400 to 500 miles in length, trolley lines, cheap insular telegraph and telephone service, jitneys, hotels, department stores, modern schools, American magazines, banks, stable United States currency and postage facilities have done much for Porto Rico.

The population of 1,250,000 has been vitally affected by the public schools, which are as good and probably better than those in many States of the Union. The young folk are bright and eager to learn. A Porto Rican

mother threatens a naughty child with keeping him home from school as her trump card in discipline. The graduates of the school system comprise a host of wonderfully bright, well-posted young men and women, who are earning their living by typewriting, stenography and clerical work in commercial houses, banks and industrial companies and in Gov

ernment service. Eighty-five per cent of the Insular Government employes are Porto Ricans, as well as many in the Federal service.

With all of the West Indian islands Porto Rico has developed and expanded under the influence of steam shipping, the great civilizer of all parts of the globe, but the story of her future share in the affairs of the world cannot yet be told. This "Little Switzerland," so called because of her fascinating and spellbinding mountain scenery, will one day become internationally famous for her climate, resorts and products, and we shall be proud she is a part of American territory. Her inhabitants are now American citizens and in government she has the status of a territory, the same as Alaska and Hawaii. Speed the day when she shall have reached the more mature condition of full Statehood!

Fo

NOR a full and permanent development of our foreign trade one of the most imperative needs is the enactment of a practical, efficient shipping law which will not merely permit but insure the permanency of the American Merchant Marine now in course of development which, unless competent shipping laws are enacted, will tend to steadily diminish when normal times again come and when successful competition with foreign owned shipping (which is free of the burdensome requirements of our shipping laws) becomes impossible, and we will see repeated what took place 50 or 60 years ago when the American flag, which had been for years on all the seas, practically disappeared from view in foreign ports. Our shipping laws, and the high protective tariff then and subsequently in existence, were the direct and permanent causes of this disappearance, and the oft repeated statement that the Confederate steamer Alabama and her consorts were responsible for the decline of American shipping is an absolute fallacy.

The destruction of our vessels was nothing more than contribution to a condition which became permanent-not because of the depredations of the Confederate commerce destroyers-but because of the shipping laws and the high protective tariff upon steel and iron then in force, eliminating all inducements for the re-building of our merchant marine. The essential cause of the disappearance of the American merchant vessel is found at a period several years prior to the Civil War when the English iron built and steam propelled hull first appeared on the seas. Up to this time vessels were of wood construction, and so long as this was the material used no other nation could outdo us in ship-building. We had the material and we had the skilled labor for turning out vessels which were not only larger carriers but were noted for their speed and for their efficient management. tective tariff which fostered all American man

The pro

ufacturing did so at the expense of the shipbuilding industry for it made the cost of iron and steel constructed ships prohibitive, in competition with those of England and other European ship-building nations, and while under the fostering care of the Government all of our other industries were rapidly developed, ship-building and our foreign carrying trade faded away.

The promised revival of an American fleet will only be a permanent one provided suitable shipping laws are enacted that will permit the American owner to buy his vessels where he will and to operate them on terms of equal advantage with the shipowners of other countries; while the question of the cost of the ships is of great importance it is far less so than the question of freedom and economy in their management and operation. Frequently the statement is made that we are not a maritime nation. We were once and should again be, situated as we are and with our extended coast lines on the two great oceans, across which are found vastly populated countries offering us markets of unlimited possibilities. if we but equip ourselves to furnish and deliver their requirements. Our present ship-building scheme is a magnificent undertaking, but the mere building of ships will not make us a maritime nation. Unless American shipowners can operate their vessels free from restrictions that put them at a disadvantage with their competitors, the permanent revival of an American merchant marine can never be realized. Our foreign trade will be again under the old handicap of ocean transportation in the control of those who are our export competitors and who by reason of their control of ocean freights can always quote rates for carrying our merchandise which will put it at a disadvantage compared with their own in every foreign market; and when the war is over what is left of the enormous tonnage that we are now planning to construct will steadily pass to other national ownership and every

ton of American exports will once again pay tribute to the shipowners of other countries.

Now that we have in Washington a Shipping Board composed of practical shipping men it should be possible to have a bill prepared by those who are qualified by experience to draft such a law, which, while affording all needed protection to seamen, will at the same time protect the owner from burdensome and unnecessary requirements. Financing of the building and operating of merchant vessels of all classes should be freely engaged in by our bankers and a wide and popular market should be developed in the United States for shipping shares the same as has existed for many years in England. Capital is as necessary in this as in all business and trade development and its importance as an industry too long has been disregarded. While legislation killed the industry, legislation cannot bring it to life again, but world conditions have done so, and, given competent legislation, it will permanently survive.

Quick and frequent means of ocean transportation are necessary for the upbuilding of foreign trade, enabling merchants and their representatives to quickly and frequently visit. the foreign markets. The typewritten page does not possess the power of persuasion found in the human voice nor does it contain the magnetism of personality. Neither foreign nor domestic trade can be successfully developed by correspondence alone nor by inefficient or second class representatives. If, by the granting of subsidies, fast passenger lines could be maintained between our own and the most important foreign ports, American commerce would be so greatly benefited that the adoption of a policy believed by many to be unsound and unfair might be justified in view of the ends obtained.

