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18 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. to worry a bit and a meeting was held with Mr. Wolvin. There was some plain talking at the meeting. Mr. Wolvin told the owners that the fight was just as much theirs as it was his, which was really in effect what the owners had told him a day or two previous. The precarious condition of the freight market was pointed out and it was plainly hinted that the freight out- look, aside from contract business, did not amount to much more than a mouthful for the Steel Corporation ships provided they were forced back into service through surrender to the Masters & Pilots' association. Many of the owners thereupon pledged themselves to united action even to the extent of laying up their boats if necessary. Meanwhile they telegraphed for their masters to come to Cleveland and urged them to endeavor to call off the fight. They really had hope that this tactic would succeed, for it was known that a fair proportion of the masters, even including those on the Steel Corporation ships, were not in favor of a fight now. Many of the masters urged the calling off of the fight but, as stated, the mates were in the majority and they ruled otherwise. The edict went out that the independent owner should not tow the barges. A break in the ranks of the independent owners now began to be discerned. They became a divided lot. Many of them were not earnestly in the fight from the beginning. Some were still in favor of continuing the struggle, even if it sent their own steamers to the dock; others demurred, spoke of contract obligations, of the fact that their directors had met and vetoed their plans, and a hundred:and one other things which had turned the natural current of their desire awry. Mr. Wolvin and his: associates (he was all the time in conference with leading officials of the Steel Corporation) lost no time in coming to a de- cision under the new order of things. He had said in the be- ginning that he could not win alone. He settled with the Mas- ters & Pilots' association, giving them what they asked. If there should be a crumb of comfort for the owner in the agree- ment he is welcome to discover it. The agreement reads: "Capt. Frank Rae to be relieved from the command of the steamer Clemson at once and she be manned with members of the Masters & Pilots' association. That in the event Capt. Frank Rae will file an application for membership in the Mas- ters & Pilots' association within fifteen days from date, the board of directors and the committee having in charge the nego- tiating of a settlement of this controversy, pledge themselves to use their best efforts to have it favorably acted upon prior to the meeting of the Masters & Pilots' and Lake Carriers' asso- ciations, to be held during the winter. oe "All the members of the Masters & Pilots' association to re- turn at once to the same positions they occupied on the vessels on which they were employed immediately prior to this contro- versy with no stoppage of pay during the time the vessels may have been stopped. "All vessels to be put into commission immediately and to make at least one round trip. "The discussion of all other grievances that may exist to date be waived until thé meeting arranged between the Masters & Pilots' and Lake Carriers' associations to take place this winter." _In this agreement the men get really more than they are entitled to, for they get pay for time during which they were voluntarily absent from duty. As soon as the settlement was determined upon Capt. W. W. Smith, marine superintendent of the Pittsburg Steamship Co., lost no time in getting the vessels back into commission. They are now actively engaged in all the trades that are open--coal, grain and ore--in competition more than ever with:the lake fleet as a whole, and they are cer- tainly not mending the market from the vessel owner's stand- point. But above and beyond this question of the immediate dol- lar concerned in the present fall trade there is the grave ques- tion of the management of vessel property next year. The Mas- ters & Pilots' association on the great lakes from absolutely nothing a year ago is now spoken of as the most powerful body of organized labor in the world. Why? Because of the special training of its members and the majesty of the law. Were a strike to occur in the Atlantic trade it would be a comparatively simple matter to bring men from the Pacific to fill it. Engi- neers from the seaboard could run the engines of lake vessels but no masters or pilots can be brought from anywhere on earth to take the places of the deck officers of the lakes. No man from the ocean can navigate the lakes bécause he doesn't know how. Navigation on the lakes is essentially geographical and physical. It is governed by personal geographical knowledge and guided by buoys, beacons, lights and ranges and other arti- ficial aids. No man can sail a vessel on the lakes without a li- cense and no man can get a license until he has sailed for three years. The Masters & Pilots' association is now said to em- brace every licensed man on the lakes save one--and this one is promised the best endeavors of a committee, but it is to be noted that he: isn't promised admission. No more eloquent testi- mony than this is needed to convince anyone of the dominant power that rests with the Masters & Pilots' association on the great lakes, What, therefore, will the vessel owner probably see within a very short space of time--in all likelihood next spring. He may see two unions fighting over the management of his proper- ty while he himself sits helplessly by, conscious of the fact that his advice will not be sought nor his interference tolerated. A freighter costs roundly a quarter of a million dollars and the man