J. & S. Wormser. 
 New York Matual. Insurance TheSilk Association of America, 
 
 Company, by John H. Lyell, by Franklin Allen, secretory. 
 
 president, Cheney Brothers. 
 
 Union Mutual Insurance Com- Wm. ItyJe. 
 
 pany, by F. Stagg, vice presi- Wra. Strange & Co. 
 
 ient. B. Richardson & Son. 
 
 H. K Thurber & Co. Geo. B. Skinner & Co. 
 
 London, Asiatic and American Hamil & Booth. 
 
 Company, James Purdon. D. O'Donoghue & Co. 
 Harper k Goadby, agents Cana- B. B. Tilt & Son. 
 
 dian Bank of Commerce. Dexter, Lambert & Co. 
 fl. A. Tuzo, agent Bank of Wm. H. Horstmann & Sons. 
 
 British North Ameri<i||il Thos. N. Bale. 
 John H. Draper & Co* Jno, F. Steams & Co. 
 
 These prominent Americans should be deducted from Mr. 
 Codman's mythical "fifty millions " opposed to subsidy. It is im- 
 possible to express more pungently the injustice of Congressional 
 action in the above case of breaking the national faith by abro- 
 gating a sealed contract, than in words of one of your Committee, 
 in a similar service, and in a minority report, June 22, 1874: 
 
HISTORY OF AMBEIOAjr SHIPPim 
 
 ***nm coDclnding portion of the unreasomiUt report of tli# 
 ini^^'^^ ^ GoiwinLittee reads us follows: 
 
 " If fhmiMlHIl meuis wen used to secure the additionni subsidy, even if the 
 present raanttgem of the comptiny are entirely innocent in the matter, as we as- 
 ■ume tbej sra, Congftw alioiiM not hesitate to declare the subsidy forfeited on 
 mj groiand, eitlier real or teclmicml.'* 
 
 From wMcli outrageous decision the Hon. Mr. Page dissented^ 
 aed tii« alMicirdltir of w||i|||^ as follows : 
 
 a Vith this I would heartily concur if there was any evidence 
 before the committee as to any corrupt means being used ; but 
 as there is no such evidence, I have no hesitation in concurring 
 with the above roport of the minority as to the legal questions 
 involved. " H, F. PAGE." 
 
 What Informed or sensible man will say candidly that a Freo 
 Ship privilege will provide sobsistence for the &mily of the ship- 
 owner or pdd one dollar more profit than an American-built 
 snip ? 
 
 tte and GMM>i?e illustrations of the free, or. 
 
 properly, fbreiplillii^ thitiq!^:^ There' are plenty 'Of decayed 
 eitfl ready to be patched up and sold cheap to any one who 
 could be so credulous as to practice the Free Ship theory. It is 
 said that *' subsidies by our Congress would please British ship- 
 builders." Tliiiiijwhy do they make such a fuss against it? 
 
 Decayed ^rg|fjy||i surplus stock swarm in the waters of the 
 - loropetttfiiiltsts, Ship-billili^^ h^«ii^|fN 0^%' overdone for 
 ammj ylm'^^lll ' ''^ilat Britain. Tm finable reports by the 
 United States Consuls have made such exhibit for some time. 
 There is not a shipping merchant who goes to Europe who is not 
 importuned by oompetitors there, ready to cut each other's rates 
 ^« m get off iM^MKXff stock,Jil| Biir York builders with their 
 blocks of houses, and, in ** the timks of the trade," some bargains 
 are offered to catch the next customers ! 
 
 It is not the price of the ship that has injured our shipping- 
 ■or our maiitime honor; It is the enemy in sheep's clothing- 
 ■^0^^^^99imm «very one who ri8k4||||peapital to build up this 
 Amenoui industry, or who strives |# jprove the true treachery 
 iA eunningly hidden and protected by the power of money and 
 journalism. Such treachery to American industry is without 
 fttrallel in the records of any other country. In our civil strife, as 
 of the flputh, we were open enemies in warfere; 
 ire were fighting in the field there was an enemy who 
 
 ji. 
 
 aiSTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING 
 
 9a 
 
 was more than enemy, who was and is st41l treacherously under- 
 mining the noble prestige of American honor on the seas by 
 quietly and insidiously working like the worms and the barn* 
 ades at the bottom of the American ship in the interest of 
 British ship-builders. 
 
 The young men of the South despise such means of an enem}^ 
 and will rally to the support of our flag over our industries and 
 over the seas. We cannot be deceived. We will not be sold 
 ^iMttt in labor and honor by those who with so much mutviter 
 plead that paying for carrying our mails is stealing. Such 
 nonsense won't do. We want to see our ship-yards active and 
 our ship-owners paid honestly for the service they render and 
 our honor that they uphold. 
 
 Long experience in commercial associations, with peculiar &cil» 
 ities as regards commercial education and information upon the 
 Shippini:^ of the world while connected with the Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company, and while, at the same time, watching and 
 studying the conditions and relation of the Industries of every 
 nation ; and for several years in a wider and better field for learn, 
 ing the world's commercial and industrial condition in develop- 
 ment and for research — analyzing the economic problems pre- 
 sented in the reverses and successes of each nation — may be 
 considered a reasonable incentive to the deepest interest and a 
 qualificatioh for impartial judgment in coring an opinion and 
 pleading upon this subject, which has been and is being so ter- 
 ribly misrepresented, neglected, trifled with, and destroyed — and 
 why ? Simply from the want of proper and thorough research 
 into the non-apparent causes that have, and are still, producing 
 such consuming results. 
 
 It is with feelings of mortification and indignation that we see 
 the humiliating commercial foreign despondence of our Monu- 
 mental city at present, and read the following colloquy from one 
 of our recent journals, which illustrates so clearly our menial 
 maritime condition : * 
 
 " Not long ago, while waiting in Baltimore harbor for an in- 
 bound boat, we oegniled the time by goin^ on board of an English 
 steam freight-ship awaiting her turn at me elevators for a cargo 
 of grain. We asked the captain what port he last hailed from. 
 
 •* He said, * Liverpool.' 
 
 «« « What cargo did you bring ? ' 
 
ii HISTORY OF AXIMQAN SOIPPDia. 
 
 " * Iron in ballast/ 
 
 tnfs in blulast ?' 
 
 • Oil/ said he, * we make three-cornered trips. We bring: 
 English iron to the United States in ballast. That helps our 
 manufacturers to climb your Tariff. Then we ship a load of your 
 wheat, which has no market except in our ports, and we make 
 jnur wheat pay the freight both ways ! * 
 ** * But how can you do that ?' 
 
 " * Simply because we command the situation,' replied the 
 Englishman. ' Your wheat has no market except in England, 
 and you have no means of getting it there except in English ships.^ 
 
 " So our worthy British cousin made our wheat pay not only 
 the freight on itself to his market, but the freight on his pig-iron 
 to ours! 
 
 "And yet we have heard our statesmen say that this country 
 did not need a merchant navy, for the reason that the English 
 ships carri f d Lj &yervthing at mch reasonable rates! " 
 
 Is Maryluid, " my Maryland," becoming England's? 
 
 How true this is known to be by our statesmen; yet how 
 strange that this condition has been permitted to grow yearly, 
 from neglect of American Shipping, until to-day eighty-Jive 
 par imL of American trade is controlled by foreign shipping — 
 and a proportion of home industry and profit lost by Great 
 Biitaln's monopoly far greater than by any other country. 
 
 The Secretary of State, in his ricent letter on the " Com- 
 merce of the World," the most valuable as well as recent econ- 
 
 ■IL 
 
 tlMUk Imb'k 1.70 NHil'lo 1 ton eorend bgr the Gemuui Ihg in the 
 
 2.21 to 1 by Butch flag, in the trade between both countries. 
 2.81 to 1 by Austrian flag, ditto. 
 8.97 to 1 by Belgian fla^, ditto. 
 6.12 to 1 by French flag, ditto. 
 5.51 to 1 by Italian flag, ditto. 
 8.00 to 1 by Spanish flag, ditto. 
 S.20 to 1 by Bussian flag, ditto, 
 less to 1 by American flag, ditto." 
 
 Here we are presented oiUciallj our actual condition, the most 
 humiliating of any irst^lass nation in the world ; and this de» 
 cline is due solely to one cause, viz., the wily, underhanded, 
 domino agents of foreign shipping interests, harping their flatter- 
 ing W0rd8 into the ears of our rulers, that " it is better to let the 
 
 jBriMsh lxehei|uer pay her nhipiiii|f|^ mm off than to notice 
 
 m trivial a monopoly." * 
 
 jaitMiiii ^ — 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING, 
 
 Nothing has ever been written more forcibly expounding the 
 true conditions and results of this monopoly that enslaves all 
 Americans to-day than the following from a recent report ot 
 tJ. S. Consul Potter, of Crefeld, Germany : 
 
 " It is undoubtedly the interest of European powers to monopolize, as far as 
 possible, the carrying trade of the United States. They know that the flag of a 
 nation carries influence, and that the people all over the world are largely swayed 
 in forming their judgment of the power and productive capacity of » country 
 hy the frequency with which. its flag appears at the maiMiMd of iti oommereially 
 laden ships. Often seen in foreign ports, it engenders respect and confidence, 
 and thus opens new ETenues to healthy trade. If the commwroe of ibe American 
 States was conducted in American bottoms, their ships would dot the seas in every 
 climate, Mid tbdr flag be fluniliar in all parts of the wwld. huU^&ng and sail- 
 ing American ships, something more would, therefore, be accomplished for the 
 country in rgvMi^ oeHveiduairies in Ameriean akipyardt, and furnisning emplof* 
 mmU to thou9aHd9 of mechaniet and sailors. The great commercial beneflu arising 
 from international intercourse would be secured, and the principles of peace and 
 oiTiliaation steadily advanced. " 
 
 But here is something more, and clearly one of those " gen- 
 eral and beautiful principles " of free trade, published only a few 
 days since in one of our leading New York journals, show- 
 ing how stupid we are in not seeing that by building up and en- 
 riching British shipbuilders tke^ vM 9om km ''Boo^mmgh/' 
 and then stick Americans with high prices, andfiree ihem some years 
 hence, in shame and want, to come back to ^\first 'principles " of charity 
 at home — American shipbuUding, 
 
 Here is the douceur : 
 
 "An Englishman thoroughly familiar with the official statistics of the Eng- 
 lish Board of Trade and with the conditions of shipbuilding in Great Britain, 
 writes as follows to a friend in New York : 
 
 •Our shipping business seems to be undergoing a complete revolution. Sailing vessels 
 except of a large size, are not being built, and an amount of capital is being put into steamers 
 which, to say the least, is startling. -By opening the door to our ships you would be reviving your 
 own buiU^ng trade, omng to M« hereaaM price which would be omm here in ret^pomt to jfour 
 
 Could anything be more wily than this; and yet it is the 
 whole argument, and published in credulous verdancy or worse. 
 
 Suppose we open the doors to American ships and try them 
 a while. 
 
 And here is another specimen of the sweetmeat sophistry 
 that is given to our credulous rulers and interested people in 
 frequent doses, but, like Christmas stockings, full of indigestible 
 materials. A London J ourna l recentlj tried to soothe our 
 anxiety for our dying sht|i|||^ as follows : 
 
•* The Americans seem unable to let well-enough alone ! Brit- 
 ieli Bliipe have carried their mails and their products practically 
 wMk&ut competition for a score of yean*, and during no other 
 period of their history have the American people prospered as 
 they have since their Merchant Marine disappeared from the 
 ocean. [By destroyingf our Industry !] This is because the 
 laws of nature have been obeyed I the Americans have conformed 
 iheir policy to the great economic faei that England is the natural 
 eemmon carrier of the world, and they have not wasted their energy 
 Of their substance in vain efforts to compete with her at constant 
 loss. The great truths of Free Trade underlie the relations 
 between British carriers and American producers, and the results 
 are seen in mutual prosperity, each nation realizing the utmost 
 benefit in its own sphere, and neither trespassing upon the natu- 
 ral i^niEin of the other." 
 
 Thii is indeed oool, assuring philosophy for those who do not 
 flii^teow its meaning, ai||||^ charmed by the smooth 
 aiyings and soU voice of the enticing siren, the resnlt of which 
 IS seen and sadly felt by our farmer, mechanic, and tradesman. 
 
 Can it be that the editor of that journal is so weak, or that he 
 belieires thst Aroericiins are so weak, as to accept such fulsome 
 fiiKtti|P||li|||.s his picture is, however, the true " state of our bar- 
 renness, the true case of our dependence, the tme condition of 
 onr sabscrviency, he has a good reason for Ins conclusions. 
 
 Let Americans read the letter of ex-Minister Bancroft (under 
 Booty, following pages,) the Messages of Washington, of Polk, 
 and others pdMnitted herewith for a clear exposi of the farce 
 mad deceit Ae causes of the decline of American shipping. ^ 
 
 To analyze, then, this greatest of Industrial questions in 
 oi!|lM% let ns irst review the " Primer Questions," not pre- 
 pared by, Imt sent out i>r tbiiiUy— ittee ; and then consider 
 eai|l|g^^ of our Shippin/ 
 
 * The Hew Tork Hsntieftl Cbsette recently very concisely expressed tbe story 
 ¥12. : 
 
 8eii^% th«y will iSoobtodly do n^w*"* ■ ® ^ pesseii S ' through fhe 
 
 fA«y did sot m fiilHil* This is wonderful, but shamefully too true. This 
 agency (a» represented in following pages) is the insidious flatterer, who, with 
 theoretical palaver — ^unlets •tronger and less pure argument is needed— has for 
 tventy-five years been encircling its infliience in our private and public halls, 
 like a serpentineous charmer, for the ''ijl^^ American "Shipping. 
 
 ^fl« 4mmmt "it intaMcr IA«m ik$ mwrdt 
 
 ft 
 
 COLUMBIA LOOKS IN VAIN 
 
 FOR 
 
 Our Merchant Marine. 
 
 Tho' Lost to Sight, to Memory Dear I " 
 
 "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
 The saddest are these^it might have be^I " — 
 
 FoBEiaN Lobbyist — 
 
 Come sit thee down upon this saixdj i^ide. 
 While I to thee in golden notes oonfide ; 
 This trade for years successfully IVe plied, 
 Harping the bonny air, " The Ships o' Clyde." 
 7 H (97) 
 
3? Ej, S T I Cjl* El 
 
 . American Shipbuilding, 
 
 IMIT FOKEieM JteENTS MlllAf ©B TO HIIIB 0E IIIFAMI. 
 
 1784. Komsey, in the presence of Washington, creates til© firot 
 
 successful steamboat — in the world. 
 1807. FaltOE iaangorates the first regular steam traffic, ditto. 
 HiP*AiNveii8 inaogarates the first coastwise steam traffic, ditto. 
 1812. Baltimoreana create the greatest ships, the GUppers, ditto. 
 1819. The " Savannah " inaugurates ocean steam shipping, ditto. 
 liSo] Henry Ecktord, of Xew York, and a large nuraber of 
 
 American shipowners invited to Turkey to build ships. 
 1830. Harlan & Hollingsworth build the first iron ship in America. 
 1845. David Brown, of New York, presented by the Czar of 
 
 Russia with a diamond ring for the best models ot ships. 
 
 1860. The Collins line established, with finest steamships m the 
 
 world.- W0^^'^^ 
 
 1851. The Steers Brothers especially honored by the Queen of 
 
 England with a silver cup, IliiHnmiig ywiht r&em 
 with " Ameiica," in fairness and honor to the victors 
 and rebuke to the unfairness and shame that denied the 
 so-called " prize " of the London Royal Yacht Club. 
 
 1852. Westervelt, the great shipbtlilder, madeMayorof New York. 
 1866. George Steers builds the largest, finest, and fastest steam- 
 ship afloat— the "Adriatic." 
 
 1857. W. H. Webb is presented by the Czar of Russia with a 
 gold snuff-box set in diamonds for building the mag- 
 nificent steam frigate " General Admiral." 
 
 1861. Wm. Cramp builds the greatest ironclad of the world— 
 
 tto^lpwiides." 
 
 1801. W. a UTebb receives contract from Italy to bniM two 
 ironclad steam frigates. 
 
 1865. W. H. Webb sells to the French Government his great 
 war ram, " Dunderberg.** 
 
 1871 John Roach builds the great iron steamships "Peking" 
 and " Tokio," and establishes an iron ship yard, unex- 
 celled in the world. 
 
 m 
 
 " | . ) lH,.^ 'THp^...i^ "lVr,..i^ ^■■.l_'*CD...Jr{i'^S^ 
 
 QUESTIONS OF THE SHIPPING COMMITTEE 
 
 Question 1st. — " Why cannot this country build iron, steel, or 
 wooden vessels as well and cheaply as they can build in 
 Scotland, England, or other countries ? " 
 
 Reply. — As this question reverses the order of progress, it is 
 necessary to reverse an answer and take the last dlass first. 
 
 The record of American wooden ships is so renowned as to 
 cheapness, model, completeness, and speed that it was not sup- 
 posed any one under the rays of the sun's light and within the 
 pale of civilzation would seriously have asked such a question ; 
 hence the country naturally asks — 
 
 Who prepared these doubk^mmrmg Qimtkm f " 
 
 We have read in magazines of late, and in pages of adverttsed 
 theory, from some one of the semi-dead literati of college facul- 
 ties, and from the* subsidized manufacturers of public opinion in 
 daily journalS| articles arguing that Amerioam emmot build ships ! 
 
 But what would have been the feelings of our Pilgrim Fathers, 
 our Revolutionary fathers, our shipbuilding fathers, v/hose 
 courage, fortitude, skill, independence, patriotism, and toil 
 recorded the grand pages of American history and the Prestige 
 (shown in foregoing pages) of American Shipping, could they 
 liave foreseen or dreamed that an American Congressional 
 Shipping Committee would have ever seen fit to brand the 
 American people so officially and conspicuously with such a 
 record ? Americans build the best iron and steel ships to-day — 
 inlhewwU! 
 
 The foregoing argument presents a record unequalled even by 
 Great Britain ; and the foregoing page epitomizes a prestige of 
 which no other nation in the world can boast. 
 
 It is not asked, " What have been the causes of our decline ? " 
 but an injurious, incorrect, and double purpose is intended. 
 
 That this Question ^ is but an insidious insinuation and itii^ 
 tended imputation upon our American Industry will be shown 
 
 (99) 
 
100 
 
 HIBTOBT OF AMBKICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 in th© illomng analysis of the Shipping Coaditiona, pages 116, 
 
 Qoilfiim li. — ^ If we had such Tessels without cost to us, Gonld 
 they be run by us in competition with those of other 
 countries, who build their own vessels and run them with 
 officers and crews, without a modiicatiou or 
 repeal of existing laws ? " 
 
 I^eply.— Here is a reasonable and pointed inquiry turned 
 adroitly and pnjudged with a decision that " modification or re- 
 lillllir existing laws must and shall be lugged in as a necessity, 
 or no reply will be received. 
 
 This is what lawyers term " leading," or dictating answers. 
 A leviathan i iWiliiiriinbriint without food, nor can a ship. It is 
 food that is as necessary on the high seas as well as on land. 
 
 The modification or repeal of all of our existing laws could 
 Mt " modify or repeal" subsidy competition, or supply freight 
 to our ship at piying or subsisting rates. For proper evidence 
 and consideration of this point— without the restriction of above 
 f uestion— see heading " 1^ Ships," pages following. 
 
 Questiou 8d.— ** What modifications of existing laws or what 
 new laiilipiilMlllil^^ discriminations against 
 
 .and buiiS'u]^^ »nd shipowning interests, 
 
 such as cu8toii**ies, port dues, customs charges, pilotage, 
 
 and other dues, Ac. ? " 
 Keplj. — Gould there possibly be more arbitary dictation ex- 
 pressed than In this so-called " Question ? " As the premises 
 asserted have not been pioven, such conclusions cannot be die- 
 toted. (See the sevenJ headings under "Burden." pages fol- 
 lowing.) 
 
 Question 4th. — Compare the laws of other countries with our 
 own, with a view to their e&ct upon our and their ship- 
 ping and shipowning interests." 
 Heplj. — ^This is the first Question of the series that indicates a 
 thorough and wise invesljgpitlon into the subject, and a compari- 
 son of such laws will Imi found in argument under heading 
 " Foreign Policies," foUowittg. 
 
 The testimony presented i||||r that heading shows that Ger- 
 many is aroused to fostering her Merchant Marine ; that France, 
 
 HIBTOBT Of AXBaiOAH SBIPPIMO. 
 
 although disappointed in the first year's results of her new 
 marine law, through the speculation attending same at the start, is 
 now reported by aU our Consuls as wonderfully improving ; Italy 
 
 is likewise enjoying a Shipping revival; Austria, Russia, &c., 
 are in the van, yet the American ship is betrayed — at home — and 
 made a Galley 81ave« 
 
 Question 5th. — " Should our Navigation Laws be repealed or 
 modified ; and, if modified, wherein and . for what pur- 
 pose?" 
 
 .Rftply. — It is not likely that any one will own the authorship 
 of this remarkable declaratory, rather than categorical query, to 
 say nothing of the " whereins " and wherefores " of what has 
 yet to be proven. 
 
 It needs no comment ! See heading " Navigation Laws," fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 Question 6th. — " What is the cost of the component materials of 
 
 iron, steel, or wooden vessels in other countries and our 
 own?" 
 
 Seply,^ — ^Here is the second query that demanda consideration, 
 and which will be found fully presented under " Shipbuilding." 
 See pages following.* 
 
 Question 7th. — " What would be the efiect of a rebate on any or 
 all such material ? " 
 
 Reply. — The framer of this Question was more mindful of his 
 special object in view than of the United States Statutes, or else 
 overlooking the fact that sections 2513 and 2514 provide, and 
 for years have provided, such rebate, and which sections are 
 still the law. See under ^'Customs Tari^" fcdlowing argu- 
 ment 
 
 Question 8th.— ^* Present any other Statemeiita connected with 
 the eanses of the MiMP of the American foreign cffirry- 
 ing trade, and what J||di|8 caa be applied by legisla. 
 
 j^l^^J JTJ ^ ll|pjii|i|if| 
 
 Boply.— Under tills privil^^ the foregoing and the follow- 
 ing Statements are herewith respectfully submitted upon our 
 Shipping Conditions, and consideration thereof respectfully 
 asked: 
 
ANALYSIS 
 
 out SUPPING CONDITIONS. 
 
 We hme men by the foregoing, and the " repeated record of 
 historj'," that there has been no period of our country not 
 marked with incidents remarkably indicating our dependence 
 npon the home de¥elo|iii|i|^^ so forcibly ex- 
 
 pressed in words submitted ta Ooogress by President Washing- 
 ton, an4 Ifi 0lrly as 1631 by Qo¥ernor Winthrop. 
 
 There is lMHpli<)<> political economy or commercial 
 
 necessity par^Hnt to ..this. 
 
 There is no economic or Industry that has received more pa- 
 thetic consideration — ^in vain. 
 
 There is no arm of national honor and defefense, or of trading 
 ^HHmce and prosperity, that has been so oontinually, systematic- 
 ally, and sbamefhlly neglected. 
 
 Nor has any economic qnestion ever been more contradictorily 
 ilscnseed. 
 
 It is, therefore, useless to present to a High Commission, or 
 to Congress, evidence that is incomplete or uuessential in so im- 
 portant a matter, as all of the innumerable papers of history are 
 at band for convenient reference and verification. 
 
 It is, therefore, my purpose liUlendeavor to present, as thor- 
 oughly as possible, the salient features of our Shipping Condi- 
 tions, under the peculiar divisions that characterize these inter- 
 ests of our country and trade, viz. : 
 
 (102) 
 
 Among the Breakers ! I 
 
 ■mm 
 
 Smmmm and Mumbebs, how have you taxed our people and 
 
 our Industries by 
 
 "F^LSE ECONOMY'' 
 
 towards American Shipping, while listening to the interests ^ 
 
 OF 
 
 Vw^gB Hhtygtng AgeirtBt 
 
 WHO CRY 
 
 (108) 
 
 ''iiliiiiSI 
 
 mat 
 
DJIXIr ovAltMMLBtWm 
 
 &9 - 
 
 The prestige of American shipping is world renowned, and the 
 theme of even fofeigii historiimsi m well m the pnde of Ameri* 
 mm tmAmmm mrimmmmm-(3tmnthAm and Yeats hoth wrote : 
 
 **Ainerica has be«ii » fonaiMfo iM to England, and may l»oooiiio so again.** Amariean. 
 <tsl8Maen, sAoU not f 
 
 ** PreTkHis to the development of ttmm {and ixon] ahipa the pteponderanoe of shipping was- 
 iiliiiff ntfldl^ into the hands of American ship-ownen.** 
 
 Here are the official %ares of our Register : 
 
 Smi. Stmm. Total, 
 
 Tear. Ha Tons. Mo. Tons. No. Tons. 
 
 1798. — 686 49,485 — 635 49,435- 
 
 181& 1824 154,694 5 954 1829 165,57» 
 
 1855 1781 510,689 m 7^760 2027 683,450 
 
 IfWi 869 IMbMf MMi' UUtSlA laifl 
 
 1855! 
 
 '''I l llllll I I I II I I iii^^^ " "* 
 
 In 1856 the highest point in ownership was reached— 5,681,394. 
 
 In 1855 and 1856 the highest proportion of onr commerce carried in American ships wa» 
 iMieliodi vis.: '11 'par oanl 
 
 Mm mM American Sldpping Fame ! 
 
 SSIP^WIIBOKIIIO. 
 
 The dficMm of oar Shipping is marked from 1855. 
 
 The eiNitiiiists created through the iy^mf^ted wisdom of states- 
 men under the Poll||^^ were made in solemn com- 
 pact between nation and ship-bnilders, to expire as follows : 
 
 Mew Totk and Liverpool (Collins) Line . 27th April, 1860. 
 
 Hev York ani Bremen Line ^ ...^^ .~ Ist June, 1858.. 
 
 ^f^. ' Mew T©tk mi Mmm Lime . Ist June, 1858. 
 
 Mew York, Hew Orleans, and AipinwaU Line — Ist Oct., 1859. 
 
 Astoria and Panama Line . Ist Oct., 1858. 
 
 Charleston and Havana Line 30th June, 1859. 
 
 New Orleans and Vera Cruz Line , — ^^^SM June, 1858. 
 
 yeaz^ trying tadeatrogr these Nattooal obligaiioni. 
 Foreign intemii aocoeeded first in inflaeneing the redaoilon of tlia amoont, and tnalljr th#- 
 diahfrnorable ahrofl^yaa of these jhul— hitoii e their expiraHon. 
 
 Vron llMSioliliOoiigfesB again aaihoriaed solemn oonttaeta to be made in hehaif of onr 
 .SMpfiiDgi but apdn vaa infliieaeed hgf miarepteaetttaCioDa of llMrtign emiaaariea to iteogate the* 
 
 fl« Apww Qwrf la JUpM?^, 188I, owl Cbavf ^^^lifMiw laat month, 'rendered deoision» 
 'ywfing'ito illegAlitgr itf IISHlpoa. 
 
 HBRB IB iIm 09 OUB SMIFPHIO BimiN'a 
 
 COMGRSSS HAS WBEOKBB OUB SHIPSllI 
 
 (104) 
 
 HISTORY OF AMmiCAN SHIPPING. * 105 
 
 BUEDEif. 
 
 In looking upon the first division of our Shipping Conditions, 
 we may point to the following requirements from oar ships, made 
 hj the Heviaed StiM^ntes of our ooantry, and hy the several States 
 separately, as the principal hurdens that have heen horne with 
 patriotic heroism and long patience — exercised and conspicu- 
 ously illustrated — by the small remnant of noble sea traders, 
 that bear likewise proudly, but less conspicuously, the American 
 emblem of honor, nationality, and protection over oar Industries 
 on the high seas and into &>reign ports, deserve reward, bat alas ! 
 which retom home, not to a " haven of rest," hut to one of taxa- 
 tion, rather. 
 
 The " privileges" for carrying the American Flag on the SeasJ^Wi 
 
 Actual} 
 
 Fees. 
 
 Pilotage 
 Towing 
 Port Warden 
 Harbor Master " 
 Whar&^ 
 Castom House 
 Tonnage 
 
 ii 
 
 Seamen's F«es. 
 Marine Hospital 
 Admeasurement 
 Postal B^triction " 
 Local 
 Consular 
 Shipping Com. 
 
 u 
 
 Insurance Combination, 
 
 Nominal, 
 
 Lighl^-Mouse Fees. 
 Customs Tariff Restrictions. 
 
 Navigation Law Restrictions. 
 Cost of Shipbuilding. 
 
 These actual and nominal burdens are set forth continually, 
 by argument, by many, as the serious obstacles to shipping re- 
 
 ' Each of these burdens are hereinafter (in order as above) considered impar- 
 tially and fully, and the many such charges, especially under Consular Fees, will 
 be seen. While conciseness is the aim of the writer in this argument, it is not- 
 withstanding essential to detail many important data for historical record ; there- 
 fore continual reference will be made to an Addenda, which will be added as 
 corroborative evidence, and for a more thorough consideration of our Shipping 
 Conditions in one work. 
 
tm IISTOEY OF AMBRICAN SIIIPPI1I0. 
 
 That tliese enumerated actual burdens do, severely, handicap 
 Americmi shipping, is unquestionable ; but there is a far greater 
 bwMOT*— wiiiwf tewiitiiMoii bj foreign shipping agents and lob- 
 liyists. 
 
 VHMAm IBIS. 
 
 R. S., sec. 42S5, provides that Pilots shall be regulated in con- 
 
 formitj' Willi He'existinf liivs of Iii#'"8tate8, respectively, wherein 
 
 anch Pilots may be, &c. Approved August 7, 1789. 
 
 Sec. 4287 provides that no discrimination in rates of pilotage 
 or half-pilotage between ports, vessels, steam or part steam, or 
 HalMMi Teasels, shall be made, and that any such discrimina- 
 tion shall be Approved July 18, 1866. 
 
 Mncb abuse has been heaped upon the poor tempest-tossed 
 Piliiil^ i« the irst to greet ns with a welcome home, yet 
 blamed for the nonenlaty of the American ship, for the purpose 
 of biding the shortwmings of Congressional Committees — or 
 Congress in a body— by those who prefer misrepresentation to 
 prevail, and by those who honestly believe that crumbs coul.d 
 feed a 
 
 Whether an actual or nominal impediment, in a spirit of 
 unbiassed and thorough investigation, let this Committee take 
 time to consider every point, every view, and every opinion, that 
 the truth may hereafter shine in contrast to sophistry. 
 
 The following are the rates and conditions of Pilotage in our 
 wistm. In Hew York City the Pilots themselves came forward 
 in September tesponse to P«r cent re- 
 
 duction, and oWmA to iNidnce their^ iwrnings 16 per cent, of the 
 nites now received, as a contribution to the revival of American 
 Shipping, and as a quietus to the misrepresentations of British 
 •Mp-bnilding and ship-owning agents. 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 m 
 
 Bates and Conditions of Pilotage, 
 
 107 
 
 Coarse. 
 
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 o 
 
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 1- 
 
 Inward ... 
 
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 eS 
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 <9 
 
 I 
 
 •Average rate. 
 
 «nipt. 
 
 It will be seen from this table that the rate of Pilotage is 
 raised very properly according to the conditions of the bar and 
 harbor of the port Don't blame the Pilot ; he shows no prefer- 
 ence to foreign ships, as Congress his ione. 
 
 When our Kevised Statutes are made more complete upon 
 Shipping provisions, and a Board of Admiralty is established, our 
 shippers and pilots can enjoy mutual protection from practical 
 laws and justice. 
 
 TOWING FIJES. 
 
 The Revised Statutes make no provision on this point. The 
 ship is left to the chance of competition, ttie magaanlmity, and 
 
 in times of peril to the mercy, humanity, or soulless esctortion of 
 the "tower," and to the rapacious greed of salvage. 
 
