fc.
The Commoner
APRIL, 1914
H&K
caused the firms in the combination to cut rates
over the prices they made themselves in previous
years. The figures submitted are as follows:
On special treatment steel ; .
for the new battleship
No. 39 $378,261. ...;
On turbine rotary drums r"
.for battleship No. 39. 102,836 ' - . "
On medium steel plates ',."' ?'
' for battleship 39. . . . 19,000 "." H
On angle irons and small - '&'
; iron and steel material ' -
for battleship No. 39. 3,000 '" '
On forgings and shaft- "' .'- jfi
ings for battleship No. '- v?
39 ..-.. 159,646 '662,743 .
On- clasr; A armor for ' .- ' -'
battleship No. 39.-. . .- 05,746 ",
On "turret , armor for 't;
battleship No. 39. . .-. 12;600 . ' ' ; '
On class B armor for ' -T '';' :
battleship No. 39 ""3,528 V: -'. :',; '
On bol'n for battleship " . ;;' '.pyi-
No. 39 7,500 v'H.9,-87;4
On 1-4-inch armor pierc- k -'-
ing-shells .v...;... 7.53,600- -''',':
On 12-inch armor pierc-
ing shells 192,600 '
On" 5-inch common shells 100,00
On 4-inch common shells 51,380 1,098,460
Total . . ,.$1,880,577 $1,880,577
In addition to theso savings, over $30,000
has been saved by securing cheaper transporta
' tion for sand, coal and iron materials to stations
in the Pacific. Numerous small savings, such
as a saving of $12,000 in the purchase of rope,
which altogether make a large aggregate, have
also been accomplished, but which cannot be ac
curately figured until the books are made up at
the close of the fiscal year. The stock of com
' mercial articles carried at the various navy
'yards has been reduced $1,000,000 since the
4th of March, 1913, and the amount of current
funds kept standing to the credit of disbursing
officers of he navy has been reduced by
$2;000,000. ... ".- '
Department of coMivHoncE . -.,,.
Bureau op foreign and domestic
commerce
Secretary Redfield has recommended to con
gress that the free distribution of the Daily Con
sular and Trade Reports be limited to commer
cial organizations, trade papers and other- news-
. papers, schools and colleges, libraries, and
similar agencies which, in their use of this
pamphlet, actively aid the department in its
promotive work. It is proposed to discontinue
free distribution to individuals and to firms to
which this ' bulletin is of practical value in the
actual sale of their goods abroad. Free dis
tribution at present is limited by law to 20,000
copies and- arrangements have already been made
with the superintendent of documents at the
government printing office to furnish the
; pamphlet at an -annual subscription price of
-$2.50 to others who desire it. After July 1, it
is proposed that individuals and- firms now on
the mailing list who desire the publication be
referred to that officer, thus reducing the free
distribution to about 5,000 -copies. This action
is-considered advisable in .order to permit the
indefinite development of the circulation of the
reports without' constantly increasing i;he cost
..to the , government. The ..commercial interests
of the pountry have in many-ways expressed ap
proval of plans to place the distribution of .such
public documents on the basis of subscription
and, sale aiid.tbe chamber of commerce of the
.United States, of America recently formally ifp-
i proved the" proposed plan .with respect to the
.Daily Consular and Trade, Reports.
