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

410 ance of a "balanced traffic" in rail- way operation, but in discussing our chances in the carrying trade it seems to be usually ignored. No highly pro- tected nation, including the United States, has been able to wrest either the trade or its transport from the British nor even seriously to threaten it. It is notable that England's pre- dominance in foreign trade and trans- 'portation leaped upward immediately after the freer trade laws initiated by Sir Robert Peel in 1842 to 1846, while the carrying trade of the United States reached its apex in the middle of the following decade, and thereafter de- clined progressively up to 1914 in spite of all so-called protective legislation. ais is not an argument for 'free trade or even low tariff per se. But as to the effect of a "Chinese wall" iff on our merchant marine there seems no room for discussion. Our Wage Level Highest Assuming all these matters may be settled in the best practicable way, the.e still remains one factor which no law can neutralize: Our general wagé level is the highest in the world, not only in lines directly affecting the op- eration of ships, but in every line of commercial industry, Now a moment's thought is conclus- ive of this, that all the commercial value of any article is given to it by fapor and 'service. The ore in -the ground has no commercial value if it is to stay there. When brought to the surface it has a value given to it by labor and service. Then through evy- ery step up to its ultimate market it receives increased value only as form or location or availability is altered by labor and service, or by machines and methods which are their product. Even a cocoanut has to be picked and trans- poi:ted before it has any realizable com- mercial value. It results that a higher wage level, means higher costs. Higher costs mean higher overhead, higher insurance, high- er operation, and higher maintenance. Here is a handicap which will continue as long as the conditions of which it is the result continue. Legislation can no more control it than it can govern the rise and fall of the tides. As compared with results obtained during the disorganization of the post- bellum period, much can be done to reduce and minimize our present disad- vantage but it cannot be eliminated. There then still remains the question of how this constant factor is to be over- come or neutralized. Here only two answers seem possi- ble. First, the inventive genius of America, inferior to none in the world, must be called upon. For two gene:a- tar- ~ MARINE REVIEW tions the major portion of this, as well as of other assets of America, has been diverted from sea activities into other and more profitable channels. But in the lines to which it has devoted its energies it has made a worldwide reputation. No field presents a wider scope for such powers than steamship construction and p.opulsion. Type and model of hull and improved equipment always have possibilities, but it is like- ly the greatest economies of the fu- ture will come from fresh inventions in two fields, propelling machinery and economy in fuel. For instance, the internal combus- tion engine and electric drive may throw all the old propulsive methods into the discard, if they only moder- ately realize the claims of their ad- vocates merely by the economy of fuel and resultant saving of space and lifting capacity for revenue purposes, But it will take time to convince own- ers that these claims are well founded; and a still longer period before the lack Ol repair facilities for the).new - en- eines' (will cease to be a. handicap. Hence the dominance of this type, if it is to come, is probably some dis- tance in the future. Many engineers still are skeptical about the ultimate fate of the motor- ship, but two offsets to such opinion should be bo.ne in mind. The .average engineer is notably conservative and will have to be "shown" conclusively before he discards the engine of which he knows every strong and weak point, in favor of an intrusive stranger of which he knows nothing. Again it is notable that Germany and Scandi- navia are turning. to these new types and they are seagoing nations of es- tablished commercial experience, not famous for rushing into untried and es- pecially expensive experiments. In view of this it is not safe-to disregard the motorship as possibly the commanding type of the future. In the broad view the question of fuel looms up as of the first importance. The permanence. of otf as a. fuel is problematical. It will possess an ad- vantage only so long as the price en- ables it to compete. with other fuels, and the limits of supply, discovered and undiscovered, may not permit this level to long continue. Further, in the opinion of good authorities, the world's supply of petroleum should be rigidly conserved for lubricating purposes be- cause once it is exhausted, no sub- stitute will be available so far as can be now fozeseen. For these and other reasons and _ be- cause the waste in the use of coal is so high--estimated at more than 50 per cent of its thermal value, science September, 1921 is actively searching for any method to reduce the cost and waste of the fuel on which our whole industrial system depends. For instance, Germany, France, Den- mark and Sweden have expe-imented with some prospect of. success with the diesel engine, using as fuel not only any kind of mineral oil but also coal tars. By German specialists in internal combustion the by-products of coal have been valued even more high- ly than mine.al oils on account of the uniformity of their chemical qualities. In the United States interesting ex- periments have been made in the utili- zation of coal dust for making steam, with a resultant fuel saving of approx- imately 30 per cent. Should these even- tually make good it would mean an enormous saving by utilizing the coal waste at mines and piers which former- ly has been regarded as valueless. This merely indicates one or two lines in which the inventive genius of America may. aid in' the solution of our sea problem. For the present how- ever, the problem of immediate defi- Cits must be met. Jt cannot: be post- poned, To establish sea trade one must keep in the game, for transporta- tion is not the sort of business where one can dodge in and. out as. market conditions vary. Ships must continue to run and, for the present and for some time to come, they will show a loss. As long as these conditions obtain, Owners must meet the deficits out of reserved profits or out of capital. There is no alternative except to quit at once. And the American taxpayer, as an owner, can no more escape this necess- ity than the humblest private owner. Subsidy would probably be ineffective at this time even if politically possible. The only other choice seems to be the issue of bonds to meet the annual deficit so long as the government re- tains ownership. Treble Barge Traffic The Mississippi section of the gov- ernment barge line carried more than 50,000 tons of freight downstream dur- ing July, or more than three times the amount handled during the same month last year, according to a statement is- sued by Theodore Brent, manager of the service. More than half of this year's total represented grain shipments, principal- ly wheat. Upstream traffic fell off dur- ing July, only 10,000 tons being car- ried as compared with 18,000 during the month of June. The principal up- stream commodity has been sisal and the falling off in imports affected the barge line business.