 That much imposition is imposed very frequently upon our 
 shipHiWEerB by the patronizing "tugs ".and other ships for 
 
108 
 
 HISXWY OF A3IBBICAN SHIPPIMa. 
 
 towage, ^up^r certain circumstances, is unqueetionablj the case 
 anil uiireMMiabley but to say tlial iMs sharp practice is more 
 peculiar to shippine, than other tricks of trade i^nerally, is 
 absurd. 
 
 Still it is just as plausible an excuse for the discouragement of 
 the shipowners as the absurd pretense that a few extra dollars in 
 
 nM lor many ycMS aiterwara. 
 
 fhe towage rates of otkMptmtries are herein given^ to illus- 
 trate these conditions, coliiiiiRittively, and to show the fraud 
 intended by those crying "Burden, Burden," to hide greater 
 litceaeiMes in behalf of our shipping. 
 
 PO&I WABDSN F£fiS. 
 See " B. a, see. 2891, Mmeek M, 1709." 
 
 This official, who is privileged to tax the ship-owners for his 
 serfices in snperYising oargoes, repairs, seaworthiness, etc., of 
 ▼easels, is also presented as t^bik ftotr to the shipping in our ports 
 by Ms human qjlMrof partiality and prejudice. 
 
 Brat such services are necessary, if efficient, and not peculiar 
 to American vigilance, nor omitted in foreign ports. • 
 
 l^heft iiaa never been heard a wail from the British shipowners 
 or public press upon such imposition, because of proper appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 The fees of the Port Wardens are handsome, ofy st leasts 
 not mean, and a man of ability in nautical talent is required for 
 such a post, and he aids by his service — rather than " destroys " — 
 our national cartjfii^ trade. The great need in this respect is 
 the appointment 4f m. 'Vhgiim acceptable to the Chambers of 
 Commerce and Boards of Trade. The burden is in poorap* 
 pointees — ^not in the fee of $100 to $200 for surveying a vessel. • 
 
 In consideration of these burdens of the American ship, it is 
 as farcical to attribute its decline to an honest and able Port 
 
 to cry thf^l^ genius and labor can prodnce 
 an ocean carrier — as your committee's "dictated" questions 
 ^iaie — that could bring profit to its owner without the assistano© 
 of na^onal bounty, in the face of heavy subsidy competition. 
 
 *See under "Foreign Policies.'* 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING 
 
 100 
 
 HARBORMASTER FEES. 
 
 Another bugbear! it is asserted, to American shipowning; 
 another burden to an Americau-buili ship; another so-called 
 "cause" for the decline of Our Merchant Marine. 
 
 And the poor Harbormaster must be cut down in his fees, 
 likewise, if we persist in continuing our Navigation Laws md 
 in paying home labor in building shipe! 
 
 That the Harbormaster possesses almost illimitable privileges 
 with our Shipping, is undeniable, but it has never been shown 
 that he exercised the barnacle impediment to the prosperity of 
 shipping that Congressional investigations, for twenty years, have 
 vainly endeavored — through some influence — to prove. 
 
 Let us look at his "terribly high" fees that burden our 
 shipping and blind the eyes of our Congressman to the winks 
 or deaden their ears to the soft words of the soothsayers of 
 Foreign Shipping Agents— in American character. 
 
 The income of ^is officer irom custom fees in the port of New 
 York amounts to about $3,500 or |4,000, or from $40 to $60 for 
 ships of 2500 to 3000 tons. 
 
 This fee not compulsory in New York; in other ports it varies 
 ia every way, viz: 4 cents per running foot; 3 cents per ton ; 
 $3 per day ; $8 on entry, and from $5 tp $100 per ship while in 
 berth. This office should be a salaried one. 
 
 For this and the service of Warden it is necessary to make 
 early reconstructive provision by the creation of a Department of 
 €ommerce. Board of Admiralty, or some nautical authority. 
 
 WHARFAGE FEES. 
 
 Even the office of Wharfinger is cited continually as an abuse 
 and outrage i^ainst the ship-owners of our country, and a cause 
 for the starvation thereof ; and every effort possible has been 
 made for the last twenty years to persuade our representatives in 
 Congress that if this necessary functionary were starved, in the 
 administration of his duty, that "there would be no need of 
 national bounty being paid" to aid the subsistence of the ship, as 
 practiced in otiber countries; and many have believed, and made 
 the halla of the Gapitol of the nation ring with eloqnence in 
 denunciation of "taxing their people", for maritime traffic 
 
110 
 
 " while the wharfage fem of our ports add such vastness of profit " 
 to the iinrestmeiit of those who have improved the facilities of 
 bnlkheail property. Is saoh an assertion reasonable ? If the 
 whariige fee Is a harden.,, is it just, and is it 
 
 not ridicntotis In some joamals and in some statesmen to claim 
 that it is merely these petty " hardens " that weigh down our 
 national honor ? 
 
 And yet yonr Committee is asked to repeal this folly, that fills 
 many pa^es of Congressional Record, for which unnecessary ex- 
 pense yon have taxed the people to a degree &r greater in the 
 long ran than if an adei|aate honnl|^ Ind been appr<^riated for 
 our national honor and for lljll^^ eommerce on 
 
 the high seas. Cooipel all great ports to baild piers of stone, 
 and keep the "slips" dredged. 
 
 {TkefMmkg are the kiest official mies^Jrom the Secretary of the 
 
 l¥easurg,) 
 
 Maini, Bmgor : Vessels from 100 to 800 tons, P to $4 per vessel 
 Witle loading, ii^^ over SOO tons pay from $1 to |S 
 
 flAr'day. 
 
 JWlk : From 50 cents to |1 per day, aceording to mm dt vessel. 
 
 ForUand: Twenty-five cents per 100 tons re|^ster per day. Mo 
 charge If vessel be loailng or nnloadmg. 
 
 "Swm Hampshxbb, Fortmcuth: Vessels under 50 tons, 20 cents per 
 
 day ; llll^^ 50 andillill|to 80 cents per day ; between 
 100 tons 1111 50 tons, # |||||ftp«ar day ; between 150 and 
 200 lOeents^additional fi>r every 
 
 50 tons abj|||HP«- 
 
 MassAOHUSBTTS, Boston : Tessels under 200 tons, three-fourths of 
 a cent per ton per day ; vessels over 200 tone, one-half cent 
 per ton per day. vessels loading or unloading allowed. 
 
 iii BiMiiiMiiJiiiiiiii*^^ davsiifiMMii ehaTiife. 
 
 jr€ii> Medfo ri ; T hree eiHtl 10 ^ pe r day ; half rates be- 
 tw yililW ^ >^ Apri||Mi|||8sels is idle. 
 
 Mmtmkd : Three mills per ton per day. 
 
 ^Mmiimmmi: Vessels under 50 tons, 50 cents per day; vessels 
 mm 50 to 100 tons, |1 per day ; from 100 to 150 tons, 
 f 1.25 per day ; from 150 to 200 tons, $1.25 per day ; from 
 200 to 250 tons, |1.75 per day ; from 250 to 800 tons, #2 
 
 ■day. 
 
 MISTOEY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 mmmth: Twenty.five cents per day in summer, and l^^J^^a*^* 
 ^ in winter. If loading or dischargiuK cargo, no charge is 
 
 made. 
 
 Sakm : Vessels under 50 tons 20 cents P^^.^^^^^^^^ 
 
 tons, 30 cents per day ; from 150 to 300 tons, 4W <»™ P^\, 
 day; from 300 to 450 tons, 50 cento per day; upwards ot 
 450 tons, 60 cents per day. 
 
 iHODB Island, Promdmce : Vessels under 50 tons, 25 cents per 
 day ; over 60 tons, one-half cent per ton per day, 
 
 COHNBCTICUT, New Haven : One and one-eighth cents per ton on 
 
 registered tonnage. 
 Wew London : Fifty cents per day. 
 
 Skmingion : Vessels of 50 tons and under, 25 cents per day ; over 
 50 tons, one-half cent per ton per day. 
 
 New York, New York : Two cents per ton for the firet 200 tons, 
 and one-half cent per ton on each ton over 200 tons, per 
 day. 
 
 PiNNSYLVAHlA, Philadelphia : Sailing vessels, $4 to $6 per day ; 
 
 steamers, $15 per day. 
 Delaware, Wilmington : Vessels 60 tons and less, $1.60 per day ; 
 
 over 60 tons, $2.35 per day. 
 Maryland, Amapolis : One and one-fonrth cents per ton per day 
 
 Ves^ls of 5 tons, 10 cento per day ; of 20 tons, 2 cents 
 
 per ton per day ; 40 tons, 1* cento per ton per day ; 50 tons 
 
 9Xid over, IJ cents per ton per day. 
 mtmore : State charges are 1 cent per tonper day ; jnnvate 
 
 rates are $1 per day on vessels under 200 tons, and mng- 
 
 ing up to $3.50 per day on vessels of 1,500 tons and over 
 
 200 tons. 
 
 DiSTBlOT OF Columbia, Georgetown : From $1 to $5 per day, ac- 
 cording to size of vessel. 
 
 Virginia, iVor/o^/. : Steamers, 1 f^'^V^i ^^J^^^^J ^ 
 
 vessels, 1 cent per ton per day for first 800 tons, and one- 
 half cent per ton on each additional ton. 
 
 North Carolina, Wilmhigton: Vessels under 100 tons, $2 per 
 day ; from 100 to 200 tons, $3 per day ; over 200 tons, $5 
 
 pay half rates. 
 
 South Carolina Beaufort: Vessels nnder 100 tons, 75 cento per 
 day; over 100 and under 150 tons pay $1.25 per day; over 
 5h 
 
150 tons pay $1.50 per day. Vessels lying idle pay double 
 rates per day. Line vessels and eoaslwise are exempt from 
 . foreg oing rates. 
 
 Obrfailoii: Coastwise vessek li?ee. Vessels engaged in the 
 foreign trade, if under 100 tons, $1 per day ; under 300 
 anIIH tons, $2 per day ; under §600 and over 300 
 tons, 12.50 per day; under 1,000 and over 600 tons, $3 
 per day; over 1,000 tons, $4 per day. 
 
 ©limttA, Smmmh : Vessels under 100 tons, employed, 60 cents 
 per day ; under 100 tons, not employed, $1 per day ; over 
 100 tons, employed, 75 cents per day ; over 100 tons, not 
 employed, |1.50 per day. 
 
 FtomiBA, Key West : One cent per ton per day. 
 
 liOOTBiAMA, Mm Orkms : All v«itoels arriving firom sea of 1,000 
 tons and under, 20 cents per ton ; excess over 1,000 tons, 
 15 cents per toi!i«^v^<Mi steamboats pay, not over five days 
 at wbarf, 10 cents per ton eacb day; after five days, |5 per 
 
 Texas, Galveston : Vessels of 50 tons and over not receiving or 
 discharging cargo, 5 cents per ton ; vessels under 50 tons, 
 12 per day. Loading or unloading cargo, pay nothing. 
 
 Camiobkia, 'SN^^J^B lfe^ ' y^^^ under 50 tons, 50 cents per 
 * Qlll^^ average of $4 per day ; 
 
 ^^^„^^mW average $10 per day ; 
 
 over 3MliiMlni|Qder 2,000 tons, average ll7.50 per day ; 
 over 2,000 tdpitd under 2,500 tons, $24.25 per day ; over 
 2,500 tons, 50 cents tor each additional 100 tons., 
 
 8m l)ie§0: Wmm |2 to |5 per day. 
 
 Obeoon, Asiorta-: Vessels of 800 tons and over, $5 per day. If 
 loading or discharging cargo, no charges. 
 
 CUSTOIC-BOUBI 
 B. S., Sees. 2S5I, 4197, 4881. 
 
 The next burden cited, in order, is one fixed by our l9^ational 
 Government, viz : a requirement of every sailing master to report 
 to the port collector on arrival, and pay (5.50 on the bulk of 
 Ibeir cargo that is dutiaMe and $0.17 on free imports. Should 
 extra or qpeeial permits be desired, an extra fee of 20 cents for 
 
 IttlSTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. IIS 
 
 each permit is required, and where many extra permits are neceB» 
 eary the fees are required likewise. 
 
 The fees for coasting ships are as follows : 
 
 Entrance : 
 
 American, under Register $1 00 
 
 " License 50 
 
 Foreign 2 00 
 
 €learance : 
 
 American, under Register 1 50 
 
 " License . . 50 
 
 Foreign 2 00 
 
 Thus it will be seen that these smaW fees, although frequently 
 annoying in loss of time, &c., are objectionable as burdens to a 
 very small degree, and that this burden is only an insignificant 
 pretext of foreign agents to disguise otber causes for the decline 
 of American Shipping. 
 
 f ONH AOB IBIS. 
 B. S., See. 4219-4228. 
 
 Here we come to the greatest of the multiplicity of these cited 
 ^* great burdens ^t have weighed down die American ship, 
 the American flag, and American prestige, pn the waters of the 
 
 world. 
 
 The rate of this fee or " burden " is thirty cents per ton, and 
 yields at present, in total volume of taxation, an average annual 
 revenue to our National Treasury of ^1,500,000, of which amount 
 85 per cent, is paid by foreign ships, and — in consequence of 
 there being but "half a dozen" only — ^fifteen per cent.— or 
 $240,000, is paid by American ships ; hence, naturally, this bur- 
 den is, at present at least, a weight upon foreign ships, and, 
 while this condition exists, a very proper source of National in- 
 come. 
 
 The following are the amounts of Tonnage Dues collected within 
 the last five years : 
 
 • 1878 $1,336,627 68 
 
 1879 1,462,267 97 
 
 1880 1,610,383 84 
 
 1881 1,588,823 87 
 
 1882 1,346,045 74 
 
 Total in five years |7,344,149 10 
 
HISTORY OF AMBRICAH SHIPPIN0. 
 
 The nationality of the shipping paying this tax or " burden 
 will be seen from the following official figures kindly furnished 
 by the Coininisiioiier of Cuitoms : 
 
 
 8ailing^Tefiii«l8* 
 
 Bteam-vessels. 
 
 Total. 
 
 nationality. 
 
 z 
 
 s 
 
 izi 
 
 Tonnage 
 duty. 
 
 z 
 
 m 
 
 TomfUge 
 
 duty. 
 
 a 
 
 Tonnage 
 dnty. 
 
 
 1,904 
 
 'IMJill' Ml 
 
 m 
 
 830,222 20 
 298,314 01 
 
 2,066 
 
 8279,151 78 
 
 
 2,461 
 701 
 339 
 
 avi^is 00 
 
 83,382 00 
 67,245 90 
 
 
 3,104 
 701 
 
 386 
 
 689,8:i2 01 
 83,382 60 
 106,476 90 
 
 32,656 90 
 27,860 70 
 15,039 60 
 
 
 47 
 
 39,231 00 
 
 Italian ..,,,..,.«.......»•...•.•..••• ••••• 
 
 261 
 
 182 
 102 
 
 28,536 10 
 27,277 80 
 16,039 60 
 16,865 67 
 11,182 60 
 8,850 SO 
 
 7 
 1 
 
 4,120 80 
 Ml 90 
 
 2G8 
 153 
 102 
 
 ^Bpamsli ..•...».••• • 
 
 147 
 
 66 
 
 
 14)968 10 
 
 174 
 65 
 
 30,818 77 
 11,182 50 
 26,381 10 
 
 
 53 
 
 22 
 
 17,680 80 
 
 76 
 
 Dutch •...•••«.•«•.••••••«••■••*•••••••••'••*•• 
 
 .nanish. •<•••••.••...••••••••*.»■...«•.'.• 
 
 l%irtiU||(ii0tto. .*«..«..•**..•«.«. 
 
 39 
 33 
 20 
 12 
 
 5,407 80 
 3,752 40 
 2,047 50 
 969 30 
 
 12 
 6 
 
 7,100 70 
 3,268 00 
 
 51 
 38 
 
 20 
 12 
 
 12,606 60 
 7,011 00 
 
 2,047 50 
 
 909 30 
 
 
 1 
 
 546 30 
 
 18 
 
 uim 80 
 
 19 
 
 14,955 60 
 
 .Afisantiii9 M4piillii4i«.*.M«M M*.*. ••••••••• 
 
 2 
 
 274 20 
 291 60 
 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 274 20 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 291 60 
 
 Koxican .......m... 
 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 529 60 
 196 00 
 90 60 
 622 80 
 567 30 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 386 60 
 72 30 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 926 10 
 287 80 
 
 90 eo 
 
 JKAEVfai fan 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 
 *•« •«»••« •«•••■•• • 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 622 80 
 
 567 30 
 
 
 1 
 8 
 
 1,947 90 
 
 IMOO 
 
 
 
 7 
 3 
 
 1,947 90 
 195 00 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 413 80 
 
 fia 40 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 463 80 
 53 40 
 
 flWl l^Miiimail».i« ■«*«•• ••«••• ••»••• •••••• 
 
 1 
 
 63 00 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 63 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 flniMi all sst 
 
 081 
 
 •188,901 31 
 
 7;»8 
 
 •1,S46,04& 74 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PwiMtl %mm^ to*, nmtot Sin 4871. a, ■•867.98. 
 
 Hence tMe burden foils upon foreign ships until we have ships 
 of out own. Don't abolish this law, bat make it a bounty to 
 American mail carriers. 
 
 Is it worth while for Congress to consume time and " tax the 
 people" for expenses of a fruitless investigation that merely 
 orders the reduction in house rent when the patient is dying from 
 want of food? 
 
 Fay Am«fi«Mi ships for carrying our mails as our railroads are 
 paid and reduce this burden also. , 
 
 That this law should be greatly modified, and the rate of tax 
 greatly reduced— when we have obtained the privilege from Cou- 
 gms to have, and the National aid to sustain, the life of an Amer- 
 ican sWp— is too apparent to be questioDed, althoagh the chair- 
 man of a previous Shipping Committee of the Senate, Mr. Kernan, 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPINO. US 
 
 (January, 1881,) knew nothing about the work which his commit- "'"^''^ 
 tee had under consideration, yet listened to and accepted at that 
 very investigation the whispered dictation of the lobbyists of 
 foreign ship-builders. 
 
 This and similar reasons are the mme» of the decline of Ameri- 
 can Shipping. 
 
 SBAMliN's ABVANCl! FEES. 
 E. S., Sec. 4582. 
 
 The existence of a law severely taxing the American ship- 
 owners for a hypothetical American seaman is an anomaly with- 
 out parallel. It is not likely that each member of your 
 Committee is aware that the law requiring the payment of 
 advance wages or fees under the protective measure granting 
 t^nill^onths' extra ^^||||| intended to enable the American 
 seamen to return to his doitntry — supposing it to be America — 
 now operates only to encourage the well-posted and cunning 
 foreign sailor, enlisting under some chance lone vessel bearing 
 the Stars and Stripes, to drop off, on some pretense, in a 
 port near his native home, or perchance at home, with his 
 pockets full of unearned money, exacted from the Ameri- 
 can ship owner by the Statutes of the United States, that 
 not one of the many " investigating " committees of Congress 
 have investigated^ preferring, as the Congressional Record and 
 Globe will show, to become confused in the dilemma, or togmmp 
 beeome disciples of the theory of foreign lobbybts to bay tbeir 
 ships, to the detriment of American labor and Amertean enter- 
 prise.^ 
 
 But there are always two sides to a question. Let us look on 
 the other side, to see if it is really such a " burden " to the exist- 
 ence of the American ships, or an incentive for our baying for- 
 eign ships. United States Consul Stoder of Singapore reports, 
 that— 
 
 "The numerous complaints about the three months' extra 
 Wages law are made to appear in a darker light than they de- 
 serve. Good, law-abiding, honest, and humane ship-masters do 
 not often have to pay extra wages, and are not subjected to 
 heavier expenses during a round voyage than the masters of 
 
 * See iilso under Consular Fees. 
 
116 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 foreign vessels, or very little more. And ten years' experience at 
 this port convinces me that such masters are on the increase. 
 We have plenty of ship-masters who are excellent and able men, 
 •Hi they command respect wherever they go. 
 
 *• The three months' extra wages law has a very salutary effect, 
 and is distinctly a promoter of Tiumanity. There are occasion- 
 ally masters, and oftener mates — first, second and third — and 
 boatswains, who somehow cannot feel statisfied without "pound- 
 ing," " kicking,** " cursing " (with the foulest and filthiest epi- 
 thets), and otherwise " maltreating sailors." On entering upon 
 the voyage, they " feel their way " to find out those who will 
 retaliate and those who are not able or afraid to do so. This 
 latter class of unfortunates are generally men who do not under- 
 stand English readily, or not of very bright intellect, or of small 
 stature, and weakly. A poor fellow is singled out, and generally 
 the mate in whose watch he is, and sometimes both mates and 
 the skipper thrown in, " lazar him " and ill-treat him in all 
 sorts of ways during the voyage, or, not unfrequently, from one 
 end of the voyage to the other. 
 
 ^* This is no lotion, but naked, clean truth, based upon past 
 ©jtperience. 
 
 Some mates and boatswains are great bailies and brutes, and 
 sometimes, even when known to be such, are shipped on pur- 
 pose. It is true that the officers of a ship should be men of 
 iriniieas and vigor, bat they should also possess self-control, and, 
 above all, feelings of humanity and jastiee." 
 
 The accounts of the Fiffch Auditor show the following ex- 
 penditure of the receipts of these seamen's fees that are said to 
 burden oar ship owners each year : 
 
 ]L ^3 ^3 a m 
 
 Board, and lodging w..^ $11,655 56 
 
 CloHiing 6,253 88 
 
 jiaid ooiiiiik ^ 4,416 96 
 
 Passage to the llidtli Stales paid at Treasury 8,799 00 
 
 Other expenses — — . 8,859 80 
 
 Bxtim wages and arrettfs . ...-^ 61,680 68 
 
 Amoiinto reHi'Bded 18,149 81 
 
 189,986 20 
 88,881 22 
 
 Excess of felief ovir^tliift wages and arrears |6,608 98 
 
 The Auditor reports thirteen hundred and eighty seamen re- 
 lieved daring laaijjpiii^. 
 
 Mow, the qaestion natarallj occurs, If we have no seamen " 
 bow is it we are supporting some parties so-called American 
 
 ltlfltll..l"ll I 
 
 HISIOR¥ OF AXBBIGAH SHIPPIHO. 
 
 117 
 
 The following are the amounts ooUeoted for the last seventeen 
 years : 
 
 1868 $183,909 79 
 
 1867 161,282 81 
 
 1868 107,686 86 
 
 1869 79,714 89 
 
 1870 90^078 61 
 
 1871 71,064 01 
 
 1872 282,972 86 
 
 1878 . 72,284 42 
 
 1874 ^ 64,640 72 
 
 Thus we see some substantial support to our mythical seamen, 
 
 but as with our shipping, it is a tribute of charity to other nations.* 
 
 MABIlfE HOSPITAL I££S. 
 B. 8., Sec. 4685. 
 
 On the entry of vessels into our ports there is also required a 
 fee of forty cents per month per man from each ship, which 
 contributes to the support of the Marine Hospitals of the United 
 States. 
 
 The total receipts to our Government on account of Marine 
 Hospital fees are $404,103.69. (Official figures of Commissioner 
 of Customs.) 
 
 A more deserving charity ciiild not exist, and should be gener- 
 ously supported; but if such a requirement, by law, applied to 
 each Industry separately, to the tradesman and to the farmer, 
 
 additional to his volaiitary offering to charity, what would be 
 the complaints made, and is there one of your honorable body 
 that would listen, in that event, to a whisper that the American 
 &rmer could only find relief in buying and cultivating a farm in 
 England ? 
 
 Yet there is just as sensible an application for the farmer to 
 buy a British farm as for a ship-owner to buy a Britisb ship ; in 
 either case starvation would soon result. 
 
 Under ^toB heading may a teo be no ted Quarantine Fees," 
 although separate m&t/ttKlt/ftlKf^^ State autborities. (See 
 R. S., sees. 4792, 4793.) 
 
 The total return of iMs taxation upon our shipping in the port 
 of New York amounts to about 170,000, which is an inoome to 
 the Health Officer. 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 > See If ftatical EducsUoo, Birl 4 
 
 1876 ^ I544S87 18 
 
 1876 78,616 96 
 
 1877 72,449 12 
 
 1878.- 70,947 02 
 
 1879 68,250 01 
 
 1880 56,831 52 
 
 1881 42,510 67 
 
 1882.^ 39,985 20 
 
118 mmmi ot amueioae inipniia. 
 
 AOMlMUBllfBliT.^ 
 
 The apportioning of the space of a ship to determine its ca- 
 pacity and to regelate its carrying power and safety in stowage, 
 is made nnder dillerent systems in some countries, althongh of 
 recent years there has been a tendency to uniformity. In the 
 charge of " Tonnage Fees," this feature in shipping materially 
 adds to or reduces the amount required in taxation against the 
 owner. The seireral systems of each country is ^yen on pages 
 following, as it would be tedious here to detail at length. 
 
 The British (new) system of measurement is now very gen- 
 erally adopted, and is noted for the principle — 
 
 That internal measurement should be the Admeasurement 
 of Tonni^, and requires more detailed measurement than for- 
 
 merlY.*' 
 
 The fbllowtng disadvantages were suflfered by the American 
 ship until August last, ¥iz. : 
 
 While loading at her wharf, 33J per cent more wharfage. 
 
 When in dry dock for repairs, S8| per cent more for dockage. 
 
 When going through the Suez Canal, per cent, more for 
 lonnase. 
 
 O' 
 
 While laying up at her wharf, and not in service, 83 J per cent, 
 more expense. 
 
 By an enactment of Congress August § last, (1882,) however, 
 the following is the effect of changes made : 
 
 From gross tonnage to be deducted the tonnage of the 
 spaces or compartments occupied by or appropriated to the use 
 of the crew of the vessel, not in any case to exceed five per 
 centum of the gross tonnage. In vessels propelled by steam, to 
 be deducted from the gross tonnage of the vessel the tonnage of 
 the space or spaces actually required to be enclosed for the 
 proper working of the boilers and machinery, with the addition 
 m the case of vessels pro pelled with paddle-wheels of fitly per- 
 centum, an4f|l|illM^^ propelled by screws of seventy-five 
 per centum of JmlOOiWge of such space, no deduction from the 
 grooa llMiiiiigiilMMii^ My per centum of such tonnage. 
 
 The register, in addition to what is now required by law to 
 be exprese^ thef^, shall state separately the deductions made 
 Ihim llie fmm tcMniMige, and shall also state the net or resrister 
 tonnage of the vessel. ^ 
 
 ^'Ifw tell ooniiliont of Adiii«ftsiiraiiioiit of Sliip of tU oountriot mo Ftrl i. 
 
 HIBTOET Of AMERICAN SHIPPINa. 
 
 119 
 
 POSTAL BSSTBIOTIONS. 
 
 " Sec. 3976. The master of any vessel of the United States, 
 bound from any port therein to any foreign port, or from any 
 foreign port to any port in the United States, shall, before clear- 
 ance, receive on board and securely convey all such mails as the 
 Post Office Department or any diplomatic or consular agent 
 abroad shall ofl:er ; and he shall promptly deliver the same, at 
 the port of destination, to the proper ofiicer, for which he shall 
 receive two cents for every letter so delivered ; and upon the entry 
 of every such vessel returning from any foreign port, the master 
 thereof shall mate oath that he ^as promptly delivered all the 
 mail placed on board said vessel before clearance from the United 
 States; and if he fail to make such oath, the vessel shall not be 
 entitled to the privileges of a vessel of the United States." 
 
 Sections 3987, 4009, 4203, 4204 llll^^ severely upon the 
 American Ship. 
 
 It is expressed that your Committee are unanimous in the 
 opinion that the elimination of the Post Office Restrictions upon 
 & United States ship is essential. 
 
 This would be a great concession on the part of Congress to fe^s*fi 
 the "old guard" of steamships that have the privilege of carry- 
 ing the mails. It is the greatest actual burden of our steam ship- 
 ping ! 
 
 But suppose tbise ** half dozen " American ships arc run off 
 through losses from competition with foreign subsidized ships, 
 
 that can afford to reduce the rate of freights ; what benefit will 
 such elimination be without ships ? 
 
 This Postal Restriction is far more of a burden than is gen- 
 erally supposed. It holds back the American ship in departure, 
 without compensation therefor, while the foreign ship reaches 
 the point of competitive destination some time in advance of our 
 ■own ship, enabling the former to deliver to consignees cargo 
 in advance, and receiving the preference of shippers even at ad- 
 iranoe rates. 
 
 The eliminalien of these sections is one of the most essential 
 features in the revival of our " carrying trade." Eliminate them 
 from our statutes, for they are the device of those interested in 
 foreign capital ; and in lieu thereof provide for the proper pay- 
 ment for United States Mail carrying by steamships upon the 
 eame ratio of compensation per mile as made to overland carrienMlK^ 
 
 > See the seooiid divialon of ftrgument — ** Bounty." • 
 
180' 
 
 Omffrm Ms no r^ki io mm§d our steamsMps to do tlie work of 
 the nmtion iir a contemptible pittance, that does not pay for 
 carting the mails to and from the steamship, and at the same 
 time to danee attendanee on the will of the Postmaater before a 
 elearaii.ee: for d^purtore ean be obtained. 
 
 When the iitfaers of our conntrj so oarefullj and perfectly 
 prepared that noble inatrament^ the Constitution of the United 
 Slates," they added the following clause. Article Ist, section 10,. 
 pragraph 3, which still remains, and should have been inviolate^ 
 as follows: 
 
 * 4c *' «i «: m 
 
 Jib Stele sMM^ wUhoui ^ aomcnl if Omgrm^ lay any duly m 
 
 The gross abuse by cerlMNBiates of our CTnion of this prohibi. 
 tioQ of our Constitution, foreseen, forewarned, and forestalled ; 
 the disregard of this distinct law and protective measure, is as 
 inexcusable as inexplicable, and if proper reparation could be 
 required, those States should be mwie to return, with Interest,. 
 tlHr>indieiM their servants in authority have 
 
 made, and tortured frlv^e hard-struggling shipowner, from, 
 year to year. 
 
 As an illustration of this persecution apiinst onr shipping 
 community, the State taxation against the tonnage of the Paciio 
 If all Steamship Company 'has aaiMIII^ In 1881 to |1O,0OO. 
 
 Local fees are stii required in the Mlowing States : 
 
 lialne — — — As on personal property. 
 
 Massachusetts On the income of vessels only. 
 
 Maryland — , -As on personal property. 
 
 Yiririnia «* « 
 
 Iforth Carolinia •* « 
 
 South Caro^ •« « 
 
 Florida «« « 
 
 California - " « 
 
 Oregon — ^ ** « 
 
 Personal property tax ranges from 2 to ^ per cent, on assessed 
 value* 
 
 HIBfOET 09 illfEBIOAir SSIPFIH^. 
 
 00M8UI.AR mm. 
 
 The unjust fees upon American Ship-owners, viz : of $800,000, 
 
 and starvation of Consuls, are severely criticised ; yet the Consul 
 
 does not absorb this tax by any means.^ 
 
 The total Ship/v^^g^^^lleKn the world in carry- 
 ing tonnage is 103,390,000 
 
 Of which Great Britain owns 65,000,000 
 
 And all the remainder of the world only — 48,390,000 
 
 With over one-half the tonnage of the world, Eng- 
 land exacts only, in Consular Fees, from her // | 
 Consular Service M 200,000 I 
 
 While the United States «MMifour times the sum/^ 800,000 
 
 7 
 
 The British excess of appropriation over fees is jf^ 1,100,000 
 
 The United States excess of fees over appropriation Is " 80,000 
 
 Here is the remarkable evidence that Great Britain, with a 
 Consul in every (real) port of the world, with far more sagacity 
 in commercial administration than we have yet shown, and with 
 a tonnage vastly greater than ours, exacts only oitb-foubth the 
 amount of Consular Fees. 
 
