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16 THE SHIPPING BILL. SENATOR FRYE REPLIES TO A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE EDITOR OF THE SAVANNAH NEWS—HE SHOWS A THOROUGH KNOWL- EDGE OF THE SHIP BUILDING INDUSTRY. Senator Frye has just replied to a number of pertinent questions pro- pounded by the editor of the Savannah News regarding the shipping bill. The senator’s reply is as follows: “IT am always glad to impart any information I have on public ques- tions to any one who seeks it in a respectful way. The Savannah News is a paper that doubtless exercises a wide influence in. Georgia, and its readers ought to be informed upon those points concerning which its editor seems to lack knowledge. For instance, the Savannah News asks me: ‘Why is it that contracts for warships are given to American ship- builders ‘by foreign governments if ships can be built for less money in the ship yards of other nations?’ ; “JT presume the editor of the Savannah News would scarcely think it fair were I to answer his inquiry by propounding another, to wit: Why is it if ships can be built in the United States as cheaply, or more cheap- ly, than they can be built abroad, that there is no case on record of a foreign steamship line having had a ship ‘built in the United States, even in the case of lines running directly in our trade? Nevertheless, the one question is as fair as the other. Answering the question as asked, how- ever, I would say: It might be that the warships could be built in the United States in a shorter period than they could be built abroad; our ship yards might not ‘be so busy as foreign yards. Again, the prestige of the American navy since our war with Spain would unquestionably in- fluence a foreign nation seeking its warships abroad. “Tt is quite likely that we are able to build warships in the United States as cheaply as they are built abroad, but that by no means implies that we can build merchant ships as cheaply, and. the fact is we cannot. The reason we build warships as cheaply is because the government de- clared, fourteen years ago, that all of the designs, material and work- manship on our warships should. be American. Thus, confining the de- mand for our new navy to American ingenuity and skill, money was put into expensive plants, competition was engendered between our own peo- ple alone, with the result that in about ten years we were able to build warships approximately as cheaply as they can be built abroad. But a warship is a very different construction from a merchant ship. If a simi- lar demand should be created for American merchant ships, covering a similar period, doubtless at the end of that time we would be building as cheaply here as elsewhere. “The Savannah News further asks: “Why is it that ships can be built in England or Germany cheaper than they can be built in this country, where all the material can be obtained at prices below those which pre- vail in Europe?’ “The materials cannot be purchased as cheaply here as in Europe. .We are rapidly approaching the time when that will be true, but it is not true now. A year or more ago, just at the close of a long strike in Great Britain, during which British rolling mills had ‘been shut down for months, and when they were working night and day in order to supply the accumulated demand, naturally prices soared, but even then it was impossible to promptly supply the home demand; at that same time the hoom had not begun in steel manufacture in the United States, and for a short time, as a result, we shipped to Great Britain about 100,000 tons of ship building materials at prices slightly below British prices. But we are not ‘doing so now, and have not for over a year. Prices of steel are very much higher in the United States now than they are in Great Britain, ‘but as soon as the abnormal demand has been satisfied prices will doubtless fall to a normal rate. “But it should be borne in mind that American ship builders are not dependent upon American steelmakers ‘for their ship building materials, in the case at least of ships designed for the foreign trade, as such ma- terials are admitted to the United States free of duties, and have been for several years. The materials entering into a first-class ship never rep- resent more than 50 per cent. of the cost of the completed vessel, fully 50 per cent. representing labor in the ship yards. Another thing, in Eng- land, Scotland and Ireland, the constant demand for ships keeps the men steadily employed, and thus their maximum efficiency is utilized. The same is true in the modern German ship yards. Labor in those ship yards, however, receives but about half what is received in ours. In our yards the majority of the men have come from Great Britain; their effi- ciency in our yards is little, if any, greater than in foreign ship yards. “The intermittent character of the employment in American ship yards does not permit of the efficiency and economy in construction pos- sible in those countries where steady employment is assured. Take the case of the Clyde, for instance; there ships are duplicated over andeover again, from the same designs and specifications; this has been’ going on for many years and it accounts for the celerity and the cheapness of their constructions, espécially in that character of vessels—the slow-going, so- called “tramp” variety—in which changes in plans and specifications are unnecessary. This is not the case in the United States. There are new plans and new specifications for each different ship. I recall that one of the firm of William P. Clyde & Co. put out plans and specifications for a ship, and finally placed the order with the lowest bidder. After the order was placed the Clydes were informed by their builders that if they would duplicate the order a reduction of $10,000 