was so severely criticised by the bar, inventors, manufacturers and men of science. most litigation relative to patents is in equity proceedings, it is controlled by existing equity rules. After many decades the U. S. Supreme Court or- A storm of adverse comment has dered a revision of the rules, and on also been evoked by the bill introNov. 4, 1912, promulgated its new duced by Representative Kahn of Caliequity rules to become effective Nov.fornia which, while enabling exhib 1, 1913. The most significant changes are that the testimony, as a rule, is to be taken in open court; that an expert's affidavit may be taken out of court and presented to the court subject to the defendant's right to call him for cross-examination; that delays are made more difficult; and that in case of an appeal being taken the appellant is required substantially to digest the testimony, the trial court having authority to decide what shall be the record. This rule as to making up the record has prevailed in the courts of the state of New York and it is significant that the Court of Appeals of New York abrogated this rule to take effect in the state courts the day the rule of the U. S. Supreme Court became effective in the Federal Courts. itors at the Panama-Pacific Exposition to import free of duty articles and building materials intended for the Exposition, further provides that: It shall be unlawful for any person without authority of the proprietor thereof to copy, imitate, reproduce, or republish any pattern, model, design, trademark, copyright, or manufactured article protected by the laws of any foreign country by registration, copyright, patent, or otherwise, which shall be imported for exhibition at the Panamathere exhibited. International Exposition, Pacific and The onus of this lies in the fact that not only by it is the exhibitor practically granted a patent or copyright by this country without being subject to the conditions required of other applicants for patents, but it also creates a new form of property that does not rest upon novelty or invention, but may include what is old and well known in this country, or what is patented and has long been patented to others in this country, or what is in its nature not patentable in this country. Since several foreign countries issue patents of importation, an article long well known here may be patented there by the importer of the article into that country, and, under this statute, such person, if he brought that article back into this country and exhibited it at the Exposition, would be given a monopoly of the article in the United States for approximate Patent Law. During the year the U. S. Supreme Court, in Bauer v. O'Donnell, modified its decision given in Henry v. A. B. Dick Co. (A. Y. B., 1912, p. 522) by holding, in substance, that the dealer or patentee might not bring suit for infringement based upon the fact that the patentee had fixed the price (see also IX, Law and Jurisprudence). Mr. Oldfield renewed his bill for revising the patent laws, which failed in the preceding Congress, by filing a substitute bill, H. R. 1700, containing that same matter, especially in its anti-trust provisions, which the House Judiciary Committee refused to report favorably, and which ly four years. XXII. TRADE, TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION GROVER G. HUEBNER MERCHANT MARINE Tonnage Afloat. The free-ship law cessors could not be effected without inof Aug. 24, 1912 (Panama Canal Act,quiry, as the number of American deck officers who within recent years have Sec. 5), has not been in effect suffi- brought American steamships into forciently long to exert a widespread eign ports, except those in our vicinity, effect upon the deep-sea tonnage flyingly, is a matter requiring time in the is not large. The change of flag, according the American flag. It was not case of vessels now afloat. expected that any great number of foreign-built vessels would be registered in the United States immediately after its enactment. Only modern vessels of foreign construction, not over five years old, may be registered under this law, and all the watch officers of such vessels are required to be American citizens. As stated by the U. S. Commissioner of Navigation: The latest official statistics of the total documented merchant fleet of the United States are for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, at which time the free-ship law had not been enacted. The gross tonnage of the registered marine, however, witnessed an increase from 872,671 tons in 1911 to 932,101 tons in 1912. The tonnage of the enrolled fleet remained the previous year, and, as is shown in practically the same as it was in the following table, the total documented merchant marine grew from 7,638,790 to 7,714,183 gross tonnage: Year Ending June 30 Registered Enrolled Vessels Licensed Vessels Total Documented 1880.. 1890. 1895. 1900. No. 838,187 14,408 1905. 1,372 954,513 14,126 1909. Tons No. Tons No. Tons 2,649,353 5,924 65,871 24,712 4,068,034 3,201,481 6,877 85,918 23,467 4,424,497 3,705,104 7,572 92,669 23,240 4,635,960 4,239,569 8,217 98,576 23,333 5,164,839 5,391,802 9,183 110,228 24,681 6,381,053 9,983 120,197 25,688 14,049 6,593,728 10,165 1,703 872,671 13,433 6,640,820 10,355 2,012 932,101 13,912 6,652,686 10,604 6,456,543 7,388,755 7,508,082 1912. 