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December, 1916 the middle and Atlantic states. The projects advocated by the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association form a part of the whole vast scheme. These canals would give an _ inside passage along a large portion of our Atlantic coast. Thus the barge canal would become the connecting link between two great systems—the intra- coastal canals and tthe Great Lakes with their adjoining canals—and the supreme importance of this connecting link becomes very evident. A Prosperous Territory It is not generally known how im- portant is the territory adjoining the barge canal as a region in which cer- tain products originate and others are consumed. The original canals were responsible for the founding of a chain of cities and villages across the Empire state, the like of which does ' not exist elsewhere in the whole coun- try. Directly upon New York’s water- ways of barge canal dimensions there are situated more than 30 cities, some 90 villages and many hamlets, while other populous communities are but a few miles away. A study of the state’s population reveals the fact that nearly 75 per cent of the people live within two miles of the waterways. As New York’s population is one- tenth that of the whole country, we see that about 7 per cent of the people of the United States are within a half hour’s walk of the New York waterway system. From this we can see what it means to the state and to the country at large that the products of these 7,000,000 people and the supplies they need may have available a cheap means of trans- portation. Before a congressional committee on transportation some years ago a man who was considered one of the best railroad authorities in the coun- try made the statement that the Erie canal regulated freight rates on all roads east of the Mississippi. The chairman of this committee went still. further, declaring in one of _ his ‘speeches that the canal exerted an in- fluence over the whole country, “from the interior of the Gulf States to the St. Lawrence river, and from the great plains of the eastern foothills of the Rocky mountains to the At- lantic ocean.” Four Great Terminals There are four principal terminals of the barge canal system and the adjoining waters at each of these terminals are under the control of the United States government. At the western terminus of the Erie canal the Niagara river has been improved un- der federal authority to meet barge THE MARINE REVIEW canal requirements. It was expected that work at the mouth of the Oswego river, the northern terminus of the Oswego canal, would also be under- taken by the government, but as this has not been done, it has been decided not to wait longer, and accordingly the state is about to let a contract for this section: In the upper end of Lake Champlain, the northern terminus of the Champlain canal, con- siderable more work is very desirable, which it is anticipated the govern- ment will undertake to perform. In the Hudson river at the eastern termi- nus of the Erie and the southern terminus of the Champlain canal im- provements of barge canal dimensions Canal Cuts Distance In the case of materials produced in the region of the Great Lakes and also somewhat to the west of them, as, for instance,. the grain from the great belt covering the northern states and southern Canada, and also in the case of foreign goods reaching New York from the east, the area influenced by the New York barge canal is extended. Per- haps the importance of the barge canal as an essential link in the water route for this vast east and west traffic can be shown most strikingly by considering what hap- pens to a shipment starting from the head of Lake Superior and go- ing to Europe by way of the Mississippi. After it has gone 2,000 miles and reached the mouth of this river, it is still 4,500 miles from Liverpool, no nearer its destination than at the beginning, in view of the possible 4,500-mile water route by the Lakes, the barge canal and the Atlantic ocean. are under way, but an agitation for a larger improvement has been in progress for several years and has now gained great impetus. The projects closely connected with the barge canal. which have already been approved by the army engineers and which need federal appropriations are, the improvement of Oswego, Rochester, Black Rock and Tona- wanda harbors, the enlargment of the narrows of Lake Champlain and the dredging of the Hudson. The mileage of waterways connected and the extent of territory influenced by the building of the barge canal are already great. Even now the 1,500 miles in the Great Lakes and the 800 miles of New York waterways form a mighty system. If the canals and improvements adjacent to the 431 Great Lakes and the Atlantic intra- coastal chain with its continuous navi- gation of 1,800 miles are eventually built, the area coming under the influ- ence of the barge canal will indeed be vast. New York’s expenditures for con- tributing the important connecting link between other waterway systems have been very large and without precedent. That the federal govern- ment should:do its utmost to make the barge canal supremely effective by providing the most suitable outlets in the waters under its control and thus render the canal a national asset of far-reaching influence, seems so self-evident and reasonable as scarcely to need expression in formal words. Will Build Fast Ships P. A. S. Franklin, recently appointed president of the International Mercan- tile Marine Co. plans to build four fast steamships for the American line. It is understood that the new liners will have to be constructed in the United States, as the British government has passed an act prohibiting the building of for- eign vessels in Great Britain for 10 years after peace is declared. Mr. Franklin said the plans call for oil-burning, quadruple turbine steamships of about 32,000 gross tonnage, with a speed of 25 knots or more. The Amer- ican line, which is operating Sr. Paut, St. Louis, New York and Puuapet- PHIA at present, receives a mail subsidy of $4 a mile for each mile traveled by the steamships out and home. This will have to be considerably increased, Mr. Franklin said, to put the new 25-knot liners in service between New York and Liverpaol. Ocean Freights Higher Although limited to a few trades, a stronger demand for tonnage is evident in the ocean freight markets and rates have moved steadily upward on recent charters. The number of fixtures con- tinues below the average, but with British steamers out of the market and many neutral bottoms, particularly Nor- wegian, chartered abroad, the vessels offering are few and hardly sufficient to meet the demand. The position of the market which a few weeks ago was in favor of the charterer has been reversed and the owner no longer has to seek for bidders on his vessel. Shipping men are uncertain as to whether the advance in rates will continue or be maintained, as the demand is limited in scope, and are unwilling to make any predictions concerning the course of the market un- der present conditions. Trading is confined largely to French transatlantic net form boats, the rate