 The ^perican Statistical Review, in 1879, made strong 
 efforts to enlist the interest of Congress for a reconstruction of 
 this important branch of service to the prosperity of our 
 country — individually and nationally. That magazine argued 
 for a purely commercial corps of workers as well as for a reduc- 
 €on of foes against United States ships, as follows : 
 
 MOonmU wm Uni created at Corinth by appointment to mercantile posts. 
 S^^oted turn, mercluuits (not politicians) who understood the commercial rela- 
 tion! of fheir country — men of manners, who studied to advance the trade of their 
 people. A source of revenue also, the aggregate of fees received therefrom being 
 al present (1879) over $70,000 in excess of expenses." 
 
 And again it called attention to the feet that—* 
 
 ** Great Britain has wisely accumulated strength and prosperity by a liberal 
 policy to her mail ships, yet advises other nations that such policy is unwisdom. 
 Great Britain supports her courts to protect ships. The United States starves her 
 Consuls and make them scrape their fees from off the Americans ships to add a few 
 pennies to the United States Treasury under the pretence of ecoaomy." 
 
 « tor a detailed comparatliFe eadiibit of Consular Fees of the United States, 
 @fMil Britaiii, Germany, Itenee, and Italy, see Fart 
 
To cmderBtaiid the exact conditioa of this burden' and to see 
 what fees tlie Oonsiil actually requires from ship owners, it is 
 necessary to examine the GonsularTariff. 
 
 The following clause was entered upon our Statutes by virtue 
 of the "^d makmg i fi|iPl W ii ( ^ for iks Consular and Diplomatk 
 .Eermeefor ike^ear ending ISSO** approved January 27, 1870, viz, 
 (an amendment offered by the Hon. Mr. Hewitt) : 
 
 " And the Presidiiiii is requested to revise the tariff of consular 
 fees, and prescribe such rates as will make them conform, as 
 nearly as may be, to the fees charged by other commerctal 
 nations Ibr similar services," 
 
 Althoogh the above did not specify the fee per tonnage in 
 foreign ports, it was, nevertheless, hoped especially that a mod- 
 iication of these burdens to American shipping would be made. 
 
 The following comparison of old and new rates is taken from 
 advance sheets of HilFs "Analyses of Tariffs of the World : " 
 
 BoTC—Speciftcations thai have been omiltod imiew tariff are marked dropped, 
 Hioio added are giireu in italics. 
 
 Aeknowi€d^fment9. Old New 
 
 rale. Tuts, 
 1S74. 
 
 <|f the master to bottomry -bond, with certificate under seal —,—$2 50 $1 00 
 
 Of the master to a mortscage or mortgage bill of sale of vessel 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of the master to an order for payment of seamen's wa^es or voy- 
 ages, at home, including making up the order if reijuired....... 2 30 1 00 
 
 Of the merchant to assignment of boltomry-bond -™ — ^ 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of the vendor to a bill of iftl® of vessel 2 00 1 00 
 
 *«««*•«* 
 
 Jhdhm^tcaimf mpiea of piper: 
 
 Of advertisement for funds on bottomry ... 1 00 1 00 
 
 Of invenloriei and letters or ©ither, of master — 1 00 1 00 
 
 Of marine note of protest 1 00 1 00 
 
 Of extended protest : 1 00 1 00 
 
 Of account of sales of vessel, cargo, provisions and stores or either. 1 00 1 00 
 « « * « « » « 
 
 Of adv«rtisemenl of sale of vessel or cargo, provisions, or stores, 
 (dropped) 1 00 
 
 Of call, warrant, and report of survey on vessel, hatches, cargo, 
 provMoiMH«i •tores, or either — 1 00 1 00 
 
 To estimate of repairs of vessels 2 00 1 00 
 
 To (auctioneer's) account of sales of vessel or cargo, provisions ^ ^ 
 
 To reports of survey on vessel or cargo, provisions or stores 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of forms of application for arrears of pay of bounty of deceased or 
 disabled soldiers — • 25 S§ 
 
 HisTOBY 01 mmmm Bmmm, 
 
 CeriijicaiM. 
 
 To bill of health f 2 50 $2 50 
 
 Of indorsement of bottomry on ship's register — — 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of ditto on payment of bottomry on ship's register 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of ditto of new ownership on ship's register 2 00 1 00 
 
 Of canceling ship's register — 2 00 1 00 
 
 To currency - — * i 00 
 
 Debenture cert'ficate, including oaths of master and mate 5 00 2 60 
 
 Of decision and award, in cases of protests against masters, passen- 
 
 gers, or crew . ^ 00 1 00 
 
 Of the deposit of a ship's register and papers when required by cos* 
 
 tom-house authorities 2 00 1 00 
 
 In cases of vessels deviating from the voyage 200 100 
 
 When ship's register is retained entire in the Consulate (dropped) 2 00 
 
 Of identity (dropped) . 2 00 
 
 To invoice, including declaration, in triplicatii.*^ ■ 2 60 2 §0 
 
 « * * * * * * * 
 
 Of appointment of new master, including oath of master 2 00 2 0(> 
 
 Oiven to a master at his own request, if less than two hundred 
 
 words, under seal — 2 00 1 00 
 
 For every additional ] undred words (dropped) — 1 00 
 
 Of the ownership of a v -ssel ^ ^ xt 
 
 To a seaman of his discharge * - No fee. No fee. 
 
 For master to take home destitute American seamen -No fee. No fee. 
 
 Of conduct of crew on board, in cases of refusal of duty and in 
 
 cases of imprisonment, &c. , 2 00 2 00 
 
 Of sea letter (dropped) — ^ 00 
 
 Ofjoll or lis^of crew. ^ '^^^^J '^WI^^:^,!^!*^!!^. 2 00 1 00 
 
 To shipping-articles (dropped) 1 2 00 
 
 For medical exanUnoHan of persona on 9etaela bomtd from foreign 
 porietoportiinike United Siaiea : 
 
 For twelve persona and under — — 1 60 
 
 For over twelve andjiot over twenty persona — , — — 2 60 
 
 From twenty to one hundred for eaeh ten peraona or lesa — 1 00 
 
 Over MM hMndrtdf ea the rate of ^6 for eaeh additional hundred 
 
 persons. 
 
 Mpaaea of veaaela deviating from the voyage - — — 1 00 
 
 To a veaael^a menifeai * 
 
 fPa the purchaae of foreign-built or American vessel abroad 
 
 To the examination required hi/ section 21Q'2 of the Revised Statute 
 
 for each emigrant (Art. XXI) — ~^ — 26 
 
 To one or more deatns or losses of seamen overboard at sea, include* 
 
 ing oaths attached to crew-list and shippinsf-articles, ea<^ 
 
 To ship's inventories and storei — 60 
 
 To the correctness of log-book ' 
 
 To ship's bills and youchers for disburiilKirats and repairs 
 
 Ob the animtUayvehidea, emitfoodaof on emiffrasU, including earHfi- 
 
 When aeamen were picked up at sea 
 
 FiUng DoeunwUa in Conaulate, 
 Ooniiit'i certificate to advertisement for funds on bottomry — . 
 
 2 50 
 
 Estimate of repairs of vessel 
 
 To advertisement of sale of vessel, cargo, provisions, and stores, or 
 
 - _-- _____ •__• ___« 
 
 Letter of master notifying Consul of sale of vessel, cargo, provisions, 
 
 Of master notifying auctioneer of sale of vessel, cargo, provisions, 
 and stores, or tither ,~ 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 No fee. 
 
 26 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 
 26 
 
Illll 
 
 1>^4 SffiXflftir 01* AMKRICAX SSIPPIM'Qa 
 
 Accounts of SAle of vessel, cargo, provisions, and stores, or either_.|0 25 fO 2& 
 Calls of survey on vessels, batches, cargo, provisions, and stores, or 
 
 rfthei , 25 2&' 
 
 Wftrrmnts of turvej m vessels, iialelies, csrgoes, provlelons, And 
 
 ■tO'res, or either „ . ^ _^ 25' 25 
 
 Befiorts of survey on vessels, hatches, cargoes, provisions, and stores, 
 
 ©r either , ^ 25 25 
 
 l*#r iliiig Any other iocmnent in or out of the oonsulate . 25 25 
 
 €kmmd*» ihrder* mid SMIm>. 
 
 ^o send seftmen to hospitml . No fee. 
 
 fo send seamen tO' prison - — 2 00 1 00 
 
 1?© releBse seaman from prison 2 00 1 00 
 
 liV authorities or captain of the port, in cases of sinking vessels 2 00 1 00 
 
 'leqneslinf the arrest of seamen 2 00 1 00 
 
 MoHee io magkr of remit of examination of complaint of crew I 00 
 
 of auroejf on veaade, hatehea, mrffOyprovisionSt and stores, 
 
 Moi^lfit^ amrv^fm^M ^ 'iiSr i^fpomtm^ ....... ....^ ...... 100 
 
 9or noting marine protest ^« 2 00 2 00 
 
 For extending marine protest . 8 00 8 00 
 
 And if it exceed two hundred words, for every additional one hun- 
 dred words - 50 50 
 
 Pm Isming warrant of survey on vessels, hatches, cargo, provisions, 
 
 and BtiireB, or either, (dropped) 2 00 
 
 ^ , Notifying surveyors of their appointment, also notifying agents of 
 
 ^T^^''. insurance companies interested, each, (dropped) 1 00 
 
 .|¥ofitl'o/ 'Sfiofler ^^oliitl eAarl«iwt or/i*e%A<0r«... .... . £00 
 
 JFrt^pttrim^ Doemttettta* 
 
 iPor pripariiif afreemenl of master to give Ineroased w:age8 to sea- 
 men, 'attested under seal (dropped) — ........^ 2 00 
 
 MecoriMt^ Doeumm^, 
 
 Appointment of now master .... 50 50 
 
 Average bonds, when required, for every one hundred words — 50 v 60 
 
 BUI of sale, when required, for every one hundred words 60 " 50 
 
 tjiWHeate given to master at his own request, when required 50 50 
 
 OM»aI^^)ett» to capl^ipMt^^ «, fiO 
 
 Order and Consul's oerliflcate to pay seamen's wages or voyages, at 
 
 home . 50 60 
 
 Bowers of attorney, when required, for every hundred words ^ 50 50 
 
 Frotests of masters and others, other than marine protests, for every 
 
 one hundred words . ...^ . 50 50 
 
 Sea-letter, for every one hundred words — - — * — - — ^ — .. '50' 60' 
 
 Oalls of survey on vessel, hatches, cargo, provisions, and stores, or 
 eitiier ; warrants and reports thereof ; estimates of repair ; certifl- 
 oates of Consuls to advertisements for funds on bottomry, and of 
 sale of vessel ; inventory of vessel, cargo, provisions, and stores ; 
 I^t^ of master to Consul notifying sale of vessel, cargo, provisions, 
 and stores, or either ; letter of master to auctioneer, and account 
 of sales of vessels, cam, provisions, and stores, or either, for every 
 one hundred words of any document required to be recorded, ex- 
 cttl Cnnsnl'a c«rt!ieate to masters tahing home American seamen, 60 50 
 
 9 4 H ift '^t *l§ 'ft* 
 
 HISTORY 01 AMERICAN SHIPPINO. 
 
 126 
 
 EaoMmg and ddimrimg ahi^^a papera, 
 
 Wot receiving and delivering ships's register and papers, including 
 consular certificates as prescribed in Forms Nos. 18 and one 
 cent on every ton, registered measurement of the vessel for which 
 the service is performed, if under one thousand tons ; but Ameri- 
 can vessels running regularly by weekly or monthly trips, or 
 otherwise, to or between foreign ports shall not be required to pay 
 ftes for more than four trips in a year ; and tonnage-fees shall not 
 be exacted from an v vessel of the United States- touching at or 
 near ports in Canada, on her regular voyage from one port to 
 another within the United States, unless some oiftcial service re- 
 
 quired by law shall be performed — ^ ^ 
 
 And for every additional ton over one thousand, one half of one 
 eont " » 
 
 Sk^in0 or diaehmrging atamm. 
 
 For every seaman who maybe discharged or shipped, ineludtng the 
 certiflottes therefor attached to crew-list and shipping-artictos, to 
 be paid by the master of the vessel ^ ^ i w 
 
 JiiReeeUaneoua aermeaa. 
 
 For clearance when issued by the consul, as at free ports — 2 00 
 
 For entry of result of axamination in veaaal^a l^-iook — — 3S w 
 Agreetneni of master to gif>a increaaed wages — ~ *■ w 
 
 For issuing, preparing, and executing the receipt for two-thirds extra 
 wages ; the waiver of two-thirds extra wages ; complaint of crew 
 of bad quality or inaufJieUnt quantity of proaiaiona or waier; 
 mffidamtw eertifieaie of amnding pkjfsicim i rae$^ for afecta o/ 
 deeeaaad aeaman — . — 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the only resnlt from Uie above quoted 
 
 provision or request for revision of fees against American ship- 
 ping, has been in charges for acknowledgments, authenticating 
 signatareB, etc.," while even in this respect many other specifica- 
 tions have been added. 
 
 While it is true that the onerous paragraph creating the fee 
 per tonnage "for receiving and delivering the ship's papers, has 
 been changed frora the Appendix to the body of the Consular Begula- 
 latimSj the fee reappears unchanged in rate or per tonnage under 
 or over 1000 tons, and the fee for shipping or discharging sea- 
 men," also remains excessive as formerly. 
 
 The basis of a Tariff of " Consular Fees,'* of 0reat Britain, 
 has not been reached by any means, as there are 106 specified 
 United States charges, against 39 British charges. 
 
 In the British Tariff there is no charge whatever to compare 
 with our me emt. per ton tax "for receiving and delivering 
 ship's papers," as referred to above; and "for shipping and dis- 
 charging seamen" the rate of Great Britain is only 60 cents 
 compared with |1.00 per capita of our tariff.^ 
 
 1 See Addenda for Comparative Tariffi of principal ooantries. 
 
■i 
 
 126 HISTORI OF AMIBICAN SHIPPI»0. 
 
 The returns from the Consular Fees from charges against 
 American Shipping for 1882, are as follows : 
 
 Vmds mud Vkxrges, 
 
 Shipping and discharging crews |16,478 98 
 
 fonwigo dues — - 80,181 M 
 
 Bills of healtli »nd olcmnoes • 25,161 24 
 
 Other fees . — 22,602 65 
 
 ji^.lr»wag<ii 86,681 47 
 
 ^ $129,806 18 
 
 Thus it will he seen, as the Fifth Auditor remarks in his offi- 
 cial report, that, wotwithstancling the very considerahle decrease, 
 which took effect Octoher, 1881, the received for 1882 are 
 146,774.19 in excess of I88I.1 
 
 This fact does not altogether show an increase in transactions, 
 hut that the decrease has not heea efhctual in the object and 
 pointo desi'red. 
 
 It is therefore recommended^ 
 
 1. That American vessels wholly owned by citizens of the 
 United States, touching ,at any or all foreign ports, shall have 
 exemp^on from paying toiiil||| lees for ship's papers as now 
 granted to such ships touching at Canadian ports. 
 
 S. That Ameri,caniii||^ he not required to pay three months' 
 wages to all seamen discharged in foreign ports, or that the law 
 be at least saspended until we have " American seamen to 
 tetnrn home. 
 
 E. That all conshlar fees charged to American vessels in sap- 
 port of the Consular service be abolished. 
 
 V... 
 
 8H1PPIM0 commissioners' FEES. 
 E. S., Title 68, Sees. 4601-4602, 1872. 
 
 Of all the home evils that handicap the welfare of what might 
 be an American seaman, and just treatment of American ship- 
 owners, there is nothing more of an obstacle than this so-called 
 Shipping Commission excepting l^at of our Postal Restrictions, 
 ipi^ This title is a disgrace to national legislation, and should be 
 
 eliminated from our statutes or corrected and limited in authority. 
 
 Ifo greater burden, as an evil to American Shipping, exists 
 than the so-called " Shipping (| || ^ 
 
 1 For a comparison of fees of Ibe principiil iifttioiis upon tonniige in foreign 
 ports, see Addenda. 
 
 HISTORY Of AMERICAN SHIPPING. 1^1 
 
 A pest to ship-owners and an imposition upon seamen. 
 
 Your committee has, however, been told about the "blood 
 money " exacted, and the petty abuses resulting from this source, 
 to the iiyury and dissipation of harmony in the discipline of a 
 Steamship Company, by the unwise creation of this Cominission, 
 and by the exacting of a taxation of fees, contributing to its sup. 
 port. 
 
 Complaint after complaint has been made, year after year, 
 against this incubus to ship-owners; yet, strange to say, the bur- 
 den remains. 
 
 iG^reat Britain has long since abandoned such an inoperative 
 
 system ; and, although late, there is yet time to improve by its 
 immediate abolition. 
 
 The official returns of this service show — 
 
 That it robs our aihipowners of more of their scanty earnings 
 than any other burdens ; 
 
 That it interrapts the discipline of the service ; and 
 
 That it exacts from the poor sailor the last dollar, or leaves 
 him who is without the means or disposition to be bled, to remain 
 idle in our streets. 
 
 The fees enacted % hw are- 
 Fee payable for each seaman^of crew |2 00 
 
 " " on discharge 50 
 
 " " for each boy apprentice 5 00 
 
 The fees exacted by the incompleteness of the law are many, 
 and underhanded, but notwithstanding the immense returns of 
 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly, and which is made to 
 Government, as the commissioner's yearly salary is nominally 
 15,000, the perquisites, and so-called " blood money," is a source 
 from which wealth and the life earnings of the ship flows to the 
 official.* 
 
 It should not be expected that testimony coming from this 
 Commissioner would be free from bias, or based upon informa- 
 tion beyond his own peculiar interest. 
 
 1 Bee under Foreign Policies for greater wisdom in foreign Laws." 
 
128 
 
 HISfOftT 01 AMERICAN SHIPPHI 
 
 INSURANCE COMBINATTON. 
 
 More properly, this coDditioa belongs under the division, of 
 tills argmnent, of Booty." ¥o condition influencing par ship- 
 ping or renlMllllif' iillM to other "industries mutually 
 can be cited, than the pooling of interest in dreat Britain by the 
 ihipbuilders, merchants, underwriters and consular corps against 
 all shipping of the world foreign to her Majesty's service. 
 
 This is legitimate; it is wise; it has been the chain of infla^^s 
 encircling the globe, and ooneeted with every port in the world; 
 Its power and the facility with which it is shielded against com- 
 petition is similar to the power of a school of sharks against the 
 simple defence of a more beautiful and acceptable object of the sea. 
 
 It is however an amphibious creation that feeds upon American 
 commerce and destroys l\iinj|iitf!in shipping. 
 
 How long will it be before a chain of American financial 
 agencies is created of home insurance, home shipbuilding, home 
 sbipowning, and our own consular service in defense against such 
 wise business combination of England, as were our navigation 
 laws in devwiliii^iitmigi^^^. defense 2 for this incorporation, 
 'Vk. : 'the BritiJHIl^ was' flSii|%^|M»'8ubstitute in the abolition 
 of and alias for the British navigatilHif act.^ 
 
 LIOHI-HOUSB VSm. 
 
 •* B, 8., sec, 4225 : A duty of fifty cents per ton, to be denomi- 
 nated 'light money,' shall be levied and collec ted o n all vessels 
 Ml' ^fl/^l^iJUnited Stfii||{piich may enter the p^HHI^ United 
 States. Such light money shall be levied and collected in the 
 same manner and under the same regulations as the tonnage 
 duties." Agl^^ March 27, 1804. 
 
 It will be seen that, by wise provision, this "light money," 
 or fee, is required at present of only foreign ships, and the 
 the absurdity of claiming this as a burden upon the American 
 ahip simply devised by those agents who are endeavoring by 
 «very persuasive misrepresentation to point away from, rather 
 than to, the true cause of our shipping decline. 
 
 The admission of foreign ships to free entry must grant every 
 privilege of birthright under American Register, aad oonBe. 
 
 « Til© writwr has so often drawn attention to the condition and immense influ- 
 «nc« against American 8bipping,while Congress seems deaf to appeal, that the im- 
 portance thereof has suggested a detailed exhibit prepared for Addenda, following 
 fagea under Wowmga. FoBcies. 
 
 THE MONOPOLY OF THE CAREYmG TBADB 
 
 OF THE 
 
 O ±i J-j JJ 
 
 B¥ 
 
 BRITISH STEj^M SHIPi^IlSra, 
 
 UNDER THE CONTROL OF 
 
 Britisk Lloyds, Exchequer and Board of Admiralty. 
 
 Progress of Steam in the Shippmg of Nations, 
 
 (Ships in Foreign Trade only.) 
 
 
 
 I860. 
 
 1860> 
 
 1870. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1882. 
 
 
 
 
 
 49,977 
 9,501 
 10,453 
 154,415 
 81,991 
 19,455 
 82,100 
 18,715 
 
 54,600 
 65,224 
 44,240 
 
 277,759 
 
 215,758 
 64,894 
 77,050 
 38,463 
 69,027 
 81,049 
 
 152,604 
 2,720,551 
 
 170,838 
 
 91,157 
 74,119 
 
 79,888 
 464.179 
 332,034 
 119,021 
 
 111,055 
 
 76,768 
 134,550 
 95,429 
 220,085 
 24,823,043 
 154,570 
 
 Belgium ....^ 
 
 Denmark - 
 
 Frunce* 
 
 <5ermany — 
 
 Holland . . 
 
 Italy 
 
 Norway 
 
 1,048 
 
 "'9,535' 
 
 1,604 
 
 r3',925 
 "^2^706" 
 
 4,254 
 68,025 
 10,132' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 United Kingdom 
 
 United States .^.^ 
 
 87,539 
 4,155 
 
 167,698 
 44,942 
 
 452,352 
 97,296 
 
 1,111,375 
 19S,644 
 
 1 The ndTanoe Tnido in Frencli SMpping under the mw Bounty Law it hero 
 * Bureau Veritas. 
 
 U. S. Consul Jones, in Consular Report No. 26, page 70, gives the gross steam 
 tonnage of this year as 6,860,000 tons, but the above figures (all) represent foreign 
 trade, hence the small tonnage of the United States will be noted — the total steam 
 tonnage tbere«tf being 1,855,826. (See also table Progress of Steam Tonnt^.) 
 
 In the British Consular Regulations, paragraph 20, Consular Officers are 
 directed to act as agents to the British Lloyds and to British Steam Navigation 
 CompaniM having contracts for carrying Her Majesty's Mails. (See Booty.") 
 
 9b 
 
 (129) 
 
Smrd # awifi Vemds m 1887, and of the Total Megistered 
 mam Vmds m ll« Vmkd 8la^ m 1888. 
 
 (f torn OtBciftl Report of Secretary of the Trcisiiry, 1888.) 
 
 States* 
 
 1888. 
 
 1887. 
 
 Number 
 riteiriatered. \ 
 
 Ton naff e 
 steam vessels. 
 (E^iiterect.) 
 
 Tonnage 
 steam veesels. 
 (Begittered.) 
 
 Number 
 'ateam veeaelt " 
 built. 
 
 
 ft 
 O 
 
 1 ROO 
 
 
 
 Hew Maiii|>sbire.. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Tennont 
 
 1 
 
 908 
 
 
 
 ICaMieliiisetts 
 
 12 
 
 1,443 
 
 171 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Bliode Island 
 
 2 
 
 698 
 
 965 
 
 1 
 
 OoDiiecticut 
 
 19 
 
 4,108 
 
 2,641 
 
 I 
 
 Mm 'Tork- . 
 
 140 
 
 29)706 
 
 24,487 
 
 16 
 
 'Hew J'eraey 
 
 
 3,757 
 
 444 
 
 46 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 184 
 
 18,243 
 
 19,381 
 
 
 8 
 
 494 
 
 873 
 
 
 Maryland — ^ 
 
 ]# 
 
 6,800 
 
 7,185 
 
 4 
 
 ]llit.of€oliiin%ia. 
 
 
 801 
 
 1.477 
 
 1 
 
 Virginia 
 
 18 
 
 1,970 
 
 1,667 
 
 
 If©rtli Carolina— 
 
 11 
 
 2,014 
 
 621 
 
 1 
 
 9mM Qarolinia.. 
 
 
 4,794 
 
 4,715 
 
 6 
 
 'QMixia 
 
 29 
 
 4,273 
 
 4,621 
 
 2 
 
 FloridJi — — 
 
 IT 
 
 1,974 
 
 1,194 
 
 
 Alabama 
 
 18 
 
 2,708 
 
 4»896 
 
 
 M imiitippi ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Arkantaa* 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 'lionisiana 
 
 ad 
 
 4,986 
 
 64,421 
 
 'iSennefise©'-.* 
 
 
 
 6,198 
 
 2 
 
 Illinoii* 
 
 
 
 
 
 Irailatia* 
 
 
 
 1,714 
 
 
 .Kentucky 
 
 
 8,356 
 
 
 Iowa * 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Wisconsin ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 _ jar .li, Ml 
 
 Misaouri 
 
 12 
 
 7,967 
 
 8,868 
 
 42 
 
 Oluo 
 
 w 
 
 15,396 
 
 12,876 
 
 MicWgian 
 
 18 
 
 2,611 
 
 2,108' 
 
 1 
 
 U. 8. Governmen 
 
 t 14 
 
 9,011 
 
 
 
 MHfel ML nil 
 
 Total — 
 
 im 
 
 126,698 
 
 168,680 
 
 186 
 
 " Ho returns. 
 
 • Mo returns except In imrt witli Indiana and Kentucky. 
 » Ho returns except in part witli MicMgan. 
 The eatlmated figures for tliose States are, via. : 
 
 Mumber, 100, making a total of 800 steam vessels. 
 
 Tonnage, 1,818, making a total of 166,478 tons. 
 
 (180) 
 
 HISTOBY OF AMERICAN SfllPFINa, 
 
 131 
 
 quently cause a diminution in revenue to the Coast Survey Ser- 
 vice, and an additional tax upon our people, thus subsidizing 
 correspoadingly foreign labor. 
 Let tbe fitrmer ponder well upon tbis. 
 
 CUSTOMS TARIFF. 
 
 No greater absurdity was ever promulgated tban the delusive 
 cry that tbe Tariff on Imports affects tbe existence of tbe ship.^ 
 
 It » Dot intended Iiere to argoe in favor of protection or free 
 trade, but to cite facts only. 
 
 The history of Great Britain contradicts this imagination so 
 emphatically that it is only necessary to remind you that she 
 became " Mistress of tbe Seas under the most proscriptive tariff 
 of tbe world, until 1859.'' 
 
 Tbe fiillacy of British statesmen or statists in declaring 
 or arguinp^ that Great Britain has been benefited, from the mere 
 fact of free ships and free trade, or that such was the philan- 
 thropic impulse that led to the repeal of the Navigation Law in 
 1849, (Juiaary Ist, 1850,) and of ber General Tariff in 1859, or 
 ber Corn Laws in 1846, is clearly shown by tbe bigbest British 
 authority, Sir Edward Sullivan, who says : 
 
 " Thirty years ago England had almost a monopoly of the 
 manufacturing industries of the world ; she produced everythmg in 
 excess of emsum'piim ; other nations comparatively nothing." 
 
 This was the reason of Great Britain's magnanimity and liber- 
 ality. 
 
 Here is what a United States Consnl writes on tbe growth of 
 Britisb Shipping, in tbe official Consular Beports, published 
 mdntbly; speaking of the strength of England in iron resources; 
 the doubt at first as to its utility, but soon realizing the im- 
 mense power she possessed, and recognizing also the complete 
 impotency of other nations comparatively. Tbe Consul of ]^ew- 
 castle, England, says : 
 
 •* The reaction which followed the close of the Crimean war, 
 together with the successful competition of American tonnage, 
 influenced unfavorably the earnings of the wooden ships. Enter- 
 prising owners looked around for a remedy. The screw collier 
 John Bowes had proved a commercial success. If iron steamers 
 engaged in the London and Northeastern coal trade left a satis- 
 factory margin of profit, why could the same class of tonnage 
 
 See also evidence under " Navigation Laws." 
 
MISfOKT Of AKimOAN SBIPPIHO 
 
 not be advantageously employed m carrying grain and other 
 mercliandise on long voyages? Partnerships were formed and 
 companies organized upon the Tyne and Wear, and elsewhere, 
 to build or buy large cargo-carrying iron screw steamers to do a 
 " roving " tradi«-*fhat is, to take cargoes anywhere upon voy- 
 ages ofering tbe most remunerative freight." 
 
 Our Customs Tarift' is no more a restriction upon our Ship- 
 ping than was " the poor slave," whose fetters some are now 
 trying to find and shake before the weak-minded or prejudiced 
 as the coenecting link and the compromise in effecting our Navi- 
 gation Laws. (See pages 14-16.) 
 
 Such fallacy may aggravate prejudice against American Indus- 
 try, but can never be made history. Even the ardent free-trader 
 and British shipper, a most able, although partial, writer, Mr. 
 Lindsay, records a iat denial, thai stamps snob insinuatloE as 
 absurd, as follows : 
 
 "A very large amount of capital had been invested by Ameri- 
 cans in the famous ships employed in the California trade ; but 
 even these, before the close of 1854, were becoming unremunera- 
 tive, owing to the competition of British iron and screw steamers, 
 which were the main w^eapon w^hereby we bade defiance to the 
 mmpetition of all other nations in the general ocean race then 
 lust then commenced." 
 
 Let, then, all false ttanAings be bttsbed. 
 
 At this hoar the U/ii it)egress betrayed our great Industry— 
 and has, even " thrice." 
 
 There was no competition possible in yield of profit. The 
 only way for England to increase profits was to gather in and 
 inonopolize foreign trade. ^ 
 
 8uch step was the abolition of her Navigation Laws, and an 
 invitation proclamation to the world to enter British ports — 
 for what ? For her monopoly ? 
 
 It was wisdom, political economy. Laws of nations must be 
 wise and self-protective or a nation's power mast end. 
 
 The same Consul continues, " Wealth accumulated rapidly in 
 the coffers of iron-ship owners, and the demand for shares in 
 vessels in course of construction doubled the number at disposal. 
 A fresh lease of prosperity was secured by the opening of the 
 Suez Canal. The irony of history is nowhere more keen and 
 significant than in connection with this great engineering tri- 
 umph. Lord Palmerston opposed the scheme *upon political 
 grounds.' Lord Beaconsfield purchased a controlling influence 
 in the management of the canal upon political grounds. And 
 
 HISTOEY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 m 
 
 the government of Mr. Gladstone goes to war, in fact, if not os- 
 tensibly, to maintain control and assert supremacy over the great 
 highway to India. The premier's position is tenable ; this is a 
 commercial nation ; 80 per cent, of the tonnage passing througb 
 the canal sails under the British ensign." 
 
 Here is the truth presented— the cause, and the result ! 
 
 NAVIGATION LAW BESTRICTIONS. 
 
 In the foregoing pages it has been shown that those laws were 
 based upon the necessity of retaliation and protection against 
 depredations of British ships. It is here necessary to consider 
 whether their abolition would be beneficial to us or not, at this 
 period. 
 
 In view of the continual labored attempts to prove that the | 
 'Repeal of the British Navigation Law' caused a benefit in- 
 stead of a depression to British shipping, the following table of | 
 official figures to prove the true result, and to show that British 
 ship-owners and the British carrying trade would have been 
 ruined thereby, had any other nation been in a condition to 
 build iron steamers, and make a competitive struggle. 
 
 Interests of British Ship- Owners, 
 
 
 
 Total toBnage entored during eaeh $ year 
 
 period. 
 
 Annual average. 
 
 Difference. 
 
 Britisli. 
 
 ■j 
 
 Foreign. 
 
 Total. 
 
 P'rcent'ge 
 of British 
 to toUil. 1 
 
 
 
 Tom. 
 
 
 Tom. 
 
