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- at MARINE REVIEW. [June 26 OBSTACLES TO THE ALL-CANADIAN SERVICE. The following dispatch from St. John's, N. F., to the New York Sun shows that an all-Canadian service to meet the Morgan competition has. many natural obstacles to overcome. It is not likely that any service can ever be formed which will shift the ebb and flow of travel from New York: The present talk of establishing a fast all-British service across the Atlantic to some Canadian port to compete with the recently formed 'steamship combination naturally brings up the question of the port to be chosen as the Canadian terminus of the line. Here are some facts about Canadian ports that have been talked of for the purpose. It is well known that the sea road between Canada and England is shorter than between New York and England. A five-day ship to New York means a four-day ship to the Canadian mainland, though the time might be considerably prolonged if the terminal was placed at Montreal or Quebec instead of Sydney or Hawkesbury in Cape Breton. One scheme at the present time is for a line between Galway, Ireland, and Hall's bay. Newfoundland, with railways and ferries completing the connections on either side. There are so many breaks in the chain of direct communication by this route that, although it is unquestionably the shortest and most direct between Europe and America, it will not be a practical factor in transatlantic transportation for many years to come. ~~ The Newfoundland railway is a narrow gauge line. Its enlargement to the standard gauge and its construction to Hall's bay would cost some millions, and the ocean part of the journey would be safe for only six months of the year, owing to the presence of ice fields in the water around this coast. The Canadian Pacific railway wants the steamers to run to Quebec in summer and Halifax in winter. Quebec is the eastern terminus of the railroad. It could sell a ticket in London which would carry the holder to Liverpool by rail, thence to Quebec by boat, across Canada by rail again, and by another ship to Hong Kong or Australia, all by its own system and without the traveler setting foot on any but British soil or being conveyed by any but British ships and railways. : It is asserted that the company is at the present time negotiating with the Canadian government for an adequate mail subsidy for the establish- ment of the fast Atlantic steamers which are necessary to complete this scheme. The proposed Atlantic service would be a weekly one, the capital would be $25,000,000, and the subsidy is estimated to be $1,000,000 yearly. There is strong ground for the belief that a fast Canadian line via Quebec would never be a success. The St. Lawrence route is too dangerous to be followed at breakneck speed of the modern ocean greyhound. Even third-rate passenger boats and tramp freighters, which now navigate it, have to crawl through the gulf and river waters at half speed when fog prevails, which is very often, or when ice is about, which is until August in almost every year. During the winter the St. Lawrence is not navi- gable at all; it is frozen up solid, and all shipping has to be diverted to Halifax or St. John. During the spring it has to be reached by way of Cape Race and Cabot strait, to the south of Newfoundland, involving a detour of nearly 200 miles, a loss of about half a day. Only in the sum- mer, for about five months, is it possible to traverse Belle Isle strait, the direct road to Quebec. But even then the advantage of the shorter mile- age is offset by the drawbacks due to fog and ice. Belle Isle strait is only about twelve miles wide, with cross currents and variable indrafts, and when fog envelops it there is no prospect of quick transit. The same con- ditions are found to prevail more or less in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the river, where, with land in the immediate vicinity and the shallow waters admittedly dangerous, no shipmaster would risk a $3,000,000 grey- ae or even a cheaper boat, racing at top speed to break an ocean record. Transoceanic passengers would not be likely to patronize such a route, more especially when the melancholy catalogue of wrecks in connection with it is recalled. If these occur with 10, 12 and 14-knot steamers, what may not be expected with ships of 22, 23 or 24 knots, such as would be required for a modern fast service? Between Montreal and the open At- lantic east of Belle Isle fully 1,000 miles of dangerous coastbound waters intervene. It would take a fast liner fully two days to cover that distance at top speed, even if it were not necessary to take precautions against fog, ice, currents and other risks. The fastest ship would soon lose in the grip of an impenetrable fogbank the advantage she had gained by her rapid run across the unobstructed ocean. As conditions now are the ships which are foremost in the St. Lawrence traffic never make any quick passages, and while the route is the national one and convenient for Cana- dians, that is the most that can be said for it, and it attracts no American business. Another plan which is being warmly advocated of late is for a fast line from Liverpool to Sydney, Cape Breton, with the alternative of Milford Haven, Wales, as the British terminal. Milford has the advantage of being a better port, not depending upon tides and having large opportini- ties for development and being nearer America by a few score miles, with every requisite in the way of dock and railway facilities. From Liverpool to Sydney, assuming that the former port is chosen, is 2,240 miles, and Sydney has the advantage of being open all the year round, with a capa- cious and accessible harbor and an admirable location for a future center of Canadian maritime progress. But Sydney, likewise, has a disadvantage. Cape Breton is an island and is cut off from Nova Scotia by Canso strait. This is about two-thirds of a mile wide, and is now crossed by means of a ferry which involves the loss of an hour in transferring from one train to the ferry and from it to another train, not to speak of the inconvenience. It is now proposed to bridge this strait, because at Sydney there has been built the big steel smelting plant which is expected to prove such a com- petitor for American concerns, and it is believed that the trade which will develop there in due course amply warrants the outlay on the bridge. It could not be completed within four or five years at the earliest, and until such a convenience is provided a very serious drawback will exist to ope- rate against a fast-line scheme. A lesser disadvantage, existing at present but more easily remedied, is that the present route of the Intercolonial railway forms almost a semicircle following the southern bank of the St. Lawrence by way of Gaspe to Quebec. This circuitous line again neutral- izes any