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14 THE GROWTH OF GLASGOW. The West of Scotland Iron and Steel Institute made a great success of its annual dinner on Saturday, Nov. 28. Over 300 guests assembled in the Grosvenor restaurant and the company was thoroughly representative of the important industries of the Clyde and surrounding districts. P. N. Cunning- ham, president of the Institute, was in the chair and he was supported by the Marquis of Graham, Sir John. Ure Primrose, T. Worthington (director commercial intelligence department of the board of trade), Bailey Shaw Max- well, Rear Admiral J. E. Bearcroft, C. B., and representatives of the chief ship building and engineering firms and scientific and trade associations. The part played by the ship yards of the Clyde in the naval defense of the country was referred to by Rear - Admiral Bearcroft, who responded to the toast of "The Navy." He said it was a subject of congratulation that the larger half of the orders for ships recently projected. should have been secured by firms on the Clyde. (Ap- plause.) Eleven ships out of the 21 were to be built there, and there was reason to believe that further orders for line-of-battle ships might be shortly expected. (Applause.) With the increase in size and draught of water of the modern battleship, there were distinct indications that facili- ties for dry-docking ships within a reasonable time of launching would 'be more and more taken into consid- eration in the settlement of the tender for naval construction. There was no doubt that the difficulties of dry-dock- ing sitps which had an average draught of 30 to 31 ft. and an average beam of anything from 80 to 8&4 ft., was a very serious matter with the docks at present available. (Hear- Hear.) And' it was a= matter 'that would have to be taken into consider- ation by the great ship building cen- ters. Some interesting facts illustrating the commercial progress of Glasgow were given by Mr. Worthington, in proposing the toast of "The City of Glasgow." In the three years, 1895-6-7, their imports averaged 11,400,000, as compared with average of - 15,000,000 in the year 1905-6-7. (Applause.) The exports during the same period had risen from an average of 13,800,000 to one of 25,700,000. 'The last figures, he ought to say, in order to make the COmparison more correct,: was after deducting the value of the ships sent from the port of Glasgow and sold abroad. Those figures were not taken into account prior to 1899. In 1897 THE MarRINE. REVIEW there were built of vessels over 15 tons and exclusive of his majesty's ships and of pontoons, 296 vessels with an aggregate net tonnage of 192,500, whereas last year the corresponding numbers were 431 vessels of 348,500 aggregate net tonnage. (Applause.) In the 10 years from 1897, the production of pig iron in the three counties of Lanark, Stirling, and Ayre, averaged 1,100,00 tons, against 1,400,000 last year. The toast of "The West of Scotland Tron and Steel Institute,' was pro- ~ posed by Sir John Ure Primrose, who struck what he called the note of ro- mance in the industrial progress of Glasgow and the west of Scotland. Nothing, he said, could be more fas- cinating than the story of Glasgow's rise and progress, and certainly no in- dustry other than the iron and steel industry had been a more potent fac- tor in imperial progress and in com- mercial advance. It was an axiom that the ore must come 1o the coal. That today remained to 'them an almost un- assailable fortress. How long it might remain it was impossible to predict. Unless science evolved other methods, the lifetime of their coal supply would measure the possibilities of their being the paramount manufacturer in the realm in which they were all interest- ed. In foreign countries laws were being enacted for. the protection of such interests. In Sweden the govern- ment claimed pre-emption of all min- eral wealth in 1932, with the avowed object of its redemption from the crude into the marketable commodity within their own realm. Even in New- foundland they were pursuing that process, and buttressing up the indus- try with a bountiful system that gave local products a fictitious value in competition with British products. It was at least a subject for calm delib- erative thought whether they in Great Britain were justified in the prodigal exportation of coal. This was essen- (ally the iron and steel age. The Clyde without the iron and steel in- dustry could never rank as it did as the supreme ship building center of the empire, and they could only re- main in that supreme position if they recognized that their river must have an equipment second to none in the world. They must also recognize that it was only by exact method, by trained science, by' the product of their technical schools, and the wider product of their universities, that they could ever hope to worthily preserve the traditions of the past. The president, whom Sir John had referred to as bearing an honored Grosvenor name in the chronicles of the kings of the iron and steel industries, re- sponded for the Institute. It was founded, he said, 17 years ago. Its history had been one of continual progress and the membership was now 450, and the balance in hand was £560. UPBUILDING OUR MERCHANT MARINE. The upbuilding of an American merchant marine, the promotion of trade with South America and the Orient and a total forgetfulness of sectional lines in the promotion of this country's commercial interests were urged by Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus, Secre- tary of War Wright; John F. Wallace, of New York, former chief engineer of the Panama canal; Surgeon General Walter Wyman, Gifford Pinchot, chief forester; L. C. Glenn, professor of geology; Vanderbilt University; John A. Fox, of Arkansas; John N. Par- ker, of New Orleans, and others, at the southern commercial congress. The congress, which is composed of more than 200 delegates representing 24 states, breathed a spirit of trade unity, the slogan being "to bring men together in the language of commerce, which is the language of peace." Three sessions, presided over by G. Daw, secretary of the Montgomery, Ala., Commercial Club, extended into the night and conclud- ed the opening day of congress. Secretary Straus, who made the opening address, urged federal en- couragement of the American mer- chant marine, as the surest way to expand and hold American 'trade with South America and the Orient. He deplored the political insignificance of American commerce with South Amer- ica, declaring that more than $2,000,- 000,000 of trade annually, which now goes to European countries, rightfully belongs to 'the United States and, with an adequate -merchant marine, could be captured. Secretary Wright, who spoke on "The Influence of the Panama Canal on the Industrial Development of the Nation," also urged the building of a merchant marine proportionate to the needs of growing country. "Our present merchant marine is So insignificant," he declared, "that beside that of great European com- mercial nations it ts not worth men- tioning as such. In fact, certain pri- vate ship owners in Europe own more ships than the total of American-built ships engaged in foreign trade. The ' 4