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April, 1910 the transportation of government sup- plies in American ships should urge the passage of the Hayes resolution. The trouble with the Frye resolu- tion is that, if adopted, it will accom- In its construction it It lacks definition. Experience has shown that the govy- plish nothing. is a perfect sieve. ernment requires but slight provoca- tion to read into congressional enact- ments any meaning that serves its end, as. witness Bonaparte's interpre- tation of the coastwise laws in rela- tion to the transportation of naval The Frye resolution in no way amends existing coal to the Pacific coast. conditions. It is not mandatory. On the other hand, the language 'of the Hayes resolution is unequivocal. It makes it impossible to send govern- ment supplies of any character to the Panama canal zone, to the Philippines, Porto Rico or to any American port in other than an American bottom. It does not include the transportation of general commercial supplies be- tween the United States and the Phil- ippines which are left free to go in foreign ships as now, but it does pro- vide an entering wedge into our trade with these outlying possessions, for if American vessels are retained to carry government supplies they would in the private supplies as well, if any of- natural order of things carry fered, and would gradually enter into commercial relations with the islands --in other words, gradually eliminat- ing the reason for the exclusion of the our outlying possessions from coasting laws. _The Hayes resolution will extend our trade to the Philippines in an en- tirely natural manner. Statistics are not available as to the actual amiount of government supplies now being transported to the Philippines, but it must be considerable. If these sup- plies are transported in American ships, general trade will naturally follow in the same ships. This should be clear to anyone. Regarding the transporta- tion of supplies to Panama for 'tse in the construction of the canal, equity demands their reservation to Ameri- can bottoms. This trade rightfully be- longs to the American ship, for the TAE Marine REVIEW Canal is American enter- purely an prise. If reserved to the American ship there will be plenty of tonnage bidding. Certainly the government has no right offering under competitive to expect any treatment other than that which is accorded to its own cit- If the rates submitted are the going rates izens. of. ordinary commercial practice paid out without a murmur by every American shipper for the transportation of his own goods, the government has no right to exact or even 6 expect a more favored' rate There should be one law for the citi- zens and for the government. It is a delusion to think that money is being saved by. the transportation of supplies to the Panama canal zone Take the Pacific coast lumber trade with Panama, for in foreign ships. instance. Practically the only thing that the Pacific coast contributes to the construction of the canal is lum- ber. tions all requests for tenders provide Thus the contractors are required to purchase Under the government's regula- for f. o. b. prices Panama. the supplies and assume transporta- When con- struction first began on the canal, tion to the canal zone. American firms supplied large quan- tities of lumber, transporting it in American-owned tonnage, some of which had been especially construct- The usual rate of freight was about $12 ed for the Panama lumber trade. per 1,000 ft. b. m., barring no length, Ulti- mately foreign vessel owners began from Puget sound to Panama. competing, their vessels reducing the rate to about $7.50 per 1,000 ft. b. m. The American vessels, 'a number of which as stated had been constructed especially for this trade, were com- the coasting trade, demoralizing it by an over-supply. After the withdrew, the gradually increased rates until at pres- pelled to withdraw and_ enter American vés- sels foreign _ vessels ent -$11 per. 1,000 ft. b. m, up-to 40- ft. lengths is charged, after which the rate increases until $25 per 1,000 ft. b. m. obtains for 60-ft. lengths. The whole Pacific coast lumber trade is now controlled by W. R. Grace' & Co., whose principal offices are in London. 159 Obviously the government is paying a fancy pfice for the transportation of lumber to the Panama canal zone. The reservation of the Panama can- al trade to American ships would have 1908 the coal trade to the Panama 'canal collateral advantages. During zone, Tampico and Vera Cruz from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Hampton Roads was 617,000 tons. cargo was 4,500 tons, so altogether The average 150 cargoes were forwarded, at an av- erage cost of $1.10 per ton. These ships obtain a reture cargo of Cuban ore which is delivered to Philadelphia and Baltimore at 85 cents a ton. The ships are enabled to carry this ore so cheaply owing to the unfailing southbound cargo of coal. The round All the ships employed in this trade are for- trip consumes one month. eign ships. It takes twelve ships "p- erating steadily year in and year out to care for this trade. 'Were the sup- plies to the zone confined to Ameri- can ships, these self-same American ships would quickly monopolize the south-bound coal and north-bound ore trade. Add to this the coal trade to the Pacific which amounts to $175,000, and a very respectable trade is in sight. It is certainly safe to say that the passage of the Hayes resolution would assure the American ships im- : mediately of an annual freight tonnage of 1,500,000 tons. With that trade as an entering wedge, haven't we the right to expect that more would fol- low? Does it not afford a natural op- portunity for the rehabilitation of our declining merchant marine? MERCHANT MARINE LEAGUE INVESTIGATION. ; The investigation of the activities of the friends and supporters of an American merchant marine and of the Merchant Marine League in par- ticular, at the hands of the committee appointed at the instance of Congress- man Steenerson, of Minnesota, and Kusterman, of Wisconsin, while not so designed by its sponsors, can re- sult only in good to the movement for the upbuilding of the American merchant marine. The Merchant Ma- rine League has nothing 'to conceal; it freely admits its sole purpose to