554 Presidential Addresses 



It should be made advantageous to carry American 

 goods in American-built ships. 



At present American shipping is under certain 

 great disadvantages when put in competition with 

 the shipping of foreign countries. Many of the fast 

 foreign steamships, at a speed of fourteen knots or 

 above, are subsidized ; and all our ships, sailing ves- 

 sels and steamers alike, cargo carriers of slow speed 

 and mail carriers of high speed, have to meet the 

 fact that the original cost of building American 

 ships is greater than is the case abroad; that the 

 wages paid the officers and seamen are very much 

 higher than those paid the officers and seamen of 

 foreign competing countries ; and that the standard 

 of living on our ships is far superior to the standard 

 of living on the ships of our commercial rivals. 



Our government should take such action as will 

 remedy these inequalities. The American merchant 

 marine should be restored to the ocean. 



The Act of March 14, 1900, intended unequivo- 

 cally to establish gold as the standard money and to 

 maintain at a parity therewith all forms of money 

 medium in use with us, has been shown to be timely 

 and judicious. The price of our government bonds 

 in the world's market, when compared with the price 

 of similar obligations issued by other nations, is a 

 flattering tribute to our public credit. This condi- 

 tion it is evidently desirable to maintain. 



In many respects the National Banking Law fur- 

 nishes sufficient liberty for the proper exercise of 