who has this money invested in her may have absolutely nothing to say regarding her operation. If the unions decide to tie her to the dock until they settle the differences between themselves he will be powerless to prevent it. There is no doubt whatever but that the captain desires his old-time authority on the ship and there is no doubt also that it is upon this string that the mates have played. The captain will want to hire the engineers, Now the Marine Engineers' Beneficial association is a well or- ganized body. It has gone through famine to perfect its organi- zation and it has become pretty well entrenched on the lakes. It does not enjoy a position of practical legal monopoly such as the Masters & Pilots' association now enjoys, but nevertheless it pretty thoroughly embraces the marine engineers of the coun- try. The tendency of the vessel owner to employ the engineer from the home office has met the cordial approval of engineers in general. It has put the engineer in his own opinion upon an equal footing with the master, and, beyond all dispute, it is a privilege which he dearly loves. He will undoubtedly fight to retain it. He has said so already. And already has the Masters & Pilots' association sent out the word that no contracts are to be made for 1904 with the Pittsburg Steamship Co. until this particular point is threshed out. Here then are two unions ready to fly at each other's throats while the vessel owner pays the bill for damages. The Seamen's union, too is known to have little love for a certain other labor organization and is awaiting an opportunity to take a hand in the melee. No doubt Mr. Wolvin's friendship for some of his brother vessel owners has not increased within the past week but his experience with this strike very probably prompts him to feel that there is another day coming for all concerned. IS THE END OF PROSPERITY AT HAND? An enormous reduction in the quoted value of securities has occurred during the past eight months, The decline has been steady all along, but during the past few weeks the down- ward course has been precipitate. In some respects it has been a wholesome and natural way of correcting the evils of inflation and of bringing prices down to actual values, but unfortunately . while it is in no sense a panic still the effect produced is similar to that of a panic in that money is not likely to be forthcoming | to project new ventures or to prop up those that need additional capital to secure them. It is already quite clear that the recov- ery of confidence will be slow. Has the country got to the top of its wave of prosperity? Has the. producing capacity of the country finally equaled its consuming capacity? If it has no new mills and factories will be needed and those which have recently been established will have difficulty in retaining a hold. A new industry cannot easily be established upon a falling market. The past three years have marked an increase in volume of trade and in prices obtained for commodities. Probably prices have been forced as high as they can safely go. Indeed, they now rest upon a higher level than can possibly be maintained if the theory is correct that the end of the demand has come. General business during the past few years has expanded wonderfully and machinery, tools, locomotives and cars have been turned out lavishly to meet it. Factories have multiplied to meet the de- mand for manufactured products. If the crest is reached it is clear that the present producing capacity of the country is suf- ficient.. If there is to be no more growth there is no need of new factories. True, they may be established, but there is no need of them. They can thrive only by lessening the business of some other plant, but they can add nothing to the total of the country's wealth. From the continued sagging of the stock market it would appear as though the period of inflation were over, or that it is the sum of the opinion of investors that it is over. If the business of the country is to settle down to a normal basis it is well to look forward to a suspension of dividends upon common stocks, especially those which were never intended. to represent anything other than water. A return to the old-fash- 'ioned system of financing a company would be welcome where the authorized capital at least would be on speaking terms with the actual value of the plant; for it has not been an uncommon thing during the past two years for a company with an author- ized capital of $10,000,000 to permit all of its tangible assets to be sold to satisfy a claim for $800, A sensible return to normal conditions is not to be feared. Substantial companies will doubtless continue to earn a reasonable dividend upon the money actually invested. The unfortunate thing about this drastic shrinkage in prices is that the loss does not fall where it prop- erly belongs. The combination maker manufactures the secur- ities and the public digests them. J. P. Morgan & Co., fiscal agents of the International Mer- cantile Marine Co., will on Oct. 1 pay the semi-annual interest on the $50,000,000 of 4% per cent. bonds of the steamship com- bination. The payment, aggregating $1,125,000, is the second paid by the company since its organization a year ago. The bonds are held by the underwriting syndicate and the October inter- est payment will make $2,250,000 paid to the syndicate. The Pittsburg Coal Co., which controls great areas of soft coal property, with railway equipment docks and coal handling equipment in the lake region, is showing a marked increase in earnings of late. Net earnings for August,: this year, $628,151; for August, 1902, $401,937; net increase $226,214. Net earnings for eight months ended Aug. 31, 1903, $4,524,554; for eight months ended Aug. 31, 1902, $2,433,970; net increase $2,090,584. [Oger s.