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Ze THe Marine REvVIEw LAKE CARRIERS' ASSOCIATION The annual meeting of the Lake Carriers' Association was held lat the hotel Pontchartrain, Detroit, on Thurs- day last. As usual 'the picturesque figure in the preliminary assembling of the members was A. R. Rumsey, chief shipp:ng commissioner, whose duty it has annually been to see 'that the members assembled in the meeting room promptly at 10 o'clock. He was not, however, as conspicuous as of 'old, owing to ithe fact thiat there is no balustrade overlooking the lobby in the Pontchartrain. President Livingstone presided and appointed Arthur C. Sullivan and Ralph D. Mitchell as. tellers to see if a quorum was present. It was found that out of 17,020 shares of stock, 15,634 were represented. While the count was in progress Harvey D. Goulder, counsel, took occasion to say that the association is not a one man affair or the affair of a dozen men, but is the organization of the vessel owners of tthe lakes and'that every ves- sel owner should take an interest in the association and attend its meetings and that when delegations go to Washington they should feel that the whole force of the combined vessel interests was back of 'them. President Livingstone was unable to be present at the meeting a year ago owing 'to illness and the association az thiat time took occasion to present him with a loving cup of exquisite work- manship. It was the first time that the 'opportunity presented itself to him to thank the members in person as a body for their kind expression of sympathy and this he did with great feeling. As preliminary to the discussion of his annual report President Living- stone stated that ithe association had the largest membership and the larg- est tonnage enrolled in its history and that its single purpose was the improvement and development of lake itrade. The association is work- ing for the improvement of tthe lakes, realizing 'that whatever is best for the commerce of the great lakes iis best for the welfare of the whole peo- ple of the United Sttates. This is self-evident in ithat ithe saving in freights on tthe great lakes amounts to about $112,000,000 annually based upon 'the ton-mile rate of moving freight by rail and water. Every man, woman and child in the United States has benefited by the distribution of so large ia dividend. That congress has awakened to this view of the situation PRESIDENT WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE. is also proved by the fact that it does not now hesitate to spend large sums for necessary improvements, having appropriated for the new channel at the Lime Kilns and the new lock at the Sault 'approximately $13,000,000. He took occasion to call the atten- tion of owners tto the fact that the contractors are now working on tthe easterly channel at tthe Lime Kilns and that all vessels, both up and down bound, would have to use the westerly channel during the season of 1908. This means, of course, that 'the tre- mendous volume of commerce bound in both directions must 'pass through a very narrow 'strip of water. There are hard and fast rules for navigating this stretch and all passing are under the jurisdiction of the gov- ernment patrol boat. President Liv- ingstone thought that any mister who willfully disobeys 'these rules should go on the dock as any this critical point might complete blockading of commerce vessels accident at the entire That mean 'the of the great lakes. portion of President Livingstone's re- port relating to the Lime Kilns was read by Mr. Goulder. Mr. Goulder took occasion to say that he thought that this new channel when completed should be known as 'the Livingstone channel, The report of President Living- stone is unusually complete upon the present status of improvements at the Sault. He stated that some insidious influence was working against the as- sociation at the Sault, as it seems impossible to make a start upon the work which is absolutely necessary to care for the growing commerce of the lakes. It was thought that obsta- had been removed when the Chandler-Dunbar Co. offered to give a quit claim deed granting tthe United Stites for a mominal consideration the land needed for the widening of the canal, but this quit claim deed the attorney general of the United States has declined to approve. This action on the part of the attorney general Was quite surprising ito everyone, as cles