. BUREAU OF NAVIGATION -
Figures compiled by the radio service of the
bureau of navigation show that there are 2,346
commercial radio' operators in the United States
2,099 of which are first-grade and 247 second
rade. Of the first-grade operators 57 per cent
-were1 21 years of age or older when licensed
.while 83 per cent were 18 or older. Ofthe sec-
ond-grade operators 49 per cent were 21 years
of age Or older, while 75 per cent were 18 or
older. Of both grades 82 per cent were 18 years
of age or oldeT. '
' Tn thn nnfnrnbmfint of the regulations ffovern-
'infc radio communication, the ' secretary recently
f 'approved a fine of $25 imposed upon an amateur
"wireless operator in San Francisco for a vidl'a-
"'tidri of the "wireless regulation in that the wave
!-
length emitted by his station exceeded by 370
meters the limit fixed by law for his class of sta
tion. The imposition of the penalty followed
several warnings from the United State radio in
spector and the allowance of considerable time
for the proper adjustment of the station. In an
other cose, a commercial wiroloss operator hold
ing a license issued by the department, forged
the signatures of two captains undor whom he
hajl served to the license record. This case has
been referred to the United States attorney for
prosecution, In a third case, a wireless operator
holding a government license, operating on a
steamship in the North Atlantic coasting trade
was reported to tho bureau for indulging In un
necessary and unauthorized conversation by
means of the wireless apparatus. Despite warn
ing, he repeated tho offense and, In accordance
with law, his license, was suspended for a period
of thirty days, during which liq was not per
mitted uo operate apparatus for radio communi
cation. A general warning ,has. been issupd to
operators through radio inspectors that the reg
ulations governing radip communication must be
complied with in all particulars, and that future
violntions will not bo leniently dealt with.
The bureau has received a request from the
Chilean government that vessels passing through
the Straits of Magellan give their name, nation
ality and official number by the use of signals
on passing any lighthouse on the straits which
may ask for the information. The announce
ment of the ports of departure and destination
would also be welcomed. The information thus
obtained will be Ttept by the Chilean government
for the information of ship-owners and others
throughout the world. Of late years several
steamers havo'been reported miss?ng for months
and the. Chilean government has no definite
.knowledge whether any of them passed the
straits or not. The reportsmnow asked for would
lessen the radius of search for missing vessels,
save considerable expense to vessel owners, and
aid Chile in searches for missing vessels. While
few American vessels pass through the straits
of Magellan, and there is no law enabling the
secretary of commerce to require vessels to re
port, as asked, Secretary Redfield has urged
American ship-owners to comply with these
reasonable wishes of the Chilean government.
BUREAU OF FISHERIES
The bureau of fisheries has undertaken to add
a new article to the popular diet in the form of
sea mussels. Since the middle of January, the
bureau has succeeded in bringing this hitherto
neglected sea, food into such prominence that
each xf a score or more of Boston's most prom
inent hotels and restaurants now make it a
regular feature of their bills of fare. Dealers
as well as the hotels and housekeepers have
been quick to take advantage of the new oppor
tunity. With placards bearing the endorsement
of the bureau of fisheries, the markets have ex
ploited sea mussels extensively and the demand
has spread greatly. In order to promote the
work more. fully,- the bureau's. agents have as
sisted the dealers in arranging for a supply, and
, a demonstration swill shortly be held in the mar
kets where mussels prepared in various: ways
will be served.'
Why this delicious food has been so neglected
in America is not easily explained. In Great
Britain, Holland tmd' France, millions of pounds
are consumed - annually, but until recently the
general public of the United States has hardly
known of its existence. The sea muBsel is close
ly related to the oyster arid clam. It is not,
however, to be confused' with the fresh-water
mussel. As a nutritious and wholesome food' it
is equal to either the oyster or the clam, and
many persons regaTd it as superior in flavor. It
is economically good notonly because of its high
nutritive value and digestibility, but because,
unlike the clam, all the meat is edible. The
fresh mussels are of course the choice form, but
several firms on Doth' coasts now' offer them
canned in their own juice or pickled, in which
form they retain their tenderness and most of
their flavor. '
All of this is part of a comprehensive under
taking to develop tnis country's fishery resources
in 'the interests of the public food supply.- The
bureau has for some time been, collecting 'data
and making laboratory experiments to prove
the wholesomeness and value of various neglect
ed products and -among the most valuable of
them are the sea -mussels, enormous beds of
which extend along the Atlantic coasts -as far
south as North Carolina and along the "'Pacific
down to San Francisco. :
The efforts of -the burdau to extend the 'use
of our fish food supply do not end with the de
velopment of unutllizod resources, but extend to
tho exploitation of articles already known and
used in quantities. A study and comparison
havo -been mado of tho relative food value of
canned salmon and various foods such as eggs,
sirloin steak, leg of mutton, chicken and ham;
and salmon, at least the cheaper grades, sup
plies, nutriment at the lowest cost. - Even tho
best grades of salmon are cheaper than all the
other articles except ham. Ham Is apparently
cheaper than the other means becauso it contains
. moro fat or fuel, tho cheapest of nutritive In
gredients, but this can be more cheaply supplied
by pie vegetable food which should accompany
tho mqats or fish.
