The British carrying trade before the war was divided between the companies operating regular lines with scheduled sailings and owners of vessels engaged in general trade, or "tramp" owners, whose vessels were often chartered to third parties and traded wherever cargo might be found. It is estimated, roughly, that of Great Britain's total tonnage before the war 60 per cent consisted of tramps and 40 per cent of liners. The great importance of the tramp owner in the shipping economy of the Empire is obvious. Not only was he responsible for the larger part of the country's steam tonnage, but Britain was dependent on him especially for the imports and exports of what may be termed as the rougher class of bulk cargoes, which are not, as a rule, suitable for liner business. It would apparently be impossible for a country like the United Kingdom with its enormous flow of trade to depend wholly on regular lines with scheduled sailings. It seems essential that there be a large amount of "loose" tonnage capable of supplementing the liner sailings and prepared to trade at short notice to any part of the world.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE STEAM TONNAGE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM ENGAGED IN FOREIGN TRADE, APR. 3, 1911.1

1 Report of Departmental Committee on Shipping and Shipbuilding, p. 80. 2 Vessels trading between the United Kingdom and continental ports between the River Elbe and Brest, inclusive. Vessels engaged in coasting trade of the United Kingdom (1,565 ships of 296,000 tons) are not

included.

It appears from the foregoing that 82 per cent of the British tonnage on the date given was engaged in the extra European trades and 13 per cent in the Mediterranean trade; this leaves only 5 per cent for the European trades proper.

The total trade of the world as represented by the entrances of vessels with cargoes and with ballast at the ports of all countries, 1911-12, is estimated at about 912,000,000 gross tons, about 41 per cent of which was carried by British shipping. The following schedule exhibits the situation concretely:

WORLD ENTRANCES OF VESSELS WITH CARGOES AND BALLAST, YEAR 1911-12.1

THE EFFECT OF THE WAR ON SHIPPING AND TRADE.

Great Britain has lost about one-third of her merchant tonnage, due to submarine activities during the war. According to a recent official statement by the British Admiralty, the total tonnage losses from belligerent action and marine risk were 9,031,828 gross tons from the beginning of the war to October 31, 1918. New construction in the United Kingdom in the same period was 4,342,295; purchases abroad were 530,000 tons, and enemy tonnage captured was 716,520. The net loss was therefore 3,443,013 gross tons.

In addition to submarine losses, the withdrawal of a large proportion of British and other allied shipping for direct or auxiliary war services contributed largely to the tonnage stringency experienced during the war. Heavy demands were made on the British mercantile marine for the provision of auxiliary vessels for the allied navies. It was also necessary to maintain vast overseas expeditions, with the enormous equipment of modern war, in France, Gallipoli, Macedonia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and East and West Africa, while insuring adequate supplies of all kinds for the United Kingdom and other allied countries. The strain was so severe that only about one-half of British shipping was available for the provisioning of the United Kingdom and for overseas trade. Up to the end of 1916 the situation was materially relieved by the assistance of neutral shipping, but during the enemy's unrestricted submarine campaign of 1917 neutral shipping (except as secured by agreement and charter) largely disappeared from the United Kingdom's trade. The following exhibits the tonnage of vessels with cargoes and in ballast entering and clearing from ports of the United Kingdom for the years 1913-1917, distributed by percentages between British and foreign ships.1

There are no data available to show just how the situation stood in 1918.

The shortage of tonnage resulting from war activities produced serious consequences on the British carrying trade in all parts of the

world, but more particularly on the eastern trades. Vessels of a high class built for specialized trades, such as meat and fruit, which require refrigerated spaces, have been lost or used for other purposes. Furthermore, it was necessary to withdraw ships in increasing numbers from the more distant trades and to concentrate them on the trades nearer home, in order that the populations of the allied countries might be fed and that raw materials for war and industrial purposes might be supplied for their use.

Three of the best known companies have lost, respectively, 160,000, 124,000, and 62,000 gross tons, including a large number of highclass passenger and cargo liners. Other companies have lost from one-third to one-half of their pre-war fleets.

