between the net tonnage and the displacement tonnage. I am just going to give you a general statement, as follows:

Mr. STEVENS. What kind of steamers are these? Capt. MCALLISTER. These are express steamers. Mr. STEVENS. What are the names of them? Capt. MCALLISTER. Then I have tables here which give the average American steamships, and some others, which might use this canal. I have taken as an example the Cristobal. You gentlemen are probably more familiar with her from having recently gone down to the

Mr. STEVENS. Just describe that so that the committee can understand it the result you have obtained on the Cristobal.

Capt. MCALLISTER. Well, the Cristobal, for instance-her displacement tonnage is 17,200; gross, 9,606; net tonnage, 6,195. The ratio of gross to displacement is 0.558. In other words, the gross tonnage is only 55.8 per cent of the actual tonnage displacement and net tonnage is only 36 per cent.

The CHAIRMAN. The net average is about 65 per cent of the gross average?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Fifty-five per cent. The gross tonnage is 55 per cent of displacement.

The CHAIRMAN. But the net tonnage will be about 65 per cent of that?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes; the net tonnage is 64.5 per cent of the gross tonnage.

Mr. STEVENS. These are all on the basis of dead-weight tons; that is to say, the net tonnage is on the same basis as the displacement tonnage, is not it?

Capt. MCALLISTER. No, sir.

Mr. STEVENS. Well, we want a comparison on the same basis.

Capt. MCALLISTER. Well, as an average, I should say on all these three classes of steamships you could say the ratio of net tonnage to displacement tonnage is about one-third.

The CHAIRMAN. But you count the Cristobal, though, in full load? Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes; they take her in displacement as about 271 feet draft; that is about her full load.

Mr. E. W. MARTIN. So that her net tonnage would be only what she was actually carrying?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes; it ought to be.

Mr. STEVENS. I do not think there ought to be any confusion about that, if the net tonnage represents displacement tonnage while the cargo represents the actual net weight.

Capt. MCALLISTER. The tonnage there could be put in 35 cubic feet, while in other cases it would allow for 100 feet.

The CHAIRMAN. Then, in that case, you can put commodities in gross tons? That would displace 2 tons of water.

Mr. HAMLIN. Then it does not make any difference as to the character of freight being hauled?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Not at all. In other words, you simply weigh the stuff that goes into the ship's hold.

Mr. J. A. MARTIN. The reduced tonnage, or net tonnage, is there interchangeably.

Mr. GOULD. That means cubical freight-carrying space after certain deductions are made.

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes.

Mr. E. W. MARTIN. And when the charge is based, upon the net reduced tonnage it does not necessarily follow that all of that tonnage is occupied by freight, does it?

Capt. MCALLISTER. No. She pays on it whether it is occupied or not; but she generally takes through between two and three times that weight of actual freight.

Mr. RICHARDSON. Well, now, you do not pay upon registered tonnage, but pay upon actual tonnage, because if you pay upon regis

tered tonnage you will have more freight than is registered, and therefore you would be getting the advantage of the Government. Mr. J. A. MARTIN. Just let me get a little clearer there. This net register ton space might have 2 or 3 tons in it?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes. In the case of cement there may be 2 or 3 tons of cement in that " space" ton.

Mr. E. W. MARTIN. Then you are getting only practically one-third of the net rate, and what the rate ought to be if based upon the actual cargo?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Our ship illustrated it. We carried 12,000 tons by weight, besides the heavy passengers they had on the ship, whereas its net tonnage is only about 6,000 tons.

Mr. COVINGTON. Let me ask you just one question. There are two types of steamers-what are known as the shelter-deck steamers and steamers which, for want of a better type, do not have themand it has been recently stated that the practice in operation at the Suez Canal practically operates to deter people from building the shelter-deck steamers. Is there anything in your system of measuring displacement of tonnage that would operate to the disadvantage of shelter-deck steamers?

Capt. MCALLISTER. None whatever. They could be shelter-deckeither or neither.

Mr. COVINGTON. The shelter-deck is the highest type of steamer; is that it?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. DRISCOLL. If you multiply the depth of water, that would give the cubic feet. Now, how much difference may there actually be on account of the different curves on different ships?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Well, we get a variation from what is known as the coefficient of fineness which might vary from 40 per cent in the case of steam yachts with very sharp lines to 78 per cent for a bulky freight carrier.

Mr. DOREMUS. Assuming, Captain, that a toll of $1 per net registered ton would yield a certain amount of revenue, do you believe it is comparatively easy to fix a toll based on the displacement of the boat that would yield the same amount of revenue?

Capt. MCALLISTER. Yes; on the assumption, as I said here, that the net tonnage is one-third of the displacement. Now, for instance, if you have fixed on $1 on the net tonnage, that would be 33 cents on the displacement tonnage, and I made several comparisons here. It comes out very nearly on this block system to 1 cent a cubic foot on all vessels that are likely to go through the canal.

Mr. MARTIN. On all these vessels on which you have made computation, what is the difference in percentage between the net tonnage and gross tonnage as to those boats?

Capt. MCALLISTER. The net tonnage varies between 45 and 65 per cent of the gross tonnage.

Mr. MARTIN. What is the difference between the relative amount of net and gross tonnage, taking one boat with another?

Capt. MCALLISTER. It varies with every ship.

Mr. MARTIN. On the other hand, take the system you proposethe block displacement system. It would practically represent a