220 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (AMERICAN SHIPPING.) 



sugar, is nothing more nor less than a propo- 

 sition in the interest of the absolute monopoly 

 of sugar-refiners. There is not a man on the 

 conference committee who will venture to rise 

 in his place and defend this action in the face 

 of the debates we had, in the face of the votes 

 we took, and he will not dare to say that he 

 either did or would have ventured upon this 

 floor to have proposed to impose a tax. on su- 

 gar graded from No. 13 to No. 16 at 2 '75 cents. 

 The Senator from Vermont himself begged me 

 to make it 2*50, declaring publicly that 2'50 

 was satisfactory to him after we had voted the 

 tax at 2'40. Many of my friends on this side 

 of the chamber who had voted for 2*40 with 

 me were quite annoyed when I begged them 

 to yield to the urgent request of the Senator 

 from Vermont, as perhaps we had put it a lit- 

 tle too low at 2'40. I remember well that the 

 Senator from Texas was not very much pleased 

 at the change being consented to. 



" Now, sir, notwithstanding the Senator from 

 Vermont did not venture to ask us to go above 

 2-50, and no sugar-refiner ever pretended that 

 he could decently ask us to go above 2'65, and 

 all the telegrams I received when they thought I 

 was to be. a member of the committee said that 

 2-65 was all they would ask, the Senator from 

 Vermont and his confreres on the committee 

 give them 2'75, making their monopoly ab- 

 solute, making them masters of the sugar 

 business of America, and putting every sugar- 

 consumer absolutely at their mercy ; yet the 

 chairman of the conference calls with apparent 

 confidence on the representatives of the people 

 and the States to adopt and sanction that 

 among other outrages. I propose to be as re- 

 spectful as I can be consistent with truth, but 

 if any milder word than robbery of the people 

 to enrich already gorged monopolies will ex- 

 press rny opinion I do not at this moment recall 

 it. The conferees give the refiners one fourth 

 of a cent a pound on all the sugar consumed 

 in this country by excluding competition. The 

 combination of refiners, of course, charge the 

 people one quarter of a cent more than they 

 could under our bill. The sugar consumed 

 annually exceeds 2,000,000,000 pounds, worth 

 over $85,000,000. This robbery or rather 

 sneaking larceny of one quarter of a cent a 

 pound from the people is a gift, in defiance of 

 our often-expressed will, of over $5,000,000. 

 That alone ought to condemn this report and 

 the men who seek to force it upon us, if all else 

 was right." 



American Shipping. Early in the session a bill 

 was reported from the Committee on Com- 

 merce for the removal of certain burdens on 

 the American marine and the encouragement 

 of the American foreign trade. It was based 

 on the report of the joint select committee on 

 American shipping, appointed at the previous 

 session, end came up in the House for discus- 

 sion Jan. 6, 1883, and was read as follows: 



Be it enacted, etc., That section 4131 of the Revised 

 Statutes be amended so as to read as follows : 



"SEC. 4131. Vessels registered pursuant to law, 

 and no others, except such as shall be duly qualified 

 according to law tor carrying on the coast trade and 

 fisheries, or one of them, shall be deemed vessels of 

 the United States, and entitled to the benefits and 

 privileges appertaining to such vessels ; but they shall 

 not enjoy the same longer than they shall continue to 

 be wholly owned by citizens and to be commanded 

 by a citizen of the United States." 



SEC. 2. That section 4219 of the Revised Statutes be 

 amended by striking out the following words in the 

 last clause : " And any vessel any officer of which 

 shall not be a citizen of the United States shall pay 

 a tax of 50 cents per ton." 



SEC. 3. That section 4580 of the Revised Statutes be 

 amended so as to read as follows : 



" SEC. 4580. Upon the application of any seaman to 

 a consular officer for a discharge, if it appears to such 

 officer that said seaman is entitled to his discharge 

 under any act of Congress or according to the gen- 

 eral principles or usages of maritime law as recog- 

 nized in the United States, the officer shall discharge 

 said seaman, and require from the master of said ves- 

 sel, before such discharge shall be made, payment of 

 the wages which may then be due said seaman. When 

 a seaman is discharged by reason of inability to per- 

 form his duties, whether in consequence of illness or 

 other causes, the master shall be required to pay him 

 only the wages due at the time of discharge. But if 

 any seaman is discharged in consequence of any hurt 

 or injury received while in the service of the ship, or 

 illness caused by a want of such food, water, accom- 

 modations, medicines, or antiscorbutics as are required 

 by law, the master shall be required to pay the ex- 

 pense of providing the necessary surgical and medical 

 advice, with attendance and medicines, until said sea- 

 man is cured, or dies, or is brought back to some port 

 in the United States." 



SEC. 4. That section 4583 of the Revised Statutes be 

 amended so as to read as follows: 



" SEC. 4583. No payment of extra wages shall be 

 required, upon the discharge of any seaman in a for- 

 eign country upon the termination of his agreement, 

 or in cases where vessels are wrecked or stranded, or 

 condemned as unfit for service. If any consular officer, 

 upon the complaint of any seaman "that he has ful- 

 filled his contract, or that the voyage is continued 

 contrary to his agreement, is satisfied that the con- 

 tract has expired, or that the voyage has not been 

 continued by circumstances within the control of the 

 master, he shall discharge the mariner ; but in case 

 the consular officer shall be satisfied that the master 

 has designedly continued the voyage, he shall require 

 from said master the payment of one month's extra 

 pay over and above the wages due at the time of dis- 

 charge ; but in case the master of the vessel shall 

 provide said seaman with adequate employment on 

 board some other ship bound to the port at which he 

 was originally shipped, or to some other port, as may 

 be agreed upon by him, or furnish the means of send- 

 ing him back to such port, or provide him with a pas- 

 sage home, or deposit with the consular officer such a 

 sum of money as is by such officer deemed sufficient 

 to defray the expenses of his subsistence and passage 

 home, then no payment of extra wages shall be re- 

 quired." 



SEC. 5. That section 4582 of the Revised Statutes be 

 amended so as to read as follows : 



" SEC. 4582. Whenever a vessel belonging to a citi- 

 zen of the United States is sold in a foreign country, 

 and her company discharged, it shall be the duty of 

 the master to produce to the consul or officer the certi- 

 fied list of his ship's company, and also the shippiug 

 articles, and to pay to said consul or officer for every 

 seaman so discharged one month's pay over and above 

 the wages which may then be due to such seaman ; 

 but in case the master of the vessel so sold shall pro- 

 Tide such seaman with adequate employment on 

 board some other ship bound to the port at which he 

 was originally shipped, or to such other port as may 