gain there might be from a fast ocean service, by compelling the traveler to go hundreds of miles out of his way in a roundabout railroad tide. What is necessary is a new line of the Intercolonial striking directly through the country between Quebec and the Atlantic tidewater, thereby reducing the railway time by one-half, and making it possible to provide fast trains. : : As the foregoing shows, not one of the proposed Canadian routes is in itself satisfactory. The Newfoundland one is impossible just now. The Quebec one is defective in that fast time cannot be made by it. The Syd- ney one lacks essential links to make it a perfect system. Clearly, then, the outlook for a Canadian service is not bright. It is not possible that first-class liners could be made to pay on a Canadian route unless largely aided by American passenger traffic, and under the conditions which must militate against such a service that is not likely to be forthcoming. New York must continue, by reason of its very situation and myriad advanta- ges, to be the great center through which will flow back and forth the tide of travel across the Atlantic. No Canadian port can compete with it; no expenditure of money or effort can offset the superiority which it enjoys. ARGUMENT FOR THE SHIPPING BILL. Mr. Andrew Wheeler, treasurer of the American Iron & Steel Asso- ciation, is a well-known Philadelphia iron merchant and an active par- ticipant in the movement to pass the shipping bill. He expresses in a recent interview some interesting views concernings the relation of the proposed subsidies to the combination of transatlantic steamship lines. . He says: "No American need allow himself to be troubled in consequence of the successful carrying out of the plan. On the contrary, he may rejoice and take courage that, in the ocean carrying trade, in which this country has not up to this time borne any conspicuous part, it should now, under favoring circumstances, be placed in a position to exercise a dominant part in directing and controlling the international transatlantic service. Intelligent observers need not be reminded that the grouping of our great railway systems into a few hands has precipitated and made easy the combining of the leading steamship lines into one management. Looking at the outward transatlantic service it will be seen that England takes from us mainly agricultural products. These products are brought to the sea- board by associated lines of railroads, among which complete harmony exists. Perhaps we are not overstating the matter in saying that the ultimate shipment of this vast tonnage can not only be influenced but actually determined by the actions of the railroads. "Yet transporters will not suffer or be forced to pay exacting rates. The economies that are possible under combined management will re- compense the owners, and the lessened competition will give steadiness and earning value to the securities of the corporations. If in the proposed combination England shall appear to be less of an important factor than she has been in the past the loss will seem infinitesimal so long as she remains supreme among the great purchasing nations of the world, such as China, Japan, Australia and the east and west coasts of South America. Here her commerce is undisturbed and undisputed, except by the mer- chant marine of Germany, which forms but a small percentage. At this time the United States is not an element in that field, for with the ex- ception of one line to Laguayra, we know of no regularly maintained lines to the countries named, representing as they do a population of over 500,- 000,000 people, mainly dependent upon England for manufactured goods, supplying to England her chief source of wealth, and employing, actually, hundreds of lines of steamers. It is in this field rather than in the trans- atlantic service that the friends of the American merchant marine look for great national results. The passage of the shipping bill would immedi- ately put on foot projects resulting in lines to all the distant markets named, and, aside from the direct employment of thousands of people, would stimulate as no other plan can the export of American manufac- tured goods. The failure to pass the shipping bill will leave matters in these vast fields of activity precisely as they are, England and Germany controlling with undisturbed sway these wide markets, with no possible chance of any increase at present in American lines. The compensation under the shipping bill would not go to the transatlantic service now, as the lines are under contracts having nearly five years to run, but would be immediately applicable to the countries we have named. Under the pro- visions of the bill it would not be possible to make available at present over three millions per year, and as this is less than one-half of one cent per annum on our population not much weight need be given to the 'burden of taxation' which the bill would inflict, especially since it appears that the complaint is largely from foreigners or those having foreign associations. At all events they are not those who feel as Americans the deep humiliation of present conditions and burn with patriotic desire that something uplifting to American interests shall be done by the present congress," The iron trade is still adding new tonnage to its bookings for 1903, and consumers have found that pig iron, steel billets and the heavier forms of finished material are increasingly difficult to get for this year's delivery. Steel rail contracts already made for next year amount to about 700,000 tons and it is estimated that 1902 tonnage on the books that cannot be rolled this year will increase this amount to 1,000,000 tons. The railroads give no sign of being less liberal buyers in the coming year than in the year ending with the first half of 1902. Locomotive works are sold up well into 1903 and have even taken orders for 1904. In car construction also there is no indication that the pace will be slackened in the year just ahead.--Iron Trade Review. The Saginaw Steamship Co., which began operating ships when the steamers Keweenaw and Mackinaw were built at West Bay City, Mich., several years ago for salt water service, has lately acquired considerable vessel property. The company has just bought the British Queen, which was burned in New York harbor some time ago, and will make a tanker of her. F. H. Weeks, ship broker of 82 Broadway, New York city, has secured a five-year charter for the British Queen in Texas oil trade. The Saginaw company recently took over the property of the Progressive Steamship Co., which was operating three or four good vessels on the Pa- cific. The company's fleet is to be still further augmented by a tanker building at Newport News. All charts published by the government (navigators charts) are han- dled by the Marine Review as government agent.