The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-08


 lished part III of its report on transpor- tation by water in the United States. parts I and Il. already published, dealt with physical characteristics of water ways, floating equipment, and water borne traffic. Part III took up exhaustivey the subject of water terminals, pointing out the importance of the terminal as a vital part of an effective water transportation system; the striking degree to which water terminals are now controlled by the railroads. the natural competitor of waterways; the lack of any consistent policy of water terminals; the disastr ous effect of the present situation on water traffic; and the need for cooperation be- tween the federal government and locali- ties in providing terminals. This report has had a very gratifying effect, both in influencing public opinion generally on the subject and in its use in specific con- troversies, where it has been referred to by various bodies. and also by the courts, as authoritative in setting forth certain principles of transportation.
 On February 13, 1911. the bureau pub lished a summary of part I of Its report on the lumber industry. This part dealt with the standing timber of the country, it's amount, distribution, and ownership The most important facts shown in the re- port relate 70 the concentration of dom- mating control of our standing timber in comparatively few vast holdings, the enormous increase in the value of this resource, and the unfortunate effect that our long standing public land policy has had in producing such concentration.
 Report on Steel Corporation
 At the end of the fiscal year the bureau issued part I of it's report on the steel industry. This part dealt with the or ganizatlon. investment, profits and posi- iAt, af 1ur uacf ( ttn,, f., 4I.1 country. the United States Steel corpora tion. It gave an elaborate analysis of the relation of assets to capitalization, and especially criticised the corporation s tendency toward monopolstic control oi ore, the basis of the industry, particularly AS evidenced in the so-called Hill lease. It also criticised the unduly high freight rates charged by the Steel corporation of carrying ore over the corporations ore railroads. Within few months after the Issuance of the report, the corporation announced it's intention to cancel the Hill lease, and also reduced by about 25 pel cent the ore rates on its northern ore rail- roads.
 At the end of the fiscal year there were still pending, as work on hand investi- gations into the International Harvester company and concentration of water power ownership, as well continued in vetsgations of the steel, tobacco and lum- Der industries, transportation by wate, and corporate taxation.
 The bureau is now allowed by law to publish only 2500 copies of a given report in one fiscal year. This unfortunate re striction should be enlarged. The present and increasing demand for these reports is so great that the bureaus supply i: frequently exhausted in three or foul months, and large numbers of requests must be denied. Considering the impor. tance of the subject matter of these re- ports, the vast amount of work involved therein, and the urgency of the demand the limitation of 2500 copies is absurdly inadequate. Very respectfully,
 HERBERT KNOX SMITH, s
 Commissioner of Corporations To Hon. Charles Nagel, Secretary oi
 Commerce and Labor.