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16 | THE Marine REVIEW An Englishman I once met told me that he had called on the late Minister of Marine, who asked him to go through the works and give him his opinion of the them when he returned. This he did, and when he returned his Excellency asked him his opinion in Turkish. The Englishman replied in the same language, "Excellency it is a huge scrap heap." SIX MONTHS' SHIP BUILDING IN THE UNITED STATES. The bureau of navigation reports 542 sail and steam ves- sels of 136,097 gross tons built in the United States and offi- cially numbered during the 6 months ended December 31, 1905, as follows: TOTAL "WOOD <7 steer Sail Steam: Sail Steam No.|Gross|No.| Gross |No.|Gross|No | Gross ||No.| Gross Atlantic and Gulf ow 7) 148 | 20,160|162 | 5,829 | 4 |2,551 | 27 | 18.843 341 | 47,383 Porto Rico... 0.3 2 Te ale ere ioe 15 on coe 18 1808 48 2709 He i all Oe 4,605 awWall-ac ie eel iy ee es a NES tlre ese |e al che Cars able sees line ie ont 6 Great Lakes...| 5| 157 | 31 815 |....|......| 21 | 80,982 || 57 | 81,904 _ Western Rivers|....|......} 81 TSBS ata ee eee 8 852 || 84 2,190 Total ses. ee 169 | £2,228|818 | 11,191 | 4 |2551 | 51 | 100,127 [|542 | 186,097 During the corresponding 6 months ended December 33, 1904, 542 sail and steam vessels of 92,500 gross tons were built in the United States and officially numbered, as follows: WOOD STEEL Sail Steam Sail Steam TOTAL No.|Gross|No.| Gross' |No.|Gross|No.| Gross ||No.| Gross Atlantic and Gut c. 5. 195 |57,180/123 | 4,688 2| 662 | 25 | 16,955 ||345 | 79,485 Porto Rico....| 2 QO eR Oe ee eon, S 22 Paciice sc. 1612850) 507 8.98) el alee Wes a, 73 | 6,792 await Ae er ee al ers eG re cole eee eee (gen aes age Great Lakes...| 12 166} 20 ADO oe Vel as 5 | 2,498 || 37 |} 3,098 Western Rivers|....|...... 844 73,180 Woe a 1 19 || 85 | 3,206 Total........|225 |! 60,228|284 | 12,241 2} 662 | 31 | 19,472 ||542 | 92,5898 No. Gross Total calendar year ended Dec. 31,1905.................. 1,054 306,563 es woes uae ot BE NOOK So cue NP 1,065 265,104 i i A OS MOOR ee eee Care t 1,159 381,970 as ie ue i Sy O02 ee eee uns 1,262 429,327 i fe - e see NOON ee ae ce ae 1,322 376,129 INSPECTORS MUST ASSIST DISTRICT ATTOR- NEYS. Secretary Metcalf of the department of commerce and labor has issued instructions to the supervising inspect- ors of the steamboat inspection service requiring them in the future to assist to the best of their ability, within reasonable limits, the United States district attorneys in the enforcement of the steamboat inspection laws. In a statement given out at the department today in connec- tion with the issuance of the letter of instructions, it is said: "Tt has appeared in several cases of recent date involy- ing violation of the steamboat inspection laws that a cer- tain letter of instructions, issued by the acting secretary of the treasury of Oct. 26, 1881, established a ruling which seriously interfered with the administration of justice in such cases. The substance of this ruling was that local inspectors of steamboats should not in any way assist United States district attorneys in preparing for the trial of cases of violation of the steamboat laws. The circum- stances which gave rise to this particular letter are not now known, but the evils that attended the enforcement of this ruling have become serious, and the secretary has rescinded said ruling by letter of instructions. Secretary Metcalf in his letter to the supervising in- spectors says: : "Your attention is called to letter of the acting secre- tary of the treasury, dated Oct. 26, 1881, on page 289 of the "Steamboat Inspectors Manual," edition of 1889, with especial regard to the following paragraph of said letter: " Tf, from the nature of the testimony, the inspectors are satisfied that an officer has committed an infraction of law involving a fine, the papers should be transmitted to the United States attorney, unaccompanied by any testimony, opinion, or finding of the local inspectors, or any information beyond the fact that the charge is for violation of some section or sections of law which shall be specified; it is for the court to decide, at the trial of the case whether the violation is sufficiently clear to war- rant a fine being imposed.' The prohibition contained in the words 'unaccompanied by any testimony, opinion, or finding of the local inspectors, or any information beyond the fact that the charge is for violation of some section or sections of law, which shall be specified,' is hereby rescinded. The effect of said paragraph has been to prohibit the transmission by. the local inspectors of any tes- timony, opinion, or finding of said inspectors, or of any information beyond the fact that the charge 18 for violation of Jaw © in cases -of misconduct of licensed officers, involving a fine. In short, the officers of the service have thereby been wholly forbidden to help the officers of the department of justice in enforcing the law. No such condition of affairs can be permitted to continue. Whatever may have been the circumstances under which the said letter was issued, the harmful effects of the principle established thereby have become too ob- 'vinous to admit of dispute, and the ruling in said letter has been frequently used to obstruct the proper course of justice and to prevent the salutary punishment of licensed officers under the penal provisions applicable to them." ERIE CANAL STATUS. In the first annual report to the legislature N. V. V. Franchot, state superintendent of public works, points out that the number of boats navigating the state canals has fallen from several thousand to not more than 600. This is, he believes, due to boat builders ceasing their activity until the barge canal is ready for operation. The superintendent recommends the abandonment of certain parts of unused canals, which would curtail the annual expenditures. The total ap-. propriation for 1905 of $1,101,044 was $170,000 less than was appropriated for the previous year, the appropriation for ordinary repairs being $800,000, as against $820,000 in I904. Supt. Franchot has this to say with reference to the future of the work, and the suggested appropriation by the pres- ent legislature of $40,000,000 for its continuance: "The original appropriation made three years ago was $10,000,000, and yet of this sum less than $2,000,000 has thus far been expended and the obligations incurred on ac- count of the appropriation are less than $7,000,000. Of the $10,000,000 of bonds authorized to be sold, only $2,000,000 have been issued so that actually the burden thus far as- sumed is confined to the interest rate of 3 per centum on the $2,000,c00. It will be understood therefore that were the legislature to make an appropriation of $40,000,000 and - contracts to the full amount be entered into in the immedi- ate future, the payments made on account of work as it progressed would annually for some time to come consume but a small portion of the total appropriation, and that sev- eral years would of necessity elapse before this total would be exhausted. These facts, when studied, it seems to me will somewhat allay the fears of those who may have accepted the proposition to appropriate $40,000,000 as certain to impose instanter a greatly increased burden." The Burlee Dry Dock Co., Port Richmond, Staten Island, will build two tugs for J. B. King & Co., of New York,