The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-11-17
EMERSON SAYS
 UNITED STATES
 TRADES IMPROVE


 son, vice-president of the National Bank of Commerce in New York, writing on America and the New World Trade Routes in the Novem- Der issue of Commerce Monthly, the banks magazine. ''The United States now stands in definitely more favorable position in relation to international commerce than it did in 1914" MT. Emerson says. "Our merchant fleet is the sec ond largest in the world. The Pana- ma Canal is now effecting changes in trade routes which are highly favor able both to our importers and ex- porters. and the unsettlement in methods of distribution during the war promises to emphasize the effect of this new waterway on the distri- button of Asiatic products; while our position between the Pacific and At lantic Oceans should serve to secure for us our fair share of advantages from the more remote results of the sssaf1ict.''
 A number of countries whose goods reached us before the war only by trans-shipment from European ports, now are trading with us by di- rect routes, MT. Emerson points out.
 Our coal resources enable us to in fuence trade routes markedly, and should the increasing use of oil as fuel for ship cause coal to cease to be a dominant factor, our present posi- ton as producer of two-thirds of the worlds petroleum will give us the same advantage. MT. Emerson, in his article says in part:
 Because we have now become the second nation in the world as regards the ownership and operation of yes sels, it does not follow that such changes in routings as have occurred will be permanent.
 Under the direction of the United States Shipping Board a number of new direct lines under our flag have been established. These lines cannot be maintained, however, unless our ships are eventually operated with the sole view to profit, which is an- other way of stating that they must be operated between those points where they render the maximum service to the commercial world.
 Cargo carriers must be so routed as to reduce to a minimum their operation in ballast. The heaviest single item in the cost of operation of a ship is fuel cost. Bunkering con alterations enter to a large degree into the factors which determine the EOULIIiS oI d SL1p- -hdily leiSIOIS 4Ac[N contributed to make Great Britain the dominant factor in the ocean commerce of the world, but not the least of these has been the fact that at home and at the commercial coal ing stations established by her steam ship lines, ships could be bunkered for many trips more conveniently and cheaply than elsewhere. Great Britain Is now having difficulty in bunkering ships. Her coal output has been so cut down as result of in dustria1 conditions prevailing at home that an adequate supply of coal has not been available, and the price is so high that she is not in an advanta- geous competitive position So far as the natural coal resources of the United States are concerned, we are in by far the most favorable position of any nation in the world. If our coal production can be adequately fn- creased, we should be able to place our bunkering facilities foremost. The fact must not be overlooked that the use of oil as fuel for steamers is increasing with great rapidity. From the standpoint of ability to furnish oil for steamers, we are also in an ad- vantageous position At present, about two-thirds of the worlds petro-
 
 "It seems probable that the most tar reaching effect of the war on ocean transportation will result from the destruction of steamship tonnage which took place, and the consequent changes in the relative position of the chief ship-owning and operating na- tions. At its beginning, the United Kingdom owned 41.6 per cent. of the worlds sea-going steam tonnage and the United States 4.5 per cent. Now the United Kingdom owns 34.3 per cent. and the United States 2O.4 Of the sea.-going tonnage.
 "Conditions of competition over the two ocean trunk lines next in import ance to the North Atlantic route are being greatly affected by the Panama Canal The first of these routes is that to India, China and adjacent territories of the Middle East. A large competitive area as between the Pan anna and Suez routes has developed, and while the bulk of eastern North American tonnage will go via Pan anna, and the larger share of Euro pean traffic via Suez, a considerable readjustment, depending on many conditions will probably take place in the next few years. The same is true of the second of these routes, thai from eastern North America and western Europe to Australia and New Zealand.
 ''The question now is to what ex- tent the changes in shipping routes which took place during the war just closed and in the relative position of the leading nations as shipbuilders and operators will be permanent, and to what extent they are temporary in character. Consideration of the main ocean highways makes it obvious that the war could have no immediate ef- feet on what may be called the trunk lines of ocean travel, though, as will be seen later, it may in the long run affect them.
 Aside from these changes in the organization of ocean transportation which may result from the shift in the ownership of tonnage and in the fuel situation, the war caused many minor changes in conditions sur rounding commerce in what might be called the branch lines of water 6orne commerce, which seem likely to be permanent.
 Marked changes also took place in the routes over which specific kinds of merchandise were borne and, as result, there developed tend91ey to