 
 1834 to 1888 
 
 
 2,529,604 
 
 981,480 
 
 8,611,048 
 
 72 
 
 1844 to 1848 
 
 
 4,852,092 
 
 l,i8l,670 
 
 6,188,662 
 
 70 
 
 18Si to 18^ 
 
 
 6,066,793 
 
 4,154,735 
 
 10,220,528 
 
 59 
 
 1844 to 1848 
 
 
 Increase. 
 
 1,822,488 
 
 850,090 
 
 2,672,678 
 
 68 
 
 over 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1884 to 1838 
 
 
 ■ \ 
 
 72 
 
 86 
 
 76 
 
 
 18M to 1838 
 
 
 Increase. 
 
 1,718,701 
 
 2,323,165 
 
 4,036,866 
 
 42 
 
 over 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1844 to 1848 
 
 
 Percentage. ^ 
 
 89 
 
 126 
 
 66 
 
 
tW HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the repeal of British Navigation 
 Laws caused an increase of foreign over British tonnage of (126 
 less 39) 87 per cent, on a compfiridon of the five years of equal 
 period before and after repeal, via. : 1844 to 1848, and 1854 
 to 1858. To see also farther, let us take a similar view at the 
 carrvins: trade before and during the same period. 
 
 TM Qmymg, Tmde (&f Commerce) of Great BrUndn before and after 
 
 MepmA Namgatmn Lams. 
 
 
 Total Value of 
 
 Exports of 
 0reat Britain. 
 
 Toni of Oomiii«rce Exported. 
 
 Percentage 
 of British 
 to total. 
 
 firittsli.. 
 
 Foreigi. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 fbiva. 
 
 
 
 
 1884 Mm 
 
 P8%O0O,O0O 
 
 2,584/281 
 
 
 8,544,812 
 
 71. 
 
 to 1 84S— 
 
 m^<IOO,080 
 
 4,895,217 
 
 1,906,217 
 
 6,301,484 
 
 67. 
 
 1854' to 18i8 
 
 S3O,O0O|O0O 
 
 6,178,880 
 
 4,4&8,068 
 
 10^626,748 
 
 58. 
 
 1844 to 1848 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 58,000,000 
 
 1,880,068 
 
 885,688 
 
 2,768.822 
 
 
 1884 to'lSaS 
 
 
 78. 
 
 
 77. 
 
 67. 
 
 1814 to 1868 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 over „. 
 
 260,000,000 
 
 
 2,647,151 
 
 4,825,814 
 
 41. 
 
 1844 to 1848 
 
 90. 
 
 40. 
 
 II III 
 
 188. 
 
 68. 
 
 
 In the above it will be seen that En^and was terribly shaken 
 in tonnage of ships and shipping trade by the repeal, and that 
 the gain of foreign over British shipping trade increased (188-40) 
 98 per cent, on a comparison of the five-year periods given before 
 and after the repeal. 
 
 Had not the resources of Great Britain at this time imwm ore 
 «md mm Tmnufactwres been so iir greater than all other nations 
 British Shipping woulllll^ paralyzed. The United States 
 could not stand such a repeal ; her shipping, now struggling for 
 existence in competition, would be completely wiped out. 
 
 Iron ! British iron, was the power, as shown above, that " defied 
 nations iron iii manniietiirM on land and in ships on the seas^ 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 supported by the British exchequer and the British Lloyds — 
 "defied" the combined w^orld of this "infantile industry." 
 
 But what relation do our Navigation Laws bear to this monopoly 
 of England ? They are our only actual means of present detense. 
 Our coasting trade is all that we have left. (See " Coasting 
 Trade " Addenda.) 
 
 Here is the opinion of the first and famous writer upon "Free 
 Trade"— a "glittering generality" for our theoretical professors 
 of dead languages and dead literature. 
 
 "As defence, however, is of much more importance than opu- 
 luence, the act of navigation is, perhaps, the wisest of all the commer- 
 cial regulations of England." (Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.) 
 
 For this expression, Mr. Macgregor, the British commercial 
 historian, administers a rebuke, terming it one of Mr. Smith's 
 ** few fiEiUacies." 
 
 Are we in the condition to cope wlHi 0reat Britain in this 
 industry to-day ? Could we possibly stand the shock that Eng. 
 land sustained with every advantage and monopoly in her hands. 
 
 What nation besides Great Britain is without navigation laws, 
 that possesses ships and controls her own carrying trade. It is 
 necessary, therefore, to look into the condition of our sfaip-bnild- 
 ing industry. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF SHIP-BUI1»DING. 
 
 Sefdrringto the unjust assertion, rather than query, purported 
 to be issued by the committee — before its convening^ — that it is not 
 possible tor Americans to rival Great Britain in the art of ship- 
 
 building, it is now proposed to look into the conditions, cost, fis^ 
 cilities, and to the record made in American history, and of our 
 tonnage to-day. 
 
 Wi^oot dwelling tediously upon our record of the past, the 
 illustrationa herein presented of the " Great Republic," the " Atlan - 
 tic " and the " Peking" mark irrefutably our prestige and the three 
 
 epochs of the world's shipping. It is not claimed that to-day 
 we can build as cheaply, but in completeness, not even En2:land 
 oan boast of superiority over the American iron ship now 
 
IM HISTORY OF AMBRICAN SHIPPIUQ. 
 
 kciQclied from oar perfected fllilp-yiirds on tbe Delaware. 
 
 But for comparison, let us revive the testimony of one now- 
 gone, but whose identity with this great iudustrj of our country 
 win be' immortal. 
 
 Office of the Wistervelt Ship-yard, 
 Grerh PoiNTy horn Island, February 4, 1868. 
 
 Sir: I baire recelired jour letter of the Slst altimo, requesting 
 me to communicate to the Bureau of Stadstles any information 
 In my posseMon upon which an estimate can be' based of the 
 average valne per ton of all the merchant vessels of the United 
 States in 1826, year'il|||||^^ any year or years since. 
 
 The cost of ilwt class merdbag|^ sbipi baitt in this city, say» 
 lrom 4he year 1H| to 1855, wtmliiiverage about $65 per ton ; 
 conseqnently, a ship of 1,000 tons would ooet 165,000, when new 
 and ready ibr sea^ fffMN^^^ ^ vAlne of the 
 
 whole of the mercantile ittiim^Ohink it is fiiir to assume that 
 the average of the whole wouil show that they were six years 
 old, and consequently the value of the whole should be estimated 
 from tl|||^ of thMMii 
 
 1 have found the depreciation of ship property to be about siic 
 per cent, per annMi|aMDd supposing a good vessel to depreciate 
 at that rate, it woulofllow that a ship of 1,000 tons, and costing, 
 when new, |65,000, would, at the end of six years, have depre- 
 elated |2E,400, and leaving her value 941,600, or $41 640 per 
 ton. 
 
 I suppose, however, that ships built In Kew England and else- 
 where in the United States cost something less, and I would^ 
 therefore, put the value of the whole mercantile fleet, during the 
 years above mentioned, at f40 per ton. 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 Jacob A. WiSTBrnvUif. 
 
 This was the period when American ship-building should have 
 been revived. Ckingress had (1866) made an appropriation for 
 carrying the mail across the Pacific. Iron ships had been built 
 by Messrs. Harlan & Hollingsworth, and Cramp & Sons had sent 
 out upon the deep that terrible destroyer, the Ironsides, with 10 
 guns broadside. It is strange, but painfully true and necessary 
 to record, that those who received this aid from Congress spent 
 nol only that bounty, but the earnings of their treasury, the 
 Pacific Mail Steamship Company, in building wooden ships, when 
 the world had known for years, and the monitors of our civil 
 war had proven that iron was king of the seas." 
 
 Bciarring to such folly, (even in 1854,) Mr. Lindsay writes, ridi- 
 
 HISTORY OE AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 1S7 
 
 culingly, " had it not been for the resources we held within our- 
 selves, (iron, coal, &c.,) and the indomitable energy of our people, 
 foreign shipping might then and there have gained an ascendancy 
 which might not afterward have been easily overcome. We had 
 one advantage which our great American competitor did not pos- 
 sess. We had iron in abundance, and about this period we were 
 specially directing our attention to the construction of iron ships 
 to be propelled by the screw.'* 
 
 The U. S, Consul at ¥ewcastle-on-the-Tyne, writes, When 
 efforts were being made to establish a line of steamers between 
 Newcastle and New York, it was contemplated to build two 
 
 steamers on the Tyne, whilst a well known American firm Would 
 construct two more. The measurements, speed, accommodation, 
 and requirements were identical in both cases; and one of the 
 managing owners, hi|||^f an experienced navigator, conversant 
 with ships In all their details, states the dt^rence between 
 the cost of British and American ships to be about 20 per cent, 
 in favor of the "old country." 
 
 This practical although partial Inspector reported asfolloifs : 
 
 •* The bids we had for Taurus steamers, 4,500 tons burden, 
 were low at the time we took them ; but prices went up shortly 
 afterwards. I then, before the rise, estimated the difterence be- 
 tween American and British prices at 20 per cent, at least; but 
 A. B., the steamship builder of New York and Philadelphia, 
 made the difference only 16 per cent.; in fact, he offered to build 
 within that figure of any average tender we could show him from 
 this side. The work I saw in American yards was, to all appear- 
 ance, equal in quality to work on this side ; but there were vari- 
 eties in design, with a view to economize labor, which may or 
 may not stand the test of actual hard service. The marine en- 
 gine work was splendid, and, in my opinion, superior to ours on 
 this side. I had no opportunity of testing the quality of iron 
 used in ship-building, but have no doubt it would compare favor- 
 ably with the material used here." 
 
 Here is testimony from a rival source that should make the 
 author of the Committee's queries blush — for it is well known that 
 such queries were not generated by the Committee. On page 238 
 of Mr. Hewitt's report upon "Depression in Labor and Business," 
 the following candid expression of Mr. Charles H. Marshall 
 appears : 
 
13B HISTOEY OF AM£RICAK SHIPPIMa. 
 
 Thi Chairman. Have you any knowledge as to the cost at 
 wbich iron steamships can be built here at present? 
 
 Mr. Marshall. I have no positive information in regard to 
 that; but I have been told by Mr. Gause, the vice-president of the 
 Harlan and Hollingsworth Company, at Wilmington, that an 
 iron ship can be built in this country almost as cheap, if not as 
 cheap, as she can be built on the other side. While I do not 
 mean to dispute his assertion, my own impression is that there is 
 a difference in the cost, and that an iron ship cannot be built in 
 this country as cheaply as on the other side; but she can be built 
 very much cheaper than she could be built a few years ago.^ 
 
 Accepting this as our conditions in 1878, the progress that we 
 liave made since that time will be seen in the table of official 
 igures given on page E8 of oar tonnage to-day, viz : 
 
 Iron skips registered in the United States 1878 (steam) 79,023 tons, 
 ti II If 1880 ti 90,142 ** 
 
 I* II 1882 " 102,982 « 
 
 The following official return of iron steam vessels built in our 
 oonntry last year shows that it is only necessary to create the 
 demand in oni|||il^ for ships, by making their existence and 
 subsistence possible — ^afler being built, by affiording the means to 
 compete in freight and insurance rates with those subsidized, 
 indemniiied, aided, or mail-paid of other countries, and our iron 
 sMp will soon mmr the oneaii. 
 
 Mnm i0dai M^pmri «f 171 K M^fkier^ 1882, p. l^. 
 
 Forts. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Philadelpliia. 1% ........... 
 
 Pittsbuixh,. Fit ........I 
 
 W i Iniingioa, Del • .> 
 
 limltimore. Bad 
 
 Saint Louis, Mo ^ 
 
 Chicago, III 
 
 Detroit, Micli , 
 
 Olevelaii d, Ohio 
 
 San FranciscOi €al...... 
 
 WWW<il<i<««-<ll|i«i*' 
 
 436.92 
 6,006.09 
 023.50 
 »8.95 
 
 4.070.82 
 2,164.42 
 27.05 
 
 *..« ..MM ...... #**.... .*...••. ••.■*......*».. .•....*»■. .€•.»•.•••* ...«..••. .«..«« ..... . 
 
 IS 
 
 40.006.TO 
 
 1 There were no iron sailing ships reported by the Register us built, although 
 the Bureau of Stalistice, Treasury Department, (evidently a typographical error,) 
 refiorts i!& tons. 
 
 THE PIONEER 
 
 IROif SHIPBUILDER OF AMERICA, 
 
 SAMUEL HABLAN, J&. 
 
 1836. 
 
 Betts, Fusey, and Harlan, in 1836, began partnership with plant covering less 
 than two acres. The firm was changed to Betts, Harlan & Hollings worth in 
 1841, to Harlan &Hol]ing8worth in 1849; by the admission of Mr. J. Taylor Gause, 
 
 in 1858, to this title was affixed "Company," and in 1867 was incorporated a 
 company under the title of The Harlan & HoUingsworth Company, and now has a 
 plant covering forty-thrbb acres, and a record of over ^100 hundred iron ahips^ 
 built since 1836. 
 
 This firm built the first perfected iron steaiiier in this country — the pfopeller 
 
 Bangor "—in 1843. 
 
 The writer is not without full information of all asserted or just claims 
 priority in such record, especially the small boat " Codorus," of York, P. 
 
 1825, (sent South,) the "Stevens Battery," (never completed,) the "Valley 
 Forge," 200 tons, (river,) the " Novelty," (canal,) 18G7, and, as shown in pre- 
 ceding pages, the " liandolph " and " Fire Fly," which were sent over here in 
 pieeeBj the "Stockton" afterward *^New Jersey,") and others, imported, and 
 the several small crafts that were built here more as experiment ; but after care- 
 ful research, it can be said without fear of authoritative denial, that as to Fulton 
 belongs the fame of the first perfected steamship, so also to Samuel Harlan be- 
 longs the fame of building the first perfected Iron Ship in America. 
 
 ■■I 
 
140 
 
 •0 8 
 
 ■it! 
 
 5* 
 
 9 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 BISTORT 01 AMKRICAH SBIfftHa 
 
 IS 
 
 'PHI' 
 
 •8 R 
 
 •This is the pioneer finn of America m iron Ship-building; Ae death of its venerable head, Mr. 
 Samael Harlan, has just been cabled from Europe, although bis name will live forever in the reoords of 
 
 oar country and in the hearts of every American eeonomitit. ^ 
 
 HISTORY OF AMBRIOAN SHIPPING. 
 
 141 
 
 8 
 
 m 
 
 coo 
 o oo 
 
 CS Q O 
 
 ges M r: ^5 M 
 Ci^i-Oi 00 r- I— 
 
 ggss 
 
 .2 
 
 « * es.a c g 
 
 O 3 
 
 94 
 
 S S M « 
 O CO *l 2^ 
 
 tM 
 
 I 
 
 - - Him -'S 
 
 94 94 
 
 (N 
 
 88 
 
 eoee 
 
 00 
 
 03 
 
 1 I 
 
 1 m 
 m • 
 
 « • .» 
 
 ■ • i 
 
 ■ • • 
 ! * • 
 
 • • « • • 
 
 S* * • • 
 
 I ! : : : 
 
 eS 
 
 O 
 
 •4 o o 2 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 (a 
 
 o 
 
 ©• 
 
 do 
 Ob ad 
 
 >>? . 
 
 9 « S 08= «.t3 3 08 08 5 « «i> 
 
 o 
 
 ife ^ ■I"' 
 
 I' 
 
 S3 ill lis 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 08 • c 
 
 Ii 
 
 O £3 O OS 
 
 « eS 
 
 o 
 
 O O 
 
 ■=-•,2 £ toe 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 X 
 
 O «3 
 06 O 
 
 CO o 
 
 GO O 
 
 Id 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 OS 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 08 
 
 O 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF AMlEI€Alf SHI1ME0. 
 
 Ill view of these official iict$ it Beams remarkable that this 
 Committee should question the steady development of our iron 
 shipbuildinir! 
 
 fie ■Thld fhmaffe of ike VmMed mks i« m foUows : 
 
 (Foreign and hone tfade.) 
 
 
 
 1881. 
 
 1882. 
 
 
 €lM»ifi<Mtim. 
 
 Sail and Steam. 
 
 Sail and Stesm. 
 
 Decrease and 
 increase. 
 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Tona 
 
 
 Registered (Foreign triMle)~...... 
 
 BnroUed and licensed (eonstwiie 
 
 21,739 
 
 1«33§,586.18 
 2^182,148.29 
 
 2,185 
 22,183 
 
 1,292,294.50 
 2,87.3,638.74 
 
 D. A291.68 
 
 I. 151,489.45 
 
 
 
 
 24,368 
 
 4,165,933.24 
 
 1. 108,198.77 
 
 Thus it will be seen that while there appears an increase in 
 total tonnage, there was a decrease in the foreign service, still it 
 must be remembered that there has hem proportionately a steady 
 increase In iron' tonnage .as shown above. 
 
 It is not prudent to overlook the strength of a rival in any con- 
 test ; therefore, in contrast to this exhibit of iron shipbuilding in 
 lb© United States— small, but growing in tonnage, and A 1 in 
 completeness, needing only the demand to make the supply 
 obeaper and abundant— let us look into British shipyards and 
 see what is there being done.^ 
 
 The estimated increase of steam tonnage for 1882 is given by 
 our Consul at Ifewcastle as 1,170,000, which the Consul natu- 
 rally terms unprecedented ; and if he is correct in this estimate, 
 which is, in fact, confirmed by other authority, it is a matter 
 certainly worthy of investigation as to the canae, especiiilly as it 
 is claimed to be built chieiy for the American trade." 
 
 The Consular reports of the Department of State shows the 
 following amount of tonnage built and location of shipyards in 
 the United Kingdom, (1877 to 1881 :) 
 
 ^Th% **liook of tiwtiiiiony »» of Hie Oonniitlee, page 208, Indicates that parties 
 were appealed to for this informatton. Had the monthly Oomular Beport been 
 •samlnMi, ttit and other valuahle infonnalioii voald have been found at hand. 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 14S 
 
 Where boilt 
 
 Aberdeen...... 
 
 Barrow .. 
 Bristol. ....... 
 
 i»—»a«a>— —■•—♦niiHi*»»*« #•••*• 
 
 Belfast 
 
 Campelltown ••••MM 
 
 Dundee 
 
 Glasgow * 
 
 Greenock 
 
 Hartlepool 
 
 Hartlepool, Wesi».. 
 Hull..... 
 Leith.... 
 Liverpool 
 TiOndon 
 
 Middlesbrough, 
 Sunderland. 
 SouthamptonMM( 
 
 Stockton M..... 
 
 Port Glasgow ..... 
 
 Whitby.. M*MM«a ••••< 
 
 Wnitenayen. 
 
 Tyne ports.... 
 Other ports... 
 
 «• ••••M*< 
 
 • •••■•»•• •■■M*M»M ■••MM*' 
 
 •••••• •••• ■• «• 
 
 • • ••••»••••« ••••••■••*••< 
 
 Totals, 1881.... 
 
 1880 ....« 
 
 1879 Ml) »■>•«»•'•#'•«•«••*•««•*••> 
 
 1878 
 
 1877 
 
 Sailing. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 15 
 
 •••»•■ •••• 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 m 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 12 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 204 
 
 351 
 348 
 
 .395 
 585 
 703 
 
 Tons. 
 
 2,458 
 121 
 84 
 199 
 
 851 
 10,917 
 
 11,072 
 
 158 
 901 
 12,051 
 1,963 
 
 4,8G9 
 9,824 
 7,248 
 13,924 
 42 
 2,847 
 275 
 14,106 
 
 Steam. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 92,420 
 57,480 
 59,115 
 141,165 
 212,32a 
 
 6 
 11 
 
 3 
 12 
 
 5 
 11 
 80 
 12 
 10 
 20 
 
 G 
 12 
 14 
 18 
 
 8 
 66 
 
 3 
 15 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 103 
 39 
 
 486 
 474 
 412 
 499 
 
 Tons. 
 
 3,291 
 15,222 
 340 
 13,694 
 
 1,212 
 11,710 
 77,901 
 13,071 
 
 9,949 
 22,4.34 
 
 6,973 
 
 3,937 
 13,396 
 760 
 
 0,231 
 72,058 
 
 2,975 
 16,770 
 11,100 
 
 6,580 
 
 1,808 
 91,640 
 
 2,508 
 
 T^tal. 
 
 Ships. 
 
 408,764 
 34<),361 
 297,720 
 287,080 
 
 8 
 12 
 
 4 
 14 
 
 5 
 12 
 108 
 27 
 10 
 20 
 
 8 
 13 
 23 
 64 
 
 8 
 
 70 
 14 
 21 
 34 
 7 
 6 
 100 
 243 
 
 945 
 822 
 807 
 1,084 
 V»2 
 
 Tons. 
 
 5,749 
 15,343 
 433 
 13,893 
 1,212 
 12,561 
 88,828 
 24.143 
 9,949 
 22,434 
 7,131 
 4,8.38 
 25,447 
 2,723 
 9,231 
 76,927 
 11,299 
 24,018 
 25,123 
 6,628 
 4,T4& 
 91,915 
 1M14 
 
 501,184 
 403,841 
 35*1,8.3,"> 
 428,245 
 433,650 
 
 Comparing and combining the Consurs figures with those of 
 Br. SiemeiiB, President of the British Association for the Ad* 
 vancement of Science, with data of President Gifien, and of 
 Lloyds, there appears the following increase in British Shipping, 
 viz. : 
 
 Years. 
 
 1860 - 
 
 1880 
 
 1882 
 
 4,326,000 
 f Steam, 3,003,988 
 \Sail, 3,688,008 
 
 £25,600,000 
 90,000,000 \ 
 36,000,000 / 
 
 187,250,000 1 
 40,000,000/ 
 
 Value, 
 say 
 
 u 
 
 IC 
 
 l( 
 
 CI 
 
 $128,000,000 
 680,000,000 
 
 Consul Jones, Mr. Giffen, and all others, admit the wonderful 
 increase without explanation — except by the annual drain of 
 Shipwreck, and demand for foreign trade. 
 
 The above valaation is at the rate of ^15 per ton. There is 
 inconsistency in this, as it runs over the price per ton of iron 
 steam building. 
 
 But taking an average of the cost of a number of vessels 
 especially ordered, the cost per aunum is £11 5^., say, $57.50 
 per ton, to the offer of Mr. Roach at $65 per ton. 
 
144 HISTORY OF AMERICAK SHIPPIMQ. 
 
 The Germania (Britisb) cost £190,000, say, #950,000, of 6,004 
 tons = SI 69 per ton. 
 
 The.-TokS." (United State.) cost |1.200.000, of 6,500 tons = 
 
 f 218 per ton. 
 
 Tie ** San Bias " cost |B00,00§, of 2,500 tons = |120 per ton. 
 
 Tlie followini^ sliips of the German .Mavj cost the enormous 
 sums here gi¥en reepectivel j : 
 
 Xonig Wilhelm-™- — 
 BMitsclikiid 
 
 Sach«?enT~_„Trim I' 
 
 Friedrich der GroifC-™ 
 
 .Pf«ii'i8©m 
 
 Btyern 
 
 Ifnedricli Kmrl ^ 
 
 XronprinJi — 
 
 Hansa 
 
 P,424,473 30 
 
 1,961,227 10 
 
 . 1,957,795 60 
 
 - 1,867,227 00 
 
 1,738,218 25 
 
 1,676,067 10 
 
 1,649,420 70 
 
 1,586,884 45 
 
 1,498,619 60 
 
 729,568 00 
 
 Total for ten. yaart . •.tl7/)07,496 10 » 
 
 la adiitioii to tlie alwvt taint, thm lias been paid for impairing the K6iiif 
 'Urillielti :|i6i,9i8J6; Vriedrioli :l£«rl, '$589,091.40;. Kronprinx., |290,827.65. 
 
 To let onr own biiMers speak Ibr themselves <^ their willing- 
 
 iieei to make contracts for conatracting iron ships in competition 
 with British ship-hnilders we have the following : 
 
 In response to an inquiry of the Hon. Mr. Dingley of your 
 Committee, Mr. Roach, of Chester, replied *' that last week he 
 had made a contract to hnild an iron vessel at $&& a ton." 
 
 Is there a British ship-hnllder that will oflbr to build at a less 
 Tate than £12, even in competi.tioii||l^^ many old crafb can 
 he purchased at almost any price, to he transferred, and especial 
 bargains are frequently offered. When the cost is so close as to 
 range from ten to even twenty per cent, only, it is to be accepted 
 that Amencan shipping is not declining on account of the cost 
 of the building. 
 
 Under the condition of Ship-building, the liis of the ship must 
 certdnly be considered, the average period of service, the 
 staunchness of condition after a long service, and also Ship- 
 wreeiong. 
 
 In these respects American Shipping has a record unequaled 
 even by Great Britain, as the following data indicates, although 
 it is such a peculiarity of our people to accept any assertion or de- 
 duction — hypothetical or problematical — presented from foreign 
 sources and by foreign statist8» that it is not surprising to see in 
 
 HISTOat Of AMERICAN SHIPPINa. 
 
 our journals continually a depreciated estimate of our shi|>s 
 quoted from foreign authorship, and naturally biased against 
 American rivalry.^ 
 
 There cannot be higher authority than the Fellows of the Sta- 
 tistical Sociefy of England, but nmther Mr. Glover nor Mr. 
 Bourne, the best authorities upon Shipping, in the discussions 
 of that society, have attempted to argue so hypothetically as some 
 of our own writers and journalists copy from unauthenticated 
 sources. 
 
 The most accurate data obtainable as to shipwrecks show for 
 the year 1881 a loss throughout the world, viz : 
 
 jNumber of ships Persons lost. Value of property lost. 
 
 2,039 4,134 #1,400,000,000 
 
 This was an inerease over 1880 of 359 ships and $500,000,000: 
 over 1,050 of w^hich ships were British. 
 
 Here is a proportion of over 50 per cent, of the loss belonging 
 to Great Britain, while her percentage of the world's shipping is 
 about 55 per cent.; hence, with all her superiority cUdmed and 
 advantages acknowledged, her ratio of loss about equals her 
 ratio of power in controlling the world's trade. 
 
 In speaking of the bad condition of several of the British ships 
 in our ports, the Kew York Shipping Gazette recently remarked : 
 
 "If the power was delegated to proper officials in this country 
 to detain unseaworthy British vessels, these figures would be 
 more than doubled, so far as steamers are concerned, and would 
 include some of the *' finest " that trade to our ports. Mr. Plim- 
 soll should come over here and see the needs of a governmental 
 supervision over some of his country ships." 
 
 Begarding the record of American ships, it is possible to ana- 
 lyze our " vital '* condition more thoroughly, as vrill be seen in 
 
 the following record, which covers lii three epochs of American 
 Shipping : 
 
 ^ Since the preparation of this work the printed testimony of the Committee 
 exhibits on page 247, as evidence, the following unjust quotation from the 
 Oontemporary Beview : 
 
 Statistics prove this. The ordinary life of a ship, allowing for extraordinarj 
 circumstances, is, in the United States, 18 years; in France, 20; in Holland, 23; 
 in Germany, 25; in Great Britain, 26; in Italy, 28; and in Norway, 30." 
 
 This vas a mere statement without evidence. 
 
 There are no statistics whatever that can be produced to prove these ratios ; oa 
 the contrary, the facts are very different, aa will be seen. 
 
 10 H 
 
146 HIBIOHY Of AMlHIOAJf SBIPPOia. 
 
 Matio of Life ofAmerwm iS%«. 
 
 still in service. Pacific trade. (1) 
 StiU in service, Massachusetts 
 
 coast. 
 
 Still in service, California coast 
 
 Still staunch and magnificent^ 
 New York harbor. 
 
 Still in service, Louisiana coast. 
 
 Still in service, NewYork harbor. 
 
 Still in service, Philadelphia har- 
 bor. 
 
 Still in service. Pacific coast. 
 
 Burned this year, (June «, MBS,) 
 California coast. (2) 
 
 Still in service, Jersey coast. 
 
 Still in service, Jersey coast. 
 
 Still in service, Pttoiflo coast. 
 
 Still in Mnrtee, New York har- 
 bor. 
 
 Still in tnrrlee. Maeiaehiisetta 
 coast. 
 
 Sttll lBser?ice,GoniieelI(iatceaat, 
 
 SfAUNGHNESS Of AMIBICAIT BMim. 
 
 (1) Eecently sailed from Sfcii Jmncisco to Ipia, Navigator's Islandi. Itot « long 
 liiiio tMw ihe waa built she was run between Boston and Liverpool, and was con- 
 •iiered one of lli»|hitest veaaels of ber day. For twenty-one yewrs she was used 
 as a whaler in llie South seas. Her best run to laverpool from Boston was made 
 in Iboneen days, and the round trip In thirty-two days. In 1878 she was brought 
 to this coast and placed in the China trade. While in the China seas in 1878 she 
 outrode a typhoon which was so wmmlm three American ships within a radius 
 of sixty miles of her were lost. In 1881 she experienced another terrible typhoon, 
 wMch necessitated an <i<||^^ in repairs when she ar- 
 rived in this port. Her timbers and bolts were examined before her departure 
 and found to be in a condition lliely to last for many years to come. {New Y vrk 
 MmmM^ June HO, 1882.) • 
 
 (2) She was one of the vessels of the Black Ball Mne, plying between Kew York 
 and Liverpool. She was 1,800 tons register, and crowds hate gath^ wound 
 her at those ports, as li|||||lteonsid«ii^ thing."' ^She was twenty-nine 
 years in the packet line, an* made ll« trips without loring a member of her crew, 
 a sail or spar. c*wed 80,000 passengers at one time or another 
 from Xurope to AfJI^^ Fifteen hundred births and two hundred marriages 
 have occurredsWte^*«*rd of her. line years ago she was brought out here and 
 went into the coasting trade, and her good luck followed her until the morning of 
 the aOlk «r June. She will soon be beached fm her old iron. (New York Herald, 
 SkipfAng lUms.) 
 
 Here are fifteen American sliipa showing an average life of 
 
 iMrty'tkree years 1 1 ! 
 
 Th% Adriatic and Atlantic of the Collins' line of 1852-6 were 
 sold abroad, but np to last accounts were, in hull and machinery, 
 as irm as anything aloat 
 
 Class. 
 
 Balk 
 
 Steamer. 
 
 ^Stouner.. 
 ^Steamer. 
 
 Ship 
 
 Ship ....... 
 
 Ship........ 
 
 Ship »..•••< 
 Bark 
 
 Steamer.. 
 Steamer. 
 Ship 
 
 'Ship....... 
 
 Ship' ....... I 
 
 Steamer. 
 
 Hame. 
 
 Amythest (1) 
 
 Empire State..... 
 
 Plymouth Rode. 
 
 Sandusky 
 
 Washington 
 
 Tonawando.. 
 
 Slitrley ........ ...... 
 
 Great We8t<«ni« 
 
 Atlas 
 
 Rieh'd Stockton 
 Dashing Wave... 
 .liOffeitio ...... 
 
 Oeo. VmiboAf^^ 
 
 Maryland .•• 
 
 
 
 
 ars. 
 
 Ton* 
 
 
 
 <s> 
 >. 
 
 nage. 
 
 
 Bate. 
 
 
 Place. 1 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Boston 
 
 1822 
 
 GO 
 
 1601 
 
 New York 
 
 1848 
 
 34 
 
 1012 
 
 Naw Yorlc 
 
 1848 
 
 34 
 
 1127 
 
 
 1848 
 
 33 
 
 1010 
 
 
 1849 
 
 33 
 
 1852 
 
 New York 
 
 1849 
 
 33 
 
 1503 
 
 
 1860 
 
 32 
 
 104d 
 
 Massachusetts... 
 
 1860 
 
 32 
 
 im 
 
 Kew loric 
 
 1861 
 
 31 
 
 1309 
 
 
 1862 
 
 30 
 
 104S 
 
 
 1862 
 
 30 
 
 1054 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 1863 
 
 29 
 
 Ills 
 
 Maine ..»«•..••■«•. 
 
 1858 
 
 29 
 
 
 Mamaehnaetia*. 
 
