Our Tribute, To Critish Ship-owners

British ships now earry more than seven-tentlis of the ocean-borne commerce of the world. The earninga of her commercial fleet, including the accessories of banking, iusurance and commission, exceed eight hundred millions of dollars a year, net cash. Of this the Uuited States contributes, ronndly, three hundred millions annually, or in amount équal to about three fifths of pur national revenue. Snnie economists agree that thia is all right because we get "value received" in the transport of our exporta and itnports. This fallacy is at once expioded by the well-knpwn commercial fact that the cargo pays the freight as absolutely as the passenger payshis passage; and, therefore, the entire increment being foreign, the effect upon us is a continuous drain or outgo of money botli ways. There is, however, a simpler mode of stating tlie problem. If our commerce, which is now carried in PJnglish ships, were carried in American ships, the money now paid to English owners wouldbepaid to American owners. It would, therefore, stay in the country as part of its earned increment, instead of going out of the country to swell the earued increment of England. Let us see what this means as an aggregate. In 1867 we were paying England at the rute of $112,000,000 a year for carrying our ocean commerce. In 1890 we paid lier $300,000,000. The increasfi during the thirty years has been steady, and the average is a little over f200,000,000, a year. That is to say, n the thirty years six billions of dollars have passet! from .America to English hands for ocean tolls and passages ; a net tax levied on the proxiucts of our country that we sell, and on tlie products of other countries that we buy. From this tax there is no escape so long as we employ English ships to carry our conmierce. We do not get tliis money back by sale of our products in England. AVhat we get for those products is in English market price less the freigbt and accessory charges. That deduction is the profit of the English cominon carrier and goes iuto the volume of liis accumulated wealth. We cannot get any of it except by borrowing. The money that English bankers loaned us to build our railways with is the money that we have paid to English ship-owners for carrying our over-sea freight and passengers. Tlne Ladi'es' Home Jounaal has secui'ed whiat proniises to be the great raa.gazinie feature of 1898. It Is entliled "Thie Inner Experiences of a Cabinet Meniber's Wife." la a series of letters writtea by the wife of a Cabinet mmb6í to her sister at hiome, are det-ailed her actual experiences ín "Washington, frankly and íreedy ghTeai. Thie letters were writtea without any intention of pmblicatian. They givO intimato peeps behind the cuirtain of high official and eocial life. They aje aibeolutely íearless, they study "Washkigtonj life under tihla searchlíght aa it has never been before presented The president and the higbest officials of the land, wilih the most brilliant men and vromeu of thie capiltaá, are seen in the mioist familiar way. As ttese are all actual exparfences the name of the wiiber is withheld. The letters ■will doulbtless excite miuclii shrewd guessiing by readers aaid study oí interma 1 eTidence to discover the secret. The "Experiences," which wlU be beanttfully illustrated, begin ia the December mimber and will continue for several montlis.