The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1831-10-11

We have received "A copy ofthe annual
letter from the Secretary ofthe Treasury
transmitting statements respecting the
commerce and navigation of the United
States. The registered tonnage, correct
ed at the Treasury office, for the 3lst De-
cember, 1899, is stated at $50, ,l42, the
enrolled and licensed tonnage, at
6l0 1854, in which are included IOO,796
tons of fishing vessels; making the whole
of the tonnage Of the United States to be
l ,260,977, at the beginning Of the year
1880. A table is given containing COM
parative view of the registered, enrolled,
and licensed tonnage of the country for
the year 1915 to the close Of the year
1929, by which the position taken by Mr..
Cambreleng, in his report Of the winter
before last, is fully demonstrated, viz:
that the foreign commerce of the United
States for several years past has been de-
clining, or at best has remained station-
ary.
In 1915, the year before passing the
first tariff law, the registered tonnage
that is, the tonnage employed in foreign
trade amounted 10 1894, about two
hundred thousand tons more than at pres
ent. 1t is true that the registered ton
mage of 1928 is stated at Sl2, 2,GO9, but
this amount is made up from old uncor-
rected tables, which include the tonnage
of vessels become unseaw orthy, lost, or
unemployed. On being corrected by
the department, the table offoreign ship
ping is reduced more than l60, 900 tons.
The aggregate ofthe registered, enrolled
and licensed tonnage umdergoes a simi-
lar reduction. In 1898, il is stated at
I,74l 1901 : at the close Of 1929, il ap-
pears, on correcting the errors, to be on
ly 1,26O,977, a falling off Of nearly five
hundred thousand tons. The last time
the tonnage tables were corrected, pre-
vious to the present, was in 1918, when
a considerable reduction was also made
in the nominal amount, though the differ
ence between the corrected and uncor-
rect table does not appear TO have been
so great as ut present.-At that time tho
the total tonnage Of the United States in
the corrected tables amounted 10 1926
1S4, an amount very little different from
that of the corrected tables at the present
time. In the mean time. while our for
eign commerce has remained stationary
the population of the Union has increas-
ed one third. This is equivalent to an act
ual decline of our commerce.
1t may be remembered that on the ap-
pearance ofMr. Cambreleng's report, the
writers who attacked it took the correct
ed table of 1918, and deducting their a
al, xoLl 4
they made out an increase of more than
five hundred thousand tons in ten years,
and offered the result as a conclusive
proof that Mr.. Cambreleng was mistak-
en.--We showed at the time the error of
this calculation, which included, under
the name of increase, all the lost, idle or
decayed tonnage which had been accu-
mulating in the tables for ten years, and
we contended that correction of these
tables would reduce the amount of our
tonnage to the point ut which it stood IN
1918. The present document makes
good our estimate and sustnins the posi-
ton of Mr.. Cambreleng by the most con-
elusive demonstration.
But to proceed with the document be-
fore us. The imports during the year
ending on the Goth Of September, 1880,
have amounted to $40, 1876, 920, Of which
S66, ,O35, ,739 were imported in American
vessels, and $4,S4l ,1Sl in foreign vessels.
The exports during the same year n
mounted to S73,Sf0,50S. Ofthese $685..
462, ,O29 were Of domestic, and Sf4,367,-
40 Of foreign articlcs.--Ofthe domestic
articles, s5I,l06,lS0 were exported in
Au,cy;cao end AZ .lSS $40 ;p fnrc;yo vcs-