 1863 
 
 29 
 
 1003 
 
 Wibnington ...... 
 
 1863 
 
 29 
 
 HISTOEY OF AMEEICAN SHIPPIHf, 147 
 
 The iron ships of our yards are not only models for Commercial 
 and Naval service, but have proved themselves monarchs of the 
 sea. (See also page 54.) 
 
 A very large amonnt of smaller tonnage might be added to 
 this exhibit, but the above ships were taken as a reasonable basis 
 to ascertain the " ratio of life in sea service," in the diagram pre- 
 pared in the argument of the writer before the Tariff Commis- 
 sion. (See page 1696 of the Evidence thereof.}' 
 
 Let this record be written in golden letters before Shipping 
 Investigating Committees ; before those agents of foreign ship- 
 builders who are supported to hang around Congress and advo- 
 cate "Free Ships" to the injury of American labor and American 
 honor; before those— statesmen, individnals, and jonrmdists— 
 who are deceived by the woirs cry that Americans cannot build 
 
 '*Free Ships" would rob the land-owner of the home market 
 for his products, and the working man of his labor — it is a cun- 
 ning device of foreign interests to buy the birthright of American 
 Industry. 
 
 (See also division of argument under ^< Bootj.") 
 
 * A recent issue of the Nautical Gazette, of New York, presents a very forcible 
 contrast to this reebrd : 
 
 "When' an American steamship is worn out and unfit for service, she is towed to some out-of- 
 Ki!:,^^^'Pl*°^*°*^ ^f^i''**^®? ^^l^er hull is sound, she maybe converted into a ooal 
 
 Darge. The Nautical Magazine, of London, not long ago said: 'And strange as it may seem a 
 ship going through the process of breaking up in a ship-breaker's yard, is a sight tha^t rn^hi 
 indulged in after a lapse of some twenty years.' There is nothing * strange ' in this, for the 
 
 m«n5 K ""^fi^"*^!: P*yf ^^l have^less trouble and get morl 
 
 V"® marine underwriters. It is many a long year since we heard of 
 p.5n?!5„*^*P broken up.' That would not pay. Now that there is no prospects of 
 
 British owners selling their pot-metal coffins to the Yankees under a free-ship law, the ^anoM 
 are «e u»der.n««-. „Ui 6. oMigd to^ a lot o/,^UU«, tr«* caUei 
 
 And a^ain : 
 
 ^"9^**16 284 steamships lost in 1882 we have records of 222 of them which were built in 
 British shipyards, and we have analyzed the list with a view of aseSntog tLTroportion S 
 losses to each shipbuilding port, and the following is the result : proportion or 
 
 HundOTland, 88 lost, or an average of one in about every nine days. 
 •Glasgow, 32 lost, or an average of one every ten days. 
 •'Newcastle, 28 lost, or an average of one every thirteen days. 
 Hnli, 10 loeti a laxge iwieentaie. oonsiiering the small nomber she ImiliB." 
 
Emi^^ikdaMm of Bwrims ifwwi the Ammem Ship. 
 
 (Oikkl fetoras of tlie Gwninissioiier of Customs.) 
 HOME FEES EXACTED FROM AMERICAN SHIPS ONLY. 
 
 Admeasurement charges under sectlJIJiipiPP^ 0) ^^I' 5^ m 
 
 Sarveyors' fees under >>ection 4186 Revised StfttuteB .........,.•..........«.-....••••«»«...«•• m 
 
 Eceoi^iQg. *«« f««s under sections 4102 and 4196 Revised Statutes.. o^wo zo 
 
 u»«i *^a | |pm oii^n« sections 2174, 4573, and 4-)88 Revised Statutes -...,.«». Ijm m 
 
 WmBim m^m&. clearanc© fees under section 2654 Revised SUtutas : . „ 
 
 Entry ••*#<-»aif"-«»«»*«~« 'ix^^ ^ 
 
 Ctestwise entry and cleamnce fees under wmmm «8t Bevlaed SUtutea : 
 
 CleiWiioe' ...*..,,,«-™,.*-..«.....«-..-...^«..«~"""««'-"-»»-«»*^'»«^ ' " 71,406 79 
 
 Enrollment and license fees under section 48S1 Bevised Statutes... 22,ii7 85 
 
 Registry and indorsement fees under sections 4185 and 2664 Revised Statutes 6,^9 »| 
 
 Miscellaneous fees under sections 2654 and 4381 Revised St«||||«i .........^ "...»• H0#4f m 
 
 Tonnage tax under section 4219 Revised Statutes t (2) 
 
 Sailing venBek-^.- <^»wb bo 
 
 Steam vi ji tSll ttiiiiUi — ~. 001,001 <w 
 
 BhippiftK commissioners' fees under section 4612 Revised Sf at 11 tos ^^f.'?}^ «? 
 
 Hwine hospital dues under sections 4585 and Revised ^^^^si^^': ' ' 
 
 atenmlmal inspection fees and charges nnder seetion 44B8 ItoTtted Slatittes : 
 
 Inspection of steam vessels ..,,............«...««..»..««..•..««««.••••••••■•••••»•••"•• fi 
 
 lileenses to masters, mates, pilots, and engineers... ^....»......~«......«..« *wiy»> w 
 
 Total ..11.441,687 60 
 
 CONSUL.\R FEES EXACTED IN FOREIGN PORTS. (3) 
 Medical examinations of passengers and crews of vessels destined for United States, 
 
 act-of Juno '2, 18TO-........ ; • t:vi"l""-V*7-K' 
 
 Fens exacted under section 1746 Revised Statutes, m accordance wUh taiitf estaD- 
 
 Ished by President, see Consular Regulations, pp. 165-m : 
 
 Crews discharged -« ......... 
 
 Crews shipped ..„,„......,.... w 
 
 Aothenticating copies of notes of marin© protests <^ w 
 
 Bxtended marine protests.. — .............................. ..." » 
 
 SurveyS'Of vessels, ...... ......... r?^ 
 
 'Letters,.*.-..-.............. ..........-..-..-•...•»•.."..•••••.•-— .••~.«"""*"*."** ».•"••••"••••..•■•• ....^ •'i' ^ 
 
 Inventories -......-^ww*.*!***.". .»»•••«>«•• «J ^jj 
 
 Ad V e r t i sem ents • "».«• »••••. .—..•..«•• ^ w 
 
 Accounts of sales and other documents ^ ^ 
 
 Authenticating signatures to reports of surveys w 
 
 JBstimate? of repair8....«i~-......w.«««....~..-»~«."."*.* ...••••^ "•• yy 
 
 Accounts of sales.. ... ...... ...... ... « x.-, 
 
 Other documents ........,..».^.............««........*.....-»..."—"....—"~.."..«"" 
 
 Certificates; , ^. . ^, ^ a. 027 
 
 ■Cfcew lists and shipping articles ,«.«,.............«~«..-«««.«....*-.»«»*~«..*."*»«<«^« J* XmA 7= 
 
 Desertions ........•....•....•.••.•.•.•.«....~-....».*.«.»~»......."*"...»*.* ' 1^ 
 
 Deaths .,,„.............«. ^ w 
 
 Protected American seamen,....-... «.^.^...«. ■— .- *» *» 
 
 Ownerships ,-,-„».••..........-.»••••" .......•.*...«.•»• oo* 
 
 Advertisements on bottomry .,.......■....,.......«..«.«.«..••*...*.•«»." «••...• ^ 
 
 0ale of vessel, cargo, &€....-...«..••••.-«••• ^••••••^'"•••."••"-••••••••^••••••^"••^ •••••• ii? 
 
 Deviation ft"om voyape ....««.„...«••••«■•. ......-.^.■-•••••••••«.»-.»..«;».*"«^*"— ••••••• '^^ r^. 
 
 Canceling ships' regi.Hter8.....~f. ••.;»....••••••«««...•*•«— 
 
 Appointing master. ^ 
 
 Consul's decision and award on conduct off crew, Ac— g« JVj 
 
 Tonnnge dues . — ~-«.. • * m 
 
 Moting marine protest ^ 
 
 Extending marine protest •""••".••••••••-^»»"" ram S 
 
 isaciiiic warrantw off surveys........ -,....,....•.•«»..........«.— ~— ."*—•.•..«••••••"•••■••"— • ]i? 
 
 Recording documents ...........,..-...-..—.«-.-....... — 
 
 Filing documents «... ....... o»u y» 
 
 Letters to authorities -«.„.,.... ,„.,„.,..-.~.....««....... J,'7^i 
 
 genii and signatures to various papers (jurats) m 
 
 Oidera to send or release men from prison ^ 
 
 Acknowledgments to various papers..... " XlS 
 
 Peclarations and oaths of masters.-......™... — rsx™"rrFi«ao wi^^^ZIk^^ Sf 
 
 Extra wages of seamen, woelved under secMunt miK iStl. m 4S82 Be^ised Btetotes 1 - > &7 
 
 Total In foreign ports .....,,•...-..«««...........-........ ^•...»...."..«-.»-««.-.«...«".~.." 1^ 
 
 'TMnl In porta In the' United Stales .,«.„.,„„....«».........«..•.•»«»•••«•-.-• «—#....«. itftijOor w 
 
 (1) For revisiMl Admeasurement Law see heading Foreign Policies 
 
 }» This amount represents the American alilp^ part of Tonnage given, page 67. 
 
 |i| See **€on8iilair Fees," page 74. 
 
 Mm li a twtclicroiis tax of onMUid-a^Wf millions on American Shipping. Shame 
 Ml, 'liim wImi innclioiiily cries : '* 'Siil»t# for sUps taxes^ $m i>eo|>le t" (See Bounty. ) 
 
 ie Grand Orphan Asylui for Tramp Orphan Ships 
 
 NEW YORK HARBOR AND BULKHEAD 
 
 SOLD OUT! TO FOREIGN AGENTS! 
 
 Uncle Sam pays foreign Ships, but liolds back his Ships to watt his pleasare — for m 
 See Revised Statutes, Sees. 3976, 3987, 4009, 4205, and 4204. 
 
 AND SUBSmiVIXSNCY TO FORKI6N SHIPS I 
 
 American Mail Routes on the High Seas 
 
 are as necessary as Land Routes, and for the education of seamen and defence in war 
 as are our Public Schools, even though appropriation therefor may be called 
 
 B O U BT T Y I (149) 
 
 « 
 
SACRED 
 
 MEMORY OF THE DEPARTED GLORY 
 
 dt IBS 
 
 GREATEST SHIPYARD OF THE WORLD, 
 
 MANHATTAN ISLAND. 
 
 lKriA¥S» BY THE CONSPIRACY OF PROFESMD FEIlNDSHIi' 
 SOU) OUT IN BULKHEAD TO FOllION CAPITA!., 
 
 Together witli tlie Gmves and Monuinenls of the following 
 Iiniiiortal Heroes of American Shipping Fame : 
 
 'CHARLGS SBOWNS* 
 WilBf BCKFORD. OHBISTOPHER BERG. 
 
 FICKET & TH0M8. 
 THORN k WILMAMR BBOWN k BEI4L. 
 
 MEHRT STBEBS. 
 
 JAMES R. STEERS. OEORGE STEERa HENRY STBEBS. 
 
 ADAM BROWN. NOAH BROWN. 
 
 THOMAS COLLYER. 
 
 W181BBVBI-T k COIWOLW. BISHOP k SIMONSON. SNEDEN k LAWRENCE. 
 
 SMITH k BIMON. 
 
 mm BNGim sbbsbbt lawbbnoe. s wbbh sxim 
 
 ISAAC WBBB. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 THE LAITD FOR TBB LABOREIi, THE HOME Qt THS LABOR. 
 
 (160) 
 
 BOUNTY 
 
 . By the term " bounty " it is here intended to imply that which 
 is generally understood and accepted as " subsidy" by some who, 
 from affected delicacy in expression or willful perversion of the 
 truth, slyly term "Brfflsli Postages for Colonial service," 
 meaning in their shameful misrepresentation, " subsidy to British 
 ships carrying the trade of the United States, China, Japan, and 
 other subservient nations, commercially," a maritime monopoly 
 of British statesmen in their far-sighted, liberal, and home policy. 
 
 It is not intended nor de8i| | | i n this argument to hide behind 
 the cowardly pretext of calling tliis great subject by a sweeter or 
 more euphonious term, in imitation of the British-American loby- 
 ists who make their own terms obnoxious— for both the terms, 
 « subsidy " and " bounty " are purely of British coining and Par- 
 limentary application to " grants " from the British Exchequer— 
 although applied in derision to the encouraging of American 
 Industry by the free-ship agents who have been advancing the 
 interest of " the Ships o' Clyde," and confounding American 
 4Btatesmen with their pernicious theories until they have made 
 our statutes a most kaleidioscopic mass of prejudicial laws 
 against our own shipping, as shown in preceding pages, that any 
 semi-barbarous people would be ashamed of and expunge. 
 
 The American people are — at least we assume from our nat- 
 ural pride that we are — an elegant and refined people, of delicate 
 tastes and sensitive recognition of mellifluous sound, but we as- 
 sume also to have the sense to understand that the man who 
 is mean enough to shirk his personal or national duty because 
 that duty is derided Or termed " obnoxious subsidy " by a smart 
 rival or agent, is mean enough to cowardly neglect his home and 
 national interests, industry, and honor. Call it mail pay, call it 
 subvention, call it by any name to suit the artful or the honest, 
 the British ship-owner. 
 
 The term Bounty is here used, preferring to set aaide the inter- 
 ested motives of the foreign agent in crying "subsidy," and the 
 fastidiousness of the timid in chiming in the false cry of " taxa- 
 tion." 
 
 Although Bounty is properly sums of money paid as a " grant '* 
 
 (161) 
 
HISTORY Of AMSEIOAN SHlPFIlia 
 
 or " in aid of" any purpose ; as we propose here to accept the 
 term, in continaons acceptation for payment of ocean mail carry- 
 ing, on the same condilions tliat pujmgiii ig ^gif^ ^ fiaiiroads,. 
 FoBtmasters, and Congressmen for services honestly rendered 
 onr country. In examining the exact condition of this element 
 of shipping, we must consider 
 
 Sacpenses, 
 Earnings, 
 Dtvidendfl, and 
 Tribute. 
 
 To look into the actual expenses of Shipping let us take as a 
 basis the three largest corporations of Great Britain, conceding 
 that their supplies and general management in expenses are kept 
 down in comparison with the small rate of interest, viz : 3/^ per 
 cent, average' per annum. 
 
 Micpmses of the Principal British Steamship Companies ^ Compared^ 
 
 CuBifiiiijf. 
 
 Crews, Pro- 
 
 Repairs. 
 
 Insuranoe. 
 
 Other. 
 
 TotiiL 
 
 JlrlfitA— Peninsular & Orientals 
 Pacific Steam Havig*- 
 
 •i»lll.O0O 
 2,6M,000 
 
 731,000 
 
 4sym 
 
 •1,710^000 
 
 1,145,000 
 
 iiMiOQII 
 
 |S,S3t,0OO 
 
 1,501,000 
 
 |0,332,00» 
 
 6,022,0001 
 
 "1 
 
 
 Here will be seen an expenditure of nearly $20,000,000 yearly 
 by these steamship companies for labor, supplies, and insurance 
 in England, for the benefit of British trade and development of 
 British products. 
 
 In looking at the other side of the balance sheet, we ind the 
 meret and source from whence^ the meanS' flow. 
 
 Mmm^ ofmmm Brm^fHil British 8iemmk^ Ompmms QmparmL 
 
 ■ ■'O 'CJ' Vw/ • 
 
 Compttny. 
 
 fitaacmgtrs. 
 
 Frelglit 
 
 Bounty. 
 
 Otiier. 
 
 Total. 
 
 JWmi*— Peninsular & Oriental.. 
 Pacifie Steam Nftriga- 
 
 SiWMlOO 
 
 4,087,000 
 
 1,070^000 
 
 115,000 
 
 ^000 
 
 iiMoo 
 
 9,000 
 
 1l,fiOT,00» 
 8»6l0,00O 
 
 * Oitcial figures of Mr. Oiffen, Chief of Statistical Departmeati Great Britain. 
 
 HisToinr OF AMxmiGAii ssitma 
 
 15$ 
 
 This k a most remarkable exhiMl of defieieiicy to meet ex- 
 penses, less the bounty or subsidy paid by special grant" from 
 the British Exchequer, but its importance requires a special tabu- 
 lation to exhibit the deduction properly. 
 
 Recapitulation of ike eonditiom by the same British Shipping Com- 
 
 panics for 1880 : 
 
 Oompany. 
 
 Sxpenses. 
 
 Earnings. 
 
 Net 
 Eamingf. 
 
 British — Peninsula and Oriental 
 
 Pacific Steam 
 
 Koyal Mail— 
 
 $9,132,000 
 6,022,000 
 3,545,000 
 
 $10,347,000 
 6,500,000 
 8,640,000 
 
 $1,215,000 
 484,000 
 (I) 5,000 
 
 (l) Loss. 
 
 Here is seen the margin of profit — plus the subsidy from Gov- 
 ernment, which is the only means of deriving a profit. 
 
 It appears that the Royal Mail fully exhausts its earnings^ 
 and yet that compiiy declares a handsome dividend. The secret 
 of this remarkable result is found in the following general pro- 
 vision in British Steamship contracts, viz., that: 
 
 " Whenever the annual income of the company from all sources does not admit 
 of the payment of a dividend of 8 per cent, on the capital employed, the subsidy 
 shall be increased by so much — subject to a limit of £100,000 (§500,000) — as is 
 required to make up such a dividend; and, on the other, that whenever the in- 
 come is sufficient to ullow a dividend exceeding 8 per cent, to be declared the 
 company shall pay to the Postmaster General one-fourth of the excess." 
 
 Thus in return of Dividend we find the following: 
 Evidence of " Short Earnings^' being made " Long JDiddendsJ 
 
 Company. 
 
 British. 
 
 Peninsular and Oriental. 
 
 Royal Mail — — 
 
 Pacific Steam 
 
 '3 
 
 •doo 
 
 a 
 
 $725,000 
 225,000 
 500,000 
 
 •mm 
 
 9 • 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 $2,415,000 
 490,000 
 116,000 
 
 o 3 
 o 
 
 335 
 220 
 
 Cm 
 
 • • 
 
 « 2 
 
 O o 
 
 3 « 
 
 ® ffi 
 
 c — 
 
 S ID'S 
 
 < m 
 
 $1,690,000 
 265,000 
 Ko opposi- 
 Uon, a mo- 
 nopoly. 
 
IM SI8T0BT Of AMIBIOAH SHIPPI1I0. 
 
 In this exhibit the fact is evident that there is far more than 
 the mle 0f payment for mml carrying" in the Bounty really paid 
 hy the experleii«iig|^^ uf Great Britain. It is for the 
 deTelopinent of trade, for the pft>fit of the British people that 
 these smiis— -and more, yearly — are paid out in snhsidy. 
 
 The irsl law of the United States aathorizing the payment of 
 Ocean mail postage nnder President Jackson, was the following 
 Act of €ongres8| July 2d, 1SB6. 
 
 Iw^WNIMlM^fiNM^ That the PostnuMter Oenoral shall suhinit to Cbn- 
 ■lieciit mimuittd'ii tiMmms of money expected to he rtqitlred for the service of 
 the De pi i HijUll, m the si|H|^^ * via: oempeiMaUon of post- 
 
 mafteft, traaiyMtatiott of mails, 8At|w, steamers, and wij letters." * * 
 
 The first effort made in the United States to pay a Bounty to 
 Mail Steamers, was in a message of President Tyler's, June 24, 
 1842, forwarding to Congrisa official correspondence between the 
 ^mtUmf ^ ^itm^ ^^^ Webster, and the French Minister, 
 urging the iiiipiiiiice of " establishing a line of steamers, be- 
 tween Havre and New York, and according to a liberal system, the 
 questions of either course to be arranged in common." 
 
 Daniel Webster heartily recommended it; Postmaster General 
 Wickliffe, in his report Deoember, 1842, not only endorsed it, but 
 says * 
 
 "The Committee on Foreign Relations made a favorable report, 
 and the House adopted the following resolution : 
 
 ** That the President be requested to cause to be prepared and 
 report to this House, by the Secretaries of State and of the Navy, 
 at the commencement of the next session of Congress a plan for 
 the establishment, and in concert with the Government of France, 
 a line of weekly steamers between the ports of Havre and New 
 York, together with the estimates of the expense which may be 
 required to carry the said plan into effect." 
 
 The outgrowth of these steps was the Act of March 3, 1845, 
 authoriiing that contracts be made for the building of Mail 
 Steiamshipe upon proposals to lil^ for, ^as follows: 
 
 "Be it enacted J ^c, That the Postmaster General of the United States, be and 
 is hereby authorized under the restrictions and provisions of the existing laws to 
 contract for the transportation of the U. S. Mail between porta of the United 
 States and a port or ports of any foreign power, whenever in his opinion the public 
 interest will thereby be promoted, &e. 
 
 "And be itfuriher enacted^ That all such contracts shall be made with citizens 
 of the United States, mnct the mail to he transported in American yetsels by Amer- 
 ietn eitisent." 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 
 
 This wise move was not carried without fierce opposition from 
 foreign emissaries endeavoring, as now, to interpolate neutraliz- 
 ing terms or paragraphs in the drafts of and bills presented to 
 Congress. 
 
 But fortunately a wise and earnest (Southern) man was chair- 
 man of the Committee of Naval Affairs, Hon. Thomas Butler 
 King, of Georgia, a noble predecessor of those who now represent 
 that great State.^ 
 
 This act was followed by a further act of March, 1847, upon 
 which Ocean Mail contracts were made, as fully described by 
 President Polk on pages 23-27. 
 
 The following is a digest of the several laws made and unmade 
 in behalf of Bounty for Ocean Mail Carrying, with a vacilla- 
 tion and trifling on the part of Congress, unworthy of states- 
 men, and in marked contrast, as will be seen, from the steady, 
 wise, economic, and patriotic couxse of statesmen in England : 
 
 Act July 2, 1836 Provision President Jackson. ^^^^ 
 
 «* March 8, 1845 Provision •* Polk. 
 
 u u 1847 Oontract " ♦* 
 
 »* July 10, 1848 Ppovbion under Sec. of Wavy, &c. " «* 
 
 " March 8, 1861 J WMl i llii ioaa under Postmaster 
 
 .Oeneral (regulaUng service)— *« Fillmore. 
 
 July 21, 1862 Increased servioe, bat limitatioQ. " <* 
 
 ** " 6,1864.... BestrictioDs " Pierce. 
 
 •* March 8, 1856 Beduction. . «« « 
 
 June 14, 1858 — . — Abrogation of lO-year clause " Buchanan. 
 
 " October 1, 1859 Notice of complete abrogation " «< 
 
 ** June 16, 1860 " Privilege " for postage to Amer- 
 ican Ships " ** 
 
 *' February 19, 1861 «. Temporary « ** 
 
 " May 28, 1864_., Brazil Contract " Lincoln. 
 
 *' February 17, 1865 China Contract «< « 
 
 " " 18, 1867 — Provisions of service ... " Johnson. 
 
 *• March 2, 1867 Provisions of service ** " 
 
 *« June 1, 1872 Contract increased to China « Grant. 
 
 1873 Abrogation complete, by Congress " " 
 
 Ul^f Ihe80 stnral acts of Oongress the fc^owing yearly 
 payments were mad0,^i||||^ here presented in comparison with 
 amounts paid yearly by Great Britain in more steady and 
 bountiful support : 
 
 ^ It should be noted particularly here that flrom 1851 to 1855, when the strug- 
 gle was again contested, in the endeavor to abrogate these contracts, that the 
 leader in advancing this great political sagacity was also a Southern man, and from 
 an ai^rioaltnral district; the Hon. Mr. Busk, of Texas. 
 
156 
 
 JilBlllJtX vW AMMrnxvAa oMlrFllivt 
 
 MxMldi 0f**Momiies" or ^^SubmHes" paid by the UnUed Siaiea and 
 Qrmt Mrikm^ comparatively, 1848-188^, 
 (From Official Beturna.) 
 
 Ttfifft. 
 
 1S61 ....... 
 
 1SS2. 
 
 1868 
 
 im 
 
 1865 
 
 1866 
 
 im 
 
 'im 
 
 I860 
 
 1861 
 
 1862 
 
 1868 
 
 1864 
 
 1866 
 
 1867 IL. 
 
 1868 .a «Ma I 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 i871 
 
 1872 
 
 1874 
 
 1875 
 
 Total amount 
 paid by the 
 tJ. 8 J 
 
 1100,500 
 286,086 
 619,924 
 1,466,818 
 1,655,241 
 1,880,273 
 1,903,286 
 1,936,715 
 1,886,760 
 1,589,153 
 1,211,061 
 1,204,569 
 854,829 
 806,885 
 874,618 
 416,075 
 440,440 
 476,428 
 718,928 
 867,203 
 1,016,146 
 1,101,689 
 1,115,833 
 975,025 
 1,026,891 
 1,044,157 
 988,393 
 976,644 
 768,610 
 448,896 
 199,979 
 200,028 
 199,809 
 240,067 
 280,600 
 
 $81,204,463 
 
 Am't paid ves- 
 telssa'iliDgun. 
 der American 
 
 $100,600 
 235,086 
 619,924 
 1,466,818 
 1,655,-241 
 1,880,273 
 1,903,286 
 1,936,715 
 1,886,766 
 1,689,153 
 1,177,303 
 1,079,220 
 707,244 
 570,952 
 80,G87 
 79,398 
 64,866 
 66,571 
 245,604 
 411,065 
 626,289 
 767,963 
 791,888 
 799,662 
 805,788 
 816,400 
 760,295 
 740,361 
 680,062 
 286,834 
 40,152 
 41,251 
 88,779 
 42,563 
 40,645 
 
 $24,911,684 
 
 American Bounty to Britiili Ships 
 
 Bounty or sub- 
 sidy paid to 
 foreign flag 
 by the 0. sy 
 
 $33,758 
 125,349 
 147,086 
 235,933 
 293,931 
 386,677 
 876,084 
 408,857 
 468,324 
 466,138 
 890,907 
 343,726 
 323,945 
 175,463 
 221,008 
 225,757 
 238,098 
 236,283 
 178,648 
 162,062 
 159,827 
 158,775 
 161,080 
 197,514 
 289,866 
 
 $6,293,929 
 
 Bounty or sub- 
 sidy paid Bri- 
 tish ships by 
 Britieh(3lo¥'t.* 
 
 $3,250,000 
 3,180,000 
 5,313,985 
 5,330,000 
 5,510,635 
 5,805,400 
 5,950,958 
 5,741,688 
 5,713,860 
 5,133,485 
 4,679,415 
 4,740,190 
 4,849,760 
 4,703.285 
 4,105,353 
 4,188,275 
 4,503,050 
 8,981,995 
 4,227,(n8 
 4,079,966 
 4,047,68S 
 5,481,690 
 6,107,761 
 6,070,741 
 5,693,600 
 5,665,296 
 6,697,346 
 4,860,000 
 4,420,261 
 3,674,580 
 3,964,990 
 3,768,230 
 3,873,130 
 8,601,860 
 8,688,886 
 
 163,653,350 
 
 Total British Bounty since 1848 169,947,285 
 
 Total American Bounty ^ 24.911,534 
 
 Britiah Subiidy in excess of American since 1848 UlSyOSSfTftl 
 
 mmimM for in ** British Estimates," (p. 677,) for 188j>, 
 $8,662,670. 
 
 * From special official report by United States Postmaster General. 
 ■ Deductions from official figures, (United States Mail Pay.) 
 
 * From Parliamentary papers and " Finance Accounts " of Great Britain, not 
 mclttding Mail Pa^ or Postage rates " to other lines. 
 
 THE DECLINE 
 
 OF 
 
 American Shipping. 
 
 U. S. MAIL STEAMSHIPS REDUCED TO FREIGHT PACKETS 
 
 BY TBB 
 
 Ambeican Stkamship Co., Philadblphia amd IiIVBRpooi.. 
 BUILT BY WM. CRAMP'S SONS. 
 
 In 1872 this line was established, with a large outlay of capital. There was no 
 complaint about the cost of an Amefican^hlult ship. (The owners preferred to 
 build at home.) Nor has the expense been as great as would have been In 
 repairs to a tramp ship—to be had cheap at the outset. It was found impossible, 
 however, to ran in competition with wbddued BriUah Uaut as " fiwi mailateani- 
 ships," necessitating the many extra and peeullar items of expense; and henoe 
 their abandonment for such service by the clearing away <rf cabins and their reduc* 
 tion t<> <* fireighters." 
 
 (167) 
 
miSTOEY OF AMBRICAir gllPPINa. 
 
 BOUFTY 
 
 FM by iim Unikd aolet JPbst Qfice Bqmtimmt to Mre^ J^mMps^ 
 
 1 8 8 Q . 
 
 (From official Keport, page 622.) 
 
 Europe. 
 
 21 2^ £"nard Line . $84,214 14 
 
 fli By Hamburg Line .--..,„,,.,,,, , .......^ 24 809 02 
 
 fl) By Liverpool and ereai Weitern Line ZZ- 68,210 48 
 
 (1) By Ifortli German Lloyd Line 87,796 20 
 
 (}) By S**!- I'in* 89,097 06 
 
 (}| Jy ^«^»jJi||fc|||^ 28,043 53 
 
 {;) Jy AiicliO#«pW 5 023 26 
 
 J!I 2^ IIP' 408 77 
 
 (S) By ^Amenean Line 8^288 1« 
 
 ■■■■ 'iiiSOiSftS 61 
 
 miifi-yAOiMCi. 
 
 m By I*aisiio Mail Line . |1 468 90 
 
 (1) By Occidental and Oriental Line 8,114 21 
 
 (2) Other , 48 01 
 
 M.tr^. 12 
 
 92 flJ^"^^^ f ".301 84 
 
 fX) ytber — _ _ — ^ , 92 
 
 " llfdtl 26' 
 
 lfIB€BI.I.AirB0tT8. 
 
 (4) Hortii and Soutli America . 80,141 26 
 
 ftotal United: Statei^ Poel Oiloe' SMp payment! , fi7f,614 26 
 
 To I'oreif n Shlpi |286,868 76 
 
 tbAmeriesii'Sllpi . 40^646 .60' 
 
 BOFKTY 
 
 F^iprpati jfmra) to Bailroada and Biwr BoaiSf isompared with that paid to 
 
 Union Pacific 
 
 Central Pacific ....^ 
 
 New York Central and Hudson River 
 
 Steamboats. 
 
 llewport and Wickford, R. I 
 
 mmw Orleans to Franksville, La ... — 
 
 QalTttPlon to Libertyville, Texas 
 
 « .. " . ^Brashear, Texas 
 
 Portlaod to Sitka, Alaska 
 
 Stmmihipa. 
 
 (5) FiMiifio Man, latl. (see omM igtires alxive) 
 
 Miles per 
 annum. 
 
 761,296 
 640,840 
 
 7,488 
 19,344 
 19344 
 
 68,500 
 32,040 
 
 8fl,llW 
 
 AmomitlMid. 
 
 |SS1,<100 
 260,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 10,000 
 7,360 
 60,000 
 34,800 
 
 Rate 
 per mile. 
 
 M 
 
 •IS 
 
 .80 
 
 M 
 M 
 
 MM 
 
 jl! Mr«fc!2fwi.e AglriSS'"*" ^'"^ ^^""""^'y half "-now Porlgn. 
 
 fifiKS^ per kilog»mme(»»a8oa)-il.fla 
 
 HISTOEI OF AMBRIOAM BHIPPING. 
 
 15^ 
 
 Bat for the purpose of 'making a perfect comparison of tbe 
 Bounty Conditions of the Shipping interests of the two coun- 
 
 ries, we must also trace the full Bounty record of Great Britain. 
 
