Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 May 1901 — Morgan Rules the Waves. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Morgan Rules the Waves.

The purchase by the Pierpont Morgan interests of the control of the Leyland line of steamers is the most mo-

mentous event that has occurred ix£ the field of world commerce since the Confederate cruisers drove the American flag from the ocean. It means nothing less than that American capital is preparing to grasp that sovereignty of the seas which we seemed on the point of attaining fifty years ago. The Leyland line owns fifty-four steamers of 245,000 tons. The Wilson line, which belongs to the Leylands, has eighty-seven steamers of 189,193 tons. .The Atlantic Transport line, which is already in American hands, and which, according to current reports, is to be consolidated with the Leyland system,has 23 steamers of 81,-

548 tons. Here are 164 vessels of 515,741 tons. But that is not all. It is said that the American line, of twenty-six steamers and 187,000 tons, is to be part of the combination. This would make in all 190 vessels of 702,741 tons, or more than twice the entire present registered steam tonnage of the United States. To be sure it Is said that the present English head of the Leyland line has stipulated that the Mediterranean, Portugal and Montreal fleets of the line are to be sold to him, but this deduction will probably be balanced by the gigantic new building programme of the American combination. In any case the American company will be by far the greatest steamship owner in the world.

At present the largest merchant fleet in existence is that of the HamburgAmerican line, with ninety-five steam-

ers of 515,628 tons. The second Is that of the North German Lloyd, with 108 steamers of 501,050 tons. The third in the world, and the largest under the British flag, is that of the British India Steam Navigation company, with 122 ships of 385,740 tons. Then comes the “P. & 0.,” with fifty-eight vessels of 313,392 tons. Imagine John Bull’s feelings when the first merchant fleet in the world is American, the second and third German and only the fourth British. Will he still sing “Britannia Rules the Waves” with undiminished cheerfulness?'’ asks the Chicago American. The report that the new ships to be ordered by the Morgan combination will be built in the United. States is inherently probable. It will be to the

interest of the steel trust and its associated shipyards to have such a market for their products. By supplying it they assure themselves at once a means of tiding their works over slack times. They create an immense new demand that is not affected by foreign tariff policies. When Mr. Morgan crossed the Atlantic a wave of terror ran ahead of him. People on the other side were sure he was going to do something terrible—they could not guess what. But none of them imagined that he would do anything so dreadful as to challenge British supremacy at sea.

GULLIVER MORGAN COMING HOME.