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6 THE MARINE RECORD. DEPARTMENT OF COMMENCE. ‘The tollowing bill for an act to establish a Department of Commerce has been endorsed by the National Board of 'I'rade: Be it enacted, etc., That there shall be, and hereby is, established an Executive Depart- ment to be called the Department of Com- merce. Said department shall be charged with the supervision and care of, the com- mercial, manufacturing, and mining inter- ests of the United States, in so far as the same may be confided to the National Gov- ernment by the Constitution, 2. Said departwent shall be charged with the execution of all the laws of the United States relating to trade and commerce, both foreign and domestic; to rivers and harbors; to lighthouses, port charges, quarantine, emigration, pillotage, tonnage, and the neas- urement, registry, enrollment and licensing of vessels, and generally of all matters in- cluded in the navigation laws; and shall have the supervision and control ef all the officers and agents appuinted to carry all such laws into effect. 3. Said deparment shull collect, collate, and tabulate statistics relating to the com- merce, manufactures, and mining of the United Statee, and publish and circulate the same in such way us may be provided by w. : et Said Gepartment shall, from time to time, communicate to the executive denart- ments the information received by it, from its correspondence and inquiries on matters under the care of said department, accom- panying the same with such suggestions 48 may be useful for correcting defects in treaties, laws or regulations, or for the amendment of the same, for the protection of the persons and interests of the people of the United States. 5. Said department shall carefully exam- ine and compare all State laws and regula- tions on the subject of manufactures, mining, trade, and commerce, and also all locat usages, customs, and charges which affect commerce among the several States; and where the same shall be found solely under the control of the several States, endeavor, by correspondence’ with the State govern- ments, to secure uniformity in the State lawson those subjects. 6. Insotaras this act shall operate to transfer powers and duties from other exec- utive departments to the department hereby established, the secretary of said department shall, after conference with the secretary of the department from which transfers are to be made, report to the President what trans- fers should be made, and, on the approval thereof by the President, such transfers shall be carried into effect, and the clerks and other officers connected therewith shall be placed under the supervision and control of the Department of Commerce, 7. The officers of said department shall be a secretary and assistant secretary, to be appointed by. the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. ‘They shall hold these offices for the same time and un- der the same tenure, and ieceive the same compensation as may be payable to the sec- retaries’ and. assistant secretaries of the Treasury Department. I the absence or inability of the secretary to act the assistant secretary shall act pro tempore, 8.- ‘here shall be a chief clerk and such additional clerks and other officers as may be be provided by law, who shall be appointed by the secretary, receive such compensation as may be fixed by law, and hold their ot- tices at the pleasure ct the.Secretary. 9. The Secretary of said department shall annually, in the month of October, make a report to the President, to be by him laid be- fore Congress .at its next session, which shall contain an account of the operations of the department for the year ending the 30th of June preceding said report. And in said reports the secretary shall make such sug- gestions for the amendment and improve- ment of the Jaws and regulations that per- tain to the matters confided to the care of the department, as from the information re- ceived by it or from the experience of the practical workings of such laws, he shall deem of importance to the public interest. 10. That so much of any law ae is hereby altered or supplied be, and the same hereby is, repealed. THE CANALS. Representative Wemple, of this State, has originated a bill to authorize the permanent improvement of the Erie canal by the Unit ed States. The bill authorizes and directs the secretary ef the treasury to pay into the treasury of the State ot New York the suin of $1,000,000 annually for the purpose of making improvements to the Erie canal in the way of constructing and repairing walls, leaks, etc., of a fixed and permanent char- acter. Section two provides: ‘That said sum of $1,000,000 shall be paid annually, commenceing September 1, 1884, and Sep- tember Ist for each and every year therenf- ter for ten years, or while said canal shall be maintained by said State of New York free to the commerce of the United States, and said sum herein named shall be paid out when received by the treasurer of the State, on the requisition of the superintendent of public works of suid State, to: be by him ex pended en the works and improvements to said canal of a permanent character only, Whether this measure shall receive favor- able consideration or not, it ia certainly a step in the right direction. ‘I'here ie noth- ing more evident to the careful observer than that the canals of this State must be greatly improved by an increased capacity or they will be abandoned in a few years, as the canals of other States have been aban- doned. ‘lhe people of the State of New York must now tax themselves over a million of dollars annually, to maintain the canals, to provide for the sinking fund, and pay in- terest on the canal debt, without making any permanent improvements or in any way increasing their capacity for bueinees. It is safe toconclude that with the present tem- per of the people that is about the extent to which they will allow themselves to be taxed. The canals are therefore much more likely to tall into decay than otherwise. As a connecting link between the commerce of the great Northwest and the Hudson river the Ne York canals are of great value to the whole country. Why, then, should not the national Government do its share to- wards improving them? Why should the people of the Stute of New York tax them- selves to the extent of millions of dollars an- nually that the people of the Northwest muy: have a cheap road to their market unless the people more particularly benefited will show a disposition to charge themselves with some portion of the burthen? Mr. Wem- ple’s bill will be found to have merit in it.