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20 TAE Marine REVIEW DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY INTEREST CONNECTED OR ASSOCIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published every Thursday by The Penton Publishing Company CLEVELAND. ( t CHICAGO: MONADNOCK BUILDING. PITTSBURG: PARK BUILDING. NEW YORK: 150 NASSAU STREET. Correspondence on Marine Engineering, Shipbuilding and Shipping Subjects Solicited. Subscription, $3.00 per annum. To Foreign Countries, $4.50. Subscribers can have addresses changed at will. Change of advertisting copy must reach this office on Thursday preced ing date of publication. The Cleveland News Co. willsupply the trade with the MARINE REVIEW © through the regular channels of the American News Co. European Agents, The International News Company, Breams Building, Chancery Lane, London, E. C. England, Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, as Second Class Matter. OCTOBER 12, 1905. Canada is taking steps to develop her merchant ma- rine. The Dominion parliament has just voted a lib- eral allowance for the five schools of navigation at Montreal, St. John, Victoria, Halifax and Yarmouth. A general preliminary training in seamanship is given to a large number of young men, the purpose being to fit them for service on merchant vessels. All coun- tries except the United States do something for their merchant marine. ; The American government has apparently awakened to the fact that the defense of the treaty made between Canada and the United States is quite as much its busi- ness as it is that of Canada. American fishing com- panies have notoriously poached in Canadian waters for several years past, relying upon the speed of their tugs to escape the revenue cutters of the Dominion government. This was readily done, as several of the fishing tugs were swifter than the old revenue cut- ters in the service of the Dominion government. How- ever, two years ago the Dominion government built the fisheries cruiser Vigilant for the express purpose of overtaking the fishing tugs. This cruiser has had several brushes during the present year with the fish- ing tugs with the net result that one tug has been sunk and some lives lost. Other tugs have been fired upon, but not seriously injured. It was called to the atten- tion of the federal government that it is really im- moral to permit this confessed encroachment upon Canadian waters without taking any action to prohibit it. The American government has now, however, de- voted the revenue cutter Morrill to the service and has apprehended a few American fishing tugs. This, if nothing more, is an evidence of good faith. News comes from W ashington that Secretary Taft of the war department has recommended a postpone- ment of the coastal laws to Philippine commerce. Un- der congressional enactment the coastwise laws were to include the trade of the Philippines beginning July I of next year. These laws were to have gone into effect on July 1, 1904, but under representation that there was not sufficient American tonnage available, the period was extended two years. It is now appar- ent that Secretary Taft is reverting to his original plan of extending the time five years. When governor of the Philippines, Secretary Taft maintained that there were not sufficient ships of American 'register to take up the trade. It would be well to let this law go into effect and discover by actual practice whether there are any vessels available for the service. If there are not, and there is a field for them, it would seem strange indeed if they would not be built. As a matter of fact, ships of American register are now lying idle in New York harbor, which could prob- ably be diverted profitably to this trade as soon as they are allowed a fair field. One of the mistakes made by many of the engi- neers having charge of river and harbor improve- ments is the underestimating of the cost of the work. This is required at times by some of the members of congress who are fostering a proposed improvement. If the estimates should be large, the chances are against the work being authorized; therefore small es- timates are favored. When once authorized, the cost of the work is increased from time to time. This, of course, does not enhance the standing of the officers in the estimation of members of the engineering pro- fession. Work which is built under water requires first- class construction, as repairs to such work are dif- ficult and expensive. It therefore behooves the offi- cers to submit estimates only for the best work, and this is the only class of work which should be author- ized. Work done by or for the government should be beyond cavil. What is a saving of fifty thousand dollars on a million-dollar piece of work, especially if it means the risk of inferior construction. Perhaps no government engineer was more con- scientious in his estimates than the late Col. Merrill, who at one time had charge of the improvement of practically all of the rivers in the Ohio valley. In his report dated Jan. 9, 1875, on the Little Kanawha