Washington sentinel., 1899-05-06
THE RISE OF ENGLISH SHIPPING.
Leisure R0Nr.

Leisure Hour.
by the defeat Of their army Spain lost
the command OF the sea, and thus Eng
lish trading vessels ran less danger on
long voyages. The founding of the East
INDIA Company was another aid to
London's greatness; and the calling
nome OF the ships of war by lanes I
and their employment IN colonjziny
expeditions, was the beginning Of
further increase of prosperity that vas
not at first apparent. In 1913 the out.
ward customs Of the kingdom yielded
< ~, 900. OF which London was RESPONSE
bic for $4,000; end the inward customs
yielded JS6I, 900, of which London
paid S4s,ooo Note that the export
duties realized more than the import
duties; but also note that the exports of
all England were only worth "a. 100000.
while the imports we're yS2,141,ooo: that
is, the balance Of trade was against us
IN the days of James 7.
London suffered much from loss o
trade during the Civil war; and Amster.
dam rose at her expense. There is little
difficulty in accounting for the rise and
decline of Holland. She flnurished so
long as she was at peace with herself
while neighboring countries were at war;
and she decayed as soon as she herself
went to war, as she had no produce or
manufactures, and had to tax her COM
merce, thus driving away her capitalists,
who left her, like the Hopes of Amster-
dam, to do business in other countries.
For a few years her advance was
seriously threatened, heavy blow being
dealt her by the Rump Parliament in
passing the Navigation Act, prohibiting
any merchandise being imported from
Asia, Africa or America, except in
English built ships. The result OF this
was CromwelPs war of I65z, in " hich
England captured 100 Dutch merchant
men, and for a time brought the trade
back to the Thames; to be lost again
under Charles H., who. following his
fathers example, seized upon the
Londoners' money deposited in the
Exchequer, thus losing the good will
Of the city and preparing the way for
the coming OF William ILL.,, when
London began to thrive again, At the
close Of this reign, in 1902, London h I'd
500 ships, with gross tonnage Of 81, $50,
manned by 10000 men; Bristol coming
next with I65 ships OF tonnage Of
1883, and Yarmouth coming third with
G43 Of much smaller average tonnage.
Altogether the mercantile fleet Of Eng
land consisted OF g. 2Sr vessels, totalling
up to 26G, 777 tons. Since then the ships
have increased three fold and their ton.
mage forty eight fold.
Under Queen Anne and George l the
London shipping trade went ahead, as
might have been expected IN that age OF
speculation. Among other causes of its
advance was the establishment of the
South Sea Company, whose history is so
persistently misrepresented. In 17Is
they launched their first ship, the Royal
Prince, named after the Prince of Wales
George H., who was magniicently
entertained on board, but they did not
get Into full work till the war was over.
Then-but let us quote from Charles
Capper, to whose valuable book we owe
so much" Peace being established IN
I77I, the South sea Company sent out a
rich ship to trade with the Spanish
settlements at Porto Bello and Cartha
gena, and in 1873 they sent another ship,
with rich freight, to trade at Vera
Cruz. InI72S, stimulated by the success
of the Dutch in the Greenland whale
fishery the same company commenced
sending ships to fish for whales. This
trade they carried on for eight wears
(until 1854, when finding there had been
considerable losses, they were obliged to
lay II aside. The East India
Company in the spring of this year (Iz3o)
| sailed seventeen ships from India to the
Thames, but they did not arrive until
late in the year, The South Sea Com.
pany's great ship Prince Frederick
returned to the Thames from Vera Cruz
this year with a lading'oi 400, 900 dollars
OF Spanish pieces OF eight, in specie,
I9o. 900 lbs. of cochlneal, 1900 lbs. of
indigo. and I7o tons Of Iogwood. The
cargo was valued altogether at < 3so, 600
sterling. Our colonial trade with
America and the West Indies had also
begun about this time to be large. The
total value of the imports OF England
this year was l,I7,7So, ,oI9, the exports
| Ss,S ,S4s 9s2."
Apart from the occasional. .depressions
due to war, the commerce oithe country
made more progress under George III.
than at any period up to The time of
Victoria. In 1900 the Port Of London
possessed nearly 1000 vessels, our
total imports being over ten millions
and our exports over fifteen millions.
With many yicissitudes we prospered
during the long reign Of George III
and in 1900 when the old state OF affairs
ended and the dock era began, our
imports were thirty millions, our exports
forty three millions, and London carried
a third Of the trade OF the empire.