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16 MARINE REVIEW. [May 22 THE STEAMSHIP COMBINATION. IT IS STILL THE PRINCIPAL SUBJECT OF DISCUSSION IN THE BRITISH PRESS --A SUMMARY OF WHAT IS BEING SAID BY THE LEADING JOURNALS. It is quite apparent that the London Times is the mouthpiece of the Morgan interests in England. It is the only newspaper that has main- tained an even and respectful bearing; the rest have all been shriekingly hysterical. Indeed we have rarely read such rubbish from the shipping standpoint as the English newspapers have lately been publishing. The technical papers take a very sober and sane view of the situation and are inclined to believe that the remaining 96 per cent. of British tonnage can take care of itself. The Morgan subtraction is more spectacular than vital. The White Star line has been intimately associated with the British government since the creation of the line in 1872. It has carried the troops to all quarters of the globe, and in a way every home in Britain and her colonies has had a personal interest in the ships of the White Star line. Hundreds of thousands have gone from their homes in ships of this line and thousands upon thousands have left their blood to sink in the sands and their bones to bleach in the desert. Lately 250,000 were taken to South Africa and never a life was lost in transit. The transfer to American interests of such a line could not fail to arouse a storm. But after all the feeling is only sentimental. It is not commercial in any sense. The ships have undoubtedly brought a good figure and the money will unquestionably be employed to build better ships. One can't with a 4 per cent. purchase snuff out the maritime life of a nation which to exist at all must depend upon the sea. Nor have the newspapers on this side of the Atlantic been any wiser. They seem to think that Mr. Morgan has conferred upon the American people the blessings of an American mer- 'chant marine. The fact of the matter is that only four ships out of the hundred or more that are in this shipping combination are flying the American flag. We don't see how the rest are ever going to fly the American flag unless .the navigation laws are repealed to admit them--a proceeding which would be opposed by every other interest which has capital invested under American register. We hope we are mistaken, but the combination does not present to us a favorable aspect as far as Ameri- can shipping and ship building is concerned. The Belfast firm of Harland & Wolff, which has built all the White Star liners (built them without even so much as a contract), seems to have the preference as far as future additions to the fleet are concerned. Moreover, the fact that such a com- bination exists has put a quietus upon the shipping bill. We will not argue the justice or injustice of this. In our judgment it is unjust; but it is patent that no congressman would try to convince his constituents of its injustice. Yet an American merchant marine, such as existed before the civil war, is a long, long ways off unless the government steps in and aids it. Mr. Morgan and his associates have combined these various lines as adjuncts to their railways. The venture with them is not patriotic; it is business; they have probably not given the flag a thought. Upon this point Engineer of London says: "In the whole transaction as it stands at present it is not easy to see where the United States comes in. Until an act of congress has been passed permitting the transfer, the ships must sail under the British flag and be subject to the board of trade and British maritime law. At is stated that the management of the lines will in all matters of detail re- main in the hands of those who now carry on the traffic. In so far we should have merely a preponderance of American shareholders taking the place of British shareholders, bought out at a long price. But, on the other hand, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Schwab may handle the shareholders in such a fashion that these two gentlemen will be entire masters of the situa- tion. Yet even then, indeed, then less than ever will Mr. Morgan repre- sent the United States. It is only just so far as Mr. Morgan has the confidence of congress, the senate and President Roosevelt, that he can be regarded in any other light than a very remarkable speculator, who regards the whole world as a field in which to make money. When we find the people of the United States legislating in Mr. Morgan's favor the position may become serious, but not till then." : Engineering of London bases all that it has to say upon the attitude of the London Times. The Times argues that ocean travel on the Atlantic has been carried on ona scale of too great magnificence. Decorations have become gorgeous and costly beyond all proportion to the needs of the people. Engineering admits this, but declines to. admit that the Atlantic _ liners are either too powerful or too well equipped. It fears that the com- bination may check advancement along engineering lines. The Times says that the powerful and magnificently equipped steamers will not be reproduced in the future. "In the busy seasons of good years," says the Times, "they may do very well; but taking one season with another and one year with another, there is a vast investment of capital upon which no adequate return can be secured." : _ The views of Engineering are not optimistic. They are reproduced herewith in the form of an argument with the Times article. Discussing the fact that ships are costly to the standpoint of being ruinous, Engineer- ing says, fe vissie "A. more legitimate argument in ,fayor of combination, is. hak which | .evstates, that,:owing.to. competition, costly vessels. are run:in the dull season. without isufficient passengers to make them pay. _ We think, however, that ' too much is made of this fact. In the ocean passenger trade, as with land travel, there is necessarily an ebb and flow of the stream of traffic, and provision must be made for the maximum demand. More might have been done by the shipping companies to equalize the 'load factor.' Had greater inducements, in the way of lower fares, been offered the people to travel during the slack months, it would have done much to ease the pressure in the busy season, when wealthy tourists make the passage irrespective of cost. In any case, whether there is a combine or whether the different companies act independently, the accommodation must be equal, as we have stated, to the maximum demand; and if it does not pay to run large and costly ships, smaller ones should be substituted. Natu- rally, there is dead capital entailed by laying up the steamer; but this is a charge that is inevitable, and would be the lesser evil. The Times has lost its faith in competition. 