Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1909 — TAFT IS IN FAVOR OF SHIP SUBSIDY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TAFT IS IN FAVOR OF SHIP SUBSIDY

Says He Will Urge Congress to Try the Experiment. PRESIDENT DISCUSSES ALASKA Promises to Visit the Land of Gold Next Summer —Doesn’t Think the Region Quite Ripe For Territorial Form of Government—lnitiated as Member of the Arctic Brotherhood, His Certificate Being Embellished With Twenty Nuggets. Seattle, Oct. I.—Speaking before the largest audience he has faced since his trip began—a crowd that overflowed the natural amphitheater of the Alas-ka-Yukon-Pacific exposition with Its

seating capacity of nearly 20,000 — President Taft announced that he would urge in his coming message to congress the enactment of a ship subsidy law. He stated he was opposed to granting A territorial form of government to Alaska. For the territory he recommended government aid in the construction of railroads ana a local government by a commission of five or more .members appointed by the president and co-operating with the governor. He announced that he intended to visit Alaska next summer. In discussing ship subsidy, Taft declared that if a war should come at this time the United States would not have enough vessels to carry coal to Its’ fleet. And it would be doubtful, under the neutrality laws, he added, ts the United States would be able to buy foreign vessels in the emergency. When the president and his party arrived at the auditorium steps. President J. E. Chllberg of the fair greeted him and pinned on his coat a heavy gold badge of his office of honorary president of the exposition. Merchant Marine Question. In the afternoon the president was Initiated into the Arctic Brotherhood and received a membership certificate inscribed on caribou- skin and embellished with twenty gold nuggets from as many Alaskan and Yukon camps. In the Alaska building the president was Invited Into the cage where more than a million dollars’ worth of Alaska ! gbld is exhibited. A miner who was I Illustrating placer mining let the pres- ' ident wash out a pan of gold worth $1,200. Taft remarked that he would go into mining if he could keep up that rate. Part of the president’s speech fol lows: “We maintain a protective tariff to encourage our manufacturing, farming and mining industries at home within our jurisdiction, but when we assume to enter into competition upon the i high seas m trade between International ports, our Jurisdiction to control that trade as far as the vessels ot other nations are concerned, of course, ceases and the question we have to meet is how with the greater wages that we pay, with the more stringent laws that we enact for tne protection of our sailors and with the protective system making a difference in the price between the necessaries to be used in the maintenance of a merchant marine, we shall enable that merchant marine to compete with the marine of the rest of the world. Would Spend Mail Profits. . “This is not the only discussion either, for it will be found on au examination of the methods pursued in old countries with respect to their ' merchant marine that there is now ex tended by way of subsidies by the varl ous governments to their respective ships upward of $35,000,000, and this offers another means by which in the competition the American merchantship is driven out of business and finds Itself utterly unable to bid against its foreign competitors. “We earn a profit from our foreign mails of frojn $6,000,000 to $8,000,000 a year. The application of that amount would be quite sufficient to put on a satisfactory basis two or three oriental lines from the east to South America. “Of course we are familiar with the argument that this would be contributing to private companies out of the treasury fund of the United States; but we are thus contributing in various ways cn similar principles in effect by our protective tariff law, by our river and harbor bills and by our reclamation service."

JOHN E. CHILBERG.