CO885-8 — Page 103

PUBLE RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

8

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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below) in reserving the trade between its Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. Notwithstanding the reservation, foreign vessels have been permitted to engage in the trade with the Far East up to the 30th May, 1902.

The United States have long treated the carrying trade between its Atlantic and Pacific seaboards as coasting trade, and reserved it to national vessels.

As regards over-sea possessions, the United States reserve the trade with Porto Rico and Hawaii, but not at present that with the Philippines. Under the Treaty of Peace with Spain, Spanish vessels have a right to enter Philippine ports on the same terms as American vessels up to the year 1909, and we have official assurances that British shipping will be treated not less favourably than Spanish shipping. (See Annex VII for extracts from Spanish-American Treaty and Mr. Hay's despatch of the 23rd November, 1899.) This insures our position for the present as regards treatment in Philippine ports. As regards treatment in United States' ports, an Act of Congress, dated the 8th March, 1902, prescribes that foreign vessels may enter United States' ports from the Philippines on payment of the usual tonnage dues payable by vessels coming from foreign countries up to the 1st July, 1904. As United States' vessels entering from the Philippines presumably do not pay tonnage dues, this Law gives a preference (not a monopoly) to American vessels trading from the Philippines.

The above are the only countries with important over-sea possessions (except Japan, in which the system of "open ports" and "closed ports" prevails, and which it is therefore unnecessary to discuss).

5. The effect of the facts stated is that, of the seven principal foreign countries with over-sea possessions, five (with relatively unimportant exceptions) throw open the carrying trade between the mother country and those possessions, viz, France, Germany, Holland, Denmark, and Portugal. The entrances and clearances of shipping in the trade between the above countries and their over-sea possessions, according to the latest available statistics, amounted annually to about 2,400,000 tons, of which 1,880,000 tons (or 77 per cent.) represented national vessels and 540,000 tons (or 23 per cent.) foreign vessels. The two remaining countries, viz., Russia and the United States, reserve the whole or the greater part of the trade between distant coasts and with over-sea possessions to national vessels. The entrances and clearances of ship- ping in the trade between the United States and Porto Rico and Hawaii during 1899-1900 (the last year in which the trade was open to foreign shipping) were 700,000 tons, of which 590,000 were American and 110,000 foreign. In the trade between European and Asiatic ports of Russia in 1899 (the last year before this trade was reserved by law), 161,000 tons of shipping were cleared,* of which 2,000 were Russian and 69,000 foreign.

Of the foreign tonnage entered and -cleared annually in the colonial trade of the countries which still admit British vessels, about 100,000 tons are recorded to be British, and this is exclusive of British tonnage engaged in the Portuguese colonial trade, which is not separately distinguished in the Portuguese statistics. Of the foreign tonnage engaged in the colonial trade of countries which show British vessels separately, about one-third appears to be British. The details are given in Annex IV.

6. As regards the home coasting trade proper, all the countries which reserve wholly or partially the trade with distant possessions reserve the home coasting trade. In addition, this trade is reserved by France, Italy, and Spain, and some less impor- tant countries. The coasting trade of Germany, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, and Greece is open either unconditionally or on condition of reciprocity.

The facts are fully set out in Annex VI.

As to the sbare of British vessels in the coasting trade proper of the above countries, the statistics are too incomplete for tabulation. As regards the German coasting trade, out of 64 million tons entered and cleared in 1900, 350,000 were foreign, of which 100,000 were British.

7. As regards the British Empire, the trade between the United Kingdom and the various British Colonies and possessions, and also the inter-colonial trade, has long been free from any restriction as to nationality of vessel.

The same is true of the coasting trade of the United Kingdom and of most of the Colonies. In the case, however, of Canada, the coasting trade is only open on

• There were no entrances in Bussian porta from porta of Asiatic Russia, presumably because the voyages home were not direct, but broken at Colombo or some other non-Russian port.

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332 condition of reciprocity, the foreign countries whose vessels are at present allowed to participate in it being Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Belgium, and the Argentine Republic.

