Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/135

* SHIPPING. 103 SHIPPING SUBSIDIES. SHIPPING, Law of. See Admiralty Law; Makiti.mi; Law. SHIPPING ARTICLES. Articles of agree- ment between the nuister of a .sliip unJ a seaman serving on board her in regard to wages, lengtli of service, character of service, etc. SHIPPING SUBSIDIES. IVcnniary aid to shippiny l.v pulilie yrant. The terms bounty and subvention may be employed in the same sense. The first direct bounty in aid of sliipping of any kind was granted in 1730 by the 3d George IL (c. 20, § 9), which provided for a bounty of 20 shillings per ton on all vessels of 20 tons or over engaging in the white herring fisheries. The object of these fishing bounties was to en- courage the fisheries, which served as a training school for mariners for the British war tleet. The bounty laws were modified from time to time until they were finally repealed in 18G7. It was not, however, until 1839 that the English Government began the policy of paying su"bsidies for 'mail service.' In that .year Samuel Cunard made a contract with the British Board of Ad- miralty, by which he agreed to establish a fort- nightly mail service between Liverpool anil Hali- fax for a yearly payment of £60,000. The New orld terminal was afterwards changed to Bos- ton and then to New York. In 1841 the amount of the subsidy was increased to £80,000 and the number of vessels increased from 3 to 7. The subsidy was again increased in 1848 to £145,000, but was reduced to £80.000 in 1868, after the failure of its chief competitor, the Collins Line. Since that time the amount of the annual subsidy has varied greatly in different years. In 1870 the amount of the subsidy for the transatlan- tic ocean mail service was made to depend upon the weight of the mail matter transported, the contracts being White Star lines The subsidies were given with the two-fold pur- pose of establishing quicker and better mail cum- munieations ^^'ith America, and of encouraging a rival to the American clipper lines, which were rapidly driving the British ships out of business. When the United States Congress passed the bill giving a subsidy to the Collins Line in 1848, the British Government raised the subsidy to the Cunard Company by £65,000, without requiring any additional services, showing that the Brit- ish Government was not solely bent on obtaining a quicker mail service. The subsidy undoubted- ly gave the Cunard Company a great advantage over its com]ietitors. Whether, as is often al- leged, the subsidy really helped to establish steam navigation is more than doulitful. The Great Western Company was in the field before the subsidized Cunard Line. It is highly proba- ble that the subsidy rather retarded than has- tened improvements, since it enabled the Cunard Company to earn profits without maintaining the highest standard of efficiency. In 1S6S the Cunard Line received £80.000 as a fixed subsidy, while the Inman Line received £22.161, the" North German Lloyd £9.304, and the Hamburg-American £3,343. paid according to the weight of mail carried. The next year the Cunard received £80.000 for its service twice a week, and the Inman £35.000 for a weekly ser- vice. The contracts were drawn for seven years. A Parliamentary commission investigated them and recommended that they be disapproved, but the Government did not act upon the recommen- dation. In 1870 the Postmaster-General intro- duced the system of payment by weight through- out, by which the Knglish lines were paid 4 shil- lings per iiound for letters and 4d. for papers, and the North German Lloyd 2s. 4d. for letters and 2d. for papers. In 1887 the rates were re- duced to OS. for letters and 3d. for other mail, the Cunard and White Star lines to carry all mail except specially direeteil letters. These rates are aljout ll'> times the international pos- tal rates, so there is still a subsidy of al)out £75,000 to the Cunard and White Star lines, not counting the admiralty subventions, amounting to £42.000. which are i)aid for the privilege of hiring or buying certain of the faster steamers in ease of war. The Peninsular Company, in 1837, began the carriage of mails to and from Spain and Portu- gal for an annual payment of £29.600, which was soon after reduced to £20,500. The next year the company took the contract of carrying the mails between England and Alexandria for £34.- 200 per annum. In 1842 it became the Penin- sular and Oriental Company and took over the service from Suez to Calcutta with a yearly sub- sidy of £115.000, or about 20s. per "mile." The service was soon after extended to China, with an addition of £45,000 to the yearly subsidy at the rate of about 12s. per mile. The East India Company continued to carry the mails between Bomba.y and Suez for a yearly subsidy of £105,200. or' 30s. per mile. In" 1858 the Pe- ninsular and Oriental took over the service for £24,700 and rendered a much quicker and more regular service. In 1852 the Government adver- tised for bids for a mail service to Australia. The Peninsular and Oriental offered to perform the Australian service, together with all other contracts, for £199,600 per annum, to be reduced by £20.000 on the completion of the railroad across the peninsula of Suez. This gave a more extended service for £76,000 less than was of- fered by the only competitor: yet there was much complaint of favoritism shown by the Gov- ernment to the Peninsular and Orientiil. During the Crimean War the British Govern- ment chartered eleven of the Peninsular and Oriental vessels for transport service. This so crippled the company's fleet that they were com- pelled to give up the service betwee"n Australia and Singapore. After the war the contract for a monthly service between Australia and Suez was let (1857) to the European and Australian Steam Navigation Company for £185,000 per year, but the severity of the terms and the in- efficiency of the management made the enterprise an utter failure, involving the loss, in one year, of the entire capital of £400.000 and a further debt of £270,000. The Peninsular and Oriental, for a yearly compensation of £180.000, then took the service, including a service to Mauritius and Aden. The latter line was soon given up and the subsidy was reduced to £134,672. In 1866 the service was made semi-monthly and the sub- sidy increased to £170.000. and four years later a new contract on all the Peninsular and Ori- ental lines was made, with an annual subsidy of £450.000. Since that time the amount has I>c"n steadily decreased until, in 1898, it was £330.000. It is a disputed question whether the mails could have been carried for a less expenditure