— Oswego Times. MR. ROACH ON FREE SHIPS, Mr. Roach says that shipbuilding mate- rial dogs not cost any more in this country than in England, but that labor does. He snys also that nearly one-half of the carry- ing trade of the world is done in sailing ships, and that we can build wooden sailing ships cheaper than any other nation. He declares that we can build iron ships within five per cent. as cheaply ag it can be done on the Clyde. He declares that. our material is cheaper than elsewhere. He states that both France and Germany have tried a free ship law and found ita failure. All these statements Mr. Roach puts torth as the best arguments against the policy of free ships. He is not unlike the old cheap Johns at the county faire, who offered a trumpery article for a shilling and then attracted buyers by adding article after article to the list until quite arespectuble pile of odds and ends were to be given to the purchaser, all for a shilling, but the whole lot being dear at halt the price. Mr. Roach’s statements con- tradict each other. He does not want free ships, or free shibuilding material, because our materials are cheaper than can be pur- chased elsewhere.» What harm is done if, under such circumstances, shipbuilding ma- terials are put on the free list? If Mr. Roach is right in his statements materials will not be imported, but yet concession is made toa growing public demand by making them free. He does not want free ships, because our higher Jabor makes our own vessels cost much more, and yet almost in the same breath he declares that difference to be ouly five per cent. He intimates that as half the car- rying trade of the world is done with sailing ships and that as we can build sailing ships eheaper than other people, we cin control a large proportion of the carrying trade with- out resorting to foreign vessels. And yet we control but a very small proportion of this trade and our hold is growing weaker, Itis surprising that Mr. Roach should ad- vance this proposition after he has for years urged upon Congress the necessity of home built iron steamships anda subsidy as the only means by which this country can se- cure its former place in ocean navigation, It Mr. Roach is right about the sailing ships then the subsidy is not wanted. If he is right about the subsidy then his argument about the sailing ship talls to pieces. ‘There isa way out of the dilemma, but it is over the fact that neither statement of Mr. Roach is worth attentention. ‘I'here is no evidence to support them. The other statement that France and Germany haye found the free ship law a failure has Mr. Roach alone for its authority. The law has not been a fail- ure in either country. If Mr. Roach cannot make a better argument against free ships than those figments of his imagination stated above, he had better retire entirely from the lists. He is probably the strongest oppo- nent of free ship policy in the country, and the very fact that his arguments against it cannot be substantiated, and that he has to depend upon vague statements which he tries to make acceptable and trustworthy under the guise of statistics, show more than anything else the weakness of the prote :- tion theory for shipping. Mr, Roach would be better empioyed were he to use that in- fluence, which he unquestionubly possesses, to secure the removal of those many bur- dens which he truly says make the cost of running American ships so great as almost to prevent competition with foreigners,— Maritime Register. SUPERVISING INSPECLORS. The Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels met last week in Washington, General Dumont presiding. M.P. Edson and W. P. Fiero, of New York, submitted an improved steam recording gauge for the approval of the board. M. White, of North Adams, Mass., presented for approval a new nautical signal apparatus, and A. Orme and J.M. Gibson, of Chicago, submitted a re- quest that the Orme safety valve, approved heretofore by the board, be placed on an equal footing with safety valves of the same capacity. Resolutions were offered to amend the rules of steam whistles and safety valves and all boilers and sets'ot boilers, to have attached to them at least one steam gauge, which shall correctly indicate a pressure equal to the hydrostatic pressure applied by the local inspectors. SAILING TONNAGE. It appears trom caretully compiled sta- tistics that the sailing tonnage of the United States on the 30th of June last amounted to 2,822,293 tons, against 2,810,108 tons on the 30th of June, 1882, and the steam fonnage of the country amounted to 1,413,194 tons, us against 1,256,825 ronson June 30, 1882. The tonnage of Amertean vessels engaged in the foreign trade of the United States in- creased from 1,259,492 tons on June 30, 1882, to 1,262.681 tons on June 30, 1883. ‘The ton- nage built in the United States amounted to 265,430 tons during the vear ending June 80, 1883, as against 282,269 tons built during the year ending June 30, 1881. In ourcom- merce with foreign countries there. is stili a large preponderance ot foreign vessels en.- ployed. ‘The tonnage of American vegsele entered at sea ports of the United States from foreign countries ‘amounted to 2,834,681 tons during the last fiscal year, as against 2.968.