f freights. Were
they ever lower, or even so low? I ask gentlemen who know, whether the
harbor of Charleston, and the river of Savannah, be not crowded with
ships seeking employment, and finding none? I would ask the gentlemen
from New Orleans, if their magnificent Mississippi does not exhibit, for
furlongs, a forest of masts? The condition, Sir, of the shipping
interest is not that of those who are insisting on high profits, or
struggling for monopoly; but it is the condition of men content with the
smallest earnings, and anxious for their bread. The freight of cotton
has formerly been three pence sterling, from Charleston to Liverpool, in
time of peace. It is now I know not what, or how many fractions of a
penny; I think, however, it is stated at five eighths. The producers,
then, of this great staple, are able, by means of this navigation, to
send it, for a cent a pound, from their own doors to the best market in
the world.

Mr. Chairman, I will now only remind the committee that, while we are
proposing to add new burdens to the shipping interest, a very different
line of policy is followed by our great commercial and maritime rival.
It seems to be announced as the sentiment of the government of England,
and undoubtedly it is its real sentiment, that the first of all
manufactures is the manufacture of ships. A constant and wakeful
attention is paid to this interest, and very important regulations,
favorable to it, have been adopted within the last year, some of which I
will beg leave to refer to, with the hope of exciting the notice, not
only of the committee, but of all others who may feel, as I do, a deep
interest in this subject. In the first place, a general amendment has
taken place in the register acts, introducing many new provisions, and,
among others, the following:--

A direct mortgage of the interest of a ship is allowed, without
subjecting the mortgagee to the responsibility of an owner.

The proportion of interest held by each owner is exhibited in the
register, thereby facilitating both sales and mortgages, and giving a
new value to shipping among the moneyed classes.

Shares, in the ships of copartnerships, may be registered as joint
property, and subject to the same rules as other partnership effects.

Ships may be registered in the name of trustees, for the benefit of
joint-stock companies.

And many other regulations are adopted, with the same general view of
rendering the mode of holding the