Manufacturing nations require foreign markets for surplus production, and the extent to which we will feel that need is emphasized by the enormous recent investment of upwards of two billion dollars for new productive machinery to enable the high speed production we now have and unless we are in a position to keep our mills and factories running on full time, thereby providing abundant employment

for the mechanic and wage earning class, the after-war re-adjustment period through which we must pass, and which under the best of conditions will be difficult enough, will be far more So. Even the present volume of our export trade cannot be long maintained unless we have our own merchant vessels to provide the ocean transportation. But if we have this, and if we thoroughly cultivate the markets abroad, studying the requirements, ideas and notions of the foreign buyers, the results should make the United States the greatest factor in the world's commerce.

In connection with our purchases abroad, if we have our own vessels to bring home the merchandise we will be in a far better position to barter in those countries; this is shown by the results attained by Great Britain in her foreign trade. For a simple and clear illustration of how strong our buying position in foreign markets would be if we had our own tonnage, let us note how Great Britain has done her buying, taking for illustration a concrete case -bearing in mind that the same principle governs to a greater or less extent in all markets. For example, in the buying by England of the products of the Argentine for her home requirements the British merchant begins his transaction from Liverpool or London and takes as a basis for his purchases the selling price in that market of the commodity he requires, perhaps cereal, meat, wool or hides, deducting therefrom the cost of ocean transportation, marine insurance, exchange, etc., and then establishes the price to be paid to the Argentine merchant for his goods. This system was made possible by the fact that Great Britain controls the shipping and also marine insurance situation, and the seller has been obliged to conform his prices to the ideas of the British buyer, or to keep his goods. The measure of our ability to purchase advantageously in foreign markets will depend largely upon the amount of American owned tonnage which can be freely diverted as conditions demand.

After the war, our two great competitors in foreign trade, Germany and Great Britain, will make every effort to resume their own places (Continued on page 114)

AR

SI ran down the steps of the Tarpon Inn this morning, and stepped up the street toward the post office, a one-eyed boy with an undeniable east side accent called to me loudly: "Kalo Lustrum Netta Sa Sa," and again, somewhat more enticingly.

"Boy," I said sternly, "what is this stuff you are trying to give me? Talk United States! What do you mean by this "Kalo Lustrum Netta Sa Sa?"

"Heh, Boss! so youse from Nuyawk too, ant yeh?"

"Yes, I'm from New York."

"Well, Boss, I'll tell yeh. I tout yeh was one of dese rich Greek sponge buyers.

"I mean will yeh have a good shine for a nickel. See!"

"Fine," I said, "Fine! Some little linguist you are getting to be, down here."

"Yes, Boss, I make two-tree dollars every Sunday morning shinin' shoes, because every one of these rich Greeks wants to get his shoes shined before he goes to the church, and week days I caddies up to de goff links and makes about ninety cents a day. I come down here in December of 1916. When did you come?"

So, after the one-eyed boy had shined my shoes, we parted good friends, and I departed on my way to the post office, and then on to the Sponge Exchange, where was to take place the morning sale of sponges.

You who know of our Wall Street stock exchange, and attend an occasional and excited session of the produce exchange, may not be aware that here in Tarpon Springs, a little town of three thousand people on the Gulf Coast of Florida, is the only Sponge Exchange in these United States. But such is the fact.

Years ago, about thirty years ago, we used to import into America from the Mediterranean about two million dollars in value each

year of sponges. Those were all the sponges used in America, because we produced none here. But once in a while some fisherman would bring in here a poor specimen of sponge he had discovered growing on some rock, and had been able to reach at low tide. Soon thereafter the sharp-eyed experts of the Fish Commission noticed that the blue water of the Gulf here had all the wonderful hues of the Mediterranean, and that it was the same in temperature. But where the Gulf differed was in the fact that the bottom had very little rock exposed. Now sponges insist upon growing by attaching themselves to rocks on the bottom, and to try the sponge experiment it was necessary to produce an artificial bottom in this portion of the Gulf.

Some problem! But it was finally solved by the manufacture of some millions of pottery disks, impregnating them with the sponge spawn, and sowing them broadcast into the hospitable waters. The experiment succeeded. The sponges liked their new homes and gradually extended to the rocks they discovered for themselves in the deeper waters. And now, each year, the fishermen bring into this little port and there are sold on the Exchange floor here, sponges of a value of about one and a half million—more than half we use. About twenty years ago it was discovered that the better sponges came from the deeper water, and so Greek divers were imported. There are about twelve hundred Greeks here, all earning a fair livelihood, and adding each year to our national wealth.

On Greek Cross day, which is the 19th of January, all the boats engaged in the sponge fishing are drawn up at the wharf in the Anclote River or anchored out in the lee of the Anclote Keys, one of the best and safest anchorages on the west coast. They are all here because this is the great feast day of