 We have seen the evidence of Thomas Jefferson to this fact 
 on page 18, but particulars thereof will be found fully detailed in 
 Parliamentary papers as far back as 1770. . »4 
 
 Beginning with the Report of Commission of Revenue Inquiry 
 of 1800, the following evidence will be found : 
 
 "The attention of the commissioners of ' fees and gratuities' in the year 1788 
 was drawn to the expenditure, which had heen increased in the packet service 
 during several years preceding their inquiry, and expenditure, according to their 
 expression, 'so enormous as almost to surpass credibility,' the sum of $5,200,000| 
 giving an annual expenditure (in a period of 17 years) of $305,000." 
 
 Here is official British inveetigation and evidence of sMpping sulwidy by Bng- 
 land, as follows : 
 
 1770 to 17SS |6>200,000 
 
 This continued until next examination by Committee of Finance, 
 1797, which shows that instead of being stopped it was increased, 
 
 averaging up to 1810 $392,200 yearly, or in all, 1788 to 1810 8,628,200 
 
 This committee (18 10) also increased the subsidy to $525,000 per year, 
 
 and continued increasing until 1816, making total of • 4,725,000 
 
 After which it fell off for 3 j'ears, 1817-1820 to 1,655,000 
 
 The spirit of subsidy again rose from 1821 to 1830, and paid 5,855,000 
 
 Making in the first 60 years a payment of _ |25,068,000 
 
 It was at this time (1830) that the British commissioner of revenue 
 made an especial investigation "for the purpose of inquiring into 
 collection and management of the public revenue," and then began 
 the heavy subsidizing of steaoMihips to owr $500,000 per annum, 
 
 as follows, viz: 1830 to 1837 ' — 6,000,000 
 
 From General Post Office, 1837 to 1848 25,000,000 
 
 From Mercantile Marine Fund, 1823 to 1847 : ^ 37,600,000 
 
 British subsidv paid from 1770 to 1847 $93,563,000 
 
 British eubeidy paid from 1848 to 1882, see page 108 . leSyGfiSyOOO 
 
 Total paid since 1770 |257,81««( 
 
 Hence we see upon official authority that Great Britain pur^ 
 sued a determined policy to establish — and has for over a century 
 (and sdll) maintMned — a commercial and shipping sopremacy, 
 as wisely dictated by Lord Sheffield, viz., **the only advantage 
 of the American and the West Indies Colonies is the monopoly of 
 the consumption and the carriage of the product." 
 
 Thus for the monopoly of the Booty there has been paid 
 Bounty ; and the Bounty has been, as above seen, sumptuously 
 expended for a century, but with wise judgment and legislation. 
 
 This system of Bounty and monopoly, and deterlltinatiion to 
 
 IF 
 
mSTORT Of AMIMOAN SHIPPIira 
 
 make American Shipping pay Tribute to England, is shown in 
 the following official report of Postmaster General Cave Johnson, 
 and to which President Polk refers. (See page 24.) 
 
 Sutract: ilM BectttilMr l| 1847, upon the official mission 
 
 of Asst. P. M. Hobhie, to England, to arrange a Postal treaty : 
 
 "On his arrival al Southampton, on the 15th of June, 1847, Mr. 
 Hobbie met a hostile movement of the English Government 
 against the line of American Mail Steamers in a rost Office order is- 
 sued the 9th of June, by the direction of the Lords of the Treas- 
 ury. This order subjected all letters and newspapers conveyed 
 by" the (ship) Washington to England to the same charge of pos- 
 tage as if they had been conveyed in the British Steamers at their 
 own expense. The mails made up in this country for France and 
 left at Southampton, to be forwarded to Havre, were subjected 
 to the same charge and all were required to be sent to the Lon- 
 don Post Office. It being his duty to proceed directly to Ger- 
 many, Mr. Hobbie made a full communication to our Minister at 
 London, and placed the matter under his immediate charge. 
 Shortly afterwards he repaired from Bremen to London and 
 tinited with Mr. Bancroft^ in efforts to effect a withdrawal of the 
 order of the 19th of June, and the adoption of a reciprocal postal 
 arrangement between the two counties. The British Govcrment 
 presisting in their order, he returned to the continent and resumed 
 the prosecution of his mail arrangements there. 
 
 *' The obnoxious order of the IBritish Post Office of the 9th of 
 June last discriminating against the American Steamers is not 
 the only advantage which the British Government has taken of 
 the United States as the laws of the two countries now stand. 
 It is understood that by the laws of Great Britain, letters sent 
 from the United States in transient vessels to Great Britain have 
 a postage of eight pence or about sixteen cents to pay for delivery, 
 termed the ship postage; whilst letters sent from England to 
 the United States are charged only six cents when delivered at 
 the office in which they are deposited, and but two cents when 
 forwarded in the United States mails, in addition to the regular 
 postage of the United States. 
 
 Letters mailed in the United States for France and sent through 
 England, are charged, in addition to the sea postage, tenpence, 
 equal to twenty cents, for transportation from Southampton to 
 Havre, whilst upon letters from Great Britain to Canada, passing 
 from Boston to St Johns, a much greater distance, the United 
 States only charge five cents, one-quarter of the amount charged 
 on American letters passing through England. 
 
 "In England the inland postage is much lower than in the 
 United States, whilst the ship and transit postage on foreign let- 
 ters is much greater. The sea postage between the two countries 
 
 >8ee Mr. Bancroll's oileial lotler, ptget l^T-ISO* 
 
 MISfOBT 07 AUBEIOAN SBIPPIMa. Ml 
 
 is about the same (twenty-four cents) a rate in the opinion of the 
 undersigned mncii too high for the interest and convenience of 
 both countries. 
 
 "In England it is understood that the foreign postages are by 
 law under Uie oontrol of the Lords of the Treasury, and may be 
 •changed as circumstances rendered necessary. A similar power 
 «hould be given to the Postmaster jGkneral, or some other au- 
 thority in the United States, so as to secure, if practicable, fair 
 And just mail arrangements between this and foreign countries. 
 
 To Out Fremdent. " Cavb Johnson." 
 
 A caretul research through the State papers ot the several 
 Executive Departments and Congressional classification, and into 
 official dispatches of foreign relations, will trace testimony to the 
 unwavering, monopolizing, commercial spirit of Great Britain, 
 much to be admired in patriotic action and wise legislation. 
 
 The " Tribute we pay to Great Britain (especially) as Shipping 
 Bounty to her Merchant Marine is not only through the Post Office 
 Department, nor, indeed, in payments exhibited on pages 114-116. 
 
 There is nothing so little understood, or rather so misunder- 
 4sitood, as " Balance of Trade,'' which is far icom having a superficial 
 condition, but most efiectively marked in its powerful influence 
 upon prosperity or adversity. 
 
 The power of a ship-owning nation is shown in the prosperity 
 of Great Britain, notwithstanding her superabundance of im- 
 ports over exports. 
 
 The practical Imowledge of Mr. GIffisn, the President of the 
 British Board of Trade ; of the Statistical Society and the chief 
 •of Statistical Departments of Great Britain, says, in his most val- ^^^^^^^^^ 
 uable paper before the Statistical Society, recently : 
 
 " How much, to begin with, is annually due to us a ship-owning 
 and carrying nation ? As we have seen, there is no reason why 
 the actual excess of imports, in the case of a ship-owning natioii|^f :< .^^b^ 
 ahould correspond to the sum it earns in the carrying trade ; the 
 actual excess may be less or more than that sum; but the sum is 
 never^eless an item in the account just as much as the so-called 
 exports on the one side or the imports on the other." 
 
 Here is the key that touches the commercial current of th«f^ 
 world, and tells exactly the mode of receiving this collosal tribute, 
 bnt without showing the vast power of that current by its actual ^^m^l 
 working and results. 
 
 The Commercial Letter of Secretary Evarts, page 44, of 1878, 
 and page IBl, of 1879, called attention to this vast subject as 
 
 11 B 
 
 t 
 
BlSfOmX 01 AMEBICAM SBIFflllO. 
 
 one more worthy of Congressional investigation than any otVier. 
 Secretary Frelioghnysen repeats the appeal, and while this Com- 
 miltee is investigating this great Shipping conditioQ It would not 
 be labor those words of Mr. Gitifen and then study 
 
 the lacts that are easily learned and understood by Mr. Giffen's 
 clear exposition of this truth, although the exhibit thereof will 
 necessarily be startling. 
 
 Secretary Frelinghuyaeu shows, page 261 of his " Letter oa 
 the Oomnierce olllll^ of 1880 and 1881, the 
 
 Imports and exports of the United Kingdom for ten years. 
 
 
 Impoi^ts. 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Balance of trade 
 against th» 
 IJiiiled Kins* 
 
 HOIll. 
 
 1812 
 
 1874'ZIZIZZIZZZZZ 
 
 18T9- I— 
 
 Total.——*— 
 
 $1,716,717,000 
 1,804,455,000 
 1,798,603,000 
 1,817,348,000 
 1,82:1,858,000 
 1,916,880,000 
 1,792,237,000 
 1 764,141,000 
 1,998,577,000 
 1,929,529,000 
 
 $1,528,607,000 
 1,511,484,000 
 1,446,579,000 
 1,368,633,000 
 1,247,931,000 
 1,225,402,000 
 1,193,052,000 
 1,209,090,000 
 1,891,972,000 
 1,448,821,000 
 
 $188,020,000 
 
 292,971,000 
 352,024,000 
 448,715,000 
 575,922,000 
 691,478,000 
 599,185,000 
 565,051,000 
 606,605,000 
 485,708,000 
 
 $18,868,840,000 
 
 $13,566,661,000 
 
 $4,795,679,000 
 
 Here will be seen, as Mr. Giffen tells you a tribute paid to his 
 eouutry of over Ive huodtsed million dollars per year, and in ten 
 yeare of nearly jSiw Hmmnd mWm dMxrs, Ibr earrylug half of the 
 eommerce of the world in her ships. 
 
 No wonder English statesmen have paid the (comparatively) in- 
 slgnificant sum of two hundred million dollars in 100 years ! 
 
 And yet American Congressmen stand up aud pitifully cry about 
 me ^m^hmireih part of Ihni amount because they say It is taxing 
 the people." 
 
 ** *Tis pity!" it is a shame ! in so grand a work, so vast a ben- 
 eit, so vital a necessity to the full developiDeiit of a nation's re- 
 sources, prosperity, and stability, that such narrow-mindedness or 
 worse has governed and misgoverned our country for the last 
 twenty-five years.,, 
 
 But we have only seen the hundred of thousands of mil- 
 lions that Mr. Giffen tells us his country has made in shipping 
 bounty from all nations. 
 
 HISTOEY OF AMSKIGAH SHIPPINO. Ii8 
 
 Let US now see what part of that Tribute we have paid to 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports from 
 the United 
 States. 
 
 Exports to the 
 United States. 
 
 Balance of trade 
 in favor of the 
 United States. 
 
 1872--.: 
 
 1878 ^. 
 
 1 875-zrrrzriiziizirrrii 
 
 1876 
 
 1877 
 
 1878 
 
 i88()Ziirrrz iirrzirizi 
 
 1881 
 
 $264,674,000 
 847.349.000 
 
 357.063,000 
 338,207,000 
 367,361,000 
 378,234,000 
 488,250.000 
 446,235,000 
 520,414,000 
 601,691,000 
 
 $222,195,000 
 178,356,000 
 
 156,033,000 
 121,796,000 
 97,897,000 
 96,536,000 
 85,206,000 
 124,022,000 
 184,456,000 
 178,705,000 
 
 $42,379,000 
 168,998.000 
 201,630,000 
 216.411.000 
 269,454,000 
 281,698,000 
 848,044,000 
 322,213,000 
 335.958,000 
 822,893,000 
 
 
 P,954,868,000 
 
 $1,445,202,000 
 
 $2,509,678,000 
 
 An excess of exports from our country to Great Britain, called 
 balance in favor," for which nothing returns, as shown on the 
 preceding and following pages. 
 What should the American people say of their statesmen who 
 
 have thus taxed them pver three hundred millions dollars per year, 
 and in the last ten years tico thousand fice hundred million dollars f 
 
 What humbuggery to talk about " not taxing the people to sub- 
 sidise-^r lest it be offensive, to pay — ^mail-steamships." 
 
 More than our War debt, have ^ose statesmen taxed our people 
 in ten years with their hypocrisy or ignorance ! It is a commen- 
 tary that is more than startling. 
 
 But this is not all, let us consider these facts deeper. 
 
 Mr. Giffen says, most logically and correctly, that — 
 
 "The following propositions appear to cover the various cases 
 of an excess of imports or exports arising in connection with 
 carrying operations : 
 
 *« 1. A non-carrying nation, in the absence of borrowing or 
 lending, ought to show in its accounts an equality between im- 
 ports at the place of arrival, and exports at the place of depart- 
 ure, 
 
 " 2. A nation carrying half its foreign trade ought to have an 
 excess of imports equal to the cost of carrying the goods one 
 way; and so in proportion for whatever its contribution to car- 
 rying may be. 
 
 " 3. A nation carrying its whole foreign trade will have an ex- 
 cess of imports equal to the cost of carrying the goods both ways. 
 
im mmmmt m ambbioan SBitpnr®. 
 
 **4. A nation carrying for others is entitled, in aiiiMoa, to an 
 wmm of imports equal to the freight earned, leas any expenses 
 incurred abroad. Any nation contribating to carriage will also 
 have something to receive." 
 
 nothing could be more trnthfuUy presented, more ably or 
 eloquently deduced; and yet we, as Americans, are in a worse 
 flight even than Mr. Giffen depicts, for we not only have sent 
 away in the last ten years, twenty-five hundred million dollars' 
 worth of products, and, as lilll^^ by the table (on page 115), 
 paid an additional fifteen hundred millions for actual carriage, 
 but also a cash balance for taking our products away from us, as 
 will be found on page 298 of of Seeretmy ofJ^ak^ viz. : 
 
 GM and SS^er Coin <md BtMUm Imparts and Mx^mts inl^ mdfrom 
 
 lie Umkd Kingdom. 
 
 Tmra. 
 
 * 
 
 jpniiorts.frfiiii 
 me United 
 
 totlie 
 'VnifeclBtatat. 
 
 Balance. 
 
 Afainst the 
 ITnited States. 
 
 In favor of the 
 United States, 
 
 1S72 
 
 187S 
 
 1874 
 
 883,962,000 
 
 44.365,000 
 88,649,000 
 55,364,000 
 84,068,000 
 22,734,000 
 12,068,000 
 14,502,000 
 6,094,000 
 12,788,000 
 
 "'*JlT,708,000" 
 166,000 
 8,223,000 
 18,967,000 
 7,108,000 
 9,290,000 
 86,756,000 
 26,949,000 
 86,061,000 
 
 162,262,000 
 
 32,657,000 
 38,483,000 
 32,141,000 
 16,096,000 
 15,526,000 
 2,778,000 
 
 
 1875. 
 
 
 1877ZIIZZIIII, 
 
 
 1878 
 
 1S78 - - 
 I880I III 
 1881-.—- — .-—^ 
 
 Tutol 
 
 ^"f22,2"54'006 
 20,855,000 
 28,818,000 
 
 1802,824,000 
 
 1160,218,000 
 
 1198,928,000 
 
 $66,422,000 
 
 Showing a halance of specie, also, a|(ainst the United Statas of 918^606,000.^ 
 
 Another Tribute paid by the American people " as a non-carrying 
 nation (I apply Mr. Giffen's words) to those who bind us hand 
 and fiiot commercially. Over one hundred and thirty millions in 
 hard gold and silver additional bal|Himgainst us in ten years. 
 
 Let no more be said, then, about " taxing ; in objection to the 
 consideration of shipping bills. 
 
 Political precept is but froth unless emanating from a dis- 
 ciplined and unbiased mind, trained by research into the non- 
 apparent as well as the apparent causes of results. 
 
 > See also page 102, 
 
 HISfOAY OF AMlRICAir SHIPPINO. 165 
 
 Let us look, then, into the carrying or non-carrying conditions 
 of the principal I^ations by the world to learn our own compara- 
 tive conditions and see the iuttgnificant reladon we bear, to-day, 
 even to the weakest. 
 
 Carrying Trade of the Brrndpal Commercial Nations.^ 
 
 1882. 
 
 
 
 Per 
 cent. 
 
 
 Aoslria — 
 
 
 9(1 
 10 
 
 JNow DOilaing up ner Mevraiuit Marine by Ub- 
 etmlBoun^. 
 
 B0fglan.M. *••••.*«. ....M.. 90(^ijOOO 
 FoKeigik M....«*.m.#..*M.. 3,dOQ^OOO 
 
 80 
 
 Carried mostly in Briiiah SMdb. alllionah lie- 
 eoming aroused. 
 
 Fiance— 
 
 
 30 
 70 
 
 By new Bounty law France has largely in- 
 creased her carrying trade. 
 
 Oermany— 
 
 
 40 
 80 
 
 Even this condition has aroused the Oerman 
 people, and liberal action has been taken, 
 (See ForeigB Poiiey, following pages.) 
 
 Holland— 
 
 OI!'dii||||pDU««* «•#•(•'•*««•* 
 
 X|OCN[)|O0O 
 
 li|||jOOO||j^DQO 
 
 30 
 70 
 
 Subsidized slightly, but dependent apmi Great 
 Britain since 1800. 
 
 Italy— 
 
 ••*•• 1,500,000 
 ....^ 2,700.000 
 
 36 
 65 
 
 See under Foreign Policies for recent Bounty 
 proviaioii. 
 
 Horway— 
 
 ...... 600,000 
 
 IS 
 25 
 
 Sailing trade merely. 
 
 Bnssiar— 
 
 «»M 5,000,000 
 
 30 
 70 
 
 Beviving her Merchant Madne raoent iib- 
 eral policy. 
 
 United Kingdon— 
 
 ^^nti^fi* ■•••••#••>•••«•• ■ 
 
 ..... 21,000,000 
 
 70 
 30 
 
 Thus, while carrying 55 per cent, of the world'e 
 trade, Britkih ghlpa canry TOpn outL 9f homo 
 trade. 
 
 United States— 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 ..... iaiiOoo,ooo 
 
 85 
 15 
 
 Given over to the Booty of Foreign Nations, 
 (See foregoing and following pages.) 
 
 Here we are forced to look upon the humiliating evidence that 
 is worse than ordinary, more than alarming; it is absolute 
 dependence and subserviency — almost irremediable ! 
 
 Our country here presents the smallest percentage of home carrying 
 tonnage in comparison wUh all of the principal countries of the wmid! 
 
 And for this (can it be denied ?) we are indebted very much to 
 the vascillating mind of Congress in altering good laws for 
 
 > These data are prepared from latest official returns of each country. 
 
166 
 
 HISIOEI Of AMimiOAN SHItPINa 
 
 trivial objections, and tlie neawiglitedness or prejudices of our 
 statesmen. 
 
 By study aod research thei*e will be found two peculiaritlei 
 most distinct and characteristic, viz : the obscurity of the real 
 politico-economic policy of Great Britain through her Board of 
 Trade departm©i<|||||^^ ber commerce, her Board oi 
 
 Admiralty representing her shipping, and her special commis- 
 eions with their digest of references to pages for hidden evidences 
 that only a practical and determined researcher could reach; 
 while in our country the unbosomed conlidenco in verdant utter- 
 ances of onr statesmen in Congress are the beginning and the 
 end of an economic policy. 
 
 The above trace of onr Post Office contracts prove this fickle- 
 ness, this absence of policy, this want of foresight, since the days 
 of Charles Wickliffe and Cave Johnson. 
 
 Transfer our shipping contracts and our merchantile shipping 
 entire to a Bureau of Commerce, under the Havy Department, 
 where it belongs, and where it will be protected (for the Post 
 Oiice Department has expended its energies and talent upon ex- 
 pediting land routes, subsidizing foreign steamships, and neglect- 
 ing American postal rights) by statutes that shall stand for the 
 transportation of American mail in American ships, under 
 American officers, and the American 'fiag. 
 
 Since the above went to press the foBowIng clear, unanswerable remarks of 
 Senator Test were made in debate upon the Senate floor. It is aU ihmt is asked — 
 oil that is neededstnd yet denied I (See pages 119, 120.) 
 
 terkmtoJlillBllllwa^^^^ Ms awrtion that this is a siibsidy. The pos- 
 
 lain which i;4 paid on the inland routes of the United States has no assailants; it i» con- 
 eciaed to be just and proper. The special eoromittee on shipping unanimously reported thalr 
 Itoaaine principle should apply to the ocean routes. I ask tne Senator from Delaware if he 
 doei not think that principle to be correct and jUHt? 
 
 Under the laws of the United States as they now exist, a steam^^hip whioh carrios tlie mails of 
 the Untied States 5.000 iniies receiTes two cents for every letter ; and the proof before the 
 apeoial eonimittee, of whioh I was a member, was that the expenses of carrying the mails from 
 the steamships in San Franoisoo np to tbe olice of the Consui at that port ezoeeded the total 
 amount <^ file postage received by the Hiie in carrying tbe letter for 3J00O miles. Does tne 
 Senator firom Delaware say that that is right ? there a Senator upon this floor who wiU stena 
 liere to-day in his place and say that is just or proper ? . 
 
 I have no connection with anv mail line whatever. I have not the slightest connection with 
 Xr. John Bowsh* with the Northern Pacific I.ine, or any other line. I do not know a stock- 
 holder. I do not know an offieer. I simplv, as a member of the committee, have recom- 
 mended fhal the same soft of postage should be paid upon Uie oec»n routes as is paid upon 
 Hie tnlittd rentes of tie united states. Is there any Senator here who will stand in his ptaee 
 aai-say ttuiit this prioelple is not correct ? I pause for a reply. If the Senator fnm Delate 
 «ii mw >^ that me inme prineiple should not apply upon the ocean as upon the land, I 
 'hiki: 'iO' saf lt» 
 
 a « g| 1^ « mm IPS t'^' 
 
 LABOR STRUCK DOWN ! 
 
 ^ ei/i/9 BMpmrigkiB mmM m 9 dm/9 amUcm/' 
 
 " Kb MmmfOM Smmen not* Sh^mrighii mmi 9fply" 
 
 Shall the Birthright of American Industry be sold out ? 
 
 The Q,ne8tioii of tlie Campaign in 1884. 
 
 WoBKiEBN 09 Amebiga-— ALii Industries — ^will you submil to 
 your Congressmen giving away your Honest Labor 
 
 and American Honor, to 
 
 The Demand of Foreign Capitalists 
 
 FOR 
 
 FOREiaJSr BOOTY? 
 
 (167) 
 
 ■ i iilllli 
 
 r 
 
COMBINATION amb SPOLIATIOH 
 
 A Omn qfMJbmm Bamih the Smrfim J^ftui^ ih§ BImkM 
 
 qf tM American 8k^, 
 
 BBITI9S MMYm. B<IAB I> OF A PMlBAIiTY. 
 rimptftf SATB8— PBOTSOnVX AOBNTS. 
 BOXX PB^iWTION. WISB J^BBSISHT. 
 
 MERCANTILE MARIlfB FUND. 
 
 BOUNTY. ADDITIONAL OUABANTT. 
 
 * SUPBBYISION. PBOTISION. 
 
 U. S. CiMital Jones writes to tlio Dupmrlneiit of SUito from NowwUe-on-TyBey. 
 
 SeptemW 80, 1882 : 
 
 "The local marine office at London pays out £10,000 per month ($600,000 per year) in salaries, 
 fhe wages paid to British seamen during 1881 amounted to £10,000,000 ($50,0(m),()()(i,) and the 
 raramiams paid on marine insurance durine the sameyear are stated at £10,000,(X)o ($o(),u<Mj,iHj«i.> 
 IiOdk; whither we will, and the beneficial influence of dipping is patent; and it is a growing in- 
 flnuMse, already exoeedins in oapital inyested the mines and iron works of the kingdom com- 
 falBAd, and only «aoeiled u this rsguil by agfloiiltiifaatid lailin^** 
 
 Bhnbevidenee in tti official npoii of tlie vast power of Hie Lloyds. Tho- 
 total amal insurance aMMIttti to $m0^WO. 
 
 '^ttldllilliliMk Ihseat dlmaracenifliit of tliit infliufMse in Ibe vorts of China and.. 
 Jl|{i|4llta|l.|w4udkM!d8M|i]ieri agaiM ships of our Pacilo Mail — ^the- 
 
 Bat Consul Jones proves even more forcibly this infloenoe, viz t 
 
 "If na aHllmslii the number of British steamers at 7,600, and thf average ponsumption of 
 eoal at tdxteen tons during three hundred days a year, we have an annual consumption of fuel 
 by these ocean carriers, ctiiefly British coal, amounting to 36,000,000 tons. Shipping creates a. 
 great demand for iron and steel in their various forms and qualiHes, as well as for engines and 
 boilers, chains and anchors, sails and ropes, for every variety of hardware, crockery and glass- 
 and for apholstery and carpets, beds and bedding, electric appliances and telephones. 
 mi is afforded directly and indirectly to an army of men and women of eve^ social 
 
 intellectual caliber, from tiie wealthy ship-builder, with his estate in tba nudlands- 
 
 hia seat in Parliament, to the hsfd-worked pudaler at the fbmace. Docks have to be con« 
 atrocted and maintained to accommodate shippmg. 
 
 ** Insurance companies and clubs give employment to thousands; government officers, ens- 
 tMis employes, surveyors, savings-bank olerks, stevedofes, and many m<ne deriTa their liTell> 
 Imod from the traffic of shtpiiing. 
 *]|«n and boys in fbe Bnl^ mereanitHe. navy during 1880 nnmbered UOgMO.** 
 
 U . S. Consul Morey, of Ceylon, writes to the Pepartmeiit of State, as Ibllowt : 
 
 "flamy knowledge, for a period of twelve years, and in a great measure even to the present. 
 day» beantlfkil and staunch American Teasels liave been im«nployed in foreign ports, or ao- 
 oapled of freights too low to much more than pay expanses, while crank old foreign craft, just 
 at the tail end of a high class, and prone to damaging their cargoes, have loaded for the United 
 Stetes at high rates, with cargo bought with American money on American orders, and simply 
 on fha irfea that, being classed at Lloyds, the rates of insurance were largely in their favor. 
 
 **Mow much our own rat- rchants were to blame for this, inasmuch as they allowed their goods- 
 lobe insured in foreign offices instead of their own, I am not prepared to say, but I do know- 
 
 This official evidMce Is given in detail to prove the necessity of creating a. 
 ebaift iCMiaeia] agencies ahroad for the benefit of American Shipping. 
 
 The Britidi Idoyds is a system fliWIbal Insurance between themselves, to- 
 arrange for thft tMi||||||p|iiiiillon of their «%• and mtyoes, or shares thereof, 
 •■pooling" gains MAIoiMiMro rata, 
 
 *• Only members of Lloyds are slloived the benefits, protection, and information furnished 
 daily by agents appointed for tlia pnrpoee, and there is scarcely a port of consequence in the- 
 world where one is not statfonao. Jffiliiiflawsiiliarf ■l la wse l tessrwies<lisw^ e gs'rt ^*^^ 
 
 {BritUh} HmgigaUon etm^panieg.*** 
 
 'The writer is personally aware of the injury Ihut effeotedi and of the unjust 
 action in rivalry against these ships, the superiority of which is now acknowl* 
 
 (IM) 
 
 BOOTY. 
 
 Whether the motive that prompts the advice to try ** Free 
 Ships " springs from a deep and sincere interest in the vivitication 
 of this child of American industry, the American ship ; 
 
 Whether the comprefaensioii of the disquisitive writer who 
 copioosly amplifies the theory of prostituting Americtm I&dii8« 
 try to foreijs^n spoliation is restricted by mere snperficlal ideas ; 
 
 Whether the bleak, mercenary heart of the aggrandizing mer- 
 chant cares not that this noble offspring of American genius be 
 called or treated as an orphan ; " 
 
 Whetherthe cranky spirit or diseased mind of the illogical pro- 
 fessor honesUy believes or dMims (bat bis visionary principles 
 should be the economic laws of the day; 
 
 Whether the treacherous agent who once coped industriously 
 and honorably iii international maritime contests has become 
 idnt-faearted, and now turns figainst American Industry and 
 bonor fov selfish motives ; 
 
 Whether either or all of these influences cause tbe rallying 
 around the Chambers of Congress whenever " a bill for the re- 
 vival of American Shipping " is presented, and that animates 
 him, who may be, for good reasons, selected spokesman^ to rush, 
 into tbe House of Mepresentatives and cry — 
 
 **](r. Speaker, I object; I do not know the motion, but I understand it is for 
 the revival of shipping, and I object." (See Congressional Record, 1881.) 
 
 Whether or not all of these considerations are pure or subsi- 
 dized, tbe actual result is Booty ! 
 
 Booty to British shipbuilders, merchants, and insurers— and 
 American ruin. 
 
 Booty to British workingmen, and idleness at home. 
 
 Booty to British suppliers, and a loss to our own fiumtefs. 
 
 Booty to foreign seamen, agents, clerks, laborers, &c., and 
 stagnation of business and want to the needy at home. 
 
 It means the spoliation of every industry ; tbe strangling of 
 every honorable emotion of pride; the closing of 
 and of every ship yard of the United States. 
 
 It means a crown of gold for the head so long employed to 
 confuse American legislation, and to destroy American industry *g 
 
 (W) 
 
170 aiawiY of American shipping. 
 
 It means dependence in the hour of need and of embarrass- 
 inent ; obsequious at the moment that we are bullied hy a fourth- 
 €las8 power. 
 
 WasMiigtoo submitted Ms opinion of Free Ships, (see page 40,) 
 «Qi tf eifen0n ^said that : 
 
 •* T%e carrmge of our mm c<iiii<li!|||ffi i', ifmce mtahUshed in amther 
 thanml^ cmmM 6e resumed in the imiment we desire^ 
 
 ** If we lose the seamen and artists whom U mw employ we hse the 
 present meam qf marine defense, and time wHl be requisite to raise up 
 
 iMkerSf when dimrace or bsses shali knmg home to owr feeUngs the ems 
 <3f kmm§ akmimmi'^' them," 
 
 We have lost onr carrying trade*, and it is hard indeed to re- 
 claim. 
 
 New York is again held by foreign power in the freehold right 
 to onr bulkhead, the command of onr harbor and the patronage 
 of onr daily press. 
 
 mm mm. 
 
 Why ? and what then ? A panacea for impotency in shipping? 
 Ibr onr hnmiiiation in this industry, our insignificant relation to 
 other nations on the high seas? Why ehonld we brand onr national 
 and industrial record, by enacting a law for creating foundling hos- 
 pitals for foreign ships to be fraudulently branded American T 
 Why must we try this visionary resort in commercial stratesj}^ ? 
 Why should we make a confession to the world of barrenness in 
 an Industry in which we can surpass the world ? Because it can 
 only be done by appropriation called Bonnty or Subsidy ? Hfo* 
 
 The American people are not such fools. It is a libel upon the 
 common sense of our 50,000,000 of people ; it is the fulsome and 
 deceitful prayings of interested parties misrepresenting in every 
 way the truths. 
 
 Onr people, althongh formerly deceived and many now in donbt, 
 are fest recognimng the fact that " no nation that buys its ships 
 of foreign manufacture was ever successful " ! ! ! 
 
 From whence coiueth this clamor for an adopted child ? It 
 oomes, and comes only, (originally) from parties or men who have 
 a trade that would be injured by American ships in competition. 
 
 If ship of foreign Indiistry were privileged as onr own to-day, 
 
 HISfOaV OF AHSBICAll SMIPPIHO 
 
 171 
 
 and 'finmberS"" presented to our shipper free^-nbsolntely "fifeo — -how 
 how could they be self sustaining? How improve our shipping 
 condition when our own cannot be supported; what would it ac- 
 complish bat greater humiliation to ourselves, and disgrace to our 
 
 FOBBION LOBBV. 
 
 * 
 
 The most vicious enemy to our Shipping is the plausible repre- 
 sentation of foreign shippers, shipbuilders, and underwriters. 
 
