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August, 1909 all the nations in her outspoken and public adherence to a fixed policy of When Marine ' protection for the ship. the Go; was formed, commonly known as the International Mercantile Morgan combine, to take the White Star and other British lines, Over the British government promptly ad- vanced $13,000,000 to the Cunard Line to construct the Lusitania and Maure- tania and at the same time increased the to the Cunard Line in sufficient ratio mail and admiralty subvention to extinguish the loan in 20 years. It was a courageous and_ splendid thing to do. The gist of the whole subject is, as the Steamship says, that the engineer- ing and ship building industry as a whole must necessarily derive consid- erable advantage from this system of admiralty protection by reason espe- the manufacturers for the employment of cially of security it gives to a definite amount of skilled labor, plant and machinery. It makes pos- sible the existence of plants capable of turning out a battleship complete and 'by the of merchant ships in nine months, same token, at a fair cost per ton. The merchant marine is as much benefited by this plan of admiralty protection as the navy it- sen. In 'fact the' -ship the builder and the ufacturer are alike benefited--the ship owner, ship man- owner in low cost, the ship builder in and the in an assured market for his product. steady work, manufacturer Tt is one of the stock arguments of the opponents of aid to American shipping that the British tramp is With trade projected at government expense, kept subsidized. routes not open at government expense and with the lines of defense so admirably sup- ported at every point the tramp needs no further aid. It has already had the aid of first cost through the gen- erous policy of its government and it finds its market awaiting it in all quarters of the through an equally wise and far seeing admini- Stration. Grant the American tramp the same conditions through govern- mental policy and see what happens. globe TAeE Marine Review RECIPROCAL TONNAGE TAX REPEALED. The tariff bill as finally passed by the house on July 31 repeals the so- called reciprocal tonnage tax exemp- tion law of 1886. entering from the Netherlands, Copenhagen and Dutch East Indies 60 days after, the bill is signed will pay 6 cents per ton as from other European and Asi- atic ports. Vessels Vessels. from . Ontario, Colon and Panama, and a few lesser West India islands will hereafter pay 2 cents; The general rate on vessels from Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfound- land, Mexico, Central America, Cuba and the West Indies will be reduced from 3 cents to 2 cents, or 10 cents instead of :15:céents @ year, -[le pas- sage of the section forestalls a possi- ble loss of $325,000 in our revenue the repeal of British light dues and a demand for reciprocal ex- through emption in the United States of ships the United it, sot course, abolishes the reciprocal rela- hitherto , United States and Canadian vessels on from 'Kingdom.. tionship existing between the great Jakes in trade between United States Lake vessel owners engaged in ths and Canadian ports. trade will pay about $20,000 per an- num in dues from which they were formerly exempt. The provisions of the, act are as follows: Sec. 36. That a tonnage duty of 2 cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate 10 cents per ton in any one year, is hereby im- posed at each entry on all vessels waich shall be entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or place in North Amer- ica, Central America, the West Indies Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or Newfoundland, and a duty of 6 cents per ton, not to exceed 30 cents per ton per annum, 1s hereby imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any other foreign port, not, however, to include vessels in distress or not engaged in trade. This section shall not be construed to amend or repeal Sec. 2792 of the Revised Statutes amended by Sec. 1 of Chapter 212 of the Laws of 1908, approved May 28, 1908, or Sec; 9 of the said 'Chapter 212 of the. Laws of 1908, or Sec. 2793 of the Revised Statutes. Sec. 4232 of the Revised Statutes, and Secs. 11 and 12 of Chapter 421 of the Laws of 1886, approved June 19, 1886, and so much of Sec. 4219 of the Revised Statutes as conflicts with this section, are hereby repealed. This section shall take effect 60 days after the approval of this act. COASTWISE TRADE PRIVILEGE EXTENDED. Section 19 of the new tariff bill extends from two months to. six months the period in which American vessels, 'built of imported materials 277 free of duty, may engage in the coast- wise trade. It reads: mec. 19, _That all materials of foreign pro- duction which may be necessary for the con- struction of vessels built in hte United States for foreign account and ownership, or for the purpose of being employed in the foreign trade, including the trade between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of the United States, and all such materials necessary for the building of their machinery, and all articles necessary for their outfit and equipment, may be imported in bond under such regulations as the secretary of the treasury may prescribe; and upon proof that such materials have been used for such purpose no duties shall be paid thereon. But vessels recelving the benefit of this section shall not be allowed to engage in the coastwise trade of the United States more than six months in any one year except upon the payment to the United States of the duties of which a rebate is herein allowed: Provided, That vessels built in the United States for foreign account and ownership shall not be allowed to engage in the coastwise trade of the United States. TRIALS OF THE SCOUT CRUISERS. The bureau of steam _ engineering, navy department, announce in reply to a request from THe Marine Review for an authoritative statement regarding the recent performances of the scout cruisers Birmingham, Chester and Sa- lem on their voyage westward from the Canaries, that the run referred to was not a part of the official com- parative tests, and that no official infor- mation will be given out until after the completion of the tests of the Salem, and until the board appointed to re- port on those tests has completed the examination of the data and made re- Therefore, any re- this subject are without the authority of the. port in the matter. ports, printed or otherwise, on department. STATEMENT BY THE FORE RIV- ER SHIP BUILDING CO. Eprtor Marine Review:--The Fore River Ship Building Co. contracted with the Southern Pacific Co. for the build- ing of the steamer Creole strictly on the owner's plans and specifications for the hull, and agreed to install twin screw Curtis marine turbines and Bab- cock & Wilcox watertube boilers. The shipbuilding company guaranteed that the vessel, under such arrangements as should be agreed upon between the parties to be proper, should show a speed of 16 knots on the round trip between New York and New Orleans in ordinary weather on 10,000 tons dis- placement and with a coal consumption not exceeding seven tons per hour. The contract also provided that if the turbines and boilers did not prove en- tirely satisfactory to the Southern Pa- cific Co. and they decided to install re- ciprocating engines and Scotch boilers,