The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-01 00:00:00

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SIIIPPING ,S TA l'iVi 7108.
Messrs. Cunard, Wilso.l.. and- , 20. have issued the
following annual circular :-
" Liverpool and Londe it' f %hambers, Exchange,
~ Liverpool, A tee. 31, 1860.
" Sir,—The sales-. of sailing i ,hips at our port may
be reported as fullyr equal tot lose in 1859, but we
marl
are unable to quote any d advance in prices.
In one or two excepti on al ca .we have obtained as
much as L 9 per ton register fq r very superior new
British colonial-built ''easels, el assed A seven years;
toted at from £8 to
but the general price may be 41
£8 15s. per ton, a" 'shown by 4 he sales of 15 .view
vessels during the vast mouth. T. he prices of Brith,sh...
built high-classed vessels are sts.'ll lower than for
some years past ; ata.K this, vrith tL'e high price of
labour and material, hai ; caused ma.ny builders-4 to,
cease building for the market, and to lay down
vessels only that have p reviously ban contracted..
for. Iron shipbuilding; it ; increasing, though gene-
rally only to order, and. a toderate''sized iron vessels..
suitable for China and the West Coast of America..
ar tt much inquired after.. The sales of such vessels
dung the year produce sin, average rate of £l5 per
ton, i builders' me.asuremi sot ; jind at this price we
are still enabled to effect coo,fracts for vessels to be
built by eminent builders, el, assed A 1, 12 years, at
Lloyd's, with a complete EE% '-. India outfit. There
are now 61 vessels l'or sale in I, his port; the greater
number of which are colonial-W. ,ilt, and their aggre-
gate tonnage is 29,408 Wag, I, Ting 12 ships and
8.480 tons less than on the 314. Dec., 1859. We
shall have a larger supply of tie*' tonnage [from
t he colonies, but only, a small propos •tion can arrive
before August or September, and NYe‘ ,do not appv-
hen d the whole will be more than nec&sary to meets
the losses of the year and the rapidly .expanding-
trade of the country. Vessels from four .*o ten yearn
old, both British and colonial-built, that h,,ave not
yet lapsec: from their original class of A is are
al ways in demand, and for those of a low, lr lass,
suitable for carrying timber or cotton (o f which
there are ver7 few for sale), there are, parti. tularly
at this season, numerous buyers at advanced 1 vices.
The steam tonnage . of the , United Kingdom*. has,
within the hint five years, increased in a n 'tuck
greater proportion th an that of sailing vessels, and.
in a much greater r atio than that of any ot,lier
nation. While at thie end of 1855 it amounted to
88,956 tons, it imereas ed in 1859 to 389,515 to' ts,
being about 35 per cent. more. There is app t-
rendy a tendency to substitute the rapid and corn:-
paratively eertain power of steam for the more um-
certain power of wt.:n(3, and this tendency will be- -
come stronger, should the 'various experiments fen-
economising fuel prove to be as successful as they-
are expected. A large business has bean done in_
the sale of steamers. .during the year; several im-
portant sales having' been made on foreign account.
For the trade of our c ountry there has been a good
demand, the increased traffic of some of the leading
railways having indua ed an opposition by screw
steamers, whereby both ,Purchasers and charterers
have; been brought into tt'le market. With regard
to the value of steamers fe r employment, we may
quote the rates at which w.O have chartered steam-
ers during the year, which 'vary from 19s to 23s per
ton gross per, month, on the Government form of:
charter, and from 13s to 15s 6d per ton in cases.
where the charterers pay all expenses, the boats
being insured at the cost of the owners. For one
very fine screw steamer we obtaii teel 16s 8d per ton."

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