The best grades of canned salmon are richer
than moats in body-building materials and con
tain about the same amount of fats, Pink
salmon, which is a cheaper grade, is bettor than
, meats for making flesh and bone, but has less
fat. Either is as digestible as tho best sirloin
steak, there is no waste, and nothing has to ho
thrown away except the can.
. For tho further extension of tho use of canned
salmon tho bureau appended to its roport fifty
recipes giving ways of preparing It. Copies of
tho roport may bo obtained free from. the de
partment of commerce.
The demands upon tho space of The Com
moner for tho publication of speeches in tho
canal toll debate necessitated tho omiss'on of
other cabinet reports from this issue. Ed.
THE SENATE'S RECORD AGAINST CANAL
TOLLS EXEMPTION
In a speech before the United States senate,
March 27, Senator Robert L. Owen, of Okla
homa, pointed out tho fact that when tho Hay
Pauncefoto treaty came up before the senate for
ratification, that body emphatically rejected tho
proposal permitting discriminations to vessels
engaged in coastwise traffic. On this point,
Senator Owen said:
"When the first draft of the Hay-Pauncefoto
treaty was submitted to tho senate, Mr. Bard of
California, December 13, 1900, moved to substi
tute tho following:
" 'The United States reserves the right In the
regulation and management of the canal to dis
criminate In respect of the charges of traffic in
favor of vessels of its own citizens engaged In
tho coastwiso trade.'
"There was a prdposal for this" very discrim
ination. There was this very proposal offered to
'discriminate in favor of coastwise vessels.' Was
it written into the treaty? No; it was rejected
by a vote of 43 to 23. The senate of the United
States not only did not give a two-third vote in
favor of such discrimination, but gave almost a
two-thirds Vote against it. It was defeated by
43 nays to 23 yeas. So that It appears that the
whole world, looking at our conduct and having
' before it senate document No. 85, fifty-seventh
congress, first session, published in 1902, knew
that the senate of the United States had refused
to amend the Hay-Pauncefote treaty by inserting
an amendment recognizing the right to discrim
inate in respect of the charges of traffic in favor
Of vessels of its own citizens engaged in coast
wise trade (Dec. 17, 1900 p. 16), and that the
senate had also, by an overwhelming vote, re
fused to-strike out the provision of the treaty in
the preamble of the convention of November' 18,
' 1901, reaffirming tho general principle of
neutralization established in article 8 of the
convention of 1850.
"With such a record before us we could not
face the world and interpret the Hay-Pauncefote
treaty as permitting discrimination. Wo re
fused to put in a provision recognizing discrim
ination on December 17, 1900; wo had recog
nized tho doctrine in the Clayton-Bulwer con
vention .of X850 for 50 years for equal, tertfis to
the citizens of all nations; we recognized it again
in Jtho, Hay-Pauncefote treaty in 1901, confirmed
. by' 72 senators to 6, and we refused to strike put
at the "Hay-Pauncefote treaty the neutralization
. agreed Upon in 1850."
Leader .Tim Mann ought to remove himself
from put of the Washington atmosphere' for a
time. Mr. Mapn declares that the surest wayt to
rehabilitate the republican party is to present
a solid front against the Wilson administration.
In other words, no matter what the Issue, no
matter where the right lies, it will help the re
publican party if it, will line up solidly against
the democratic : administration. Mi .Mann has
yet to' team that the "old stuff" in pqlitics no
longer has any efflcacy. The people are not now
'permitting the leaders to do their thinking for
them! '
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