The withdrawal of shipping from the East for use in the Atlantic trades has led to the encroachment of Japanese liners. One company trading to China and Japan states that its sailings have been reduced from five to one per month and fears serious difficulty after the war owing to Japanese competition. The services of another company have been reduced by two-thirds, while loss of tonnage and the necessity for the change of route via the Cape of Good Hope have reduced the sailings of others by 60 per cent.

India, being the country whose products are to the greatest extent peculiar to herself and many of which were needed for war purposes, suffered least, but her service was cut down by 50 per cent. Australasia, which had 24 to 25 steamers per month, by October, 1918, had her service reduced to 5 per month. South Africa had 30 boats a month, against 6 in 1918, while the Straits Settlements received barely 5 per cent of their pre-war service.

SHIPBUILDING.

Shipbuilding and marine engineering are among the largest of British industries. These industries employed before the war well over 200,000 people, and the gross value of the annual output exceeded £50,000,000. (These figures do not include the Admiralty dockyards and the shipbuilding industry of the overseas dominions.)

Compared with 20 years ago, the output from British shipyards and marine engine works shows a decline in relation to the world's output, but the normal production of British shipyards was, before the war, still greater than that of all foreign shipyards put together. The comparative progress of British and foreign shipbuilding since 1892 is shown in the following table of tonnage launched, compiled from figures published by Lloyd's Register of Shipping: GROSS TONNAGE OF MERCHANT VESSELS LAUNCHED IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

1 The figures of the output of "other countries" include a considerable tonnage built on the Great Lakes of North America.

While the output of shipyards in the British dominions oversea has hitherto been small, it is expected that in the near future there will be an important development in this industry. It is to be noted that during the war a number of orders were placed with colonial shipbuilders, notably in Canada.

It has not been usual for British shipowners to obtain their ships abroad, but in the years just preceding the war the granting of subsidies by the French Government for ships built in France led to the placing of some British contracts in that country. It is claimed, however, that shipyards in the United Kingdom were busy at the time. During recent years there has grown up a keen competition between British and foreign shipbuilders for foreign orders. At one time British shipbuilders delivered many vessels to German owners, but at the outbreak of the war this trade was practically extinct. Although Italy has in recent years been increasing her own output of vessels, substantial orders from that country are still placed in the United Kingdom. Japan, at one time a large buyer, is now a seller of vessels. Holland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Greece were, up to the time of the war, good customers of British shipyards.

The following table shows the vessels built in British yards for foreign owners from 1906-1916:

VESSELS BUILT FOR FOREIGN OWNERS IN BRITISH SHIPYARDS.1

Vessels on the United Kingdom register which were sold to foreign countries during the same period are shown as follows:

VESSELS OF BRITISH REGISTRY TRANSFERRED TO FOREIGN OWNERSHIP.1

According to the above data, the sale of British shipping to other countries, either new or old vessels, has fallen to relatively negligible figures since the outbreak of the war.

The British trade statistics do not show the transfer of old ships, and the trade data for new ships do not correspond to the tables from the Statistical Abstract given above. The following table. shows the exports of new ships, boats, parts, and machinery for 1913-1917:

1 Annual (and Monthly) Statements of Trade of the United Kingdom.

The total values of these exports for the period 1912-1918 were shown in the introductory section of Chapter V.

The imports of ships and boats according to the trade data are negligible. Evidently the trade statistics do not cover all shipping transactions, as it is well known that the British have purchased new and old vessels during the war from Japan and elsewhere to the amount of several hundred thousand gross tons. It should be noted in this connection that international shipping transactions are another factor bearing upon the real balance of trade as discussed in Chapter VIII.

The total output of the shipyards of the United Kingdom from 1910 to date is shown, as far as possible, in the following tables:

A.—NUMBER And Gross Tonnage of SailiNG AND STEAM VESSELS (OTHER THAN WAR VESSELS) BUILT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.1

Nore. As far as number is concerned, sailing vessels average about 25 per cent of the total; but the total tonnage of such vessels is but 2 or 3 per cent of the tonnage total.

18

1 No data.