8. The statistics of the carrying trade between different parts of the Empire are set out in Annex I and Annex II.

The figures there given show that the entries and clearances in trade between the United Kingdom and the Colonies and possessions amount annually to about 12,000,000 tons, of which 10,800,000 (or 90 per cent.) are British and 1,200,000 (or 10 per cent.) foreign. The entries in all the Colonies in the trade with other Colonies and possessions amount annually to nearly 25,000,000 tons, of which 21,500,000 (or 86 per cent.) are British and about 3,500,000 (or 14 per cent.) foreign.

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Hence, taking the two together, the total tonnage of vessels entered and cleared annually in the trade between different parts of the British Empire, i.e., between the United Kingdom and the various Colonies and possessions, and between the Colonies as separato Colonies, but not and possessions (counting the Australian "States including any of the colonial "coasting trade," strictly so called), is 36,814,000 tons, of which 32,310,000 are British and 4,504,000 foreign. The percentage of British tonnage is thus about 89.

9. As regards coasting trade proper, the information for the Colonies is very far from complete. So far as concerns the United Kingdom alone, 94 per cent. of the tonnage engaged in the coasting trade appears to be British, and nearly all the remainder is in ballast. Such colonial figures as are available show a proportion of 96 per cent. British tonnage.

10. The foreign tonnage engaged in the trade between the United Kingdom and the Colonies is mainly Norwegian (52 per cent.) and German (19 per cent.). The countries next in importance are (in order) Italy (6 per cent.), France (5 per cent.), Russia and Sweden (4 per cent. each).

11. The statistics of inter-colonial trade do not, in most cases, distinguish the nationality of the foreign tonnage, and particulars on this point are only available for · Canada, the Cape, India, Aden, and the Seychelles. For these Colonies and possessions the proportions in which the foreign tonnage engaged in inter-colonial trade belongs to the various foreign countries are as follows: Germany (30 per cent.), Norway and Sweden (23 per cent.), Austria-Hungary (about 15 per cent.), France (14 per cent.), and Italy (10 per cent.).

12. The foreign tonnage engaged in the coasting trade of the United Kingdom is mainly Norwegian (30 per cent.), Swedish (16 per cent.), and German (14 per cent.).

13. It is of interest to classify the foreign tonnage participating in the trade between the United Kingdom and British possessions according to the policy pursued by the countries to which the vessels belong, as regards the participation of British vessels in the corresponding trade of those countries.

The classification is given in Annex V.

It will be seen that 401,000 tons (or 34 per cent. of the total) belong to countries having distant or over-sea possessions, and that of these 53,000 tons (or 5 per cent. of the total) belong to countries which exclude, and 348,000 tons (or 29 per cent.) to countries which permit the participation of British ships in their colonial trade.

The remaining 793,000 tons (or 66 per cent.) belong to countries which have no important over-sea possessions. Of these, 91,000 tons (or 8 per cent of the whole) belong to countries which exclude, and 688,000 (or 57 per cent. of the whole) to countries which permit the participation of British ships in their coasting trade.

It follows that if "reciprocity" were a test for the admission of foreign vessels to our colonial trade, about 13 per cent. of the foreign tonnage now engaged in that trade would be excluded.

The defects of the colonial statistics make it impossible to make a corresponding calculation for the inter-colonial trade.

14. The figures given above do not distinguish steam and sailing-vessels, and as

this distinction is important, the following analysis will be of interest :-

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Of the 1,200,000 tons of foreign shipping entered and cleared in the trade between

the United Kingdom and its Colonies and possessions in 1901, 700,000 were sailing and 500,000 steam-vessels.

Of the 3,500,000 of tons of foreign shipping entered and cleared in the inter- colonial trade, about 3,000,000 were steam and 500,000 sailing-vessels.

15. These figures indicate that the character of the foreign tonnage participating in the inter-colonial trade is somewhat different from that sharing in the trade between the mother country and the Colonies. The former is largely made up of the 3T2