The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1913-10-07

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The fear voiced by Prof Adam w
kirkaldy that the Panama canal ma.
wean British ships away from tn,
Suez route, give American ships tn,
advantage, and divert much Orienta
and Australian trade from London t,
American ports, is not regarded yer,
seriously by our newspapers. TIL,
facts that American coal can be SOLE
cheaper at Panama than British Goa
at Suez, and that "all Japanese AM
New Zealand ports and all Australian
ports east of Adelaide" will be nearel
! to New York than 20 London upor
which Professor Kirkaldy bases his
conclusions, are not questioned, bu
some of the American papers wonder
how this country, with no merchant
marine to speak of. can crowd British
ships out of business. The Brooklyn
Eagle says Professor Kirkaldy draws
an agreeable picture for Americans
to contemplate the only trouble with
it being the fact that 1--WE have as yet
no merchant marine in the sense that
Great Britain has, nor are we taking
any steps to create one Professor
kirkaldy fills the chair of finance at
birmingham University, and is re-
cognized authority on current eco
nomic problems. His statement re-
garding the advantage the Panama
canal might give to American trade
was contained in an address delivered
the other day before the British Asso-
citation in his home city. His warning
that there will be strenuous at
tempt to displace coal throughout the
world in order to give American ship
ping the advantages at present enjoy
ed by the British" and that 1.-THE Brit
ish coal industry must realize the sit
uation, and both the capital and labor
interested resolve to hold the market
at all costs until the fuel question
coal or Oils finally settled moves
the Washington Post to say that:
Surely, American shipping looms
large in the professors imagination,
as though all that it lacks in order to
deal a mortal blow to the British mer-
camille marine is trifle cheaper ar
ticle of coal pending the replacement
of coal by oil as fuel. But why can
not the minnow give the whale a NOR
tai sting with a superior article Of oil
Kirkaldy evidently is not aware that
British shipping today uses more
American coal than our shipping. Rea-
sonably, the same thing may occur at
the isthmus, if, as he says, we are to
put coal on sale at the isthmus at a
lower price than Welsh coal can be
sold at Suez
However, seeing that there is no
competition between our coastwise
trade and the British lines, the advan-
tage of coal supply would all lie with
them. That is, unless the welfare of
their coal industry outweighs that of
shipping. At all events, if oil is to be
the fuel of the future, as seems to be
decided by the laying down of the lat
est British dreadnought as an oil-bur-
ner exclusively, the British coal trade
is doomed anyhow. She has no home
supply of oil, and, therefore, has no
substitute, as we have, to make up for
the loss
Neither, British nor Americans are
likely to be beguiled by Professor
kirkaldy- into thinking that a slight
difference in the price of coal will give
our shipless shipping commercial com
mand of the seven seas"
In taking issue with Professor Kirk
oldy, the Mex York Sun avails itself of
the opportunity to argue vigorously
for an American merchant marine:
There seems to be no doubt that
American coal can now be supplied
for less per ton at Colon and Panama
than. it brings at the Suez termini.
in what bottoms is coal being carried
from the Atlantic to the Pacific at the
present time? According to Mr.. Ro-
bert Dollar, one of the largest ship
owners on the Pacific coast, the Unit
ed States government has now under
charter thirty foreign steamships to
carry coal round the Horn. Coastwise
ships can be used after the opening of
he Panama canal, but they must make
reasonable rates if coal is to be quot
I'd low at Colon and Panama.
BY American shipping however.
Professor Kirkaldy does not mean the
'oastwise trade. He must have in
mind the creation of merchant ma
Inc to take advantage of the Panama
quite and cheap coal and serve Ameri-
AN merchants. There is no merchant
n 81