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12 MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. Published every Thursday at No. 409 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohlo, 7 by John M. Mulrooney and F. M. Barton. Supscription--$2.00 per year inadyance. Single copies 10 cents each. Convenient binders seut, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second class Mail Matter. The books of the United States treasury department on June 30, 1896, contained the names of 3,333 vessels, of 1,324,067.58 gross tons register in the lake trade. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 gross tons, and over that amount, on the lakes on June 30, 1896, was 383 and their aggregate gross tonnage 711,034.28; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 315 and their tonnage 685,204.55, so that more than half of the best steamships in all the United States are owned on the lakes. 'The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 1896, was as follows: Gross Number. Tonnage. PC AIMET ESOS ep oes. the keceecsstnscnchises sshembcatO sass ae seas 1792 924,630.51 Sailing vesselS and DALZes...........sssescccccsecceseoreraceess 1,125 354,327.60 CAMARO RTS eee dei ivods vusstwssvtseetivavexcdesene 416 45,109.47 ILO UB eeeeeere cotta cc iaik ceca ccacetocechetecees 8,333 1,324,067.58 The gross registered tonnage of the vessels built on the lakes during the past oer: according to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: Year ending June 30. 1891 : 204 111,856 45 ss oe sf 1892... 169 45,968.98 ie ' ' 1893... 175 99,271.24 a fs i 1894 106 41,984.61 a ue 's ASOD were uiecsiaes cere obese 93 36,352.70 a BS us 1896 117 108,782.38 ING La eceatcceencccticcricinscoccvvesivacisvsvccecdresescorussce 864 444,216.36 SIs MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ CANAL TRarric. (vom Oficial Reports of Canal Officers.) Suez Canal. | St. Mary's Falls Canal. 1895* 1894 1893 -- 1895 1894 1893 No. vessel passages.,............ 17,956 14,491 11,008 8,434 8,352 8,341 Tonnage, net registered...... 16,806,781) 13,110,366] 9,849,754!| 8,448,383] 8,039,175) '7,659,068 Days of navigation.............. 231 234 219 365 365 365 _ _ 5 * 1895 figures include traffic of Canadian canal at Sault Ste. Marie, which was about ¥% per cent. of the whole, but largely in American vessels. As noted in a report of a meeting of the legislative committee of the Lake Carriers' Association, printed elsewhere in this issue, the association has decided to take part in the preparations that are being made by ship owners in all parts of the country, to present to the incoming congress and to President McKinley a scheme for protec- tion to American shipping. The lake interests will be represented in this matter by F. J. Firth of Philadelphia, Harvey D. Goulder of Cleveland and C. H. Keep of Buffalo. In the preparation of a meas- ure for the restoration of the American mercantile marine, the opin- ions of these gentlemen will undoubtedly be of great value. They will have no hobbies and no personal ends in view, as the lakes are in- terested only inairectly in the question of subsidies or other measures of assistance for American vessels io the foreign trade. It is now quite certain thatn o measure involving discriminating dutieswil 1 be reeom- mended to the new administration. The feeling against discrim- inating duties has developed wonderfully since attention has been di- rected to the Elkins bill, which provides that'a duty of 10 per cent. ad-valorem, in addition to the duties now imposed by law, shall be levied on all goods imported in ships not of the United States: and that any and all clauses in existing treaties in contravention thereto shall be abrogated and repealed. Probably the strongest protest made against this bill comes from the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange. One feature of this protest is as follows: "Thé protection sought to be given to the American ship owner by the proposed tax of 10 per cent. on the value of the merchandise carried would be most un- equally distributed. On acargo of iron ore the tax would amount to about 20 percent. of the freight, while on a cargo of sugar or tobacco it would be fully 800 per cent.; on corn it would be 50 per cent. ; on provisions 200 per cent., and so on; discriminating between ship owners in the first named instance to the extent of giving fifteen times as much protection to one as to the other. In high valued mer- chandise, such as silks, etc., this unjust discrimination would be still more appalling." _ Quite a few readers of the Review are known to be earnest students of subjects pertaining to the cost of transportation by water as againt cost by rail. Mr. George Tunell is engaged in writing for the Journal of Political Economy, which is published by the University of Chicago, a series of very interesting articles on lake transportation. Ina letter received recently he asks the Review for information along. certain lines suggested in the preparation of these articles. 