The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

28 London and Hamburg, among the for- eign ship owners and merchants is hasty and premature. "The vote on May 23 sdubies how awit ly the ocean mail service and the mer- _ chant. marine are gathering strength in the house of representatives. One year ago, 56 Republicans, nearly all from the middle west, voted against a bill for mail lines to South America. The other day only 36 Republicans, all of whom, except Mr. Perkins, Y., are from the middle west, voted against a bill for mail lines to' South of Rochester, N.. derstood by their constituents. . THe Marine REvIEW measure of more than 2 to 1. Indiana gave only two Republican votes against » the bill, while Illinois gave a majority of its votes for it, and the prairie state of Nebraska three out of five.. "These are figures which point, unmis- takably to. an early and complete. victory for the American flag. I have reason to believe that many--probably a majority-- of the .35, western representatives who voted against the ocean mail bill a week ago. personally favor legislation of. this kind, but fear it is not yet properly un- There is ha America, Japan, China, the Philippines and Australia. A year ago 22 per cent of the Republicans of the house were op- posed; this year only 16 per cent. And this second test is all the more. signifi- cant because it was made in the year of a presidential election. "The middle west is still the center of Opposition, but that opposition is a wan- ing one. support than hostility in those 'inland states which have long been the special field of activity of the European steam- ship corporations. For 40 years the agents and attorneys in this country of foreign ship trusts, like that which took several fast steamers out of New York in our war with spain and sold them to the Spanish government, have been boast- ing that the whole middle west was un- alterably opposed to all national legisla- tion for an. American ocean mail service and merchant marine. "Now, as a matter of fact, the inland States between Ohio and the Rocky moun- tains cast. 88 Republican votes for the ocean mail bill in the house the other day, as compared with 35 votes against it--a middle western majority for. this BROADSIDE VIEW OF NORTH DAKOTA, 35,7 PER CENT COMPLETED. | Already there is much more no question that there is hostility in the middle west to the idea of subsidy, but this ocean mail bill is no more of a sub- sidy than is our expenditure on rural free delivery or railway mail carrying. It is simply honest pay for actual service ren-. dered. oe FOREIGN CORPORATIONS THE GAINERS. "Western misunderstanding -of the ocean mail legislation, wherever it exists, I am convinced, is due in large part to the propaganda maintained for many. years by the rich and powerful European steamship combinations through their, emi- grant agencies scattered all over the west- ern country. These foreign ship com- panies are afraid of a vigorous, compet- ing American merchant marine... They now monopolize 9/10. of our. ocean carry- ing, and receive for this. more than $200,- 009,000 a year. Because there are no American ships, these foreign concerns are able to force the United States gov- ernment to pay double transit rates for the privilege. of sending our mails to South American via Europe, and they are scheming now to drive our flag off: the 'trade routes in the Pacific ocean. "It is these alien monopolists who have the assurance to assail the ocean mail bill as in the interest. of 'monopoly'-- though the bill has no more earnest cham- pions than President Roosevelt and Sec- retary. Taft.. This is a-,measure in the interests of the safety and independence of America and the freedom of the seas. As before suggested, I am confident that before the Sixtieth congress adjourns the ocean mail bill will have won sufficient new support in the middle west to insure its final passage by a strong majority in the house of. representatives." ee THE WELIN QUADRANT DAVIT. .The steamship Rotterdam, the latest addition to the fleet of the Holland- American Line, will sail on her maiden trip from Rotterdam on June 13, leav- ing New York on July 1 on her re- turn voyage. The Rotterdam is 668 ft: Jong, (77 ft: beam, and 48 ft. deep. She:.is' of 24,170: tons -register and 37,190 tons displacement and on her official trials maintained a speed of 18 knots. A model of the Rotterdam is being exhibited' in the window of a store at the cornet of Broadway and 25th street, New York City, the model being about 10 ft. in length and com- plete to the most minute detail. It is interesting to note that the Rotterdam is equipped throughout with Welin Quadrant Davits, no less than 18 sets of working davits being part of the fittings of the model. The steamship Chicago of the Com- pagnie Generale Transatlantique, which arrived at New York this week on her maiden voyage, also has, a. complete equipment of Welin Quadrant Davits, the rapidly increasing demand for. this up-to-date lifeboat equipment showing a, desire on the part of the shipping companies to have the best that per- tains to the safety of the passengers and crews aboard. their vessels. Pickands, Mather .& Co.'s new fuel plant at Detour is completed and ready for business.. The new dock has 10 pock- ets and-is equipped with all of the latest mechanical appliances. As there is no current at the point where the dock is located, steamers.may moor head up or down .as is most .convenient. .W. L. Sherwood is in charge of the plant. The steamer David B. Meacham, build- ing at the. Ecorse yard. of the Great Lakes Engineering Works. for the Fron- tier Steamship Co.,- North Tonawanda, N. Y., wil be launched at noon on, June 25. Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, of: Pitts- burg, will-be sponsor for the new vessel.