- 290 tons during the previous fiscal year; and the tonnage of foreign vessels entered at sea ports of the United States amounted to 10,- 626,176 tons,.n8 against 11,688,209 tons dur- ing the preceeding tixeal year. In 1856 the tonnage of American vessels entered at our seu ports from foreign countries amounted to 3,194,275 tons and constituted 71 1-2 per vent, of the total tonnage entered; and in 1868, three years atter the termination of the war, the tonnage of American vesgels entered amounted to 2,465,605 tons and con- stituted 44 26 per cent. the total tonnage entered, but of the total tonnage entered at sea ports of the United States from fereign countries during the fiscal year 70 per event. consisted of toreign tonnage, and only 21 per cent. of American tonnage. ‘The amount of American tonnage entered has exhibited but little change since 1868, but the tonnage: of foreign vessels entered has increased from 3,105,026 tons in 1868, to 10,526,176 in 1883. In other words, foreign ship Owners have been’ able to secure the entire increase in our carrying trade, which increase has been very large. LOSS OF Ss. CITY OF COLUMBUS. A dispatch, January 18th announces the loss of the steamer City of Columbus the following is Captain Wright’s statement: ‘The City of Columbus left Boston at 3 Thursday afternoon, carrying eighty pass- engers and a crew of forty-five. At 3:45 a. m. Friday, at Gayhead light, bearing south half east, the vessel struck on the outside of the Devil’s Bridge buoy. The wind was blowing a gale west by north. ‘lhe veseel immediately filled and keeled over, the water breaking in and flooding the port side of the saloon. All the p»ssengers excepting a few woman and children came on deck, nearly all wearing life preservers. All the boats were cleared away, but were immediately swamped. ‘The majority of the passengers were Washer overboard. Several passengers left the vessel on a lite raft, and about forty more took to the rigging. At1:30 a. m. the Gayhead lifeboat put off and took seven per- sons, and another lifeboat put off between 12 and 1. The revenue cutter Dexter came along about 12:30, and sent off two boats, ‘’wenty-one persone, one of whom was dead, were placed aboard the Dexter, and after all the persons were taken from the vessel the Dexter proceeded to New Bedford. ‘Three persons died atter going aboard the Dexter. Latest advices state that out of one hun- dred and twenty-five people-on board at the time the steamer struck, but twenty-nine were saved, the others being drowned or frozen to death. Not one of the women lived to see the land again. ‘The ledges on which the City of Columbus struck are considered by mariners to be one ot the most dangerous points on the coast. The ledges consist of a formation of sub- merged rocks, constituting a double ledge, the outer strata of which is called the “Devil's Back,” both ledges being called the “Devil’s Bridge.” ‘The ledges are abreast of Gayhead light, on the mainland, and extended a little to the southward of it. The outer ledge of the ‘Devil’s Back is about one-eighth of a mile from the mainland. On either side of the outer ledge is very deep water. ‘The upper part of the ledge is formed like the gable end of a house, so that a vessel strik- ing it diagonally would naturally heel over onto her beam ends, ‘The course of vessels is around Gayhead to pass by the outer ledge on the south, The City of Columbus was one ot the finest vessels on the coast. She was built in 1878 by John Roach & Son at Chester, Pa., for the Ocean Steamship Company, of New York, to run between that port and Havana. She was launched by the Boston and Savannah Steamship Company in September, 1880, and since has been plying between that city and Savannah, making tortnightly trips in alter- nation with her sister ship, the Gate City, The Columbus was bailt of iron, and was thoroughly equipped. She was rated Al, and was 1,997 tons burden. She was 270 feet long and 39 feet beam, and had passenger accommodations for eighty-four first-class and forty-five second-class passengers, ‘The steamhip was insured ata lower rate than any vessel on the coast. She was valued at $300,000, and was insured for $250,000— $170,000 in English and $80,000 in American companies. Q Captain S. E. Wright is a seaman of large experience and excellant reputation. He had been in command of the stermers of the Boston and Savannah lines since of 1879, and commanded the City of Columbus since it was purchased by the line. He never had an accident uml last September when his vessel sunk on the bank off Nantucket. The Boston and Savannah: Line has an excellent record, It has carried between 150,C00 and 200,900 passengers, and no life was ever be- tore lost. ‘I. W. Nickerson & Co. are the Boston agente. DISEASE CURED Without Medicine. A Valuable Discovery for supplying Magnetism to the He - man System. 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Vesselmen SHOULD HAVE OUR MARINE LAW BOOK, Containing all poinis of MARINE LAW as de- termined by the United States Courts —ON - — Seamen, Owners, Freights, Charters, Towage, Registry, Collisions, Enrollments, General Average, Common Carriers, Duties of Seamen, Masters & Owners, Bill of Lading, Wages, &c. The volumn Is Handéomely hound in stiff Board covers, and fine English cloth binding. Booke of this kind generally cost $3.00, but we will send it to an address, postage paid for $1,00, or with the MARINE RECORD for one year, both for only $3.00. Address MARINE RucorD. Cleveland 0. Capt. D. S. Webs ter VESSEL AND INSURANCE AGENT, Wood, Fence Posts, Bark, ETC., BOUGHT AND SOLD ON COMMISSION. Chartering and Friighting of Canadian Coarse Freights Specialty, No. 64 Woodbridge Street Detroit, Michigan Boat washing and general laun- iy in a few hours. CLEVELAND STEAM LAUNDRY, 33 St. Clair Street. Telephone 118.