122,529 25,740 Of the aggregate documented gross tonnage of the Pacific Coast and tonnage, 5,179,858 comprised steam- Great Lakes. At the ports of the Aters, 1,538,847 sailing vessels, 922,911 lantic and Gulf coasts, however, there barges, and 72,567 canal boats. In has been a brisker demand for ships, accordance with the past tendency with a resulting increase from 3,559,the sailing tonnage continued its de- 885 to 3,625,525 gross tonnage. On cline, while the steam and barge June 30, 1912, the documented mertonnage slowly increased in volume. chant fleet was distributed among Geographical Distribution. There the various geographical divisions and was little change in the documented classes of vessels as follows: No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons Atlantic and Gulf. 6,599 1,026,631 Porto Rico.... Pacific Coast.. Hawaii Northern Lakes. Western Rivers.. Total...... | 7,582 1,538,847 14,265 5,179,858 66572,567 4,016 922,911 26,528 7,714,183 The aggregate documented tonnage was distributed among the leading customs districts in 1911 and 1912 as follows: The statistics concerning documented tonnage particularly understate the real number and tonnage of barges, which have become of great importance in the trade of the Atlantic Coast. turns of these vessels have been made since 1906, at which time the United States Census Office reported a total of 19,497 vessels, with a gross tonnage of 6,579,402 tons. A more detailed statement was made in the YEAR BOOK for 1910 (p. 523). World's Merchant Marine. The total merchant fleet of the entire world as reported by Lloyd's Register increased from 43,147,154 tons in 1911 to 44,600,677 in 1912 and 46,970,113 in 1913. These returns are only approximate, for they exclude vessels of less than 100 tons, and they state the gross tonnage of steamers, while the tonnage of the world's sailing fleet is given in terms of net tonnage. Moreover, they take no account of the widely varying tonnage measurement rules which prevail in the different nations, the registered tonnage of the vessels of different flags being accepted as stated in their official tonnage certificates. Undocumented Craft.-A considerable portion of the American merchant marine consists of undocumentThe number and gross tonnage of ed vessels not included in the above the world's steam vessels is itemized statistical returns. No reliable re- in the following table: THE WORLD'S MERCHANT MARINE, STEAM VESSELS ONLY (Lloyd's Register) Relative Position of American Deep Sea Shipping. On the basis of the value of exports and imports, 9.4 per cent. of the country's foreign trade was carried in American vessels in the fiscal year 1912, as compared with 8.7 per cent. in the previous two years. The following table indicates concretely the declining position of the American flag in the foreign trade as compared with the past. It is the hope of Congress that the adoption of the free-ship policy will gradually reverse the tendency which has prevailed in the American marine for over 50 years. AMERICAN VESSELS IN THE FOREIGN TRADE On the basis of vessel entrances and the last three years, and the total clearances, 26.5 per cent. of the ship- entrances and clearances of Ameriping in the foreign trade was con- can ships engaged in the foreign trade ducted in American vessels in 1913, has increased from 19,446,233 tons as compared with 25 per cent. in 1912 in 1911 to 27,017,375 in 1913. The and 23 per cent. in 1911. The Ameri- official returns of entrances and can proportion has increased during clearances since 1900 are as follows: This was divided among the leading | Atlantic and Gulf seaboard and in ports as follows: Entered Cleared Europe. In view of the returns up to Nov. 30, 1912, the Commissioner of Navigation estimated a possible output of 400,000 tons for the fiscal 12,666,337 13,586,007 year 1913. Meanwhile the shipyards 3,069,111 1,900,308 of Great Britain and Germany have 2,883,975 2,274,625 also been unusually busy. 14,464,161 14,370,619 2,545,241 2,766,775 Vessel Accidents and Tonnage De1,593,794 1,900,038 stroyed.-The loss to vessels and cargo 1,443,767 1,881,693 due to vessel accidents in American 1,007,796 1,270,736 waters was less in the fiscal year 638,883 689,806 369,205 291,627 300,297 586,269 521,175 1912 than during the two preceding 203,568 314,533 Tonnage Built.-During the fiscal year 1912, 1,505 vessels, of 232,669 gross tonnage, were built and documented in the United States. As is shown in the following table, this is somewhat less than the tonnage built in the previous year: Thirty-eight of the vessels built and documented in 1912 were vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over, and had a combined gross tonnage of 115,789. The steel tonnage of the year comprised 135,881 gross tons, as compared with 201,973 in 1911 and 250,624 in 1910. Of the total gross tonnage, steamers comprised 153,493 tons, barges 54,977, sailing vessels 21,221, and canal boats 2,978. Official returns for the year 1913 are not as yet available, but the outlook on the seaboard was "the most promising in ten years." The demand for shipping has been brisk on the |