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308 ployment; there is no deduction for time lost on account of sickness dur- ing the period of his term of engage- ment; when trade is dull, the ships must carry the same complement of crew as when she sails fully loaded. Of the total gross tonnage of ships under the American flag, eighth is registered for trading with foreign countries, the remaining sev- en-eighths comprising our coastwise, lake, bay, sound and river steamers. In the case of the American lines en- gaged in international trade, the rates charged for the carriage of freight are subject alone to the law of supply and demand, the unusually high rates now prevailing being due to the with- drawal of so many British ships tor government service and the practical elimination of the whole German and Austrian overseas fleets, causing an unprecedented demand for the few American ships of this character. Any increase made to the cost of opera- tion of such steamers by legislative enactment or otherwise can, therefore, as in the case of the output of indus- trial concerns, be shifted to the con- sumer by an increase in the rates of freight. This cannot be done, how- ever, in the case of the cargoes car- ried by the other seven-eighths of our shipping, which is subject to an en- tirely different set of conditions. Al- most all of the latter shipping is par- alleled by railroads, with which they are in fierce competition throughout the territory served by them, and to hold any part of the traffic it is ab- solutely necessary that the rates of freight be placed at lower figures than are quoted by the railroads. While it is true that the water carrier has no roadbed to maintain, the steamer is a much more costly unit. of earning power than has to be furnished by the railroad, ranging in value from the cargo steamship of $300,000 to the ex- press freight and passenger vessel of about $1,000,000, for which the cost of marine insurance must be _ pro- vided to cover the water hazards of cargo'and ship, and which is not in- curred by the rail carrier. The rates for freight carried by our domestic steamships within the United States, comprising by and large about 75 per cent of the whole cargo car- ried, are subject to control by the interstate commerce commission, with all that this implies, and the rates between the ports reflect this control. The rates in effect by the railroads in competition with these steamers are also, of course, controled by the commission. As evidence of: the effect of this railroad competition on our steamship enterprises, it is only necessary to but one- - THE MARINE REVIEW refer to the case of the steamboat traffic on the Mississippi river. Forty- five years ago there were 470 steam- boats plying regularly on this river. At present, one would have hard work to find 47. Through packet service between St. Louis and New Orleans ceased in the early nineties of the last century, and about 10 years later through freighting practically ended. Several of the steamers formerly ply- ing on this river carried from 5,000 to 9,000 bales of cotton, their tonnage being about 1,500 gross, and_ their length about 300 feet. There are no such steamers there today. Even before the civil war these boats were known to make a speed of about 20 miles an hour. A _ record September, 1916 passage, made in July, 1870, covered 1,278 miles from New Orleans to St. — Louis in three days, 18 hours and 14 minutes, a sustained average speed of more than 14 miles an hour against the current. The Mississippi and Mis- ‘souri, with their tributaries affording 16,000 miles of navigable waterways and touching 10 states, are of little use to this country as a means of transportation. It is manifestly unfair to base any claim for a permanent increase in the number of men required by law to operate all ships, on the contention that a mere fraction of our shipping has been enabled, through war ‘condi- tions, to tempofarily increase its earn- ing . power. HE question of following the out- I side course on the Great Lakes was brought up at a recent meet- ingof the Great Lakes Protective Asso- ciation and it developed that there has been more or less laxity in this re- gard on the part of some vessels dur- ing the present season. Since the two courses were established three years ago, a great majority of the masters have followed them faithfully, but for some reason or other a number of downbound vessels have not followed the outside course this season. The violations are principally on Lake Superior. The outside course was es- ~ tablished purely for safety and it has been endorsed by every vessel owner on the lakes. In a recent issue of the Bulletin of the Lake Carriers’ Association it is stated that the mas- ter who departs from this rule does so without authority and upon his own responsibility. Why he should do so is not readily understood as he is jeopardizing property that is not his own and he is also risking his own position. It is believed that as high as 25 per cent of the vessels have upon occasion failed to observe the outside course on Lake Superior during the present season and so aroused is the associa- tion over these conditions that steps were taken to discover the violators and when found guilty to put them on the dock for 30 days without pay. The mere proof of guilt will be suf- ficient cause for imposing the penalty. It will be quite another matter should any accident occur by reason of viola- tion of this rule. In that event the consequences to the master will be quite serious. The following letter was drafted and has been sent to all lake masters: “Numerous reports of non-observ- ance of outside courses down-bound and inside courses upbound in Lakes Superior and Huron make it highly necessary to take immediate and posi- tive action to prevent this dangerous practice. “Each of the following fleet man- agers has declared his intention to suspend for 30 days without pay, the master of any vessel in his fleet for failure to adopt and follow such courses, and necessary means for re- porting such cases have been adopted.” The letter was signed by those pres- ent at the meeting, including H. Coul- by;- J.-H. -Sheadle. and Capt: .C.. L. Hutchinson, and was submitted later to all others owners in the association. Commissioner Complains One of the shipping commissioners on the Great Lakes calls the attention of vessel masters to the fact that orders for men to fill vacancies. on ships plying the lakes often come from those who are not authorized to give such orders. Such orders are rarely accepted by the commissioner ‘who has found that in the few cases when they were received, the orders invariably have been wrong and have resulted in confusion and delay. The commissioner points out that a licensed officer often wants a man who is not available and must be secured from other ports. Particularly in. sien cases as these it is essential that a person of authority give the orders. He concludes his suggestions by stat- ing that “There is no more important — duty for the officers of a vessel than -to get a proper crew and if the imas- ter or chief engineer cannot go in rerson or telephone personally he should send a note signed by himself clearly stating his wants.”