CANADIAN SHIPPING IN THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COASTAL TRADE "by GEORGE MACDGNALD SCHUTHE A Thesis Submitted in Partial1 Fulfilment, of tne Requirements for the Degree of THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA APRIL, 1950 Th© University of British Columbia, April, 1950. CANADIAN SHIPPING IN THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COASTING- TRADE by George^ Macdonald Schuthe (ABSTRACT) Withiir: the last one hundred" and thirty years, the coasting tirade of British Columbia has passed through four more or less distinct stager of development: the era of the early trading monopolist, the Hudson Bay Company; the rise of the small-scale shipowner; the growth of corporate shipping enterprise; and, in the first half of the twentieth century, the predominating influence of the national railway companies, particularly the Canadian Pacific. Fast passenger steamers are usually associated with British Columbia coast shipping, and yet, the more prosaic tug boats, tankers, and fish packers, if less spectacular, are just as important to the economy of the province. Coasting steamers as cargo carriers are, in fact, in process of being eclipsed by scows and barges, which, in the sheltered waters of the coast, are more cheaply operated than self-propelled freighting vessels. The routes of heaviest traffic on the coast are - 2 - those serving the areas of densest population on the lower mainland and central and southern Vancouver Island. Indus• trial communities, dependent on water transportation, are, nevertheless, scattered along the entire coast line. As employment is often seasonal, and labour, transient, flexible shipping services are essential. Year-round operations on some routes are possible only because government subsidies are provided. The highly seasonal tourist trade utilizes passenger facilities to capacity for not more than three months of the year. Finding return cargoes for their vessels is as much a problem for the steamship companies as for the owners of scows and barges. In general, coastal liners are the carriers of general cargo shipped from distributing points; scows and barges, of bulk commodities shipped to processing centres. Traffic trends point to an expanding volume of cargo shipped in coasting trade, with unrigged vessels carrying an increasing percentage of the total tonnage. While passenger ship traffic has declined slightly from its war-time peak, partly as a result of competition' from air lines, fast new steamers, equipped with automobile decks, offer an inducement to travel by sea and promise to retain the bulk of passenger traffic for the ships. The geography of the coast eliminates any threat of new and serious - 3 - competition from railway and highway transportation. High construction-! and operating costs have been the chief concern of the coast shipping industry since the second world war. Costs have more than doubled since 1939, but rates and fares have not increased proportionately. In consequence, steamship operations, with few exceptions, have been unprofitable, and on routes receiving government assistance, subsidies have sky-rocketed. In the circum• stances, the stability of the rate structure is to be attributed to the strong position of the railway companies in coast shipping, and to the government's subsidy policy. * * •* TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Preface 1 1 Historical Background 1 The Earliest Traders The Hudson Bay Company Local Shipping Enterprise, 1858-1883 The G-rowth of Steamship Corporations, 1883-1901 2 The Three Major Coast Steamship Lines 24 The Canadian Pacific Railway's British Columbia Coast Steamship Service The Union Steamship Company of British Columbia Canadian National Steamships: (Pacific Coast Service) 3 Other Coast Shipping Enterprises of the Twentieth Century 42 4 Fish Packers, Tankers, and Tow Boats 54 5 The Evolution:of Canadian Coasting Trade Legislation and Some Aspects of the Effect of Coasting Laws 64 6 The Extent and Nature of the Coasting Trade 72 7 Freight Rates and Fares 90 8 The Cost of Providing Coastal Shipping Service 108 9 Competitive Elements in Coast Trans• portation 123 10 Operating Results and Government Aid 141 11 Conclusions 151 Appendix-; British Columbia- Coast Steam• ship Fleets of the Twentiet-h Century 15S. BlMlOgraphy 163 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Snipgr Built: in Canadian and in Non-Canadian: Shipyards and Serving in the British Col• umbia Coasting Trade 71 2 Arrivals at: and Departures from British Col• umbia Ports of Vessels- in- Coas-ting Service, 194? and 1948 73 3 Arrivalsrat and Departures from British Col• umbia Ports of TUgs, other than Foreign- going Tugs-, 1947 and 1948 74 4 Population of the British Columbia Coast T$ 55 Coastal Passenger Traffic, Port of Vancouver 82 6 Cargo Loaded at Vancouver by Canadian Ves• sels In:Coastal Trader 1949 84 7 Cargo Landed at Vancouver1 by Canadian Ves• sels in Coastal Trade, 1949 85 8 Extracts^ from Canadian National Steamships' Freight Tariffs 95 9 Firsti: Class One Way Passenger Fares on Four B.C. Coast Routes, I915-I949 