Purchases. Authors, &c. Bastable (C. F.). The Commerce of Nations. viii+216 pp. 8vo. 1892 Salmon (James). Ten Years' Growth of the City of London [1881-91]. Simmonds (P. L.). A Handbook of British Commerce; being a descriptive and statistical account of the various articles forming the Import and Export Trade of the United Kingdom. viii+204 pp., 8vo. 1892. White (Arnold). The Destitute Alien in Great Britain; a series of papers dealing with the subject of Foreign Pauper Immigration. Arranged and edited by. 191 pp., 8vo. 1892. Wilkinson (J. Frome). Pensions and Pauperism, with Notes by T. E. Young. 127 pp., 8vo. 1892. Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Economie Politique. Livr. 16, 1892. Palmer's Index to the Times. Quarter ending 31st Dec., 1891. Vierteljahrschrift für Volkswirtschaft, Politik, und Kulturgeschichte. 29er Jahrgang. Band i, 1 hälfte. (Contents.) Studie über das sogenannte Staatsabstractum: J. v. Held. Der russische Wechselkurs im letzten Jahrzehnt: N. S. Das Abzahlungs-Geschäft und die neuesten Vorschläge zu seiner Regelung: W. Hausmann. 8vo. Berlin, 1892. Periodicals, &c. Almanach de Gotha, 1892. Annuaire de l'Economie Politique et de la Statistique, 1891. British Almanac and Companion, 1892. County Council Companion, 1892. Directory of Directors, 1892. Financial Reform Almanac, 1892. Ham's Inland Revenue Year-Book, 1892. Howe's Directory of Charities, 1892. India Office List, 1892. Kelly's Handbook, 1892. Metropolitan Year-Book, 1892. Stock Exchange Year-Book, 1892. Vacher's Parliamentary Companion (Current monthly numbers). Parliamentary Papers Agricultural Statistics of Ireland for 1890. British Army. General Annual Return for 1890. Belgian Councils of "Prud'hommes." Report on, 1891. Building Societies. Annual Return for 1890. Civil Service Commission, 35th Report, for 1890. Colonial Tariffs, List of, 1891. Corn Sales, Report of Select Committee on, 1891. Purchases-Contd. Parliamentary Papers-Contd. Friendly Societies. Report of the Chief Registrar for 1890. Italy, Report on Private Wealth in, 1891. Local Taxation Returns for 1889-90. Members of Parliament, Lists, &c., of, from 1705 to 1885. Metropolitan Hospitals, Second Report of Royal Commission on, 1891. Metropolitan Water Companies, Accounts for 1890. Mining Royalties, 2nd and 3rd Reports of the Royal Commission on, 1891. Prisons in Scotland, Report on, for 1891. Provision for Old Age in Foreign Countries, Report on, 1891. Railway Accidents during 1890. Railway Servants' Hours of Labour, 1891. Relief of the Poor in Scotland in 1890-91. Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries. Return for 1890. Shipping Casualties in 1889-90. Strikes and Lock-outs, Report on, 1891. Switzerland, Report on Insurance against Sickness in, 1891. Town Holdings, Report of the Select Committee on, 1891. Wages, Report on the Relation of, to Cost of Production, 1891. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY, JUNE, 1892. TONNAGE STATISTICS of the DECADE 1880-90. [Read before the Royal Statistical Society, 15th March, 1892. THE Society's Journals for March, 1863, June, 1872, and March, 1882, contain papers which I had the honour to read, relating to the progress of shipping during three previous decades. The paper I am about to read relates to the last decade, and so will complete in the Society's Journal a record for forty years. My first paper recorded that the total entries and clearances at ports in the United Kingdom were in 1850 under 40 million tons; and the tables submitted to-night show, that in 1890 the same entries and clearances had quadrupled, having grown to more than 164 millions of tons. The increase during the last decade with which I dealt, viz., that of 1870-80, was from 73 million tous to 133 million tons, an increase of 60 million tons; or, to put it otherwise, an increase which exceeded the whole entries and clearances of 1860-they were under 59 million tons. After a development so vast between 1870 and 1880, it would not have been an unreasonable conjecture, that some pause might have been expected during 1880-90. But in spite of many circumstances which might have VOL. LV. PART II. P slackened the growth of our maritime trade, the enormous figures for 1880, viz., 133 million tons, grew to over 164 million tons in 1890. In the preparation of the tables I am about to submit, I have adhered as closely as possible to the construction of my previous tables, so that the comparisons, for what they are worth, are made with the same things. If I remember rightly, some reflections were made in the discussion on my last paper on the method of comparing at intervals so long as that of a decade. Since then, I have seen a good deal of "grouping" of the maritime statistics into three years and other periods, but the results did not satisfy me that any such arbitrary grouping enabled the figures to convey the instruction they contained. It is no unusual thing in the experience of the Fellows of this Society to see figures made to support theories which they do not teach; also to see them used on opposite sides of a great controversy. Comparisons of fixed dates at long intervals, without any arbitrary selection, appear to me to form a better basis for conclusions. I therefore adhere to the comparison of decades, and of beginnings and ends of decades; except in those cases in which, for the decade under immediate treatment, I give the facts for the whole of the ten years, leaving each year to tell its own tale. As to the general character of the decade, I may say it was remarkable in many respects. Like its predecessor, it was free from any maritime war; our flag was never belligerent. The Egyptian operations were carried through with very slight disturbance to the freight markets, and made demands too limited to show what transport resources our steamer fleet places at the disposal of the government. The price of coal was 50 per cent. higher in 1890 than in 1880. But the average price for the decade was less than during either of the two decades preceding. It was not to be expected that the shipping industry would escape the labour troubles which afflicted nearly all other trades, especially towards the end of the period. They led to the formation of what is known as the Federation of Shipping of the United Kingdom, by the help of which (for the present at all events) the ship owners have preserved for themselves and their captains and officers, that control over the navigation of their vessels which is essential to the safety of life and property on the high seas. It was by no means a peaceful decade so far as regards political agitations. There was indeed much political agitation; and much public interest was excited by the statements and counter statements made on shipping affairs. There was much inquirya Select Committee in 1880, a Royal Commission on Tonnage in 1831, a Royal Commission on Loss of Life at Sea in 1884, and the Load Line Committee; a Select Committee on Life Saving Appliances in 1887, a Committee on Pilotage in 1888, and a Departmental Committee on the Life Saving Appliances Act in 1889, and another Departmental Committee in 1890 on the subject of Bulkheads. No less than 34 Bills were introduced to Parliament, but of these only 15 became Acts, the most important of which were the Carriage of Grain Act, 1880, the Payment of Wages Act, 1880, and the Load Line Act, 1890. Tested either by value or by the estimated weight carried, the imports and exports of the decade show a large increase. The value for 1890 was 749 millions, compared with 697 millions in 1880, 547 millions in 1870, and 375 millions in 1860; so that between the latter date and 1890 the value doubled. An indication of this growth is given by the figures for a few of the more bulky articles enumerated in TABLE I.-Showing the Quantities of certain Articles Exported and Imported in 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1890. |