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ordinary cargo steamers. 4 18 REVIEW OF SHIPPING. Joun: White, 23 Great St. Helen's, London, E. C., has issued his custom- ary half-yearly review of shipping. He says: It was an old saying, but never more true than of late, that the metal market' is. a reliable barometer of trade. During the past two years this market has been advancing, and trade in all parts of the world has exceeded all previous records. This enormous trade has only been possi- ble by the means of transit supplied by shipping, but it is unfortunately the fact that shipping has been , the industry that has least benefited by this activity. This practical lesson ought to impress itself "upon ship owners, who appear to have been slow to realize the fact that over supply of tonnage and want of cohesion in fixing freights have prevented their reaping the benefit they should have derived from the - great volume of trade that has been passing. The year commenced . with ship builders better employed than they are today, there have been few orders given during the past six months for The high price of material causes builders to require prices on contracts that own- ers of cargo steamers cannot follow. It will take long to aproach equalizing supply and demand in tonnage, but the cessation of orders is all in the right direction. The contracts of the half-year have been mostly for regular liners, specialties such as oil carriers 'and important orders for foreign liner owners. The liner is now encroaching $0 much into the tramp steamer's trade, by taking cargo from several ports to more than one port of dis- ehatee, that the addition of such tonnage cannot now be viewed in the 'same light as in the past, but is becom- ing a serious competitor in market oireights. It is not very useful for comparison to give at the half-year details of pro- duction, tonnage, building, etc., . as eucl ate tO a great extent carrying forward of orders given in the previ- ous year. Such statistics are there- fore deferred to my report issued at the beginning of the new' year. Prices of ready steamers, new and second-hand, are practically the same as at the end of last year. The poor rates of freight current, increased cost of coal, high wages of seamen and of labor discourage buyers and make sales more difficult. Steel ship plates are now £7 10s per ton, which was the price at the end of last year, although in January a little more was demanded. Prob- oe "TAE Marine. REVIEW ably the market is a little firmer today than it was in December last. The high price does not arise from ship building orders but from the demand from abroad, especially America, and also at home for raw material in con- sequence of the activé trade in railway and building plant. Coal has been high throughout the half-year, best steam coal in Wales touched 20s in February, and is now 19s, and in the Tyne. has advanced from 12s 6d in January to 14s 6d now current. The prices of coal are higher also in New South Wales, India and all foreign stations, and exceptionally high on the west coast 'of America. Labor troubles have been numerous more especially abroad since the com- mencement of the year continuing the bad record. of the previous year. Strikes provide undesirable employ- ment for steamers by causing delay in loading and discharging although mini- mizing the over supply of tonnage, but the injury to trade generally and to the workmen themselves is incal- culable. There have been strikes of laborers at New York, which, it is stated, caused some of the regular lin- ers to have to bring cargo back to England and the continent, being un- able to discharge such in time for the steamers to sail on their, advertised dates. This strike after many weeks ended as usual in the men returning to work on the old terms. Strikes of officers and seamen of German steam- ers, of workmen in German ship build- ing yards, of stevedores' men in Ham- burg, the latter necessitated men to be sent from England--of seamen in French ships and also Italian steam- ers--dock laborers at Trieste and Rot- terdam--coal laborers at Port Said-- railwaymen and other laborers in South America. At home the engi- neers' demand for an wages appears likely to be withdrawn. It is to be hoped for the men's sake they will be content with the present good earnings, for it seems impossible for employers in the present state of trade and the very moderate prospect of new orders to concede any in- crease, Combinations continue to extend amongst ship building and ship own- ing ¢oncerns.. The combining of in- terest of Messrs. Harland & Wolff,' Ltd., of Belfast, and Messrs. John Brown & Co., Ltd., of Clydebank and Sheffield, etc. etc., will doubtless be comprehensive of every feature of complete ship building, either of mer- chant ships or armored warships. In ship owning, combinations have been made by owners of British liner ton- nage, and the same has been adopted increase in - amongst German companies and by American companies principally en- gaged in local services. Since the commencement of the year the freight war between British com- panies and a German company trad- ing with India 'has terminated. Dur- ing the half year a shipping confer- ence between the representatives of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand has been held in Lon- don, and, so far as can be judged, does not appear to have resulted in ° any arrangement that will make the colonial trade. more attractive to Brit- ish shipowners. At this conference one of the colonial representatives and our chancellor of the exchequer suggested the removing or the reducing of Suez canal dues to be an object worth aim- ing at. This question should certainly be aimed at, very straight; the dues be- ing such a heavy burden. In my re- port of Jan. 1, 1906, the following re- marks are made on this question: "It is an international question that de- serves attention, whether such a high- way, having repaid its cost with liberal interest, should continue to be a joint stock 25 per cent profit-earning enter- prise, or follow the rule with all high- ways, and become free of toll, subject to provision for expenses of upkeep." The half year has witnessed the passing by our parliament of an act to include seamen under the Workmen's Compensation Act, entailing an addi- tional heavy charge on British vessels, and thus increasing the disadvantage our ships work under as compazed 'with foreign vessels. Increased . ex- pense of working our ships has also been added by an amendment of the Merchant Shipping Act, involving fas- tidious burdens in regard to provision- ing of crews. FREIGHTS. The half-year opened better than it - closes, and outward rates have ad- vanced in consequence mainly of the decrease in homeward rates, and also in- fluenced by great delays in discharging abroad. Detention has arisen at our coal ports by the facilities for loading being inadequate for the much greater length of modern steamers, With the exception of a rapid rise in . freights from River Plate, the end of January, which appeared to come as a great sur- prise, and continued firm for two months, since which they have dropped to 12s. 6d. (up river), there has not been any market of -- special Eastern homeward rates have been the most consistent, improving a little the first three months, and are now about the same as at the end of last year when they were considered fair, but increased cost of coal is a serious item on these feature. . sab iB ha ke ca a rth lta