British And Foreign Merchant Shipping Statistics

The " American Ship," oue of our very best nautical papera, copies the following from the Annual return of the British Board of Trade. It meritu the careful study of our American people andif "plain Englinh" will nol show them liow much we need "protection lor uurshipping interests," and how little we need free ships, what will 'f The tpnnage of sailing and stean vessels with cargoes and in ballast," entered and cleared at ports in the United Kingdom during last year was 58,736,063 tons, of which British ships contributed 41,348,984 tons, the remaining 17,387,079 being distributeéP ainongst twelve nationalities, and others not speciiically named. Of these - Norwegian heads the list, with Gerinan seeond, French third, and Swedish fourth. The lowest is Austria, which is represented by only 329,292 tons. As compared with 1879 the total of all nationalities shows an increase of 6,029,613 tons, British ships alone having increased to the extent of 6,914,993 tons. Of steam vessels the total which entered and cleared " with cargoes and in ballast" represented 37,243,942 tons, British ships 30,976,037 tons of the total, Germany coming next, then France, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and so on. It is worthy of note that whereas Korway utilied British ports to the extent of 4,051,768 tons, only 201,897 were represented by steamers. The steam tonnage of Austria reached 501 tons. On a comparison with 1879 it is found that the steam tonnage of all nations increased in the aggregate by 4,236,928 tons, of which British claimed 3,471,020 ; there was a decrease in Austrian, Duteh, and Italian. Tables are also given as to the sailing and steam tonnage "with cargoes only" entered and cleared, in which some interesting variations are to be noted. The total amount was 49,678,950 tons, an increse over 1879 of 5,730,249, Great Britian leading the way with an increase of 3,751,143 tons. But whereas in the table which includes "in ballast" Isrorway was nearly one million to'is in advance of Germany, in that "with cargoes only" the difference is reduced to 337,000, Swedish coming next, then Danish, French, Dutrh, &c. Of the total vessels "with cargoes only steamers were represented by 32,124,056 tons, an increase of 3,868,305, of which Great Britain contributed 27,052,131 tons, an increase of 3,217,962,all other nations advancing to the extent of only 650,343 tons. It may be remarked that the United States oceupied the eighth place in the list of sailing and steam vessels "with cargo and in ballast," and the tenth in the list of steamers alone under the same designation; in the aggregate table "with cargoes only" it was ninth, and in steamers alone under this designation it was eighth, Norway being only 300 tons behiud. In the table ïivmg tiie tonnage or tne principal inaritime countries it is shown that in 1880 the tonnage of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom) was 8,447,171 tons, and of the United Kingdom alone 6,519,772, but it is e.xplained in a foot note that in consequence of steps taken to elear the British Register in and since 1854, and in consequence of alterations in the system of measurement, the British tonnage, as compared with previous years, is a great deal less than it would have appeared to be if the old plan of taking the figures had continued. The only other figures for 1880 are those of the United States, whicb show the tonnage of vessels registered for the foreign trade to be 1,352,810 tons. In that country, however, vessels representing 2,715,224 tons are enrolled for home trade (including lake and river steamcts), and are prohibited by law from going on a foreign voyage. The proportion of steain vessels only in the British Empire was in the aggregate 2,949,282 tons, and in the United Kingdom alone 2,720,551. The addition to the tonnage of British ships last year amounted to 411,7;3Ö tons, which plied to all vessels, whether JJntish, foreign or colonial built. The tonnage of vessels built in the United Kingdom dwing last year was for home and the colonies 403,895 tons, for foreigners 69,055- total 472, 350 tons, an increase over 1879 of (56,921. This amount is the largest on record except those of 1872, when it reached 474,718, and of 1874, when it rose to the extraordinary iiguie of 603,867 tons. It may be interestlng to know that the tonnage of vessels built last year in the United s.ates was 157,409, the lowest since L859, which, however, was an exceptional year, as the ten preceding years was largely in excess 01 ït. 1 ne return l'urther shows that trade with British possessions was condueted last year in British ships of 8,264,595 tons, and in foreign ships of 1,167,542; with Britih North America in 2,412,458 British tonnage, and 679,547 foreign; and with the United States in 6,939,245 British, 612,634 United States, and 1,441,952 of o th er countries. Of the number of ships which cleared under the Passengers Acts from the United Kiagdom to ports out of Europe, 704 of 1,550,857 tons were British, and 35 of 69,650 tons foreign. The total number of passengers carried was - in British shipa 285,863, and in foreign 12,498. The ligures as to passengere show in all regpecta a marked increase over those of 1879. __