WAXES, TALLOW, GUMS, AND SOAP.

Imports of paraffin wax (largely from the United States) totaled 1,140,466 hundredweights (£983,989) in 1913, and in 1917 had increased to 1,452,836 hundredweights, with a value of £2,506,816. Reexports for the same periods amounted to 328,307 hundredweights and 217,273 hundredweights, respectively. The amount available for domestic manufacture and consumption is thus seen to be considerable. Imports of other kinds of waxes average about 100,000 hundredweights per year.

The trade in tallow was referred to in the chapter on "Foodstuffs." Imports of tallow (principally from Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina) are large, amounting to 1,902,084 hundredweights (£3,207,628) in 1913 and falling to 610,299 hundredweights (£1,810,560 in 1917. About 50 per cent of this importation was reexported in 1913 to a long list of destinations, but in 1917 the reexports fell to a little over 100,000 hundredweights. Exports of candles of British manufacture in 1913 totaled 1913 totaled 260,897 hundredweights (£434,983) in 1913, and in 1917, 181,337 hundredweights (£536,176). The development of the trade in soap during the war is rather striking. On the import side the soaps received in 1913 had a value of £523,850. In 1917 the imports were practically negligible. On the export side, however, the trade had been increasing steadily during the war, showing an increased activity in this branch of manufacturing. Exports of soap in 1913 amounted to 1,747,374 hundredweights (£2,092,686), and in 1917 had increased to 2,536,485 hundredweights, with a value of £4,868,355. This is somewhat remarkable, since in most cases exports of British goods during the war have at least declined in volume. Soap exports are widely distributed. Shipments to France in 1913 totaled only 28,049 hundredweights; in 1917 this trade had increased to the large figure of 448,634 hundredweights.

The United Kingdom imports large quantities of gum arabic and other gums from Egypt, New Zealand, India, and elsewhere. The total shipments received in 1913 amounted to 617,246 hundredweights, with a value of £1,797,175. With respect to quantity this trade has been nearly cut in half during the war. Reexports of these materials have been relatively well maintained at over 200,000 hundredweights per year.

BRUSHES.

The United Kingdom imports large quantities of bristles from China and Russia. In 1913, 4,784,785 pounds were received. In 1917 this trade had increased to 5,760,588 pounds, with a value of £1,000,000. Reexports (distributed principally to the United States and the Continent) have remained approximately constant, at about 50 per cent of the total importations in 1913.

Another raw material imported which is used in the manufacture of brooms and brushes is piassava fiber and other similar materials. The net importation of these fibers in 1913 was a little over 7,000 tons, and in 1917 about 4,500. Reexports, although small, have increased during the war, an exception to the general decline in the reexport trade. Even with this large import of raw material the

domestic brush industry does not supply home consumption, or at least did not do so before the war. In 1913, 1,929,440 dozens of brooms and brushes, with a value of about £500,000, were imported. The same year the domestic exports amounted to 560,501 dozens, with a value of about £250,000. In 1917, however, imports were only 335,809 dozens, while exports of domestic products amounted to 422,444 dozens.

WATCHES, CLOCKS, JEWELRY, ETC.

Imports of manufactures of this group greatly exceed exports. In 1913, 4,499,214 watches were imported, and only a little less than 4,000,000 were received in 1917. Reexports are small and exports of domestic manufactures negligible. In the same years the imports of watchcases and parts had a value of £472,455 and £363,694, respectively. About 75 per cent of these materials were reexported in 1913 and about 25 per cent in 1917. The imports of complete clocks in 1913 totaled 2,413,926, with a value of something less than £500,000. This trade has fallen off very sharply during the war, only 1,322,861 clocks being received in 1917. Reexports of clocks are small. Importations of jewelry amounted to about £400,000 in 1913 and had fallen in 1917 to negligible figures. The manufacture of jewelry is not unimportant in the United Kingdom, and silver and gold plated ware are exported in important quantities. In 1913 the value of such exports totaled over a million pounds sterling, but in 1917 had fallen to 50 per cent of that figure.

British watch and clock manufacturers, in concert with other industrial interests, are clamoring for protection after the war.

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VI. SHIPPING AND SHIPBUILDING.

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.

