Proceedings of the Polytechnic Association. 883 



ists," instead of its being the payment of an equitable sum of money 

 for services rendered the nation. 



Congress seems to have taken the same inconsiderate and most 

 injurious view of the subject, and allows our enormous European 

 mail matter to be given, and paid for most amplj^, to foreign steam 

 companies. Suppose we drop the term subsidy and call it a contract 

 for carrying the mails to and from Europe. AVe shall thus get rid 

 of the unpopularity attaching to a name. Such a contract exists 

 between the British government and the Cunard British and Ameri- 

 can Royal Mail Steamship Company, and it has been shown that the 

 money paid by the British post office department, is more than 

 repaid by the postage on the niail matter carried by the company. 



But if Congress shall reconsider its decisions on this subject it 

 should be careful to provide that we shall have no more wooden ves- 

 sels built for the carriage of the ocean mails. The committees 

 having charge of this matter should inform themselves on the sub- 

 ject of naval construction, sufficiently to specify in the law the size, 

 draft and other conditions indispensable to high speed and economy, 

 so as to prevent a repetition of past blunders. It can be demon- 

 strated to the satisfaction of any unprejudiced and intelligent man, 

 that, with the present knowledge of science, we can build steamers 

 that can cross the Atlantic, in ordinary ocean weather, in seven days. 

 The science of ship building is far ahead of the practice, even in 

 Europe. This is owing to the conservative nature of capital in 

 respect to what is termed " untried theories." But, after the speed 

 our lake steamer acquired twenty years ago, why should we not be 

 able to convince tlie most careful capitalists that what is pro- 

 posed is, after all, not " an untried theory," but simpl}^ a combina- 

 tion of all the best points in well known steamers and well estab- 

 lished principles of engineering. By doing so we shall, by a single 

 bound, distance our competitors on the ocean, as we have shown our 

 ability to do on our lakes. 



To do this, we must pay attention to scientific data. Having on a 

 former occasion, before this learned body, entered considerably into 

 details, I do not propose to go over the same ground again, and state 

 the arguments I then adduced. It will now be sufficient for my pur- 

 pose to state facts. The question for Congress and the country to 

 consider is, how are we to so utilize the money paid foreigners for 

 carrjnng our ocean mails, as to re-establish us in the position we 

 once held as ocean carriers ? I answer, by putting on our " seven 



