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March, 1914 original outfit and equipment, and propelling machin- ery imported in parts to be gathered and assembled together in this country will-not be.admitted free of duty under Subsection 5. The interpretation is that the following materials and articles are excluded from Subsection 6: Boats, sails, lamps, furniture, carpets, table linen, tableware, bedding, arms and munitions and similar articles of outfit and equipment will not be admitted free of duty under Subsection 6. The interpretation further holds that materials and articles excluded from both subsections are as follows: Provisions, wines, coal, medicine and other similar consumable articles; tools, scaffolding and_ similar miner aids or adjuncts in construction or repair; and articles or materials imported to be kept in stock, for sale for construction or repair purposes, will not be admitted free of duty under either subsection. Shipping Combinations The committee on merchant marine and _ fisheries of the house of representatives after an investigation covering a period of two years, has just made public its report on shipping combinations. It divides its report into two parts, one dealing with foreign ship- ping and the other with domestic shipping. In the oversea trade it finds that a combination exists through conferences and agreements that it is practically impossible to dissolve without crippling trade. Should such existing agreements be ordered terminated, it would merely result in a rate war which would wipe out the weaker and cause the stronger elements to consolidate under common ownership. The committee feels that effective government super- vision is the only means of assuring to shippers the benefits which.may flow from co-operative arrange- ments among the lines. In its analysis of domestic shipping it finds that the package freight business of the Great Lakés is con- trolled by six steamship lines, which are owned by the trunk line railroads. This, of course, is well known. Rather than haul the freight all around the whole lake system by rail, the railways have estab- lished steamship lines on the lakes to take advantage of the manifest economy of carrying the freight by water. This arrangement seems a very practical one and it is not clear how this business could be handled otherwise. The railroads, however, have had their eye on the situation for some time past and some of them have made tentative reorganizations of their steamship properties in order to comply with any decision that may be forthcoming. The principal thing that the consumer is interested in after all is an equitable rate. He is obviously en- titled to share in the economy of water transportation and undoubtedly as time goes on such economy will be reflected in the joint rail and lake rate. The Inter- state Commerce Commission has already ruled that THE MARINE REVIEW 114. the railways must afford equal facilities to all vessels reaching their port terminals. Referring to the bulk freight service, the committee states that the bulk freight carriers have steadily re- duced rates and improved service, though it sees a tendency towards consolidation among the leading fleets and specifically mentions eight of them by name. The interesting part of the report insofar as the lakes are concerned is that the committee recommends that port to port rates be regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission. If adopted, this would vir- tually end. the business of daily chartering on the lakes, because no change could be made in the tariff without 30 days' notice in advance. It is not likely that any bill incorporating the committee's recom- mendations «will be presented to congress during the present session. Pure Water If England with its wretched climate is in a fair way to conquer tuberculosis, as is indicated in the latest health reports from the British government, it is nothing short of criminal carelessness if we in this country do not abolish typhois altogether. The causes of typhoid infection are well known and can be guarded against. THe Marine Review publishes in its current issue two excellent articles on the pollution of lake water, showing very conclusively that the lakes are polluted for a considerable area and that the courses followed by the ships are likely to be polluted by the ships themselves. These articles are worthy of a great deal of study by vessel owners, because they mean much to the health of «the whole country. A ship can probably be assured of a reasonably safe water supply by running off its course a bit to fill its tanks in ~ regions of known purity, but every vessel owner should absolutely prohibit his master from filling the tanks from any of the areas in which pollution is likely to exist. There have been some very serious cases of infection during the past few years than can . be directly traced to the drinking water on board vessels. The whole subject of sanitation is one that should be gone into with great care. Running in Fog A very learned judge in Detroit recently pronounced a most severe censure against vessel owners who per- mit the practice of running in fog. In this particular -- he appeared to put all the vessel owners into one basket, which was not a fair thing to do, because the owners of the leading fleets are very specific in their instructions to the masters upon this very point. Lake vessels are being navigated with constantly increasing caution and practices that were the rule some years ago are now the exception. The time is coming fast when an owner who will censure a résponsible master for delay will be as rare as the dodo. The tendency in lake operation is to recognize individual responsibil- ity, the responsibility of the owner as well as. the mas- ter, and thus make for prudent and careful navigation. The owner who does otherwise, and there may be here and there detached cases, will find himself presently alone.