The importance of the British merchant marine and of the shipbuilding and marine engineering industries in the economic life of the Due to her geographUnited Kingdom can hardly be overestimated. Due to her ical situation, the tremendous foreign commerce of Great Britain is, of course, sea-borne. The continued influx of foodstuffs and industrial raw materials so essential to British welfare depends entirely upon shipping, and hence the railway system of Great Britain, although highly developed, is of secondary importance as a transportation agency. A necessary concomitant, then, of British industrial progress has been the development of the greatest merchant fleet and the greatest shipbuilding industry in the world.

Before the war about 50 per cent of the world's seagoing tonnage was of British registry-a fleet manned by nearly 300,000 persons. The capacity of British shipyards was greater than that of all foreign shipyards put together. The annual output had a gross selling value of about £50,000,000 (which figure does not include the output of the Admiralty dockyards). During the war this position has not been essentially changed, although the very great impetus given to shipbuilding in the United States has developed shipyards in this country to such an extent that the present capacity of American yards is reported to be considerably greater than that of the British plants. However, even if American shipyards continue to operate at present or accelerated capacity and all output is placed under American registry, it will be several years before the American marine can approach the British in size. Further, it is somewhat doubtful if the interest in shipbuilding fostered in this country by war conditions will continue or, if it does, that all ships built will operate under the American flag. For various reasons, not the least of which is the vital interest of the British nation in the matter, it is quite likely that the supremacy of the British merchant marine will be maintained (although perhaps not unchallenged) for years to come. Up to the middle of 1916 the losses suffered by the British merchant fleet had been approximately covered by new construction, purchases abroad, and acquisition of enemy tonnage. In the last two and a half years, however, losses have greatly exceeded accretions. The United Kingdom has, however, been able to secure by agreement and charter a considerable amount of Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and other tonnage for temporary use, and (the fleets of the Central Powers being inactive) has thus controlled a much larger percentage of the world's active tonnage during the war than before. The following sections discuss the status of the British fleet and British shipbuilding before and during the war in some detail.

THE POSITION OF BRITISH SHIPPING BEFORE THE WAR. At the outbreak of the war the British merchant marine was much the largest of all the merchant navies of the world. It comprised nearly one-half of the world's steam tonnage and was four times as large as

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its nearest and most formidable rival, the German marine, as is shown in the following table":1

THE MERCHANT FLEETS OF THE 10 LEADING MARITIME COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, 1912-19142 (ACCORDING TO LLOYD'S).

1 Compiled by the United States Shipping Board.

2 These data are as of June 30 of the year under which they are given.

41,919,758

3 Lloyd's treats net tonnage of sailing vessels as gross tonnage in arriving at a total gross tonnage for

the nation.

The United States led Germany in total tonnage (including sailing vessels) before the war, according to this table; but about 50 per cent of the United States steam tonnage was engaged in trade on the Great

Lakes.

5 Japanese sailing vessels are not included in Lloyd's Register.

The position of the British marine in ocean-going commerce was even more favorable than a comparison of totals as shown above would indicate. The following schedule shows the distribution of the world's ocean-going steam tonnage at the outbreak of the war: OCEAN-GOING STEAM FLEET BY LEADING COUNTRIES OF REGISTRY, JUNE 30, 1914.

1 These figures do not include the United States vessels engaged in trade on the Great Lakes (1,693,000 tons).

Further, 90 per cent of the steam tonnage of the United Kingdom consisted mainly of vessels of a larger type; that is, those of 1,600 tons gross. More than 16,000,000 gross tons were represented by only 3,747 steamers, while the remaining steamers (8,355) accounted for about 2,000,000 tons. According to the Departmental Committee on Shipping and Shipbuilding after the War, the secret of Great Britain's success in peace and of her danger in war is just this fact, because "vessels of large size are generally more economical than smaller vessels, but in war their loss is the more severely felt proportionately as their number is limited." The tendency in recent years toward larger ships is shown definitely by the following:

During the period of enormous expansion of the world's sea-borne commerce in the quarter of a century preceding the war Great Britain more than doubled her steam tonnage, and although the growth of Germany's mercantile marine was much more rapid in proportion than that of the United Kingdom between 1900 and June, 1914, the United Kingdom added 6,900,000 gross tons to its steam tonnage, while Germany added only 2,800,000 tons.

Further, the carrying power of the British marine increased more rapidly than that of other countries, due to the practice of selling older vessels to foreign flags and replacing them by new and improved styles.