In 1890 a subsidy of ninety thousand marks
annually was granted for an East African line on a ten-years' contract.
Within less than six years the establishment of a fortnightly Asiatic
service was agitated; and in 1896 a bill granting a yearly subsidy of
one million four hundred thousand marks therefor, was brought before the
Reichstag. If this were forthcoming the North German Lloyd agreed,
besides furnishing the fortnightly service, to increase the speed of
their steamers, to send ships direct to Japan, and to meet all
requirements of the Admiralty with respect to ships and crews.[CO]
Now the advocates of further subsidies maintained that the policy
instituted with the law of 1885 had proved its effectiveness. The
indirect advantages from the subventions were claimed to be quite as
great as the direct. While before 1885 all large ships for German
companies had been ordered in England, now all large ships for the
German transatlantic lines were built in Germany.[CO] This condition,
the increasing activity in domestic shipbuilding, and the steady growth
of the empire's commercial marine, were presented as conclusive evidence
of the law's effect. Germany was now pressing into sharp rivalry with
England, and turning out larger and speedier steamships.
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