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30 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. [Mar. 12, consists of eighty-three vessels, measuring 688,973 gross tons. When we scan the earnings of other lines over a course of years, and contemplate the immense capital of this International com- pany, it is difficult to see where a fair return upon the money is to be looked for. But already we read of agencies and offices being consolidated and economies effected. There is room for much of this, if the shareholders are to get, say 6 per cent on their holdings. The sheet anchor of faith in this regard is that cutting the rates is to'be a thing of the past. The two transatlantic Ger- man lines are in the working agreement and there is no com- peting line in sight that would inaugurate a war of rates. This will give stability to trade, most acceptable to importers and ex- porters, while affecting substantial savings and making conse- quent profits for the fleets. Moreover, this great combination offers superior facilities to passengers, who may come by one ship and return by another, as convenience and business may make desirable. Goods may be shipped from the most advantageous ports. The central board is composed of men who can and who will influence freight for the ships of their own company, and so long as the rates are fair and not detrimental to the interests of producers and exporters no complaint will be heard. But the pen- alized will soon cry out should the rates rise at the expense of exporters. Mr. Griscom and his colleagues know these things, not to mention competition by strong men which unduly high freight rates would call forth from the British side of the Atlantic to compete for the carrying trade. The great fleet of the Inter- national company has been launched upon the ebb tide of trade; time must roll along before the flow comes again. But ability, economy, experience and influence may do much." SUBSIDIES COMMITTEE REPORT. Mayor Jones is no lover of subsidies and bounties, declaring that they violate the laws of trade and do not provide a solid business foundation and a wholesome atmosphere. It is the rule that the countries which pay the highest bounties have the poorest, least vigorous and progressive merchant navies. Concerning the © British subsidies committee's report Mayor Jones says: "There is much to be said for the protectionist in a new coun- try, where land is for the taking, where the virgin' soil is' rich, and the legal rate. of interest ranging between 744 and 15 per cent.. In these fertile lands the man who will sink for coal or drive for ore, or build furnaces, mills, factories and workshops, may be entitled to a guarantee of some return upon his money in the way of an import duty for a time upon the article he will pro- duce. Daniel Webster thought so; John Stuart Mill concedes the principle. Senator Webster did not foresee the difficulties of weaning the infant coal industry. But the British protectionist cannot justify his votes for an export duty on coal or an im- port duty on corn by the idea of free land, virgin soil, a bountiful harvest following a small expenditure of labor and money, or a higher legal rate of interest secured by farm mortgages than any manufacturing industry might be expected to yield. He stands alone upon the earth, defying the doctors, the facts of history, the experience of his own country--a phenomenon of economic per- versity. His congenial deformity bids defiance to the ripest and most skilful surgeons of yesterday and today. 'The question of subsidizing British ships has been advocated by interesting per- sons and protectionists for a long time. An inquiry into the question was deemed desirable, and on the motion of Mr. Evelyn Cecil, a committee was appointed in May, 1901, 'to inquire into the system of subsidies to steamship companies under foreign governments and the effect thereby produced on British trade.' The committee made its report on Dec. 3, 1902. With the evidence it is a veritable and valuable library of facts and opinions bear- ing upon shipping subsidies in various countries. The committee was of opinion: (1) That British ship owners are able to hold their own under fair conditions; (2) that skill and industry, and not subsidies, constitute the major factors in the development of trade and shipping under foreign flags; (3) that no subsidy should be granted without control by the government over the maximum rates of freight; (4) that open competition with government aid, and without the interference suggested in para- graph three, is best; (5) that a general system of subsidies is cost- ly and inexpedient; (6) that East Africa is an exception to the rule, justifying favorable consideration of a subsidy to a line of steamers to that part of the world; (7) that subsidies should be controlled by a permanent committee, that adequate speed should 'be a condition of subsidies, that no sale of subsidized ships should take place without the consent of the government, that a majority of the directors of subsidies companies should be British, and that captains and officers and a proportion of the crews of sub- sidized ships should also be British; (8) that the light dues should be abolished, board of trade regulations applied to foreign vessels precisely as they are applied to British vessels, and that something should be done to induce foreign countries to abolish coasting trade restrictions." Directors of the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. met this week and elected the following officers: President, M. A. Bradley; vice-president, George W. Gardner; treasurer, R. C. Moodey; secretary and general manager, T. F. Newman. Should the weather be favorable the company's season will begin April 1. The Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Co. announces that navigation will open between Cleveland and Detroit on March 18. The steamer City of Detroit will leave for Cleveland on that date. The Cleveland & Toledo Line will open about April 1, and the Cleveland & Buffalo Line about April 15. | BELLEVILLE WATER-TUBE BOILERS NOW IN USE (FEBRUARY, 1903) English Royal Navy - : : Russian Imperial Navy _ - : 5 Japanese Imperial Navy - c Italian Royal Navy _ - : : Argentine Navy - - - 'The " Messageries Maritimes" Company On Board Sea-going Vessels, NOT INCLUDING New In- stallations Building or Erecting. French Navy - " ' Austrian Imperial Navy - ' : Chilian Navy - : : : Chemins de fer de l'Ouest: (The French Western Railway Co.) Steamships plying between Dieppe and Newhaven - - Total Horse Power of Boilers in Use : : - - 276,460 H. P. 849,300 " - - - = 123900 . 7 122,700 32,700 13,500 © 26,000 . -- ; - 13,000 " : ° - $7,600. © t J I ! - [5,500 " = - - 4,634,360 WORKS: Ateliers et Chantiers de l'Ermitage, at Saint-Denis (Seine), France. TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS: Belleville, Saint-Denis-Sur-Seine.