15 JULY 1911, Page 3

Tariff reformers will be interested by a paragraph in Tuesday's

Daily Mail upon the shipbuilding boom. The

onnage under construction at the close of the quarter ended on June 30th was 1,476,394 tons, which is the largest on record, being 62,000 tons higher than the previous record, • which was reached in September, 1901. The figures for this quarter are 102,000 tons more than last quarter and 358,000 tons more than last year, while they are almost exactly double those of two years ago, when the total was 745,000 tons. It may be added that the tonnage under construction in the United Kingdom on June 30th was a little over twice as much as that in all the rest of the world put together. This magnifi- cent industry is, without doubt or question, the child of Free Exchange. We have no advantage as compared with other nations except Free Trade; but that is sufficient, and acts as the beat and most efficient of bounties.