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exclusively for foreign trade having been built in the United States. Of the 142 steel: vessels, 85 exceed- ed 1,000 gross tons each, 55 on the great lakes, the largest being the William M. Mills, of 7,962 tons, and 30 on the seaboard, the largest being: the Columbian, of 8,579 tons, built at San Francisco for trade to Hawaii. Four wooden sailing vessels exceed- ing 1,000 tons each were built during the year, the largest being the Ed- ward J. Lawrence, of S,o50egross tons: TWO YEARS' SHIP BUILDING. The bureau of navigation reports 1,151 sail and steam vessels of 500,327 gross tons built in the United States and offi- cially numbered during the year end- ed June 30, 1908, as follows: TAE MarRINE REVIEW certed action on the part of those whose interests are affected has, how- ever, resulted in the postponement of the time when the new ruling shall take effect to Nov. 1. Meanwhile steamship. and railroad interests are thoroughly aroused and intend within the next few months to 'bring about "x teyision of the ruling. To this end data are being collected showing how the decision discriminates against trans-Pacific traf- fic in favor of the Suez canal route. The requirements of the new order are that the railroads shall make pub- lic their pro rata share of the through rates, and. as is well known, through rates from any of the eastern portions of the United States to China or Ja- pan via Tacoma are divided between WOOD STEEL Sail Steam | Sail Steam oes No.| Gross |No.| Gross | No.|} Gross|No.| Gross|| No. Gross Atlantic and Gulf::.....0.0533) cisco 108| 32,667| 828} 12,792 1 63) 52| 87,311 489 132,833 POLO: RICO) 56 ooo ese 8 83) 1 Ins. CNet tei 9 94. IPWCING. cr ke ee eens eee 15) 3,084) 266) 25,958])....]....... 11} 24,850 292 53,842 Pia Wwl ore oe a Ps farlge aot 1 AA Lo lene era aga y 1 14 Great Lakes .............2.+-eeee sees 4 be) 86) (38, 193]|....)..0...- 75] 304,379|| 165 307.624 Western Rivers....... .-.- cs... seee[rer frit 192): - 6,308 ee 3 56 195 5 920 Moet a ic eG ose ee 135] 85.836| 874| 47,324|1 4 63] 141|417,104|] 1.151 506.327 During the corresponding year ended June 30, 1907, 989 sail and steam vessels of 423,577 gross tons were built in the United States and officially numbered, as two or three railroads and a steam- ship company. The commission has recognized its lack of jurisdiction con- cerning the oversea carriers and has _ follows: not therefore required the steamship WOOD STEEL 2 TOTAL Sail Steam Sail Steam No., Gross |No.; Gross ||No.{ Gross |No. Grogs || No. | Gross Atlantic and Gulf..............6. 005. lap 16,616, 308| 14,748|| 9| 5.852] 71| 116,455), 538 ee: POLto RiCOe 2 ee Pebble cess AR flail Sige ora Beales Gus : Hahn ee oe eG 14) 3,182| 165| 18.670\|....]........ i]'*'3.579\| 180| 27,431 Fill ee ele cell eel eee ten elec ela 88s ee feng sees Great Lakes: 0), ooo. 3 Sp GO A GOs cee. 47| 238,713 110; 240,442 Western Rivers..:.....:..-..0cceceee [tee | trees e es 15d) 3,008 ts, 32 1914 161} 6,978 otal 05 ei eee ek 167) 19,884} 691! 37,176 9 5,852} 122) 360,665 989, 423,577 COMPARATIVE STATEMENT. 1908 | 1907 Sail.and Steam... ..5. 050) oases: 1,151 500,327 | Sailand Steam..............--.++: 989 423,577 Unricged (0.0... a 355 88,800.) Unwigged 7.5. eae se 875 510 288 Rey nO ee ay Conca Age . 1,508 588 627 Motel accceois in oa: es meee 1,864 5 10, 865 ORIENTAL TRADE IN JEOPARDY. By a recent ruling of the, Inter- state commerce commission, embod- ied in subdivision 86 of tariff circular No. 15A, compelling railroads to pub- lish their share of through rates for trans-Pacific shipments, it is claimed by Pacific coast shipping men _ that their present prosperous commerce with the Orient will be entirely ex- tinguished, the Puget Sound and Ta- coma region being' especially affected. This circular was revised Feb. 3, 1908, approved March 9, and was to have become effective July 1. Con- companies to publish their share of the rates, but it does demand that the railroads do so. In order to meet Suez canal compe- tition the trans-continental railroads, as a rule, are obliged to quote almost as low rates on overland freight to the Orient as on merchandise con- signed to Pacific. coast points. With the publication of their share of through rates, it is declared, the railroads will be obliged to maintain the -same rates on domestic freight in order to make a profit. Were they to quote proportional rates, leaving the rates to the Orient at the same fig- 15 ures as at present, they would be driven out of. business. In other words they cannot quote export rates less than their domestic rates. The result will be, it is declared, that the railroads will maintain pres- ent tariffs on domestic freight, which forms the large bulk of their business, and retire from the trans-Pacific trade. | At present through rates via the Pacific coast. to the Orient, or vice versa, are higher than via the Suez canal. However, the Pacific route has the advantage of much quicker , delivery. Still with the trans-Pacific companies there is a continual effort to reduce rates in order to meet Suez canal competition. For instance, cargo from Pittsburg - is usually delivered at Yokohama in 25 days, allowing 10 days by rail to Tacoma, and.15 days across: the .Pa- cific. Via the Suez canal it takes twice as long, allowing two days to New York and about 48 days from that port to Japan via the canal. It will at once be seen that the steamship lines operated by the rail- roads themselves will be less affected than will the independent fleets which are operated under traffic agree- ments with the railroads. Of the lat- ter class are the Holt steamers and the vessels operated by the Water- house interests, both of which have an excellent trade abroad. The Can- adian Pacificand Southern Pacific rail- ways own their own steamship lines, while the Oregon Railroad & Naviga- tion Co. has a number of chartered steamers operating out of Portland. Steamship men assert that thou- - sands of tons of freight now going overland and being transshipped to the Orient at Puget Sound ports will find its way to New York and thence via the Suez canal to the far east. Thus Pacific coast trade to Asiatic countries will be confined ex- clusively to cargo originating in that territory, cons'sting almost exclusive- ly of lumber, flour and grain. That this will mean a great reduction of traffic is apparent when it is known that the outward freight of these lines comprises a collection of such articles as tobacco, cigarettes, heavy machinery, cotton and piece goods, raw cotton and much other miscel- laneous cargo from the eastern man- ufacturing centers. The return cargoes of thousands of tons of Oriental products will also be diverted to other routes and there will be but little further importation of hemp, tea, silk, fireworks, matting, porcelains. Chinese curios and _ the like through our Pacific coast ports.