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World is RINCIPALLY because of a dif- P ficult labor situation and short- age of materials, the present advantage in ship building lies with the United States. At the Clyde ship yards labor has the upper hand. Mer- cantile building is at a disadvantage because the men prefer government work, which pays them better. The work of all the British yards is be- hind. European yards in general suf- fer from steel shortage. This applies also to the Japanese builders. As to the Clyde situation, it is not the amount of work on hand, nor its relation to previous months or years, but the almost total cessation of mer- cantile launchings, and the complete lack of reports of new work that ap- pears serious. It is obvious to all who are acquainted with the river that very few vessels are being floated for cargo- carrying purposes. Some of the Clyde ship builders have tried to divert labor from gov- ernment to mercantile work—with the approval of the authorities, of course —and have found the process very difficult. The men prefer the work represented by the smaller vessels on which they are employed, as, in addition to being lighter, it pays them better than the construction of cargo steamers. The piecework rates make larger aggregates for corresponding periods. Face Three Courses The ship builders to whom reference has been made were faced with a choice of three courses. First, they could leave the men on government work and allow the mercantile to stand; second, they could transfer the men to mercantile work at the higher wages, which would tempt them to agree to the transfer; or third, they might insist on the transfer at cur- rent merchant work rates and take the risk of having the men applying to a munitions tribunal for their leaving certificates on the ground that they were not engaged on work of national importance, and wished to go to another establishment, under easier conditions. I 0 A Review of the Month on Coasts and Lakes—Useful Pointers for the Men Who Get the Business ST ie As they cannot afford to lose any men, a firm thus situated usually com- promises the matter by paying the higher rates, frequently on contracts which have not been specified by the authorities as war work. On these latter the higher rates rule as a mat- ter of course. Altogether, the gen- eral result is that, while the bulk of the merchant work is held up, that which is making progress is costing a great deal more than was anticipat- ed when the contracts were placed. The serious shortage of British mer- cantile tonnage, which is placed at over 4,000,000 tons by the Liverpool Journal of Commerce has aroused par- liamentary and shipping circles. The estimate is not based alone on vessels destroyed at sea by submarines or other war methods, but on the “set- back” so-called, which has been due to lack of facilities for building new ships, as well as to the war causes. The estimate of The Journal of Com- merce follows: Gross tons. Hindrance of new construction..... 1,700,000 Whar lossese05 fac hice gus Gere aie 1,520,000 Excessive depreciation ............ 1,000,000 UOC ooo es aia chai beara sors eae enane aeecmea gic 4,220,000 According to Lloyds ship build- ing returns, British vessels com- pleted during the third quarter amount to only 71,000 gross tons. The total for the present year to the same date is 200,000 gross tons, which compares with a normal output of 1,000,000 tons for the same period. These figures apply right up to a few weeks ago, and therefore there is little justification for optimism. On the other hand fu- ture competitors are developing their powers of tonnage production at a very rapid rate, and they will be able to compete with England for the supply of the world’s requirements on a much better basis than in pre- war times. Although there is difficulty in plac- ing orders for plates and other ma- terials in the United States and prices have advanced several hundred per cent over pre-war levels, conditions are much more favorable to the out- put of tonnage than abroad. The 20 aA ces labor question is causing considerable difficulty here, particularly the short- age of skilled workmen and the steady upward trend of wages, but the situa- tion in this respect does not differ widely from that which exists abroad, with the exception of Japan, and even in that country there has been an increase in wages. We Have the Steel The United States is the only coun- try which is not dependent upon for- eign sources for ship building ma- terials or is mot forced to use the available supplies of these materials for naval construction. In Great Britain the work for the admiralty and for other war pur- poses is exhausting the capacity, with the consequence that merchant con- struction is greatly hampered, and in- quiries have been made in the Ameri- can market for steel for British ship buildings Japan also has purchased heavily here, but has been unable to obtain all that was wanted. The continental countries of Europe im- port a considerable proportion of their ship building materials from Germany and this trade has, of course, been stopped. Just what conditions prevail in Ger- many is uncertain, although such re- ports as have come from that country indicate a sub-normal activity in the ship yards there. A recent article concerning the ef- fects of the German export prohibi- tions upon the ship building industry of Norway showed that Norwegian ship building was seriously restrict- ed. The same situation prevails in Denmark. A committee of representa- tive importers and consumers has re- cently been formed in Copenhagen to study the problem and to: take the steps necessary to secure the required supplies. In both these countries a general stoppage of labor, owing to absence of materials, is threatened. The Dutch ship building industry appears to be on the eve of a crisis owing to the lack of certain materials, including steel and coal, which were