350 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Having thus outlined present conditions, it may be pertinent to 

 refer very briefly to the causes which have brought them about. In 

 the early days of the nation nearly all of our foreign commerce was 

 done in American vessels — in 1821, for example, 89 per cent, of it. Up 

 to the civil war there was a slow but steady decline, the proportion being 

 86 per cent, in 1831, 83 per cent, in 1841, 73 per cent, in 1851, and 

 65 per cent, in 1861 (fractions omitted). Then came a rapid drop — 

 32 per cent, in 1871, 16 per cent, in 1881, 12 per cent, in 189i; and 

 8 per cent, in 1901. With all the tremendous increase in our foreign 

 trade in the last fifty years, the American tonnage carrying it is now 

 only 40 per cent, of what it was 50 years ago. What is the explana- 

 tion? The size of vessels had been increased, and iron and steel had 

 taken the place of wood in construction. Instead of being built in a 

 sort of local cooperative way, the construction of vessels had become a 

 specialized form of industry. Construction had been subjected to the 

 inevitable results of our protective tariff policy, and operation had been 

 subjected to both these results and to the effects of our ISTavigation 

 Laws. We had made ships about 60 per cent, more expensive to build 

 in American than in foreign ship-yards, and from 20 per cent, to 35 

 per cent, more expensive to operate after they were built. Having 

 thus bound a ligature around each leg of our Merchant Marine, we have 

 watched the legs atrophy, and have for forty years confined ourselves to 

 eloquent regrets that our bound and shackled victim did not run and 

 dance, and to expressions of fervid hope that he soon would. We can 

 grant a monopoly of coastwise commerce. We can give a practical 

 monopoly to a public utility company, or a limited monopoly to a line 

 of land transportation, but, on the broad ocean, which is the highway 

 of all the world, there can be neither monopoly nor preference, by 

 nation, race, or creed. There all comers meet on equal terms, and " the 

 race is to the swift, the battle to the strong." In that unrestricted 

 competition the weak, the overburdened, and the handicapped can not 

 even hope for success. Is it not about time for a people as intelligent 

 as the American people to alter their attitude upon this all-important 

 subject? There are certain economic or industrial changes which could 

 be made to advantage. I believe that the high cost of vessels fcuilt in 

 American ship-yards is largely due to the fact that they are finished 

 with an unnecessary degree of elaboration, and that there is an utter 

 lack of standardization. An ocean " tramp " built merely to carry bulk 

 freight does not need to be highly finished. She should be strong and 

 seaworthy, but neither speed nor appearance is material. Many of the 

 modern freighters constructed abroad are mere steel boxes, pointed at 

 the ends, with an engine, a propeller, and a rudder. Our lake-freighters 

 are sometimes described as being "built by the mile and sold by the 

 foot," but their effect upon transportation costs has been little short of 



