Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-18
RECORD YEAR IN
AMERICAN SHIPPING
Total Tonnage is 16,324,O24 Gross,
Three Times That of Ger
many in 1914.

The annual report of the Commissioner
of Navigation, Department Of Commerce
for the fiscal year ended june 30, 1920,
states that the year is one Of maximum
records in most branches Of American
shipping and shipbuildng and ~ not
likely to be equalcd for years to como,
and our progress can be measured only
by world standards.
The total American registered, enrolled,
and licensed tonnage on June 30, 1870,
was l6. 32i ,024 gross tons, three times
the tonnage in 1914 of Germany, whose
former place ms the second maritime pow
or the United States now firmly holds.
The year increase in American shipping
has. been 3,4l6,724 gross tons, an annual
increase larger than the whole world e
increase during any year before 1915
Tho American ships built and ducn-
mentcd during tho year aggregated 3,
$50, ,b3n gross tons, an output compar-
able only to the worlds pre- war record
launching Of 1892 ,SS2 gross tons In 1919
and the British record of 3,S0s, ,o56 gross
tons under construction on juno 30.
1920 AZ the ond Of December, 1919,
American shipvards had built ahips I'm
cludins n small tonnage for foreign
owncrsl at the rate of A.2hS.14t prosa
tons per Rnuum and at the end uf March.
1920, our yards bad built steel ships alone
at the rate Of 3,679. .2S5 gross tons per
annum The peak Of annual wooden -ahip
production, 1927 ,020 gross tons, had
been reached at the end Of June. lgln.
and it's decline % 2o7 S64 gross tona dur
ing the past fiscal year is not without it's
consolations.
American ships reFistered for foreign
trade on June 80, 1920, aggregated o.
92S,5p5 gross tons. nearly tenfold the
tonnage so registered in 1914
THIS registered tonnage during normal
domestic conditions Of trade. control.
and production would suffice to carry
about go pcr cent in value Of tho foreign
trade Of tho United States and. IN fact
during the past year has carr ed Is por
cent II value Of our exports and 20 per
cent n value 81 our imports, whio ia
1914 American ships carried only 10
per cvnt u value of our export and i'm
pOrts.
h increase during the wear in orr
tonnage registered Tor foreign trade has
been 3,25S,S6 gross tons, or virtually
80 per ocnt, and Is bv itself more than
The tunnage under any flag hut the British
(which amounts 20 20.5S2, ,652 grnss tons
slightlv cxcocding tho total of 3,245,1Of
gross tons under the French flag. which
ranks next to tho American
The clearances Of American ships IN
foreign trade have aggregated almost
D.000,0O0 net tons, or cl SC to - per
cent OF tho total clearancta and double
the Percentage Of 1914
For tho first time in third If century
one hall Of tho officers and crrwE ot Ameri-
can ships in foreign trade havp bccn
American citizens, born or naturalizad
hese matters arc not recorded IN a
hoastful spirit. and we shall greatly do
lude ourselves and invite the fall which
pride and vain-glory usually precode
# we do not consider tho eauses which
have worked such results All arc directly
attributable t0 ruthless German submarine
warfare which. on the one hand. wrought
vast losses 70 the merchant shipping of
allied and neutral nations alike and. on
the other hand, impelled the American
people by pledging themselves 70 Liberty
bonds and heavy taxes, 20 vote through
Congress vast appropriations to build ships
TO make good those losses and 20 win the
war. The amount expended, $4,000, ,oOn.-
600, is more than all the ships In the world.
49,OOO,000 gross tons, were worth in
1914, and in interest and anking-fund
ntrlbutions stand today for annual
taxation 10 the amount Of sos, ,0oO,N ,NN.
20 which annual depreciation Of the ships
viii add sl50000,0O0
The report covers in detail the rrogrcSs