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This article presents information on various socio-political issues in the U.S. "Don't Give Up the Ship," this words are printed on the titlepage of a pamphlet which the promoters of the ship-subsidy bill are now circulating in the interest of that measure. The pamphlet in question is titled "United States Merchant Marine on the Oceans," and is published in Cleveland, Ohio. It embraces letters from a large number of persons in favor of the Hanna-Payne bill, all of them in favor of the policy of paying money out of the public Treasury to carry on a private industry. One of the greatest charms connected with the recently published letters of novelist Robert Louis Stevenson was that of finding them actually existing. Men like him had not left off letter-writing then. The discovery was of itself a delight in this age of postal-cards and telegraph-blanks.

The article offers the author's insights on the subsidies for the shipping industry in Asian and European countries. Topics mentioned include the shipping industry management in South Korea, the protection for container shipping industry, and the management of competition in the industry. Also mentioned are the investments management in the industry and the cost for transporting goods.

The article discusses the cost and influencing factor involved in shipping cotton to Shanghai, China. In 2007, China imported 2.47 million tons of cotton, making the country the largest importer of cotton. The U.S. was the largest exporter of cotton to China with a market share of 458 percent followed by India with market share of 26 percent, the African Franc Zone with market share of 12 percent, Uzbekistan with market share of 9 percent and Australia with market share of 4 percent. The factors that influence the shipment of cotton in China include shipping cost, insurance cost, documentation cost, bank charges, interest cost, and controlling charges.

The article discusses the challenges face by the shippers in the shipping industry such as the tight capacity and the increase of truck rates for the southbound workload in the U.S.

This section offers news briefs in the U.S. shipping industry. The Customs and Border Protection launched a pilot program with China to validate importers under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Lawmakers adjourned without approving a proposed per-container fee to fund transportation infrastructure in Washington State. An incentive program was approved by harbor commissions in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California to subsidize the use of low-sulfur fuel in vessels' main engines within 40 miles of the coast.