BRITISH AND AMERICAN SHIPPING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1587, 19 January 1884, Page 4

BRITISH AND AMERICAN SHIPPING.

Many business men are unable to seo how the tariff could destroy American shipping, anil yet not injure the English carrying trade. '' A few examples,", as cited by a Chicago writer, " will illustrate: the cast! after wi; understand that it is a law with this and many other nations that, for instance, a foreign ship may bring goods from her home port, but not from another foreign port; that is, English vessels cannot bring French goods to Americii. Nor can an English ship take freight from port to port in the United States except some part of each cargo was brought from an English port in the same vessel. An English ship may load in Liverpool three-quarters of a cargo for Boston and one-quarter of a cargo for New Orleans, anil, after discharging in Boston, she. may load three-quarters of' a cargo of isew England manufacture tor .New Orleans; then load at New Orleans with cotton for Liverpool. The coast trade of England does not offer these advantages to American ships. Once, an American vessel loaded at Bangor with lumber for Cuba and returned to Boston with fruit, sugar, and molasses, but now the domestic fruit growers have stopped that port, and the molasses and sugar are stopped by tariff, so the American vessels must return in ballast. An English vessel may load in Liverpool with manufactures for Canada, reload there with lumber for Cuba, and reload there with sugar, molasses, and fruit for Liverpool. The difference is three paying trips for the English vessel against ono freight out and ballast hack tor an American vessel. England allowing free importation of foreign goods, her ships can always get a home freight, and at yiod price, while if an American vessel gels a home freight at all it must iie very iow, for only on low freights can the dealer he reimbursed for the high tarill' he must pay to get into an American port. Once an American vessel could load for South America with lumber, produce, manufactures, or general cargo, and return with hides, but the tariff has stopped the importation of hides as a paying freight, so the vessel must leave there in ballast, come to Cuba, perhaps, and get a nominal freight to New York. An English vessel loads manufactures or general cargo for ■ ; outh America, returns with hides; the English merchant unloads them, when they become English goods, which he can theiwship to any part of the world if he cannot dispose of them at home. Once we could take a general cargo to China and return with tea, or to Java and return with coffee, but the tariff has ruined this trade, and Engit - . land gets it, and our ships can bring ' tea and coffee from England at a nominal freight—in fact bring it as a ballast, The English ships have the cream of the trade and we get the tailings. And the English manufac--1 turcr gels all the foreign markets, ', which, in fact, were first developed by Americans. The result is that our tariff has opcncll the world to English ships, merchants, and manufacturers, , and fenced us in,"—American Importer.