100 10 Minimum First: Class Alaska Cruise Fares, 1918-1949 103 11 Size of Crew Carried in Representative Types of British Columbia Coast Vessels- 109 12 Comparison ofOew Labour Costs, 1939-1949 110 ly Prices of Nine Passenger-Cargo Vessels Built; for British Columbia Coastal Service 120 I# Canadian Merchant. Vessels, other than Tugs, of 200 Net; Register Tone~ and Over in Ser• vice: on the British Columbia Coast, 1928" - 1938 - 1948 15 S&own and Barges of 10 Net: Register Tons- and Over in Service on the British Columbia Coast, hy Age Groups 139 IS Distribution of Canadian Government:. Subsid• ies to West Coast*: Services, 1892-1950 146 17 Canadian Government Subsidies for West Coast Services, 1925-1950 149 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page- 1 Passengers Loaded and Landed at: Vancouver Monthly by Vessels lm Coastal Trader (Bar Diagram) 83 2 Three-year Moving Average Trend Fitted to the-'. IKunher of Passengers Embarked and Disembarked at Vancouver in Coastal Service. 88 3 Three-year Moving Average Trend Fitted to the Tonnage: of Cargo Loaded and Landed at Vancouver In: Domestic Trade 89 Evolution! of Control of Coast Steamship- Operations^ by the Canadian Pacific Rail- 125 Growth; of the- Scow and Barge? Flee*.. Relative to the Self-propelled Fleet: in British Columbia Coasting Service CANADIAN SHIPPING IN THE BRITISH COLOMBIA COASTAL TRADE Supplement ERRATUM Table 3 on page 74. The title should be amended to read: DEPARTURES FROM BRITISH COLOMBIA PORTS OP TUGS, OTHER THAN FOREIGN-GOING TOGS 1947 AND 1948 ADDENDUM For comparison with tables 6 and 7, on pages 84 and 85, the following tables are appended: A. Cargo Loaded at Vancouver by Canadian Vessels in Coastal Trade, 1950 B. Cargo Landed at Vancouver by Canadian Vessels in Coastal Trade, 1950 February, 1951. - 1 - PREFACE British Columbia coast shipping invites the attention of students of Canadian economics and history, for- surprisingly little research; has: been devoted to the? subject. Tlhere: exists: now a: real danger that material of potential significance to future, studies will he lost Irrecoverably unless efforts are; soon directed towards the collection and retention.of documents that, if still extant, must lie hidden and nigh: forgotten! m musty trunks aaid boxes:. To shipowners, mundane business activities are merely of passing interest; the significance of the contribution "being made to regional economic development: is: rarely appreciated. Hence, superseded tariffs are burned, traffic statistics go unrecorded, and, when: operations cease, records are often destroyed. Only thirty years-ago, "Captain! Cuttle'1, columnist: in Harbour and Shipping, complained that"up to the: present time the Vancouver Harbour Commissioners do not ©ven: know what tonnage of merchandise, local or coastwise:, passes over our wharves — all they have la- an approximate guess mad© from: vagu©^ returns-.11 TH© writer makes no pretension to dealing - II - exhaustively with amy phas« of British Columbia coast; shipping im th© essay that follows:. Historical aspects of the subject are considered In some: detail in? an attampt, to discover the pat term of growth of the: Industry. Special attention is devoted to the effect of sharply rising costs iir the past dee ads. Unpublished" statistics have beeni examined to confirm? the writer' a- suspicions concerning the? importance of scows? and harg®?s: 1m coast transpor.tatlona. geographical?features of the coast are taken for granted. NO attempt'has been made to describe? structural and i mechanical characteristics?of coasting steamers, although it is conceded that improved design and the sdoptioa of• feree efficient methods- of handling cargo would certainly result in? economies of operation?. MM ther has the question oC" labour:"- unions- baenn glv«ni more than passing mentiom, for their ihfluence: ih coast shipping is too recent to justify conclusions arrived at; through retrospect ion. ffies term:"coasting trade", for which there is, In Canada; no precise-definition^ ise taken to Include the? whole of, the coast: from: Mexico to southeast era Alaska, all of which lies within the "home? trade" area. Emphasis is placed, however, oa? the section? from? Paget. Sound' to Hynn Canal", wherein the majority of Canadian coastal vessels operate. iii - While: my own experience in coast: shipping since 1937 has-, I hope, helped in a realistic approach: to my subject, I gratefully/acknowledge the generous- assistance of many persons intimately connected with the industry in British: Columbia. Almost all those upom whom I called for information were gracious^ and helpful. Some; confident tlal material that came to my attention could not., of course;, be reproduced, although it: served to aid my under• standing of several mat tern. Thanks- are especially the to: Mr. J. M. Alderson, of the Passenger Department of the Canadian Pacific Railway; Mrs. j\ w. Allardyce, daughter of the late Captain: Duncan Mackenzie; Mr. Gf. F. Bullock^ secretary of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild; Mr. H." W. Cameron, secretary of the Vancouver Merchants' Exchange; Mr.