The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-07
THE WORLDS NAVIES.
n DIV THE GREAT POWERS RANK WITH THEIR sER-
CHANT MARINES.
[Pall Mall Gazette.l

According to recent publication of tn
Bureau Veritas, the sea-going merchant M
yies of the world consist of sc, 289 sailing YES
sells, measuring IA, 523, $50 tons, and $685. steam
ers, of a capacity of 1904, 1877 tons. TIL
figures here given do not correspond with tn
official returns of the several countries in
cluded in this publication, but the difference
is explained by the fact that the Bureau Veri
tas reckons only sea-goihg vessels over lU
tons burden. The great superiority Of the
British empire at sea appears very clearly
from this compilation.
Thus, of the sailing of the whole world.
over Sc per cent of the number and over ~
per cent Of the tonnage belong to the British
Empire, whether as regards number or Ca
s,acity-that is, England and her dependen-
a,ies own considerably more than one-third
of all the sailing ships that navigate the seas
and oceans of the globe. In steam vessels,
again, this superiority is far more striking
STILL the British proportion being over So
per cent of the number, and nearly GO per
cent of the tonnage. 1t is strength in steam
sers that now insures supremacy at sea. The
figures just cited show how promptly English
ship owners perceived this fact, and how
effectually they acted upon it.
The British sea-going steam merchant navy
is now considerably greater than the sea-
going steam merchant navies of all the rest
OF the world combined. 1t would seem, in
deed, that the recent great rise in the price of
iron and coal almost put stop to the in
crease of the steam shipping of many foreign
countries. In England it may have caused
che increase to have been less rapid than it
otherwise would have been but it did not in
the slightest degree check the rapidity of in
crease previously established. As compared
with 1869, the British steam tonnage last year
had augmented rs per cent. In sailing ves-
sells the United States rank next after our own
country but the interval is very long one.
In number the American vessels are little
more that one-third of the British, and in
tonnage only 40 per cent In steamers the
disparity is still marked. The United States,
1t is true, occupy the second place in these
also, but the American steamers number little
m ore than one-sixth of the British, and their
capacity is not one-fouth. It is to be remem-
'bered, however, that the United States possess
large number of both steamers and sailing
vessels exclusively engaged on the great lakes
and rivers, and in the coasting trade, which
are not here included. With regard to steam
ers, France occupies the the third place, with
slightly more than half the number and tom
mage Of the United States.
Then come in order Germany, Spain, Rus
sin Sweden and Norway, Holland, Italy and
1,u,tr,a. This order is according to tonnage
wv u O6 SOulSWnut uiucIcAt were We W
arrange according to number of ships. In |
sailing vessels, whether as regards number or |
tonnage, Norway, taken by itself, occupies
the third place Immediately after the United |
States. Then comes Italy, then Germany |
while France, which was third in respect
to steamers, ranks here only sixth imme-
diately after her great rival. Holland,
again, once the greatest of maritime
powers, is now, SO far as sailing
vessels are concerned, beaten by Spain
and Greece, and only just takes precedence
Of England and the increasing Importance of
Germany as maritime nation. Holland. as
we have seen, is only eighth in steam tom
mage, ranking below Spain, Russia, and even
Sweden and Norway; while in sailing tonnage
she is only ninth, being inferior to both
Spain and Greece. Germany, on the other
hand, as we showed in an Occasional Note on
last, by figures quoted from the
Berlin Borsenzeitung, is already fourth in
steam tonnage, she has actually beaten France,
though still inferior to Norway and Italy.