The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-22

vessels, Of II. s4e.6 tons, and 2zs steam
vessels, of 09,753.63 tons, the total being
89A vessels, o. III, 6o2.23 tons. But In
1861 we had built 1871 sailing vessels, of
51O,6s9.07 tons, and 24e steam vessels, of
~, T8O.32, the total being 2,O27 vessels, Of
5s3. 1900 tons. Thus forty years earlier,
when our population was not one-third so
great, we built over three times as many
vessels and over five times as much ton.
mage. The year 1858 was rather excep.
t%ional, bat 1868 shows 394, 6OO.7 tons,
while 1s4b. 1928. and even 1906 produced
more tonnage Than 1896.
Again, few Of the vessels built Of late
years nave been used in the foreign trade,
whereas In former times a great part Of the
ships, barks and briggs werc so used. Tho
half century prior to 1898 reveals only one
smaller production of tonnage, and many
years show two, three, md four times as
much. The six years from s o to 1857 in.
elusive showed a total Of 2,75O,445.5S
tons, or an average of over 100000, being
four times as much as our production for
1905. Finally, while in 1894 our output
was 1871 1915. 35 tons, there were launched
from British yards in that same year / ,046,.
sos tons, or eight times as much.
For the year just spoken Of the statistics
Of the Bureau Veritas showed 5,735 Brit
ish steam vessels of over 100 tons. making
s,7O6,976 gross tons, against 400 Amer
lean vessels. with 66O.385. In sailing
craft exceeding 80 tons each we did better,
showing 1,4O3.494 tons, against Great
Britain's 3.4s5, $50. We also beat Ger
many in sailing vessels, but her steam
record was 1,216,O92 tons, ornearly double
ours. The figures of Lloyd's Register for
1s05.06 do not greatly differ from these,
giving Great Britain 1906, 876 gross tons
of steam vessels, or, with her colonies added,
1O,2 ,OO1 tons, while Germany Is credited
with 1,343,357 tons, and our country with
92O,672. Our sailing vessels put us a lit
tie ahead OF Germany in total tonnage, and
second to Great Britain, yet with less than
one-sixth Of the latter's tonnage.
While our total tonnage Is much less than
1t was in 1850, that Of all other maritime
countries has grown. In 1860 we had, in
Guiding coastwise vessels, 5000, 175 tons,
and in 1895 we had 4, 635 $50, and this was
a falling off even from 1894. But, accord
ing to our COMMISSIONS Of Navigation,
Great Britain has more than quadrupled
her tonnage since 1850 and much more
than doubled 1t since 1860. The Norwegian
marine has about trebled since the latter
date; the French and the Dutch have m
what increased the German has nearly
doubled since 1870. We see these nations
going ahead of us. and it is no consolation
to read in the statistics that since 1870 the
merchant tonnage of Italy, Austria, and
Greece has fallen of.
The suggestion becomes more forcible,
however, when we look at our foreign car
rying trade, the tables Of which include
specie up to 1879, but afterward merchan-
disc only. OF our imports American vessels
carried 63.s per cent. In value in 1859,
with 90 per cent. in 1860, and COL per
cent. in 1861; but for the three years end
ing in 1895 the percentage was only 1915,
1914. and 1875 again. OF course, the Eng
lish built Confederate cruisers started this
enormous decline, the percentage In 1854
having fallen to 24.6. After the war there
was a temporary rally, the percentage ris-
ing in 1868 to 33.1; but 1t never went
higher. The blow was too severe, and tho
1875 of 1898 Is the owest percentage
reached in the whole period Just spoken of.
Our exports tell the same story, and even
more emphatically. In value 70 per cent.
of them went on American vessels In 1859
and 1860, and 72.1 per cent. in 1851, but
the owest war drop was to 500 in 1854,
while for the three years ending 1895 We
find the astonishing percentage of only s.s,
ST, and 80 in American vessels. The per-
ccntage in 1895 was thus only about one.
ninth of what it had been in 1851. Tho
percentage of value Of imports and ex-
ports combined, carried or American ves-
sells, was 66.8 in 1859 and III in 1895.
Such are some Of the facts and figures be-
fore Congress. We may assume that it has
the will, and can only hope that it will find
the wisest way, to prevent the further de-
cline of our foreign carrying trade, and
eventually to build 1t up.