'Probably some of the readers referred to above would be pleased to take up in these columns, or by correspondence with Mr. Tunell, the points suggesteg in his letter... He says: "In talking over an article on 'Lake Trans. portation and the Grain Traffic' (which I am now preparing for pub- lication) with Mr. Peabody, the editor of the Railway Review of Chicago, he made a statement which surprised me. He asserted that the motive power reauired to move a certain amount of freight over rails is less than that required to movea like amount of freight through water. Mr. Peabody even went so far as to contend that the expenses of movement were less in the case of railroads than in the case of lake vessels. He, of course, did not include fixed charges in the case of railroads. The Pennsylvania Company, he said, had made some ex- periments, a few years ago, which led them to believe they could meet any rates which the lake carriers might see fit to make on grain. The statistics which I have thus far compiled seem to show that there isan increasing tendency to ship wheat and flour by rail. What is the ex- . planation? To what extent are terminal charges responsible for this diversion of traffic? Is New York the natural export port for grain shipped by lake vessels to Buffalo? Are the charges at New York excessive? Is grain still lightered from cars to vessel at New York? Can it be said in general that the lake carriers have greatly reduced their charges but that terminal charges (transfer and storage charges and commisions) have not fallen to anywhere near the same extent?" The transfer of Senator Sherman from the chairmanship of the senate committee on foreign affairs to the cabinet of President Mc- Kinley will leave Senator Frye of Maine the ranking member. of that committee. Under the precedents Senator Frye would become chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, which ranks first among the senate committees. But Senator Frye is at present chairman of the committee on commerce, a position which, while ranking lower than the chairmansbip of foreign affairs, is of great importance to the maritime and navigation interests of the country. Regard for dig- nity and ease offers a strong temptation to Senator Frye to take the chairmanship soon to be vacated by Senator Sherman. But the Re- view speaks for the marine interests of the whole country in urging him to retain the chairmanship of the committee on commerce, where for years he has rendered services to American shipping which are appreciated wherever the stars and stripes float over an American vessel. The unfair and unfounded criticism to which he has're- cently been subjected in some newspapers render the present an espec- _ijally apt time for calling attention to the great energy, industry and intelligence which he has brought to bear in promoting. measures for ~ the improvement and development of our commerce. There will be no further retirements for age in the engineer corps of the army until 1901, when General John M. Wilson and Colonel Henry M. Robert will make vacancies. There will be one retirement in 1902, Colonel J. W. Barlow; two in 1903, Mansfield and King; | four in 1904, Allen Hains; J. A. Smith and Damrell; four in 1905, Gillespie, Benyaurd, W. A. Jones and Handbury; four in 1906, Raymond, Sutor, Ernst and Stanton. In 1907and 1908 a cyclone will strike the corps, sweeping into the doldrums of the retired list no less than twenty officers, clearing away all the officers above the rank of captain, except ten majors--M. B. Adams, Lockwood, Ruffner, Mahan, Knight, Marshall, Bixby, Rossell, Symons and Leach. Other casual- ties aside, Major Adams will then be the head of his corps, for nearly a year, to be followed by Major Lockwood. Then Major Mahan will hold the fort, until he is sueceeded, March 28, 1911, by Major W. H. Bixby. There will then be but two survivors of the present noble army of majors on the active list, viz., Bixby himself and Leach, who has just received his promotion to major by the retirement of General Craighill and: appointment of General Wilson.--Army and Navy Journal. : In the language of the street, there are a great many men in the iron business who are still of the opinion that Mr. Carnegie is' not 'the only pebble on the beach." He has brought about a revolution 2 of prices, and will have some advantages over all competitors, but the lake carriers, the railways and the producers of iron ore and fuel will all find the means of making similar reductions to other manufacturers who may be strong enough to survive the present great change in the iron industry. Army and navy charts of the lakes are kept in stock by the Marine Review, Perry-Payne building.