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a THE MARINE REVIEW érnment vessels run upon such an un- business-like basis. So long as gov- ernment vessels are allocated under such a system, private steamship men hesitate to risk a dollar in acquiring new tonnage which must compete with a governmental, subsidized marine. Rumblings of discontent among steam- ship men were in evidence last sum- mer when the Belgian and the French lines broke away from the conference agreement and demanded the shipping board make some revision of its pol- icies. But these protests of foreigners apparently have no effect. These allo- cations were continued and today the spectacle is presented where the Amer- ican steamship owners as a body are appealing to the board to make a change in its allocation policies. They declare their willingness to take the government boats upon bare-boat char- ter, thereby putting the fleet upon a purely commercial competitive basis. Under the bare-boat charter plan, pri- vately owned ships would be upon more of a parity with government-sub- sidized ships. It would encourage the private ownership of vessels and would eliminate the inefficient operation of the tonnage. It would be an induce- ment to steamship lines to balance off their fleets and to go to the shipyards for new tonnage for this purpose. The present slump in the freight market may be but a temporary mat- ter awaiting a reorganization of indus- ‘trial conditions throughout the world and a re-establishment of credit con- fidence. But in the interim, it is evi- dent that a steamship man will not consider the purchase of a new vessel. The present and immediate past has been pessimistic enough. There -is a ray of hope that in the future the ad- ministration of the shipping board will ‘be along lines more closely related to accepted business practices. When that is brought about, shipping ‘activities will be extended and these will be ex- tended voluntarily by the private in- terests in the industry. More Coastwise Ships Needed Today, the coasting and shipping trades employ approximately 6,400,000 gross tons of shipping. This is about 400,000 gross tons less than was engaged in this same trade prior to the war in 1914. Extreme freight rates in the overseas trade during the war encour- aged the withdrawal of many ships from the coasting trade. Rebuilding the coasting trade has been a slow business and it is in that direction American shipbuilders may expect some important business in the future. Delay in rebuilding the coasting fleets has resulted from the fact that the rewards were limited by the rate mak- ing powers of the federal government and the competitive influence of the railroads. Last year, however, the rail- roads were permitted to advance their rates, and with the gradual decline in overseas rates the rewards in coasting trades are rapidly becoming more im- portant relatively. The Dollar and the Luckenbach lines have already re- embarked in the coasting business and some others may be expected in the near future. The Southern Pacific lines are planning some additions to their fleets. Reports are current that an attempt will be made to inaugurate a through passenger-vessel service be- tween New York and San Francisco via the Panama canal. Free canal tolls would undoubtedly make these plans materialize. Coastal Trade Vital Coastal developments depend in a measure upon the resumption of do- mestic business in the United States. Conversely, better coastal communica- tions by water will hasten the domestic industrial recovery and it may. confi- dently be expected that capital will shortly be provided for these new un- dertakings. Many plans are under way to build new lake steamers on the Great Lakes. By far the more impor- tant part of the coastal fleets has in _the past operated on the Great Lakes, but steady development of other coast- wise business is expected. The Jones act extended the pro- tective coastwise laws to the Philip- pine islands under certain conditions. Exclusion of fore'gn tonnage in that trade would be a tremendous influ- ence in establishing the American flag . in the transpacific trades. But at the present moment the President is urging the granting of independence to the Philippines. Such an action on the part of congress would automatically prevent the extension of the coastwise laws to those islands. On the other hand, some Filipinos are displaying hostility to this extension of the coast- wise laws. This unsettled condition constitutes another stumbling block to ‘a broad development of the coastwise business and creates sufficient uncer- tainty to cause steamship operators to withhold their plans for develop- ment and await the announcement of -a permanent policy on the part of the government. The war forced neglect of the trade routes between the United States and the Latin-American countries. Before the war these trades had fallen into the hands of foreigners. Since, how- ever, there has been a keen awakening as to the opportunities there and steam- ship companies are not backward in realizing their advantages. With the co-operation of the Munson line, the United States shipping board has in- February, 1921 augurated an improved passenger sery- ice between New York and Buenos Aires. It is the confident expectation of all that this service will ultimately be entirely in private American hands, During the past year, the service has been so luxurious and expensive it has not paid, but it is usually necessary to spend large sums of money in de- veloping a new line such as this. The Grace line has also improved its services between New York and the west coast of South America running its excellent new steamers down as far as Valparaiso. Several less adventure- some lines have increased their sery- icés to ports in the Caribbean sea. Ac- cording to plans reputed to be in mind, the Ward line will build some new combination passenger and freight boats for its improved services to Cuba and Mexico. With the establishment of a stable government in Mexico, the desire of steamship companies to im- prove these routes will be increased. It has also been said that the New York & Porto Rico line intends to build some passenger ships for the West Indies trade. The same is true of the Clyde and Mallory lines. The latter had a comprehensive plan for the increase of its fleets just prior to the war, but these plans have not as yet been carried out. While the plans are not believed to have been aban- doned entirely they at least have been temporarily postponed awaiting a read- justment in the cost of shipbuilding. But the Clyde and the Porto Rico lines have been forced to make some exten- sive improvements on a few of their ships, the reconditioning going so far as to result in practically new vessels. Liner Contracts Held Up The Red D line some months back announced that it would build two new passenger vessels which would’ be placed in the Venezuelan run. Noth- ing has as yet been done toward start- ing work on these. It is believed, however, that the contracts will be let the minute shipbuilding conditions are stabilized and the federal government has adopted a permanent shipping pol- icy. The Munson line, which operates to Cuba and other ports, plans a num- ber of additions to its fleet. The Mun- son line operates freight boats to Cuba and now it wants passenger ships for the same trade. Last year, this line let a contract to ‘the New York Ship- building Corp. for one such passenger vessel. It was planned to build two sister ships, but after opening bids it was decided to delay the letting of the contract for the second ship. The extension of American service to ports on the northern coast of South America is certain to come. (Concluded on Page 114)