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174: lated to the prosperity and profits of the industry but this has always been refuted. The men intend to demand an inquiry as to the facts and will be prepared, he claims, to stand by the results. Mr. Hill concludes with a warning that if an inquiry is refused the responsibility of any industrial struggle will rest with the employers. * * * StS relating to the work- " ing of the principal ports for 'the month of December have been issued by the ministry of transport. Tie fol- lowing table shows the total net registered tonnage of vessels arriving and departing in the coasting and for- eign trades: Month Arrived Departed 1920 Tons net reg. Tons net reg. September 10,814,876 11,323,470 October ... 8,561,913 8,352,008 November .. 9,174,895 9,111,247 December .. 9,752,637 10,033,018 The increase in the December fig- ures compared with the preceding months was due entirely to the im- _ proved coal shipment following the set- tlement of tthe miners' strike. The av- erage time' in berth for eight ports was 6.23 days in December compared _ with 7.08 days in November. ed Se ee HE port charges of London and Liverpool have been officially re- duced 10 per cent owing to revision of dock and warehouse dues. These high charges are a standing grievance with shipowners and, it is pointed out, these charges have much to do with the prices at which goods can be 'sold in the market. Apparently shipowners are not hopeful that the London and Liverpool example will be followed in view of the determination, so far as it has been expressed, on the part of labor to insist on the maintenance of high wages. Shipowners are not at all hopeful of any modification of charges under the head of labor in any department. sok * XTENSIVE robberies of merchan- dise in connection with ships and warehouses is causing great concern among shipowners and merchants and the matter has lately developed into _ an epidemic. Merchants are naturally angry that they lose so large a pro- portion of their shipments and _ the matter is also of serious concern to shipowners and underwriters because of the large claims in respect of Joss. The home secretary was recently ap- proached on the matter and the ship- owning community is much disgusted because the government officially de- clines to admit that it has received evi- dence showing pilferage is now on a larger scale than before the war, but reports that looser methods of con- MARINE REVIEW ducting business are largely responsible for the less satisfactory carriage of goods, Against this statement, the losers of property are able to produce substantial evidence of the increase in pilferage. But it is admitted that con- ditions of trade have led to more gen- eral storage of goods and have thus assisted people with dishonest inclina- tions; it is at the same time admit- ted that some little looseness thas de- veloped on the part of those in charge and efforts have been made to get rid of this laxity. The matter is to be specially dealt with by a committee of the Chamber of Shipping which in- cludes a number of practical shipping managers. 4 x ok x N EXAMPLE of the way in which extravagant labor claims contribute to unemployment comes from Portsmouth where the joiners' strike made it impossible to recon- dition the White Star liner ARasic in that port. A Portsmouth firm of re- pairers offered to do the work but this was found impossible 'because the Southampton joiners communicated with the Portsmouth trade unions and appealed to them not to "blackleg" the job. There was no dispute at Ports- mouth and some of the 5000 unem- ployed in that town would have been glad to earn money but they were pre- vented, with the result that the work- men of Cherbourg, France, will earn £100,000. which otherwise would have been useful to the families of ithe Portsmouth workmen. This is not the only case in which work has been di- verted from Portsmouth and ship re- pairers there have lost a good deal of business not only on account of wages but because of the onerous labor con- ditions. Quite a lot of attractive busi- ness in the way of repair work is being diverted from England to the conti- nent. Sir John Norton Griffiths, M. P., in a speech to his constituents ex- plained that he is a contractor for the building of railways, harbors, etc., and was recently obliged to lose a con- tract because he was able to get rein- forced concrete steel in France or Bel- gium at £12 to £14 a ton against a quotation of £23 in Great Britain. * ok Ok BRITISH shipbuilders are taking great interest in the application of gas heating to a variety of uses in the shipbuilding yards and a great deal of attention has been directed to the achievements of the Moore Shipbuild- ing Co., an American firm which holds the world's record for having on two occasions launched three ships in one day. The British Commercial Gas as- sociation recently issued a pamphlet showing the economies effected in _ with expectation. April, 192] some of the shipyards on the shores of San Francisco bay during the height of the recent American shipbuilding boom, : + ei Te accident to the K-54 large British submarine, has nat. urally attracted a good deal of atten. tion among marine builders and engi. neers are endeavoring ito discover the weak places in the construction of such vessels which made such an ac¢- dent possible. It happens that the kK series of boats has the advantage of the double hull which most engineers consider gives greater surface buoy- ancy though on the other hand many experts consider that the boat is much more difficult to handle when syb- merged while the light outer plating is liable to damage when the ship is sit. ting on the bottom if a heavy ground swell is running. Some opinions have been expressed in favor of so increas- ing the staff as 'to enable the captain of a submarine cruiser to have a diy- ing officer responsible for placing the vessel at whatever depth is required, It is considered that the submerging part of the work is one calling for special attention and ithis subject is likely to receive special consideration in the construction of such vessels in the future. x ok * WO giant liners, the Bismarcx and the ImprRaATor, have been acquired by the White Star and the Cunard com- panies. It appears that Lord Inchcape acted on behalf of the reparations com- mittee in the sale of the two great ships. For a long time the Imperator has been in the Cunard service, that company hay- ing the management of the vessel on behalf of the reparations committee, and the sale was, therefore, in accordance A good deal of money has been spent upon the reconstruction of the Bismarck and it is expected that some months must elapse before the ves- sel is ready for service. Much of this work will be done by her builders, Blohm & Voss at Hamburg, though the finishing touches are expected to be given to the liner in British yards. * * x HE third of the new cabin class steamers building for the Canadian Pacific Ocean Services Ltd., will be named MontcLarE. Of these three vessels, MontcaLM and Montrose have already been launched, the former by John Brown & Co. and the latter by the Fair- field Shipbuilding & Engineering . Co. The MonTciareE is being built by John Brown & Co., and it is hoped to launch her shortly. These new steamers are being built to supplement: the service of similar vessels of the C. P. O. S. fleet in transatlantic service.