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8 | MARINE REVIEW. A Plea for Home Ships. SUBSIDIES NEEDED TO BUILD UP A MERCHANT MARINE--GREAT HANDI- CAPS EXPERIENCED BY OWNERS OF AMERICAN VESSELS-- PLAN._TO EXTEND COMMERCE. By Alexander Mc Dougal, of Duluth. The following are some ideas that may help others to look at the conditions of the shipping interests of this country in connection with the world at large, and I hope may be the means of leading more able men to force the American ship upon theseas in great. numbers. Whenaship is made it is the nearest thing to life that man can create, and it becomes an agent for the country to which it belongs; and, for a large ship, the average ownership is more than ten persons to one ° ship, so that if this ship is made to trade from its own country to other countries, there is more than ten agents created when the ship is built. The following table of the world's shipping, by Statistician Mulhall, will give some idea of the numerous agents some of the countries must have to hunt up trade for so many ships, the probable average size of the ships included in this table being less than 3,000 tons each: Tons carrying - Flag. power. Ratio. Ti biGtohn weet serene ents oes t irs: oe Ji. 720, 000 56.6 pe sieandinayian ¢s of. vsuciiet <3 Gere 4,240,000 8.8 ete nmiane eee eieca Sel aes Sad vero} 3,870,000 -----8.0 melons less tte tes os eee gee ene . 2,410,000 4.9 Spanish...... pe aS. dene «+7. 2,020,000 4,2 nuipensstates ts Scie mata 4d 3 «.. 1,680,000 3.4 melitalignbee sia ora eo 8k. Hyta snetuaye: 1,410,000 2.8 CRISS E IT gee Sy na he 4 Be tetrDrns 1 280.000 2) 5,2.4 PeAVIGMIOUS\ iis scree eb te snag: fy ete 4,280,000 8.9 ee ee ere 48,840,000 oo LUOK0 It will be observed by this table that we have only about 34 per cent. of the world's tonnage belonging to this great country, and the most of that is employed in our coasting trade, which i in no foreign vessel can engage, and that part which is Calon in foreign trade i is either running at a loss or under some peculiar advantages, such as the few . sailing ships that carry cargo from the east coast to the west coast of the United States (protected. trade), and then go to foreign ports with. grain, lumber, or products of our west coast, so as to get back again to the east coast, generally in an indirect way. And it is in the pro- tected part of the voyage ususally that the only profit is made. In the north Atlantic trade, which is the greatest of all ocean shipping be- © tween this country and Kurope, wé have practically no ships except the few steamers running under the postal subsidy and under indirect advantages furnished by some of the railroads, or by, their friends in Philadelphia and New York. Ifa fairly good pala ship or a steam: ship were given toa citizen of the United States, with the understand- ing that he must run it between this country and foreign ports in. regular trade, in competition with foreign ownership and foreign management, I think, under the present conditions, it could not pay operating expenses, insurance, and depreciation, let olen paying any profit. As an illustration, I would cite the following: Lately, on our Pacifie coast, my attention was called to the lumber trade that is car- ried on between Puget sound ports and South Africa, and other foreign countries, where there were two American steamers of about 4,000 tons capacity each, whose owners were anxious to have them carry some of the foreign product. They could not do so on account of the low rates offered, but in came two English tramp steamers of about 6,000 tons capacity each, and took away cargoes of this lumber. I got the wages paid on these different steamers, and when it is known that the United States steamers, although abor may be smaller, cost more than the large foreign steamers, and when the following com- parative list of wages paid on each are taken into consideration, the matter is easily explained. The trade belongs to the English tramp steamer, the American ship not being "in it' as far as foreign trade is concerned. COMPARATIVE WAGES AND COST OF CONSTRUCTION. Following is a-comparative summary. of wages. -- We will. frst take up the wages on an. American tramp steamer of about 4 ,000 tons, . We have: : - ri Captain: per month: 2 ett te eee 56605 Maite aera Ong h tree coe een nce? oc ln 90 00 --:-- "ship, as follows: Second mate, per month.....