 It would not be politic f>r Ibreign capital to be represented by 
 foreign accent in pleading tones, or by foreign gesticulation in 
 thundering theories, at the doors of Congress ! 
 
 For a delicate task a delicate hand and tongue are essential. 
 
 Macgregor and McCulloch tell us frankly that British states- 
 men learned in our Colonial history that diplomacy is a stronger 
 weapon against our trade than warfare. 
 
 The soft, sweet lyre of British persuasion in the hands of adepts, 
 of American birth, education, and refinement, is illustrated in the 
 foregoing, and the result is a powerful influence at the door of 
 onr American Congress. 
 
 They are there ! the foreign agents ; they are at public meetings; 
 they are wielding the influence of many of our daily journals; 
 wolves in sheep's clothing; Americans only by birth, they are 
 handsomely supported permanently in this permanent employ- 
 ment to watch ! and report every movement, every action^ in onr" 
 shipping conditions, and of onr shipping legislation. 
 
 When our country was disturbed by civil strife, and ever since, 
 these agents under the disguised cloak of loyalty, have been paid 
 to misrepresent, undermine, and destroy the zealous advocate 
 of American shipbuilding. 
 
 SHIP BBPAIBING. 
 
 Between ship building and repairing there is a wide difference 
 in condition and necessarily in interest. 
 
 Ship building in the United States naturally draws the repair- 
 
1ft 
 
 XISTO&Y OF AHEMQAM SHIPPING. 
 
 in^^ of ships to their respective home yards, and proportionately 
 decreases the volume of labor and profit of results from the pre- 
 Mul euslom ittm foreigii ships that refitire repair in oar ports. 
 
 Fow as these two intereets are thus somewhat antagonistic, 
 and yet both American, it is ne<ai|pry, although embarrassing, 
 to judge between the two; and UiSm the i|uestion, which branch 
 is moMllllllfttial to our national Interests ? 
 
 At present, as the vast bulk of shipping in our ports is foreign, 
 the ship-repairing interest have the most patronage and therefore 
 cftn ajw iiiiiihili. > ■ multiiiigjpd interests at stake-^nseqoently a 
 Strong influence underlies this valuable industry. 
 
 But change the conditions of our shipping from foreign to 
 American, and hcpn^ipsstly frea||||gpould be the benefit to our 
 own labor, to the development of mir own product in iron, cop- 
 per, and all component parts and supplies, to the general diffusion 
 of capital and particularly to the general patronage in our own 
 and employment of our own needy. 
 
 This is aiMPlplpiig careful studysfV 1| appears a powerful 
 argument for iMl^ and indeed for free ships, but let it be 
 weighed well in unbiassed consideration before a hasty rendition 
 of fiivor against building our own Ships. 
 
 ncomsxsMCY of acxion iowarbs ou& shipping. 
 
 No greater evil, actually, towards American Shipping, in de- 
 stroying direct American trade, in drawing the trade of Eastern 
 JMrn, Indiai'iiillljii Asiat^ Settlements to London, contributing' 
 to the monopoly of British ships and to the transportation of the 
 world's traffic across the Island of Great Britain ; of being im- 
 properly invoiced, entered, branded, and re-exported, has ever 
 been perpetrated than the elimination of the following section 
 §tom our 'Kevised Statutes : 
 
 Am Aet to mpml llie dtBcriminttiiig duties on goods produood eaat of Hio Olpe of 
 
 Oood Mope. 
 
 Be it maeled % iim Senate and Mmm of Repmentaiwes of the 
 Umted S^aks of America in Congress assembled^ That Section tmo 
 ^msmdfim hmdred and mm of the Bevised Statutes of the Unitecl 
 States which reads as^ follows : 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING. 178 
 
 " There shall be levied, collected, and paid on all goods, wares, 
 and merchandise of the growth or produce of the countries east 
 of the Cape of Good Hope (except wool, raw cotton, and raw 
 silk, as reeled from the cocoon, or not further advanced than 
 tram, thrown, or organziiie,) when imported from places west of 
 the Cape of Good Hope, a duty of ten per centum ad valorem in 
 addition to the duties imposed on any such article when im- 
 ported directly from the place or places of their growth or pro- 
 duction," be and the same is hereby repealed from and after the 
 first day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-three. 
 
 Approved, May 4, 1882. 
 
 1?he confusion already peculiaf to the returns of our trade 
 with foreign countries is a perplexity and mortification. With 
 the above aid and sanction, and giving away our commercial 
 identity — for it is such to us — is an incomprehensible blunder.^ 
 
 Reference to American records will show the numerous peti- ^ 
 tions, made in the early days of our country's history, for the 
 creation of this law. It was a protection from the monopoly 
 the "East India Company," and now its repeal is the johbery of 
 a monopoly that controls the trade of the East Indian Settle- 
 ments. 
 
 Consul Uclcstein, of Amsterdam, in Consular Report Mo. 27, 
 exposes this fact by showing the corner made in Sumatra 
 tobacco by this 10 per cent, relief to indirect traders, and hence 
 increase competition to American tobacco by 10 per cent, reduc- 
 tion of foreign staple. It operates similarly on all United States 
 products and trade. He writes : 
 
 " The recent animation in this trade has undoubtedly furthermore been stimu- 
 lated by the remoTal of thej^ per cent, discriminating duty, fomerly payable 
 thereon, bdng a product ollliP^ Indies, exported from the west of the Cape 
 of Good Hope. 
 
 "This will be dearly evident wlI lM that many shipments, aggregating 
 large quantities of 1Mb tobaoooi pmdiased or ordered for months last past, were 
 purposdy delayed until late in December, so as not to arrive until after tiie law 
 abolishing the discriminating duty had gone into elfect. 
 
 This unlooked*for introduction and now so conridwable export of this staple 
 into the United States has begun to be viewed with great disfkvor by (Altivators 
 or growers of ' seed-leaf tobacco in the United States. 
 
 *' They apprehend, as I am informed, that the imports of Sumatra tobacco into 
 our country will increase still further in the near future, and seem to consider 
 this would prove greatly detrimental to their interests." 
 
 ^ See Commercial Letter Secretary Frelinghuysen, jusi published, (page 801 
 especially,) for abundance of evidence on this point. 
 
 4. 
 
MAIL m PA€KBf STIAIIBMIPS* 
 
 The great hue and cry so often heard about injustice to packet 
 lines by granting subsidies to ifist mail stoainships is suggestive 
 of %h% old fable of tbe erawling aniinal tbat could not possibly 
 oootnme tbe food of anotber nature, but possessed a dispooltioii 
 to interrupt. 
 
 How could the slow packet be entitled to mail pay ? Besides, 
 tbe packet enjoys means of profit that are not peculiar or possible 
 tO' tbe steamships, mz: 
 
 Less cost in construclion. 
 
 Less cost In equipment. 
 
 Iiess cost in operating. 
 
 licss cost in coal (if steam packets.) 
 
 Lees cost In repairs. 
 
 Less cost for officen and men. 
 In ¥lew of tbe many discriminations between tbe two, is not 
 tbe idea tbfttettcb should receive governmental assistance absurd ? 
 
 Dispatch, regularity and particularly intelligence (more general 
 with tbe crews of steamships) form the foundation for successful 
 Ocean Mail Service; and tbe work once begun, new fields are 
 opened and new labor for others created, wbelber in harmony or 
 competition. 
 
 JZigoMf irmsit is essentiai for the Mails, but steam speed involves 
 a hem^ cost to the steamship owner, and as cheap tariff of freights 
 li tbe first consideration to shippers, rather than speed, it is 
 natural that slower vessels (whether of sail or steam) have re- 
 ceived and mkm^s wM receive Mkrpalrmmge ikmfmt mM steamships. 
 
 But a packet line always receives aid from a mail line ; it is 
 impossible otherwise, as the mail ship opens communication, de- 
 velops trade, and necessarily Increases that bulk of products 
 'that go slowly by packet. 
 
 Tbe spirit that pervades the following diplomatic letter in be- 
 half of our ocean mail, argued so fairly and perfectly the in- 
 fiuences that Booty should inconvenience relations between na- 
 tions 'that is appropriate here i 
 
 Letter &f the Mmorabk George Bancroft 
 
 " The undersigned Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- 
 tentiary of tbe United States of America, had the honor on the 
 12tb of J uly last, and more fully on the 16th of August last, to 
 make overtures to Yiscouut Falmerston, Her Majesty's Principal 
 
 filSTOEY OF AMIEICAK SHIPPIKO. 
 
 175 
 
 Secretary of State for Foreign Afiairs, fi>r a postal arrangement 
 between the United States and the United Kingdom. * * 
 
 " The free intercourse by letter between more than Fifty Mil- 
 lions of people, whose mother tongue is tbe English, and of whom 
 nearly one-balf dwell on the Western side of the Atlantic, is of 
 such moment to general commerce, international friendship, pri- 
 vate a£B3ctlon, and to tbe condition and prospects of the cultivated 
 world that even a temporary restriction of that freedom may 
 well demand tbe serious attention of all who desire to cherish re- 
 lations of amity between kindred nations. 
 
 It is therefore witb deep regret that the undersigned feels him- 
 self compelled to protest against tbe Post Office order In question. 
 
 Ist. As tbe act of a d^mrtment of Her Miyesty's Government 
 without tbe warrant of a British statute. * * 
 
 2d. But even if the letter of the Act of 3d and 4tb Victoria, 
 Chap. 96, should seem to authorize the imposition of a discrimi- 
 nating postage, the undersigned would still protest against the 
 Post Office order in question, as of a most unfriendly character, con- 
 trary to those principles of perfinst reciprocity which should gov- 
 ern the postal arrangements between the two countries. Lord 
 Palmerston is well aware that the act alluded to is not mandatory 
 but that a discretion rests with the Lords of the Treasury or any 
 three of them, with regard to its application. The Post Office 
 order to which the undersigned has already called the attention 
 of Her Majesty's Gk)vernment, assumes therefore the character of 
 an executive act not required by law. 
 
 The degree of unfriendliness that has been manifested will 
 appear from comparing the rates charged on the American mails 
 brought in the American packet to Southampton, and forwarded 
 from Southampton to Havre, with those which the British Gov- 
 ernment asked and accepted from the American Government for 
 the conveyance from Boston to St. Johns, in Canada, of their 
 closed mails brought in British packets to Boston. A special 
 express conveyance for the sole purpose of transporting that mail 
 was established by the American Government, and nothing more 
 than a rate of two-pence half-penny, for the single letter of half 
 an ounce, or about six-pence the ounce, net weight, was demanded 
 for a mail thus exclusively instituted for that service, and the 
 British Post Office, for conveying the American closed mails from 
 Southampton to the French shore, a distance less than half as 
 great as the distance from Siston to St Johns, with no unusual 
 speed, and in the least expensive manner, exacts four francs, or 
 nearly seven-fold the sun^i^pipp^ii^o .^Ltnerica' fijr more than t^vice 
 the service. 
 
 "8d. Tbe undersigned further protests against the Post Office 
 order in question, not only as illegal and unfriendly, but also as 
 unprecedented. It is true. Lord Palmerston explains, ' that the 
 United States is not the only country to which the above-men- 
 
116 
 
 BISTOEY Of AMBEIOAN SHIPPIlia. 
 
 tioned act has been so applied; but that, on the contrary, th» 
 regulation by which packet postage is charged upon letters and 
 newspapers conveyed by foreign packets has been invariably 
 acted upon in regard to letters conveyed by the mail packets of 
 all foreign countries.' Now, there are but two nations besides 
 the United States which convey letters to the Island by their own 
 mail packets, viz : France and Belgium. 'All foreign countries' 
 ffiirred to by Lord Palraerston can therefore be only France, 
 Belipum, and America. Has * the above-mentioned act ' ever 
 been * so applied ' to the mail packets of France ? When and 
 wliere was it *8o applied?' When and where was double post- 
 age levied on a French mail packet? The undersigned has not, 
 by diligent inquiry, been able to discover that the above-men- 
 tioned rate was ever ' so applied ' to the mail packets of France. 
 
 "Or is it to Belgium that the above-mentioned act was * so 
 anpHed V It may be that once on a line of mail packets of Bel- 
 miiiii, what Lord Palmerston calls the ordinary rates of ship 
 letter-postage may have been levied through mistake, because 
 the boats were not taken to be mail packets ; but if so, the error 
 committed was readily acknowledged and rectified. But Lord 
 Palmerston insists * that the rates of packet postage, and not the 
 ordinary rates of ship letter-postage,' are chargeable upon letters 
 conveyed by the American Government packets under the act 
 above mentioned, and Lord Palmerston proceeds to say that * the 
 last occasion on which this regulation was so applied happened in 
 1844, when the Belgian Government, having established packets 
 to run twice a week between Dover and Ostend, letters conveyed 
 by those packets were ordered to be charged with precisely the 
 same rates of postage which are chargeable upon letters conveyed 
 by British mail packets/ 
 
 "The statement is made by Lord Palmerston with great pre- 
 elsion, but the undersigned, in reply to his inquiries in respect to 
 it, is informed that ' the Belgian packet boats did not begin to 
 ply between Ostend and Dover till the month of March, 1846, 
 and that no difference has ever arisen between the two countries 
 in reference to letters transported by the packet boats.' 
 
 " Besides, Her Majesty's Postmaster General has himself in- 
 formed the undersigned that the Post Office order in question is 
 a novel application of the rates established eight years since. 
 
 **And the undersigned begs Lord Palmerston to believe that as 
 Her Majesty's Government has never imposed double postage, 
 to the injury of any nation but the United States, so the Post 
 Office order in question stands in striking contrast with the wel- 
 come given to American letters from American packet-boats by 
 other nations of Europe. 
 
 **4th. The undersigned further protests against the order in 
 question as inconsistent with the spirit of the convention of 3d 
 
 Jiilyi 1815, to ' regulate the commerce between the territories 
 
 MISTORT OF AMBRIOAK SHIPPIHa. 17T 
 
 of the United States and of Mer Britannic Majesty,' wMeh 
 convention provides that * no higher or other dnties or charges 
 shall be imposed in the ports of any of his Britannic Majesty's 
 territories in Europe on the vessels of the United States than 
 shall be payable in the same ports on British vessels'; and 
 further, that the ' citizens of the United States shall pay no 
 higher or other duties or charges on the importation or exporta- 
 tion of the cargoes of the said vessels than shall be payable on 
 the 9ame articles, when imported or exported in the vessels of 
 the most favored European nations.' * ♦ » 
 
 " The undersigned, notwithstanding his former notes to Lord 
 Palmerston on this subject, has failed to obtain redress — could 
 not witness the continued exaction of double postage on letters conv^ed 
 % American steamers without entering his protest,^ 
 
 "Meantime he is ever ready to contribute his efforts tOWa|||f 
 completing, without delay, with Her Majesty's Government, a 
 postal arrangement which shall place the mail service of the two 
 countries on the footing of perfect reciprocity. 
 
 " The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to 
 Vmgmnt Palmerston the assurance of his distinguished consid- 
 eHion. Gbobob B^jtcroft." 
 
 U. S. Lboation, Loudon, Oct,, 22, 1847. 
 
 SPOILS OF WARFARE. 
 
 Efforts have been made recently to ridicule, in essay and arffu- , „ 
 ment ; the feature of converting commercial steam ships into a 
 Maval fleets declaring such transformation impracticable. 
 
 Such criticisms evidently comes from those whose nautical 
 knowledge is influenced by the limit of their experience, i>r noth- 
 ing could be more fallacious. 
 
 Consul Sprague pictures oui* dependent condition in the follow- 
 ing report to the Department of State of the recent Egyptian war : 
 
 " The war just terniinated in Egypt, to an observer at Gibral- 
 tar, aftbrds a very striking proof of the extent and great re- 
 sources of Great Britain in whatever appertains to her steam marine 
 service, as regards the transport of troops and munitions of war 
 to whatever point they are required, and one cannot but admire 
 the infinite number of magnificent and powerful steamers belong- 
 ing to her merchant service which, for some time past, have been 
 constantly communicating with this port, and which have sud-^ 
 denly been converted into transports for even the reception of 
 cavalry and everything else connected with that branch of service, 
 working so smoothly and satisfactorily as to leave nothing to be 
 desired; besides finding here a handy coaling station, which sUll 
 
 * ISee also the words of this yeterao statesman in eulogy upon President Lincoln. 
 12h 
 
17i MISTOET Of AMSEICAll SHIPPIHO. 
 
 il'Hill' 
 
 €Otitiiiii60 to keep up its reputation both as regards moderate 
 for steam coal aud tlie eipeditious dispatch it affords for 
 die coaling of steamers." 
 
 Let us remember, also, the great war indemnity of France. 
 
 Tie national advantages contributed by a Merchant Marine 
 are incalculable, but thl^may fairlj indicated-^ 
 As adding to our defense ; ^ 
 As establishing political power; 
 As facilitating diplomacy ; 
 As auxiliarating our^Tavy; 
 As employing our people; 
 As developing our ingenaity. 
 
 As a safe guard against home dissention and civil strife — an 
 olive branch between capital and labor ; the cementation of local. 
 Let the patriotic caution of President Tyler be recalled : 
 •*I cannot too stronsrly nrge the policy of authorizing the 
 establishment of a line ui .-Loam ships regularly to ply between 
 this country and foreign ports, and upon our own waters for the 
 transportation of the mail. The example of the British Govern- 
 ment is well worthy of imitation in this respect. The belief is 
 strongly entertained that the emoluments arising from the t yans- 
 portation of mail matter to foreign countries would openHiM^ 
 Itself as an inducement to cause individual enterprise to under- 
 take that branch of the task, and the rAiQIieration of the 
 Government would consist in the addition readily made to our 
 steam navv in case of emergency by the ships so employed. 
 Should IWr ssggestion meet your approval, the propriety of 
 
 of steam to the purposM ef MwripUrfare cogently recommends 
 an extensive steam marine as important in estimating the de- 
 fences of the country. Fortunately this may be attained by us 
 to a great extent without incurring any large amounts ofe^^n* 
 diture. lllilB vesseyili lM in the transportatid4||||^ 
 
 mails on <^^£Pp°<^^P^^ ^^'^'^^^'^^^SS^* lakes, and parts of our oMty 
 could aiMiiW I Ii feonstrncteJ^ W efficient as war vessels when 
 needed, ana liKld, <^^ feM pi^®»t constitute a formidable force 
 in order to repel 111^^ abroad. We cannot be blind to 
 the fact that other nation% liaire already added large numbers of 
 steamships to their iMii iirmani^ and that this new and 
 powerful agent is destittsU to revolutionize the condition of the 
 w<lll|^ bec^ll^^ lJnited''J|pi|i, therefore, looking to their 
 security to adopt a similar p<4i0gr^liid the plan suggested will 
 enable them to do so at a small comparative cost. 
 
 Wjsiiiiwroir, Bmmbet S, 1S44. Jomh Tilbb.'* 
 
 '>'8oO' Btittifml' Mucatloii. 
 
ProIREssion and Retrogression of American Mail Ships. 
 
 } and Qreai Britain compared vrUh Percerdage of Steam Iknmoffe 
 
 (FROM orFIOUL RBTURNS.) 
 
 1818 
 1849 
 1850- 
 1851- 
 1852- 
 18S3 — 
 18i4-, 
 1855- 
 1856- 
 1887— 
 
 1859- 
 1860- 
 1861- 
 1862- 
 1868- 
 1864. 
 1865- 
 1866—. 
 1867- 
 1868- 
 186». 
 1870- 
 1871- 
 1872- 
 1873- 
 1874— 
 1875 
 1876- 
 1877- 
 1878- 
 1879- 
 1880 — 
 1881- 
 1882- 
 
 Total 
 
 Totiil amoiiiit 
 
 Eaid by the 
 
 1100,500 
 235,086 
 619,924 
 1,46.5,818 
 1,655,241 
 1,880,273 
 1,903,286 
 1,936,711 
 1,886,766 
 1,589,153 
 1,211,061 
 1,204,569 
 854,329 
 806,885 
 374,618 
 416,075 
 440,440 
 495,428 
 713,928 
 867,203 
 1,016,146 
 1,101,689 
 1,115,333 
 975,025 
 1,026,891 
 1,044,157 
 888,393 
 976,044 
 753,610 
 448,896 
 199,979 
 200,026 
 199,809 
 240,067 
 200,500 
 
 Am't paid ves- Bounty or sub- 
 
 131,204,463 
 
 sek sailing iiQ 
 der American 
 lag. > 
 
 1100,600 
 235,066 
 619,924 
 1,465,818 
 1,655,241 
 1,880,273 
 1,903,286 
 1,936,71.5 
 1,886,766 
 1,589,153 
 1,177,303 
 1,079,220 
 707,244 
 570,952 
 80,086 
 79,398 
 64,356 
 66,571 
 245,605 
 411,065 
 625,239 
 757,963 
 791,888 
 799,662 
 805,788 
 ^.1^,-100 
 ^295 
 740,360 
 580,062 
 286,834 
 40,152 
 41,251 
 38,779 
 42,553 
 r 40,645 
 
 124,911,534 
 
 sidy paid to 
 foreign flag 
 by the U. S.* 
 
 Bounty or sub- 
 sidy paid Bri- 
 tish ships by 
 British G'v't.» 
 
 $33,758 
 125,349 
 147,085 
 235,933 
 293,932 
 336,677 
 376,084 
 408,857 
 468,324 
 456,138 
 390,907 
 343,726 
 323,945 
 175,463 
 221,003 
 225,757 
 238,098 
 236,283 
 173.548 
 162,062 
 169,827 
 168,775 
 161,030 
 197,514 
 239,855 
 
 16,293,929 
 
 $3,250,000 
 3,180,000 
 5,818,985 
 5,330,000 
 5,510,635 
 5,805,400 
 5,950,559 
 5,741,633 
 5,713,560 
 5,133,485 
 4,679,415 
 4,740,190 
 4,349,760 
 4,703,285 
 4,105,353 
 4,188,275 
 4,503,050 
 3,981,995 
 4,227,018 
 4,079,966 
 4,047,586 
 5,481,690 
 6,107,761 
 6,070,741 
 5,693,500 
 6,665,296 
 5,697,346 
 4,860,000 
 4,420,261 
 - 3,976,580 
 3,914,990 
 3,768,230 
 3,873,130 
 3,601,350 
 8,5^8,835 
 
 163,653,366 
 
 Americaii Bounty to British Sbipe 6,293,929 
 
 Total British Bounty since 1848 
 
 Total American *• Bounty " or Mail Pay " 
 
 169,947,285 
 24,911,534 
 
 British SuhsMy in excess of American since 1848. 145,035,751 
 Orant asked for in " British Bstlmatei," (p. 677,) fot 1888, 
 P,562,670. ' ir 1/ 
 
 American 
 
 steam. 
 Tonnage.* 
 
 224,758 
 201,137 
 208,401 
 227,083 
 230,408 
 212,819 
 88.565 
 • 106,034 
 153,236 
 210,027 
 298,811 
 395.626 
 4(; 1,920 
 417,892 
 886,456 
 781,527 
 841,916 
 870,192 
 1,035,747 
 1,141,784 
 1,100.513 
 1,092,103 
 1,138,114 
 1,118,459 
 1,195,900 
 1,240,678 
 1,350,790 
 
 Foreign 
 steam. 
 Tonn«g«> 
 
 to bo 
 
 c 
 a o 
 o 
 
 b * 
 
 P4<J 
 
 120,655 
 282,875 
 254,748 
 389,016 
 391,016 
 418,778 
 409,650 
 540,549 
 729,730 
 642,676 
 1,062,169 
 1,227,120 
 1,364,718 
 1,572,914 
 1.680,704 
 1,882,487 
 2,341,358 
 2,871,308 
 3,285,128 
 3,142,728 
 8,310,063 
 3,482,487 
 4,172,467 
 6,362,944 
 6,391,126 
 7,487,110 
 7,163,237 
 
 65 
 
 41 
 
 45 
 
 40 
 
 37 
 
 33 
 
 17 
 
 IG 
 
 17 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 21 
 
 33 
 
 29 
 
 26 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 25 
 
 24 
 
 21 
 
 17 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 b£ ho 
 a o 
 
 35 
 59 
 55 
 60 
 63 
 67 
 83 
 84 
 83 
 74 
 ,79 
 76 
 75 
 79 
 67 
 71 
 74 
 77 
 76 
 74 
 75 
 76 
 79 
 83 
 85 
 86 
 85 
 
 Value of Total Imports and 
 Exports of the United States. 
 
 In American 
 ships.* 
 
 $238,305,163 
 220,915,275 
 289,272,084 
 
 316,107,232 
 294,735,404 
 346,717,127 
 406,698,539 
 
 406,486,462 
 
 482,268,274 
 
 610,331,027 
 
 447,191,304 
 
 465,741,381 
 
 607,247,767 
 
 381,616,788 
 
 217,695,418 
 
 241,872,471 
 
 184,061,486 
 
 167,402,872 
 
 325,711,861 
 
 296,998,387 
 
 297,981,673 
 
 289,966,772 
 
 352,969,607 
 
 353,664,172 
 
 345,381,101 
 
 340,806,697 
 
 350,461,994 
 
 814,267,792 
 
 311,076,171 
 
 316,(;G0,281 
 
 313,060,906 
 
 272,016,692 
 
 280,006,097 
 
 238,080.603 
 
 242,860,815 
 
 In Foreign 
 ships.* 
 
 $70,725,896 
 72,697,984 
 90,764,954 
 118,505,711 
 123,219,817 
 162,237,677 
 170,591,875 
 131,189,904 
 169,336,676 
 213,519,796 
 160,066,267 
 229,816,211 
 266,040,693 
 203,478,278 
 218,015,296 
 343,066,031 
 485,793,648 
 437,010.124 
 686,226,691 
 580,022,004 
 550,646,074 
 686,492,012 
 638,927,282 
 765,822,676 
 839,346,362 
 966,722,661 
 939,206,106 
 884,788,617 ' 
 813,345,987 
 869,920,536 
 876,991,129 
 911,269,232 
 1,309,466,796 
 1,378,566,017 
 1,284,488,861 
 
 03 
 
 o 
 
 tm * 
 
 Yeaes. 
 
 I 
 
 77.4 
 
 75.2 
 
 72.6 
 
 72.7 
 
 70.5 
 
 69.5 
 
 70.5 
 
 75.6 
 
 75.2 
 
 70.5 
 
 73.7 
 
 66.9 
 
 66.5 
 
 65.2 
 
 500 
 
 41.4 
 
 27.6 
 
 27.7 
 
 32.3 
 
 83.9 
 
 35.1 
 
 33.1 
 
 36.6 
 
 81.8 
 
 29.1 
 
 26.4 
 
 27.2 
 
 26.2 
 
 27.7 
 
 26.9 
 
 26 3 
 
 23.0 
 
 17.6 
 
 16.0 
 
 16.5 
 
 » From i^dal leport by Unit«d State! Postmaster General, 1888. 
 
 * Result of Postmaster Generars figures. 
 
 » From British Parliamentary papers and Finance Accounts," not including 
 " Mail Pay " for letters. 
 
 * Official figures, Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department. 
 
 1848 
 
 1849 
 
 1860 
 
 1851 
 
 1852 
 
 1863 
 
 1864 
 
 1855 
 
 1856 
 
 1857 
 
 1858 
 
 1859 
 
 1860 
 
 1861 
 
 1862 
 
 1868 
 
 1864 
 
 1866 
 
 1866 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 1871 
 
 1872 
 
 1873 
 
 1874 
 
 1875 
 
 1876 
 
 1877 
 
 1878 
 
 1879 
 
 1880 
 
 1881 
 
 1882 
 
FREE TRADE! FREE SHIPSI FREE BOOTY! 
 
 Americau Navy Yards Closed by Free Congress! 
 
 Ammmn Ship Ymds Closed % §m (Mree) Bntish Ilotfds ! 
 AMERICAN SHORES BESEIGED BY FREE IRON CLADS! 
 
 1 e 8 4 . 
 
 Poreign Sooty and American Ridicule, Distress, and Ruin I 
 
 WWW WMMM OUM HAW— OUB HATIOH FALIiS! ' , 
 
 (179) 
 
STARTLING PROPHECY 
 
 Of 
 
 MADI80F OF VIRGINIA, AND KING OF GEORGIA. 
 
 Wammg of JSiwi| |j| P M p^^ 
 
 (Miif 18, 1790, AnMls of C^i^USSii^ 1&72.) 
 
 Mr. Madison Bpoke of-^ 
 
 ** Tkft ol|eeiion8 ttem the Southern States, whtoh are so deeply 
 comieetod wiii the British; * * it is to he lamented 
 tfam mmm calcalated to promote the general good should mil- 
 itate #ith any particular Interest ; a maritime Ibree, in case of 
 war, 18 the on^f ^"'iMe of the Southern States; not that I am 
 in favor of a l^vj, hut the digibiUig of m increase of those resources 
 whieh might -^/f^fmrnrted into such a marine force as would be 
 ahsolutely .i^i||i|i|y in such an emergency^ must he obvious to 
 every one, 
 
 " in case of war the Southern States would be the first object of 
 attiicl^* 
 
 Foresight of Thomas Butler King. 
 
 Hr. King in 1846 : 
 Qtml Brilftin it ^ub eimbled by copflniiig commercial enterprise with her 
 Biival armftments, to keep aionl a Steam force more than equal to dne-half of our 
 Bhips 5a commission, and to maintain twenty of these powerful Steamers in con- 
 stant and actiYe service at a cost of one million dollars annually. By the Cunard 
 and "West India" lines of mail Steamers, Great Britain maintains rapid and 
 certain communication with her colonies on this side of the Atlantic, the United 
 States, Mexico, and her fleets in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 **In the event of war she could readily command this force and concentrate it 
 at any point upon our Atlantic or Gulf coast, and our vast commerce valued at 
 some $200,000,000 would, without suitable preparation on our part, fall a prey to 
 her arms. It is mortifying to reflect that this force which may become so for- 
 midable a^inst us, is in a great degree supported by the intercourse growing out 
 of our own commercial enterprise. While our commercial marine is utirivalled, 
 and our sidk whiten every ocean, and our Steam Marine at home superior to that 
 of all odMr XNrtions, we have heen lefl in the distance and out manoeuvred by 
 our great coBmiaRM rival in the employment of steam upon the ocean. 
 
 " If UteiaM why Great Britain has thu s^cen ihe lead of tii in Ocean Steam 
 ^avigallon wliileirtiwe so greatly 8uperiorl4||||||N<) steamert and sailing ships ? 
 the aontw is that alMi has anticipated us through the extension of har mail sys- 
 tem to fore^Hljiiipiitries in comhination with her naval arrangements, thus ren- 
 dering it almost impossible for mere private enterprise to enter into competition 
 ,irith her. 
 
 <* France also has become alive to the Importance of this great system, and her 
 Ministers of Finance has been authorized to treat with companies for the establish- 
 ment of lines of steamers to Biaail, Havana, New York, La Plata, La Ouayra, 
 and such ports in the Gulf of Xexico and the Antillas, as may be designated by 
 royal ordinance." 
 
 (180) 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPIlffa. 
 
 181 
 
 LLOYDS MONOPOLY. 
 
 M^^^^^ this argument there has been made allegation of 
 
 an existing monopoly operating against American ships in the 
 organization known as the British Lloyds — a combination that 
 strangles American Shipping; a triumvirate of British Ship- 
 builders, Shipowners, and Underwriters — so-called from the fact 
 that their organization began in a ^^eo&de hoaae'' of London, 
 kept by one "Lloyd," and who adopted a system of mutual 
 insurance between themselves to arrange for the mutual pro- 
 tection of their ships and cargoes^ or shares thereof, " pooling " 
 gains and losses jpro rata. 
 