per ship would be made; and had the order been quadrupled I have no doubt a reduction of $20,000 per ship would have been possible. : “The passage of the shipping bill is designed to cover all of these un- favorable conditions, and the belief is, especially among our ship owners and ship builders, that with the then probable reduction in the price of materials there will be an increased efficiency and economy in construc- tion, due to a long sustained and steady demand for new ships, that will bring the price of their construction at the end of a decade or'so as low as foreign prices. “The editor of the Savannah News falls into an error that many other editors and laymen as well fall into, of making a comparison of the ability of our people to build locomotives, machinery and bridges here as cheaply, if not more cheaply, than they can be built elsewhere, with our ability to build ships. When we have had as much employment and as MARINE REVIEW. [March 15, LL TIL TEE IE TE PILE TL TE OL I A eR Rs much experience, due to long and steady demand for ships in this coun- try, as we have in bridge, or locomotive, or machinery making, then we shall reach the same position with regard to ship building that we have reached in bridges, locomotives and machinery. _ : ‘ “T think what I have just said answers the editor’s inquiry as to Why is it that we are so far behind England and Germany in ship building, and so far ahead of them in everything else?’ That ‘everything else,’ as I come to look at it, is rather sweeping and inaccurate. There are many other things which we are as yet unable to produce as cheaply as our foreign rivals. : “What the editor of the Savannah News says about the efficiency of our merchant ships in the days of wood I cannot and shall not in the least gainsay. But then we had half a century of experience behind us; we had always built ships more cheaply than our rivals; we had men trained to the business, as were their fathers before them; we had neither cable nor steam in those days; Yankee skippers were the trading mer- chants as well; and in every way. things were vastly different than they are now. Now we are out of the trade, and even on a footing of equality through government aid, the struggle is necessarily going to be fierce and prolonged before our ships will regain any large share of our foreign carrying. Meanwhile, transportation rates will inevitably fall, and our producers and exporters will be stimulated thereby to increase their for- eign trade. ‘ “The editor of the Savannah News ought to think for a moment, that if it were possible to build ships in this country even a trifle more cheap- ly than they can be built abroad, ship yards would be multiplying con- stantly. Capital is too plentiful in this country, skill is too abundant, ability is too general, and enterprise is too forward for this nation to be laggard in ‘building merchant ships one moment beyond the time that they can be built at a profit. About 2,000,000 tons of new merchant ships are built each year for the world’s foreign trade, and of these our average has not been more than 1 per cent., say 20,000 tons a year, during the past decade. The editor of the Savannah News does not for a moment imagine that the chance to share in this construction would not ‘be availed of by our people if there were a profit in it?” OCEAN-GOING STEEL TUG TATOOSH. The Moran Bros. Co., Seattle, Wash., has just launched the ocean- going steel tug Tatoosh, built by them for the Puget Sound Tug Boat Co., Capt. J. B. Libby, manager. This tug is said to be the finest vessel of her class ever built on the Pacific coast. She was launched Feb. 22 and is of the following dimensions: Length, 128 feet; breadth, 25 feet; depth, 15 feet 8 inches. The vessel is of steel throughout, including full deck house. The main engine is of the triple expansion condensing type with cyl- inders of 16, 24 and 40 inches diameter and a stroke of 28 inches. The estimated I. H. P. is 800. ‘There are two main boilers, 11 feet in diam- SS ee ae % THE STEEL TUG TATOOSH, BUILT BY MORAN BROS. CO., SEATTLE, WASH. eter by 10 feet in length, built for a working pressure of 150 pounds. The equ pment of auxiliary machinery and all other appliances are in all re- spects suited to make the Tatoosh a first-class seagoing tug)---_ Another vessel of the same type was launched by the Moran Bros. Co. on the same day as the Tatoosh and was christened Dolphin. This vessel is also of steel throughout, including deckhouse, and is of the following dimensions: Length, 80 feet; breadth, 17% feet; depth 9 feet. The engines of this boat are of the compound type, with cylinders 10 and 20 inches diameter and a stroke of 16 inches, using steam at 150 pounds, supplied by one boiler 714 feet in diameter and 9 feet long. A NEW COMPETITOR FOR SHIP CONSTRUCTION. Chamblin & Scott of Richmond, Va., submitted to the treasury de- partment, a few days ago, a bid of $163,500 for the construction of a revenue cutter for the great lakes. John Chamblin and James H. Scott are the proprietors of the Richmond Iron Works and have not hitherto engaged in the ship building industry. Their plant is well equipped and is located on Shockoe creek. Information from Richmond is to the effect that there is not a sufficient depth of water at the works at present to launch a vessel of any size. It is quite probable, therefore, that were the contract secured, the company would move its plant to some more advantageous spot. The alternative would be to have the hull constructed elsewhere. . The fact, however, that the company has submitted its bid is sufficient indication of its intention to eventually engage in ship building. It would not be the first concern to enlarge its works after receiving a large contract. The company’s bid was the third from the lowest.