'There was a time,' we are told, 'when com- petition was the last word of political economy, and when the public were taught to look with complacency upon the process by which one set of ships may be run off the ocean by another. But competition nowadays is the preliminary to combination, or, at least, to working. agreements having much the same effect as combination. It is evident that the ruin- ous competition of the North Atlantic carrying trade is to give place to regulated co-operation.' Here, again, we have a repetition of well-worn arguments from across the Atlantic, and admire the expression 'regulated co-operation' as an ingenious euphemism for 'monopoly.' This 'regulated co-operation' is not to be confined to sea-carriage, for we are told that the combination will work in unison with the large American railway com- panies, which have power to determine to a large extent the sea carriage of the goods they bring to the coast. How long it will be before Mr. Pierpont Morgan will try to grasp the trunk lines of Great Britain we forbear to speculate; but such an enterprise does not appear to be beyond his ambition. In that case--and one might almost say in the present case, so far as goods carriage is concerned, for the stream of traffic is nearly all from west to east, owing to the American protective tariff--the destinies of British trade would be in the hands of Mr. Pierpont Morgan and his coadjutors, for the English railways would be able to boycott all inde- pendent ships, as it is the program of the American lines to do. It has been stated, not without complacency--for, truly, we are not beloved-- by a foreign newspaper that Mr. Pierpont Morgan will be able to starve England at any time. We have not much fear of such an event, because it would be like killing the goose that lays Mr. Morgan's golden eggs. There is, however, the possibility that it may suit the American managers of the combine to divert trade from British shores to Continental ports. We ar told already that Liverpool is to be abandoned in favor of South- ampton--a dislocation of the economic condition of the country that would lead to serious results, without, so far as we can see, any sufficiently compensating advantages. The Times, in the conclusion of its article, re- fers to the general public as a remainder. 'There remains,' the writer says, 'the general public, and in particular that portion of it which patronizes Atlantic liners.' The statement is significant, but the general public is told to be of good cheer. It is true 'the abatement of competition may be thought to involve some risk that it (the public) will not be so carefully looked after in the matter of comfort and luxury as hitherto, and, perhaps, some may go so far as to fear increase of fares and freights.' These things, the Times judicially allows 'are no doubt possible,' but adds, with trustful innocence, 'it is not probable they will occur.' We fear that the general public, after a year or two's experience of the rule of a combine, will not share this opinion of its benevolence; indeed, the contrary is almost de- clared in the statements that have been made. It would require almost a reversal of human nature--at any rate, financial human nature--to suppose that a combine, once having the shipper and passenger in its grip, would be over tender in regard to freight and charges; and we may conclude it would not be too enterprising in providing new 'fleets of powerful and magnificently-equipped steamers.' But we are told, 'at all events he (the passenger) will not be quite helpless so long as the Cunard company maintains its attitude of splendid isolation.' So even yet there is some faith in competition; but that last hope is denied to us if--as seems to be pretty generally allowed--the Cunard company is also to be brought into the fold. There is wisdom in the saying, which we have heard pretty often just lately, that we should not mix sentiment with business. We agree with this so far as:it is unwise to attempt to manufacture for our- selves those commodities which, from natural conditions, can be better produced abroad. But does this principle apply to the shipping trade? and if so?, what is the reason? It is not now a question of building ships, but of their management in trade when they are built. Have Englishmen lost the genius they once undoubtedly possessed for this business? Is the breed extinct that. built up our great lines--the Cunard, the White Star, the Peninsular & Oriental, and other companies--which have car- ried British products all over the world? The pioneers themselves are dead, but are there none of their descendants able to carry on the work? Has a breed of pigmies succeeded to the race of giants? The Times, in a second leader, which does much to modify the one from which we have already quoted, refers to 'men like Mr. Ismay, of the White Star line, to say nothing of others,' as not likely to do anything that would be danger- ous to the trade of this country; but a few lines later on it states that 'as a commercial and industrial community we have fallen a little behind in the energy and efficiency with which we conduct our affairs.' Presumably, therefore, we have to call in American financiers of the stamp of Mr. Pierpont 'Morgan to keep us afloat. It is a pity, we are told, that British ship owning concerns should not have been able to combine among them- selves for the purposes of common interest to them; but, the writer adds, it is less their fault than that of the state of the law in this country. Mr. Pierpont Morgan, therefore, will find some means, not open to British subjects, to evade the law of this country. What will these means be? We are told that we are not to fear the transfer of the English ships to the American flag. The arrangements are calculated to allay apprehen- sions as to 'disquieting rumors of contemplated wholesale transfers of British shipping to the American flag.' Questions have been asked in the house of commons on this point, but little information is to be gained from the replies. It seems evident, however, that in the case of mercantile cruisers, subsidized by the government, that the British ensign will con- tinue to be flown, so long as the present arrangement with the admiralty -- lasts. After that we shall be dependent upon the American controllers cof the,combine,as to what will,occur, We have no great faith in the shib- boleth that 'trade follows the flag,' if the following, is supposed.to depend upon patriotic sentiment. A manufacturer or, trader in Englan jor ithe: colonies does not stop to inquire whether the goods he buys have beer carried in a British or a foreign ship. But trade does follow the flag - the flag brings better facilities for the transport of goods. That conditio