 " Only members of Lloyds are allowed the benefits, protection, and informa- 
 tion furnished daily by agents appointed for the purpose, and there is scarcely 
 a port of consequence in the world where one is not stationed." British Cbfi- 
 auls are allowed to serve a» {these) agents also^ ^^for (British) naviffaiion com* 
 paniea,** 
 
 **lfot only this, but, as has been shown in preceding pages, 
 Lloyds agents are the officially patronized agents of the British 
 Government. Such agents very generally being the regular 
 Consular Corps of the United Kingdoraj as, in fact, paragraph 
 20 of British Consplar Regulations directs that their Consuls act 
 in such capacity, wmm- 
 
 The enormous magnitude of this monopoly has been frequently 
 pointed out by the writer in works upon American Shipping, 
 and the powerful chain of influence, and its practical working, 
 will be seen on the back of the illustration, (p. 168,) b^inning 
 this divimon of argument, and as United States Consol Morey 
 (there) says it will not be until "invoices contain the clause 
 * Insurance provided in America' that our ships will be able to 
 w^iiP^ck up some of these freights." 
 
 ' The grand American ship the " City of Peking " was so mis- 
 represented and vilified by British Lloyds Agents in Asiatic 
 ports that her owners were forced at Hong Kong to the expense 
 of docking, etc., when there was nothing found to justify the 
 action but rivalry and prejudice. The writer is personally 
 aware that insurance was then e&Med from American insurance 
 houses, and the confidence of shippers restored. The black- 
 mailing process, however, did great harm at the time, although 
 she is to-day the peer of any ocean Steamship. li is this defama* 
 
HISTORY 01 AMlBIOAlf SHIPPING. 
 
 Hm^ im rimk^, together wUkmiioml aid to foreign shipping, that drives 
 freight from American ships. Every new ship is strained by her 
 first hard voyage, and there is not a large ship o'Clyde that has 
 not undergone repairs thereafker. Oar GonsuU in Fntnee write 
 that ** French Shipowners have found that the less cost is som 
 mmh lip bg nmmermis and expmsim repmrs.** (See page 186.) 
 
 But not content with this monopoly, the Lloyds, are casting 
 out their terrible grapnels of sophistry and cunning to inveigle 
 the credulous, or willing official, or unoffioial, victims that may 
 be instrumentel in this g twfuk # w ii >rption of the shipping of the 
 world. ® 
 
 This ofi;en disputed, so often ridiculed and belittled, 
 
 that the following bold presumption in official form is submitted 
 to the American people as the " coronation act " in Shipping 
 
 Monopoly, and in evidence of British contempt for American 
 foresight, or American spirit: ^ 
 
 [8*4L m LWTM.] 
 
 (Terbtttim copy.) , " Lloyds, Uth November 1882. 
 
 •• Sir : I am instructed by the Committee of Lloyds to inform you that at every 
 port in the United Kingdom and other countries of the world there is stationed 
 » LloydB Agent, These Lloyds Agents are selected for their respectability and 
 commcrM capacity by a committee, consisting not only of members of Lloyds, 
 l>wt a1i»«r Hill representatives of the Marine Insurance Companies of London, as 
 null as of the Shipowners' Association and the Underwriters' Associations' of 
 vla^p>V''Mii IiTverpoo]. 
 
 ever or cowM wm exist,, it is hard to 
 
 conceive it posti.h]e I J 
 
 »The remarkable bitter spirit displayed by many British journals against all 
 American writers who fearlessly exhibit our true industrial rektions with foraign 
 nations and conditions at home, pointin? out the " breakers ahead " An such 
 politico-economic questions, is so marked in ontrast with the palaver in praise 
 llirfeited upon any nonsense or stereotyped fallacy rewritten bv pseudo or theo- 
 retical American Writers or agents, that it should be sufficient to' warn the Ameri- 
 can people of the pltlkll in advance. 
 
 A striking illustration of the former in ribaldry paragraphs, and without truth 
 ©r liyMtomarka purpose, is tobe foand in the January issue of the British Trade 
 Journal against the writer for his Argument on Tariff in behalf of the Metro- 
 politan Induslrial .I^eague of New Yorkj|||^^ many exceptions however 
 
 ""^^^ J^^g^f . " " ^•'«^«"y in America ai 
 
 •Iwotd J lh«refoi«^M|pi«t late to miss the logical discussions of 
 
 Valison fttm that Tipl Journal, since the recent change of system in the adop- 
 tion of an eco^^^ '1 1^^ and. naturally, in 
 pith or truth of argument Whalii -contrast to the logical reasoning in the 
 discussions of the 'Fellcvs of the Stetlttlcal Society I 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERICAN SHIPPINO. 
 
 IBS 
 
 '* It is thus believed that the amount of experience and knowledge of the Com- 
 mittee answer that Lloyds Agents so selected are most respectable and capable in 
 every way. 
 
 **I am accordingly to suggest to you that, in making the appointment of Con- 
 sular or Vice-Consular officers at the various porU of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 it might possibly be desirable that, when all other claims are equal, [this is UQ| 
 questionably excellent,] a prefiarence should be given to a Lloyds Agent ; and t 
 am to say that, should you your way to the adoption of tlus suggestion, the 
 Committeoof Lloyds, in case of any application to them, will be most happy lo 
 afford you conltdentially (?) the most complete information in their power, with 
 regard to any of their agents respecting whom you might wish to inquire* 
 " I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 " HENBY M. HOZIBB, fifecretory . 
 
 *' To Oonsul-Gbkbeal for the United States, 
 
 There is nothing me |||g »bout this — nothinpj half-way or half- 
 said. It is fresh, clear/litlaplete, and refreshing, and it is sen- 
 fliblel! The Llojds (in London) know every night every 
 commercial event of the day in every part of the world, and 
 know full well that our Congress starves our Consuls and taxes 
 the profits of American ships, with a view to their destruction. 
 Why should not they, (the Lloyds) therefore, with impunity, aslc 
 outright, officially, that these poor Consular servants be at least 
 relieved from suffisring and mortification— to which politics and 
 ignorance led them— and offer to our statesmen as snbstitutes 
 Lloyds Agents, who could, with better grace and greater gusto, 
 -fleece the poor dying American shipowner, or kill him out- 
 Tight? 
 
 The Circular is not meant for brazen presumption, assamp- 
 tion, nor, to idlPiliikmericanism, " bald cheek," it is the voice 
 
 and the assurance of Congress that has warranted this most re- 
 markable and unique proposal of the Lloyds to convert itself into 
 the United States Department of State. 
 
 It will not, however, be a mere demand for a" Free Ship Plank** 
 in our political platforms, but a demand upon our next President- 
 -elect, that a "Lloyds Agent" be made Premier of the Unite^^ 
 Btates, to destroy completely American Shipping. 
 
 Here is evidence direct. No longer can Congress deny the 
 existence of this quadruple-bodied commercial anaconda, that 
 •encoils our ships like the poor Laocoon, and that strangles the 
 Tery life of our Merchant Marine. 
 
4 
 
 THE FEIBND OF AMEKIGAN SHIFPING 
 
 IB iiilW 
 
 Dl VITT OIimTON. 
 
 1810* 
 
 (Bm Gtnml Siipfiiiig, Mlowing ]>«g«t*) 
 
 (1M> 
 
 In these pages the truth is laid before you in the " repetition 
 of historv " for over two centuries. 
 It is the flame story ot— 
 
 BUBBBN, BOUNTY, AND BOOTY. 
 
 Governor Winthrop wrote in Ms private journal, as early as 
 1613: 
 
 "The great fear of want of foreign commodities, now our 
 money was gone, and that things were likely to go well with 
 England, set us all to working to provide shipping of our own^ 
 for which end Mr. Peters, being a man of very public spirit and 
 of singular activity for all occasions, procured some to join for 
 building ships at Salem; and the inhabitants of Boston, stirred 
 by his example, set upon the building of more at Boston. 
 
 " This work was hard to accomplish for want of money, &c. ; 
 but our shipwright* were content to take such pay as the country 
 could make." 
 
 Tims the art of ship-building developed early and rapidly, 
 bringing our country into recognition and power abroad. 
 
 Washington pleaded, and led our fathers to battle, to protect 
 Ihe Industry and honor which has been trilled away by delay and 
 indecision* 
 
 Je^rson, Randolph, Pickering proclaimed in State papers the 
 
 exact conditions that enslave us in our Shipping to-day. 
 
 Madison, Monroe, and Jackson each repeated and asked 
 you to remember the principles that had been taught by hard- 
 fought and sanguinary steadies. 
 
 Tyler, Polk, and Buchanan moved forwari to meet our great 
 rivals in industrial contest — when force foiled their booty— by 
 a statesmanlike, hard, practical policy. 
 
 The Prestige is ineftaceablel The Decline has been the mis- 
 taken policy — ^the false economy of Congress, which has been, in 
 a great measure, the result of the misrepresentation of the dis- 
 guised traitor in foreign interests. 
 
 The Prospect is clear enough. Make American shipping pay 
 as the wise statesmen of Great Britain make British shipping 
 pay by a Mercantile Marine Board, and American shipbuilders 
 will outstrip the world. Let Congress try ! 
 
 *^ (186) 
 
186 HISTORY OF AMERIOAK SHIPPlNa. 
 
 Iiol our statesmen consider the wise saggestion In the following 
 remarks in the United States Senate which illustrate the neces- 
 sity for carafiil action of our 
 
 Xr. MiiftaAl#Iwi11 tli6 lionorftblo Senator of K«itiieky allow me to ask him, 
 as a mem1>er of tlie Committee on Appropriations, f6r an explanation of a part of 
 tie bill wbidl came fkom lili oommitteet and wMoli las not jet lieen explained. 
 
 Mr, BacK. Certainly. 
 
 Mr. MoBHAif. The hill as reported from the Committee on Appropriations 
 
 i!ontains this proTision : 
 
 **PrmietetL That the Postmnater Oeiieral is authorized to pay the colonies of New Zealand and 
 Hew South Wales so much of the oost of the overland transportation of the Bri^h etosed maite 
 to sad from Australia he may deem just, not to exceed one half of the said cost, and the aim 
 of tiMMXI is hereby api»ropriated for that purpose." 
 
 It not 'that a aobsidy ? 
 
 Mow the paMic do not uniirstand tliat this earn of $40,000 is 
 the cost of " mail pay " for transporting over land the British 
 mail, (as received per steamship at N"ew York,) to Sati Francisco. 
 Then why not give this amount to aur Mail Ships rather than to a 
 fbreign g ti jiB i m ent ? mwm 
 
 And niofe pArticnlarly is the absunl||pp#f our Statutes shown 
 in the following : 
 
 [Gong. Beoord, Feb. M« 1881.] 
 
 Mr. MoROAH. I wiah to a»lc the Senator from Delaware if the statutes as they 
 nov exist do not flirnish Ml and tfUf iillted opportunity to select between for- 
 mmt. owned and foreign hnilt ships, ind American owned and American built 
 ships for the transportation of the mails, and whether the $225,003 appropriated 
 ia iM$ iui may mi all of it be employed by the Postmaater General at hia own 
 f^^mm§wmgboui^imt if he choose to give bounties, to BHiith steamships, or to 
 ateansMpi of any other country in the transportation of the mails ? 
 
 Here is eiifiied the weakness of dtiMlatates, the Interlinea- 
 li0H — through the influence of foreign lobbyists — as also in sec- 
 tions E987 and 4009, denying a clearance to the United States 
 Mail Steamers, explained on page 119. Our Revised Statute^ are 
 a mess of-— -nobody has ever known what. Cannot Congress try 
 again, patriotically, to codify our laws ! 
 
 Let our people learn our true Shipping Conditions, past and 
 present. 
 
 As early as 1724, shipbnilding had become so important in 
 Massachusetts that sixteen master builders of London petitioned 
 House <#ttiii|||Ml!^ to encourage shipbnilding in Kew 
 Eusrland," because limjim were drawn thither. 
 
 Such action was repeated when the American " Clipper be- 
 came tne pride of onr country, and the champion ship of the 
 world; «nch was the cry when the great Collins steamships stim- 
 ulated the British Government to grant Increased subsidy to its 
 
 HISTOKY OF AMERIGAK SHIPPING. 
 
 187 
 
 ■WW? 
 
 Cnnard line ; such history has been repeated on every alarm from 
 American shipbuilding enterprise, on every alarm from revival 
 of shipbuilding in every other great country, and as recently as 
 last3^ear Prince Bismarck called the attention of his government 
 officially to the fact that, although Great Britain has paid mil- 
 lions npoa millions yearly, and is stM doi/ij so, (see divisions of 
 this argument under Bounty,) her people complain and cry aloud 
 against other nations imitating the wisdom of British statesmen, 
 and the enterprise of British shipbuilders and ship owners in 
 the following words : 
 
 In respect to this, mention was made in the debates that voices had already 
 heen raised in England claiming that these ttounties (of France) were considered 
 
 as a violation of the right of national trentmstti dm ta the EngU^ fl^t ***d that 
 the case would lead to measures of reprisal." ^^s^H&i^ 
 
 Was there ever anything more unreasonable ? And here is 
 
 the latest evidence of the wisdom of France in this Act : 
 
 i*tr. S. CojfsuL Taylor, Marseilles: 
 
 " French owners are not entirely satisfied with their experience of English- 
 built ships, and have found out that, if their first cost is c msiderabty less than in 
 Prance, the difference u som made up by the n^merom and expennve repairs tkey 
 
 require. 
 
 " French ships are now acknowledged to he hetter finished, and the maohinery 
 
 is built with a more careful view to economy of fuel, which is an important point 
 in this country., (France,) where coal costs about three times as much as in Eng- 
 land." 
 
 After detailinir proof by statistics and foots, Consal Taylor 
 
 writes : 
 
 "Thus we see that the Merchant Marine Law has fairly fulfilled its intended 
 object in promoting the shipping interests, and bids fair to prove also a success in 
 
 promoting the building interests. 
 
 * « « ♦ . * » 
 
 There can he no room for doubt tliat all these new, swift, and beautiful s 
 m (those of the new French shipyards) must eventually become the mo«t effi- 
 cient." 
 
 IT. S. Consul drain, of Milan, reports officially that the spirit 
 
 and recognition of the necessity of home ship-building has be- 
 come positive action in Italy, and adds : 
 
 A deep conviction possesses the Italian mind that a nation to he truly great, 
 commercially and politically^ must be strong in ships and steamers ; that its own 
 /lag mu^t pioneer its trade ; that a strong mercantile marine is the necessary ad- 
 junct of a strong navy, and that both give weight at the council board of nations. 
 The lessons of Tunis and Alexandria will streng^then this conyietion." 
 
 Thus, Germany, France, Italy, Anstria, and all the principal 
 nations of the world, are aroused and acting, while we of the 
 Untied States are sleeping. 
 
 '1 
 
 ■I 
 
188 HISTORY OF AMIEIOAH SHIttlHO. 
 
 The influence of sucli unreasonable policy of monopoly by 
 Great Britain of tbe Shipping of the world has been, however, 
 and is to-day, made manifest in every public council, and seems 
 ¥ery apparent in the tenor of the Select Committee's remarkable 
 
 Qi>iilii|^ 
 
 In anticipation of the disruption of our Union-4deiitiSed with 
 England in our commercial relations, by advancements in 
 liarketing cotton, and in foreign education of our youth— the 
 iimth unfortunately sided with the opponents of American lu- 
 itry, but as open, honest enemies — not in duplicity or pretend- 
 J the economic ; that part of history, however, has gone with 
 the solemn associations of the past and with the holy dead, 
 whose noble souls were immolated on the altar of Southern 
 domesticity, and scarcely enshrouded in pages of history, too 
 hallowed and painful to be repeated. 
 
 The new South has no new love, but a new zeal and clearer fore- 
 right. With new conditions in industry we have new purposes 
 and new incentives. It is a new page of history that the South 
 :ii||iP^pm.po8es hereafter to record — of manufacture at home, of ship- 
 building at home, of trade carrying in the vehicles of Amer- 
 lean genius, and labor created, and under our national insignia 
 transported. 
 
 There is nothing mean about the American people— .ISTorth,, 
 Boii*h, East, or West— there is nothing they despise like mean- 
 ness. They are not too mean to pay for that birthright of the 
 American ship, or even battle for that right. 
 
 Who is ashamed of ocean mail pay— or of paying for the ocean 
 msai durrying-^ principle that has been recommended and urged 
 by every President and patriot I Call it subsidy, or by what 
 term may be preferred, in derision by him who tries to ridicule 
 American Industry ; but who becomes thereby himself a shame 
 upon American character by his action in endeavoring to humili- 
 ate the condition of American Shipping. 
 
 I 
 
 "Shall Americans Build Ships?" 
 
 LAUNCH ON THE DELAWARE. 
 
 VOX P0PULI,-1884. 
 
 1 
 
 "Americans Can and Will Build Ships." 
 
 Iffon and Steel<-te Best in tbe World. 
 
 And give employment to the woodtnaa, forest-owner, miner, mine-owner, laborer, 
 :arpenter, blacksmith, fitter, joiner, calker, moulder, painter, sail-maker, rigger, boilei 
 and engine-maker, draftsman, chandler, sailor, engineer, furniture and cutlery dealer, 
 sotton and Uaolcet supplier, table provider, looking-glass maker, crockery and fine deco- 
 ctttor, wine deafer, waiter, cleik, and agent 
 
 !! Carthage be destroyed I " was the cry of Cato before the Roman Senate, 
 the ifmeiican^CongresS^ d^tw^ed I " i« the motto of agents of foreign ahii^ 
 
 hipping befofo 
 
THE PALACE STEAMBOAT OF THE WORLD, 
 
 THE "PILGRIM, 
 
 Oy 9KB 
 
 OLO COLONY LINE. 
 Built 1883. Length, 384 feet. Breadth, 87 feet. 
 
 ft 
 
 (190) 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 CONDITIONS 
 
 ■I 
 
 J 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 COASTWISE AND INLAND 
 
 SHIPPING. 
 
 DIVISION OF ARGUMENT 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific Coast. 
 
 Fisheries. 
 
 Canal. 
 
 Lake. 
 
 River. 
 
 (101) 
 
« 
 
 RIVER SHIPPING 
 
 (HiaH PRESSURE ) 
 
 «« 
 
 ROBERT R LEE, " 
 
 Tka Prlds of Um MtaMppi Vallay. 
 
 (See following pages for full history of river steiunboats, etc.) 
 
 CONDITIONS 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 COASTWISE SHIPPING. 
 
 "Our Coasting Trade," said Jefferson in his report to Congress 
 February 2, 1801, "is on a safe footing." Such condition is the 
 "repeated history" of to-day, due solely to the wise Navigation 
 laws of our forefathers ^ of 1789. To consider these conditions 
 properly, we must look at the extent thereof, which, distinelly 
 stated, is as follows: 
 
 Mlieg. 
 
 Length of the Atlantic coast from the mouth of the St. Croix to the St. Mary's BiTer...,*^.. 1,450 
 
 Lengtii of the Atlantic coast from St. Mary's River to Cape of Florida 460 
 
 Length of Gnlf coast from Cape of Florida to the mouth of the Sabine River. ^ » 1,200 
 
 Length of Gulf coast acquired by annexation of Texas, from tiie Sabine to the Bio Grande 400 
 Lengtli of Paoifif) ooast— in California, 970 ; in' Oregon, 600; Straits of Joan de Foca, 1S0.». tjm 
 
 Total 
 
 To which, if we add our Lake coast 1,600 
 
 We iutve a total Coasting Trade of.............^.. .» %fiBli 
 
 There is nothing, probably, so much envied by the principal 
 nations of the world, especially by Great Britain ; nothing that 
 has been so successfully preserved strictly domestic, and thus 
 protected from the monopoly of the subsidized power of the 
 Exchequer of the latter country— that has bought out our carry- 
 in|^ trade to foreign countries, and i^uced us to dependence 
 and shame — there ie* nctHir.g so coVe^^ed,' nothing that has so 
 chagrined our industriar rivals, nothing niore perplexing as a 
 commercial problem^tf eolve^ thfm f^iiaw^taigT^ from us our 
 Coastwise Trade." ^Ik; V : ' ... *: * » ^ ' 
 
 t * • * ; J :, * 
 
 I , %*■ § t / - ' J ' 
 
 i| i i * «<l 11 ^ * ' 
 
 • • » « », J J . 
 
 . For the continuation of this and Parts 3 and 4, see completed volume, ex- 
 plained on following page (194.) 
 
 'See pages 23-26 for full discussion of these facts. 
 18 m (198) 
 
1§4 
 
 HISTORY OF AMERIOAII SHIPPING. 
 
 This work, complete, is of 500 octavo pages, and will be hand- 
 somely bound and fully illustrated. It is purely a labor con amore^ 
 from a knowledge of the great importance of this economio — 
 fniramotint to all others-^ our oomitry so IMe understoocly and 
 so generally misunderstood. 
 
 The Ibllowtng pi^ges of this history embrace : 
 
 Our Coastwise Conditions, continued — 
 
 A Ikll Iiiitory of nur 
 
 AHmitie Pfeeiie CkMwtwise SMpping . 
 KtlioTy Shipping. 
 €tiial Shipping. 
 Lake and 
 Bivm Shipping. 
 
 Fabi S. 
 
 Our Commercial Treaties — 
 
 A full review of these conditions and record of Treati«t of th« 
 United States, also of Great Britain. 
 
 Consular Conditions Compared— a parallel oomparlion of thew 
 Vees, of the five prinoipal nations. 
 
 I^Aas ^ 
 
 Policies of Foreign Hations in Merchant Shipping. 
 
 Admeasurement Laws Compared, 
 
 Shipping Fees Compared. 
 
 ]lauti>hl BcKwSitic^^ 
 
 If «il"'ioiantiiiii>l tlie Vorl4''0iiiftpltr«i. 
 
 ' , • • • f « III I > « • . 
 
 ^ ,„t t * *• f 1. » » ( 
 * " ■'■ '•' « * 1 • t * , I " 
 
 * • 1- » • » » , ;| , , » 
 
 0WS1S ufMA Apiileloii is Co., 
 
 The American Newi Co., or 
 The Union News Co,, . 
 ior this work oaft he left with Dooh-dealers in any dty in the United Sistei. 
 
 History 
 
 OF 
 
 Shipping. 
 
 A 
 
 BOOK FOR THE PEOPLE ! 
 
 NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, ^A/^EST. 
 
 No Politico-Economic subject is of greater importance to the people 
 
 of this country than that of 
 
 MERCHANT SHIPPING. 
 
 THIS BOOK SHOULD COMMMAND THE AHENTION OF ALL 
 
 No subject is so little undersood, or so much misunderstood. It is here 
 set forth in a complete, clear, and concise manner, with much inter- 
 est to every class of readers. The author has adopted the pop- 
 ular and powerful medium of illustration to gain through 
 the eye, the mind of the masses who are generally 
 indifferent to the study and consideration of 
 
 STATISTICAL WORKS. 
 
 American 
 
 It is the Book of all Books to be read To-Bajr. 
 
 TRADE SUPPLIED BY 
 
 THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 
 Niw York. 
 
DAVIS COLLAMORE & CO., 
 
 asmn TB onm w nn bw am, 
 BROADWAY, Cor. 21st SL, NEW YORK, 
 
 •Wrni A WBUU-CHOSBH ROCK «» 
 
 Attn 
 
 GLASS, 
 
 miwmm' and Tm 8ei» from Minton, Copeland, 
 BENNETT FAIENCE, 
 
 FiMJB ©JLASs, ame mmb enqravb». 
 
 ALSO 
 
 GLASS AND CROCKERY 
 
 FOa 1X>MKSTIC U8MS, 
 
 ANI> ALL AT 
 
 VEAY MODEilATE PRICES. 
 
 ChiMi ati itas sii0 to ■•toll Ms. CMte TmM ni iitNP^i 
 
 iVee of Cost to Furebftser. 
 
 XSTABUSKKB' 1842. 
 
 r STEAilSHIP SUPPLIED 
 
 HAmrtACf uiiEits or wtmt 
 
 Silver Plated 
 TABLE WABE 
 
 Our Products embrace almost 
 tmuy article needed for 
 the table. 
 
 Dinner, Tea, later Sets, 
 
 Fruit and Cake Baskets, 
 Butter, Baking, 
 Vaietable and 
 Eitrat Disbii. 
 
 Oiiirar, Breakfast and 
 Pickle Castors. 
 
 Um, COUSHE SEIS, 
 
 AND 
 
 CHILDREN'S CUPS, 
 PLATES and 
 
 BOWLS. 
 
 OandllMtlQkse 
 
 We Warrant all CroocU ot 
 <mr mannlactiu-e to be 
 Of flM llnesi qvmlity 
 in. every xespeeit* 
 
 686 BROADWAY, 
 NEW YORK. 
 
HF ALL DCSCRIPTIONSf 
 
 PiiMy fm r aH tiic Poimlar jyiv of Hic •Day* as wtXi as tlie 
 
 odiccttons tfoin tne upcfasy 
 
 At Mm evMitU IMImcoiL 
 
 nir iwr sihtmbie houdmy presenu for young or old. 
 
 TBM wmsjmwm ■tti.is abb awats ih bsm and : 
 
 XAHBOIiimS, BXPiCESSlYES, GUITAB-MANDOLINi:, 
 MABP-PICCOIiOS, CELESTIAL VOICES, BEULS, 
 DB17MS, and CASTANETS. 
 
 MBHur^iA^uBK,a&,aH>,J|i ■■■i.^B Jftiaab. idtaBka.M H^UhMBKWift^friaMHMi 
 
 In UlilO wo gil file sweetasi, fullest and best quality of tone that can be produced 
 fa A miisical box. Tiio Latest improvement just patented by 
 
 TEE ffllEBCBASe£ABLE CYLINDER lOSIG BOI, 
 
 vijBM i^jr enaaiB|[| ttM 
 MUnCJyL AI<Mllf% MUSICAL WORE BOXB8, MU8ICAI# OOAR CASB8, BTC. 
 
 ■ ■ * 
 
 Majmfacturers and Importers, 
 ■wmm WViMwwAYf liSW stPJEIPke 
 
 iUSiCAL BOXES CAREFULLY REPAIRED. 
 
 TARRANT'S 
 
 EFFERVESCENT 
 
 SELTZER 
 
 SELTZER APERIENT 
 
 !l!hit valuable and popular Medicine has universally received the most favor« 
 able recommendations of the ICsDiOAi. FBorsssioir i|nd the Publio as the moil 
 
 aiVIGIBNT AND AOBSBABLB 
 
 It may be used with the best effect in 
 
 BUions and Febrile Diseases, Costiyeness, Sick Headache, l^ausea, Lm» at 
 Appetite, Indisrestion, Acidity of the Stomach, Torpidity of the 
 XiTer, €k>at, RheamaCie AfGeetioBS, 
 
 AND ALL COMPLAINTS WHBBB 
 
 H U &iid Cooliflj mm or tlliiillTE is lepi. 
 
 It !• ptrtioalarly adapted to the wauls of Vrarellers by Sea Bttd Irfmd, Baddenti 
 In Hot GUmatet, Persons of Sedentary Habits, Invalids and OonvalMoenta. 
 
 €aptaihs<yf Yeiselt and Planters will find it a valuable addition to their Ifedidne 
 
 'UBisti»i 
 
 It is In tbe fonn of a Powder, oaiafiilly pat up in bottlea to keep tn 
 
 any oUnuite, and merely zequires water poured upon it to pro- 
 duce a deiiglitfinl Efferveacent Beverage. 
 
 Numerous testimonials from professional and other gentlemen of the highest 
 standing throughout the conntry, and its steadily increasing popularity for a 
 series of years, strongly guarantee its efficiency and valuable character, and com- 
 mend it to the fkTorable notiiie of. an intelligent public. 
 
 SELTZER 
 
 Kanufactured only by the Sole Pn^mofon, 
 
 TABBAUT & Cp, 
 
 278 GREENWICH ST., 
 
 Oar, or Wmctok SC*, 
 
 new '^omm. 
 
 SETTZER 
 
 ANJ} WOR SALE BY JDMUGGISTS GMNEMALLY. 
 
The New York Life Insurance Co.. 
 
 MM OIiD COMPANT. 
 
 in* Purely Mutual. 
 
 (iM> iffociaioHiww.) 
 ]ltirl<l«nct« AnniuiUy. 
 
 132,090 
 
 ■LI? ' ,J^y 
 
 hmam in force. 
 
 A BTUOWQ COMPANT. 
 
 AeeawilaM Issfts, - m $37,MI,IIIM 
 
 SDKPLUS. - - . . over U^mM 
 
 m wm mm mjom st axdasd. 
 
 A PROGRESSIYfi 
 COMPANY. 
 
 The Thilrty-tlilrd Annual Re- 
 port, 1878, allows an Increase 
 Ot Assets ; an increase of Snr« 
 
 gins I an increase in number of 
 oUeles In fbree 
 
 *■ BalldiDg and Hmne OOo*, S46 &'S48. BroMtwajr, N. T. 
 
 TME AEW YORK LIFE INSUR- 
 AMCB COMPANY computed the 
 thirty-tllird year qf {It exktenm, 
 January 1, 1878. At thai Unu Ua hU 
 tory was in br^f mi im rmmA mumbem 
 as foUom : 
 
 Tll« eeceptAnce of One Hundred and Tl&lrty-two Tbousand Members (so dis- 
 IrflMlted over the healthful sections of the WORIjD, that the most favorable average results 
 31 nMxrlalllar are ohtatned) ; the receipt of Seventy-four Million Dollam In Premiums i 
 Uie pignnenl of nearly IBIgliieen MUIIoim DttUwrs la Poliey-vluiaMi to the repreaentaltvea 
 li the insured, and upward of Twenty-flve Million Dollars in returned premiums and 
 DIvMends. During this period the Assets have augmented constantly, and offer absolute 
 «ee«ri^ in the sum of Tbirty-Ave Million IKOlarB, safely invested and increasing. The 
 present conditiim of the (3oiii|»iiy, and the mafnitude of its buainesfl aimiiMUy, are shown in 
 detail by the Annual Report 
 
 Hiffi aa ATTFNTIflN the significant fact that, at several periods in 
 
 " ■ ■ ' the history of this Company, its INTBREST earnlngn 
 
 ■imie bare been svlloliBt to pay the DBATH-CIiAIMS maturing under its policies. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 paid, 1876......... ]U94TtM8 
 
 paid, 1177......... liitMpiS 
 
 Inteveat, 1875 tMTOyeSS 
 
 ~ ' ' 187<L 1,906,050 
 
 1877..... ... I.f807,4kli7 
 
 h§ AffoiMil 01% 1^ <*« ffrmttH tare in $d«etlm o/ n»lu and mott iudidona 
 tnve8fnt«ft< tjfffkndk. 
 
 ' Vkc adv auiiM M natia i ma . by ttala^ Commuiy to 
 m UBsurpMM 1^ wmqr ot&er laatttu^mi oT tbe ktnd. 
 The great eacMrteMO MTite oflicers and managers renders it one of the itronflesL 
 
 prosperoos, and most trustworthy companies in the world. 
 JIayinK always been a purely mutual Com pativ, policy-holders receive their insurance at 
 eemt, and lieing ably and economically managed, that cost is low. The Company is conducted 
 in the interest of policy-holders alone. In the decision of questions involving their rights the 
 tnTariable rule is to consider not atone the technical legality of a claim, but its real Justice. 
 
 The non-forfeiture ayetoaa of polioies originated with this Ck>mpany, in 1860. and has since 
 been adopted— though sotnetimes in questionable forms— by all other companios. Tbis ffea- 
 aawea millions v€ dollanr erexy year to policy-bolders iu tills country, 
 mmA for tbis tbey are indebted to the NBW YORK IiIF£. The system as now 
 
 Kiffected by the NEW YORK LIFE, secures aafoty to the Company (without which all 
 terests are jeopardiaed,) and JU8TI€B to the insured. Every deefraoto torm of polioy 
 lasned, on practical plans and favoraMe temii. 
 
 lilllB IlAliOilir, fmMmk WH & SUBS, Vkt-fMUiBt a&i Mmj^ 
 
Date Dae 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ■ I'll s 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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