-...-.--+-++--+> 60 00 Eight sailors, $35 per month........-.-+---- 280 00 Chief engineer, per month.......--------+:-- 150 Ov First assistant, per month...-....-+..+--++-- 90 00 Second assistant, per month........-. -+---: 80 00 Third assistant, per month............-+-+-: 70 00 Three oilers, $50 per month..........-+---+: 150 00 Six firemen, $50 per month...........------- 300 00 Six coal passers, $40 per month..........--.. 240 00 = There are in addition to the foregoing, several additional hands, making a crew of thirty-four all told, and if the voyage is a very long one we must have, according to regulations of the government and the Seamens' Union, a still larger crew, including a third mate and other men. Provisions per day per man on these ships foot up about 75 cents. Now let us take the British tramp steamer of about 6,000 tons and we have i in her case the following: Captain, per TO ING See Be cs oo wh $ 90 00 Mate, per month..... a Mien page er a ARON 45 00 Second mate, per month............0-.....-. 35 00 Six sailors, $17. 50.per monte: i.e eo 105 00 ~~ Chief engineer, per MONTHS: Seer ee eae 75 00 "Second engineer, per month.............--.. 57 50 Third engineer, permonth...........-.....-- 38 00 Six fireman, $17.50 per month............... 105 00 All hands are not noted in this case either, but the total is but about twenty-six. There are no oilers or coal passers. The cost of pro- -- visions per man per day is about 34 cents. On the Atlantic coast the difference is not so great as there is more shipping and more 'foreign seamen to draw from. Now let us look at the men who build ships and the wages paid in European ship yards as against wages in the yards of this country. The salaries paid to the office and designing forces, to begin with, are about double the salaries paid in European ship vards. The following is a comparative list of wages paid in British and American ship yards: Rate of noes paid per week. Trade. British. merican. Patternamalkers cai. cst $ 9 00 $ 18 00 Maehinists 2. ocr role. 8 50 15 00 IRUViCLEISec ee ert cee eee 7 50 12 00 Caulkers and chippers............ 7 80 15 00 Beam and angle smiths............ 8 40 15 00 TIGIGGISBOMe sales nc dan ee oe 4 20 9 00 2 TDI REV ASPADY yes Os ages ets hee ee ee 7 80 15 00 WDD \CaGDONLePs gameet lon re, 9 60 18 00 POIMERGH Carn on ewer ee oe pe 9 00 16 50 PAWMLGRGte mee oe ne ee 9 00 18 00 Ship shed machine men.......,... 7 20 15 00 LOM ACeSING Mae te ee re 6 00 10 80 _TRNTVORGAS) SS ig tan Ss ce Re 7 20 11 00 NOU epshe ete ee ee he eee es 6 40 11 00 Sheet iron workers. Sek REE Se eer 8 50 15 00 Cappersmithsic. ye. ees 8 60 18 00 NEOIGErSs SION scree. on 9 00 14 50 MOI Cers @bnaSsinn. ses 9 00 15 00 TA DORCISe es ogee eee wk ees 4 20 8 50 To build a good merchant ship for all the world trade in the United States at the present time will cost about one-half more than in Great Britain. Thus, a steamship that would cost $300,000 in the United States would cost but $200,000 in Great Britain, so that for the life of that ship there would be $15,000 yearly in favor of the British Insurance, 64 per cent; interest, 44 per cent; de- preciation 4 per cent. on the $100,000 difference in first cost. Then. would come the difference in operating expenses, crew, shore manage- ment, insurance, foreign agency and exchange in which we are not well skilled, and which would amount to nearly as much as the differ- ence in first cost. At first thought this looks very discour aging, but a plan suggested later on may help us to overcome part or all of this - great difference. CAUSES ATTENDING THE DECLINE IN SHIPPING. Some people are now advocating the passage of the Elkins' bill (senate bill 3,223), which provides for a discri riminating duty of 10 per cent. on all goods imported in foreign ships, but I think this measure "