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Blue Book of American Shipping. NOT a single contract has been let for a vessel for the foreign trade of the United States during the past two years. Here is a country whose exports are unrivaled among the nations of the earth without a single ship ordered for two years to carry away its freight. Could any one thing demonstrate more clearly than this the need of government aid for shipping? Why is this feature of our trade neglected? The ability to make things to export is aided by a tariff. Why not the carrier itself? Space in a ship is a commodity. It is something made to sell. The statistics of our export trade would be vastly enriched if there could be added to them the freight earned in transporting the goods. Except on the great lakes, where the industry is peculiarly a special one protected by the coasting regulations, there is little encouraging to report regarding ship building in the United States. Orders have become like the proverbial visits of the angels—few and far between. During the fiscal year ended June 30, last, 1,536 vessels of 456,076 gross tons were built in the United States, compared with 1,657 vessels of 473,981 gross tons for the previous fiscal year. Vessels now under construction indicate a further lessened output for the coming fiscal year. The principal decrease for the past year has been in steel steamers built on the great lakes, which number forty-one of 131,660 tons compared with fifty-two of 161,797 tons for the preceding year. The previous year was the one of greatest output in the lake district. On the seaboard eighteen ocean steel steamers of 101,471 gross tons were built —the largest output of this type in our history. Think of it! Eighteen ocean steel steamers in this continent, covering a country with 70,000,000 of souls. Nor were these all for oversea trade. Far from it. Only five of them can properly be credited to that service—the Finland for the Red Star Line, the Massachusetts, Mississippi and Maine for the Atlantic Transport Line, and the Siberia for the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. The Red Star and Atlantic Transport lines are now controlled by the International Mercantile Marine Co. All these ships were ordered over two years ago and there have been no new orders to fill the places left vacant on the stocks. A few contracts have been received by the coast ship yards for some splendid vessels for the coastwise service. These include a side-wheel passenger steamer and a freight steamer for the Fall River Line, the former to cost $1,000,000 and the latter $400,000, and both to be built by the Fore River Ship & Engine Co., Quincy, Mass.; a 400-ft. passenger and freight steamer for the Mallory Line of New York and a similar vessel for the Ocean Steamship Co. of Savannah, both to be built at the Roach Ship Yard, Chester, Pa.; a 300-ft. steamer for the Clyde Line, to be built by Cramps of Philadelphia; a steamer for the Eastern Steamship Co., to be about 350 ft. long, two steamers for the Ericsson Line, each 203 ft. long, all to be built by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del.; and four dredges for government service, to be built by the Maryland Steel Co., Sparrow's Point, Md. These embrace all that are of any importance.