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592 THE MARINE REVIEW services and of willingness to work with the existing shipping organiza- tions, instead of against them. There is reason to believe that the British shipping companies in enter- ing into the agreement have been in- fluenced by the provisions of the Unit- ed States Jones shipping act, whereby authority is taken to secure preferen- tial railway rates for goods to be shipped in United States vessels, and for granting preferential treatment to United States vessels at United States ports. There is a strong body of British shipping opinion which believes that exacting provisions are unlikely to be put in force in the United States against British shipping. Yet owners feel that they cannot entirely overlook the existence of such legislation. There is good reason to believe that the question of considering the de- sirability of securing preference for British: vessels in the ports of the British Empire is likely to receive shortly the careful consideration of British shipping authorities. It is much to be hoped that measures of this kind will not become part of the conduct of shipping in future. There is no doubt that British owners, as a body, would prefer trade open to all, if only because they dislike any form of government interference with ordi- nary conditions of trade. Some liners are among the ves- sels which have been allotted to the United Kingdom as its share of the ex-German tonnage, and for good steamers there is likely to be quite an active demand. Passenger Tonnage Inadequate The governing factor in passenger liner business is the insufficiency of the present supply of vessels of this type. No British passenger liners were built during the war, and a great impression has been made by a recent speech of Sir Thomas Fisher, the new general manager of the Canadian Pacific Ocean Services, Ltd., when, at the launch last month of the Empress or CANADA, of 22,000 tons, from a Clyde shipyard, he said that the estimated cost of the ves- sel was £1,700,000, as compared with a price of £500,000 which such a vessel would have cost before the war. -Allowing for the oe on the in- creased capital and costs of operation, the estimated cost of a round voyage across the north Atlantic of a liner of the Empress oF FRANcE type (about 18,500 tons) would, he declared, be £60,000 more than the cost of around voyage of a similar ship before the war. He went so far as to say that, unless a stop could be put to the general rise in ship- building costs and operation costs, the result would be disastrous for the British available. 'purposes, nations, for which easy communication is essential. In many directions at present the sup- ply of passenger accommodation is in- adequate to the demand. For instance, very large numbers of persons who wish to travel to India this autumn will be unable to do so because berths are not While many persons are un- der the necessity of traveling, the present high costs may be a minor consideration, but it has to be remembered that the abnormal conditions will not always ob- tain. Many people who were unable to go to sea for six years naturally now wish to travel for personal or business and they feel compelled to travel if they can possibly do so, in spite of the cost. When this exceptional de- mand has been satisfied, the public is likely to think very long before paying such rates as are now being quoted. Liner Situation Abnormal To sum up, the passenger liner situa- tion is still abnormal, and the lack of suitable ships is likely to be felt for some little time. Efficient cargo liner companies, which have long fol- lowed a conservative financial policy, will no doubt be able to pass satisfac- torily through the difficult times which are generally expected. The cargo ownerships as a rule, have done well during the past few years and some of the old established organizations have disposed of their fleets during the past few months to newly formed concerns. Cycles of good years and lean years for the ordinary cargo ves- sels have often occurred, and if there are somewhat trying times immediately lying ahead, the good times come again later. There was certain to be difficulty in readjustment of shipping to after the war conditions and it cannot be overlooked that substantial propor- tions of the world's population are not yet hard at work again. When all the world is once more settled down to work energetically, there should be more opportunities for new shipping services. Recent filing and indexing of old records by the Louisiana Historical so- ciety brought to light the fact that the first steamboat on western waters was the New Organs, which started down the Ohio 109 years ago, in 1811, arriv- ing in New Orleans, Jan. 10,-1812, four months aiter starting. This pioneer craft was built by Nicholas J: Roose- velt, great-grand-uncle of the late Theodore Roosevelt. St. Louis was not visited by a steam vessel, however, until 1817. Mississippi steamboating reached its high-water mark in the 15 years from 1855 to 1870, November, 1920 Oil Output Gains | The actual oil-production situation in Mexico, according to report of the Mexican government, appears to be improving rapidly. Exports for June reached the record total of 11,300,000 barrels, while that for May was just behind it with 11,200,123 barrels, the largest since March, 1920, when approximately 10,000,000 barrels were shipped out. The reason for the hiatus in production in April is not given in the report. It is stated that the Mexican government contemplates the erection, by means of subsidies, of a refinery for gasoline and lubricating oils, near the Tampico field. The June export was the greatest quantity of oil ever shipped out of Mexico, and all came from _ the Tampico, Tuxpam and Port Lobos fields, situated on the gulf coast of the republic. The experts: of the government estimate that the total production in 1920 will be at least 140,- 000,000 barrels, as against 88,000,000 in 1919. This will be about one-fifth of the total production of petroleum in the world, and the report declares that if proper pipe line facilities and suffi- cient tankers were provided, the Mex- ican fields could supply one- tind of the world's production, Some 20 companies furnished the record June output, headed in point of quantity by the Huasteca Petroleum Co. (American) "of . which. FE. -L, Doheny, Los Angeles, is the head. El Aguila (British) of which Lord Cowdray, better known as Sir Weet- man Pierson, is the president, came second, and the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, third. While new pipe lines have been laid, and _ loading facilities increased in the 'harbor of Tampico and shipments abroad large- ly augmented by these aids, production is still far in excess of capacity for handling it. The report says: "Mexican petroleum 'production for 1920 would equal one-third of the en- tire world output if there were ade- quate facilities for shipping the oil. At present, there are pipe line accom- modations to handle about 200,000,000 barrels a year, with tank steamers Operating in sufficient numbers to carry 150,000,000 barrels a year. This would leave about 50,000,000 barrels in reservoirs or tanks, to be added to an- other 50,000,000 barrels the next year and so on. If the combined tank fleets of the various maritime nations of the world were put into the Mexi- can oil service, in place of the one- fifth of all the tankers in the world now: 'operating there, the productive capabilities of these fields would in- sure full cargoes for these tankers 365 days in the year." Sl A I a a a i ed a