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- DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY . INTEREST CONNECTED OR ASSO- CIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published every Thursday by _ The Penton Publishing Co. CLEVELAND. : BOSTON occ cbs oc ob civ 73-74 Journal Bldg. "RUPEALO......:+- ee. 932 Ellicott Sq- (CHICAGO? bce ices cst s 1328 Monadnock Blk. CINCINNATI... 66 First National Bank Bldg. NEW YORK..... sacas 1005 West Street Bldg. PITTSBURG, ....: Seevadss (6510s Park Bldg: SAL Pleh ess 5 ws Pees 302 Pioneer Bldg. ie irecbundence on Marine Engineering, Ship Building and Shipping Subjects Solicited. Subscription, U. S. and Mexico; $3.00 per > annum. Canada, $4.00. Foreign, $4.50. Subs¢ribers can have addresses changed at will. Change of advertising copy must reach this office on Thursday preceding date of publication. The Cleveland: News Co. will supply the trade with the Marine Review through the regular channels of the American ; News Co. European _ ea, 'The International News Company, Breams oe Chancery Lane, London, E. C., England. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, s as Second Class Matter. aecensbct 24, 1908. SECRETARY STRAUS ON SHIP- : PING. oe Straus of the Department 'of Commerce and Labor, in his: annual report just sent to the President, re- news the recommendation made in his last annual report in. favor of a meas- ure that will insure superior mail com- munication with the republics of South America, with Australasia by way of our insular territory in the Mid- -Pacific, and with the Philippines by way of China and Japan. A bill which in its essentials accords with that recom- mendation has passed the Senate and now. awaits action by the House, Con- tinuing he 'said: "The Department of Commerce and Labor has a three-fold interest in the improvement of our ocean-mail ser- vice. It is concerned in the develop- ment of American ocean-mail steam- ship. lines, especially to. South Amer- ica and on the Pacific, because such steamships afford the opportunities for buyers and sellers to travel to and TAE Marine REVIEW from this country, for the speedy and regular transmission of mail orders, and for the transportation of classes of manufactured goods for which es- pecially we seek markets. Under mod- ern conditions of international compe- tition such opportunities must be made satisfactory, if our. both capitalists and laboring men, are to producers, "have a fair chance with those of other "nations in the relatively new markets 'of the world. That such opportuni- ties are not now satisfactory is shown by an unbroken line of undisputed tes- 'timony of competent witnesses. It is not now possible to travel with sat- isfactory speed and comfort from the United States to many South Ameri- -can countries or to Australasia unless the voyage is made by way of Euro- pean or Canadian ports. Perhaps in time foreign steamship lines may find it to their profit to improve present conditions, but our reliance upon such foreign lines is already so great as to impair that independence on the sea which ought to be the aim of a coun- try holding the present rank of the United States among nations. Since the adjournment of Congress the American battleship fleet has sailed nearly around the world on a mission of peace. The attending fleet of for- eign colliers has been evidence to all the world that this voyage would have been well-nigh impossible in time of war, and that during hostilities the radius of action of our battle ships will be practically restricted to their limited coal-carrying capacity SO long as our merchant marine on the sea remains dwarfed. fAn .ocean-mail act will not, of course, lead directly to the construc- tion of .colliers. In the development of modern shipping corporations, how- ever, the cargo steamer has usually fol- lowed the faster ocean-mail steamer. Such has been our experience under the ocean-mail act of 1891, in so far as its rates of compensation have sufficed to produce results, and such doubtless will be the effect of a satisfactory amendment -to- that act.. The con- struction of such cargo steamers will still further increase our ocean trans- portation facilities for the benefit of the interior productive fields of the United States. "Again, the cost of construction of ships is the initial, though not the sole, obstacle in the way of the development of the American merchant marine in trade. Our extensive pro- over-sea gram of naval construction and our coastwise trade law have created. our modern shipyards on the seaboard, but it is not to be expected that they will always suffice to maintain them. The transportation of ocean mails is as legitimate a function of government asthe mails." - transportation of domestic As such the ocean-mail ser- vice seems to me to be entitled to the support of the entire Congress, regard- less of the general economic theories which may be held by individual mem- bers. If such support shall mvolve indirectly the increase of our fleet of cargo-carrying ocean steamers and the upbuilding of domestic shipyards, then the gain to the whole country is the greater. "Congress in 1891 appreciated the of an 'American ocean- The act of that year has importance mail service. "since stood free from stccessful crit- icism of its principle and purpose. It has. produced results in certain direc- tions and it has failed in other direc- where failure was foreseen 'by We stopped with that have ad- tions, its advocates. act, while other nations vanced. We should bring that legis- lation abreast of the day. In my re- port last year I stated: "Bor many years it was entirely true that the energies of the country were so absorbed in its internal develop- ment that there was no surplus to de- vote to expansion of national trade and influence outside our coast lines. It is equally true that such is no long- er the fact. lar territory; the The acquisition of insu- construction of a powerful navy, and the investment of 'American capital abroad are all tokens of a tendency in national growth which will compel our country to become again a sea power, as it was when the Republic was only a fringe of states along the Atlantic seaboard.' "Even under favorable conditions at least two years and possibly three