292 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



The imports of gold in 1900 were 26,190,873, 

 and exports 18,397,459; imports of silver were 

 13.322,300, and exports 13,574,580. 



Navigation. The total number of vessels en- 

 tered at the ports of .the United Kingdom during 

 1890 was 359,821, of 105.188,504 tons: the total 

 number cleared was 35(5.079. of 104,159,577 tons. 

 This includes 292.410, of 5(1,312,580 tons, entered 

 and 289,309, of 55.252.008 tons, cleared coastwise. 

 The tonnage of vessels engaged in foreign trade 

 entered at British and Irish ports during 1899 

 was 48.870,01)0 tons, of which 32,805.000 tons were 

 British and 1(5.011.000 tons were foreign. The 

 tonnage cleared in the foreign trade was 48,907,- 

 000 tons, of which 32.784,000 tons were British 

 and 1(5.123.000 tons were foreign. The tonnage of 

 vessels entered with cargoes from foreign coun- 

 tries was .SO.220.000, of which 25,453,000 tons were 

 British and 10.773,000 tons were foreign. The 

 tonnage cleared with cargoes was 42,988,000, of 

 which 28,91)8,000 tons were British and 14,020,000 

 tons were foreign. The total tonnage entered and 

 cleared with cargoes was 79,214,000, of which 

 54.422,000 tons were British and 24,793,000 tons 

 were foreign. With cargoes and in ballast the 

 total foreign tonnage entered and cleared was 32,- 

 133.898 tons, and of this Norway had 7,442,597 

 tons, Germany 5,238,057 tons, Denmark 3,375,632 

 tons, Sweden 3,318,348 tons, the Netherlands 

 2,950,447 tons, France 2,535,136 tons, Spain 2,006,- 

 440 tons, Belgium 1,474,438 tons, Italy 1,087,806 

 tons, Russia 903,547 tons, the United States 569,- 

 979 tons, and Austria 413.229 tons. Of the total 

 tonnage entered and cleared in the foreign trade 

 London had 16.529,075 tons, Cardiff 13,420,355 

 tons, Liverpool 11,818,000 tons, Newcastle 6,170,- 

 720 tons, Hull 4,585,183 tons, Glasgow 3,612,934 

 tons, Southampton 3,122,453 tons, Newport 2,848,- 

 897 tons, Blyth 2,553,069 tons, Swansea 2,193,090 

 tons, Middlesbro 2,099,409 tons, Shields 2,078,392 

 tons, Sunderland 1,949,076 tons, Grimsby 1,911,- 

 513 tons, Kirkcaldy 1,810,486 tons, Leith 1,795,- 

 72(3 tons, Grangemouth 1,534,851 tons, Harwich 

 1,436,695 tons, Manchester 1,196,382 tons, Bristol 

 1,151,221 tons, and Hartlepool 889,876 tons. 



The number of vessels registered as belonging in 

 the United Kingdom on Jan. 1, 1900, was 20,196, 

 of 9,164,342 tons, of which 11,167, of 2,246,850 

 tons, were sailing vessels and 9,029, of 6,917,492 

 tons, were steamers. The number of vessels en- 

 gaged in the home and foreign trade in 1899 was 

 15,197, of 9,246,634 tons, employing 244,135 men, 

 of whom 36,064 were foreigners, exclusive of 33,- 

 805 Lascars. The total number of vessels be- 

 longing to the British Empire was 34,896 in 1899, 

 of 10,602.199 tons. Of the vessels engaged in the 

 home and foreign trade in 1899 the number in the 

 home trade alone was 6,485 sailing vessels of 

 397,177 tons, and 3,295 steamers of 476,449 tons; 

 and 178 sailing vessels, of 20,250 tons, and 338 

 Hteamers, of 308.898 tons, were engaged partly in 

 the home and partly in the foreign trade, while 

 1,236 sailing vessels, of 1,700,548 tons, and 3,665 

 steamers, of 6,343,312 tons, were engaged exclu- 

 sively in the foreign trade. The number of ves- 

 sels built and first registered in the United King- 

 dom during 1891) was 1,245, of 749,414 tons, com- 

 prising 570 sailing vessels, of 45,510 tons, and 

 075 steamers, of 703.904 tons. The number of ves- 

 sels built for foreigners was 241, of 199,596 tons, 

 of which 53, of 4.973 tons, were sailing vessels 

 and 188, of 194.623 tons, were steamers. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 total length of railroads open to traffic in the 

 United Kingdom on Jan. 1, 1900, was 21,700 

 miles, of which 15,044 miles were in England and 

 Wales, 3,480 miles were in Scotland, and 3,176 



miles were in Ireland. There were 181 miles built 

 during the year. The paid-up share and loans 

 capital amounted to 1,152,317,501. The number 

 of passengers carried during 1899 was 1,106,- 

 691,991, exclusive of holders of season tickets. 

 The receipts from all sources were 101,667,065, 

 of which 43,734,399 came from passengers and 

 52,116,399 from freight. The working expenses 

 were 60,090,687, being 59 per cent, of the gross 

 receipts. There were 1,177 miles of tramways on 

 June 30, 1900, the receipts of which for the year 

 were 4,075,352; number of passengers carried, 

 1,065,374,347; paid-up capital, 20,582,692; net 

 receipts, 1,370,277. 



The number of letters that passed through the 

 British post-office during the year ending March 

 31, 1900, was 2,246,800,000, of which 1,908,900,000 

 were delivered in England and Wales, 196,800,000 

 in Scotland, and 141,100,000 in Ireland, being 55 

 letters per capita for the whole United Kingdom, 

 00 letters for England and Wales, 46 letters for 

 Scotland, and 31 letters for Ireland. The number 

 of post-cards carried during the year was 400,300,- 

 000; book packets, 702,800,000; newspapers, 163,- 

 400,000; parcels, 75,400,000; money orders, 12,- 

 087,459, for the total amount of 35,201,262, of 

 which 10,292,890, for the amount of 30,505,351, 

 were inland orders; the number of postal orders, 

 82,115,674, for 28,633,884. The telegraphs had 

 on March 31, 1900, a length of 44,970 miles, with 

 329,660 miles of wire. The number of messages 

 sent during the year was 90,415,123, of which 76,- 

 116,209 were sent in England arid Wales, 9,387,975 

 in Scotland, and 4,910,939 in Ireland. There are 

 68,657 miles of long-distance telephone lines, and 

 16,189,156 conversations were held in the year 

 ending March 31, 1900, from the post-offices, while 

 the telephone company had 988 exchanges, in 

 which 639,476,448 conversations were held. The 

 postal revenue for the year ending March 31, 1900, 

 was 13,394,335, and the expenses were 9,683,- 

 704, leaving a net revenue of 3,710,631. The 

 total telegraph receipts were 3,460,492, and ex- 

 penses 3,748,930, leaving a deficiency of 288,- 

 438, reducing the net postal and telegraph revenue 

 to 3,422,193, from which should be deducted 

 298,888, the annual interest on the debt incurred 

 for the purchase of the telegraphs from private 

 companies in 1870. 



The Session of Parliament. The Parliament 

 elected in October, 1900, met in extraordinary ses- 

 sion in December purely for the purpose of sanc- 

 tioning supplementary estimates for the expenses 

 of the war in South Africa, and after a discus- 

 sion of the war lasting two weeks the session was 

 closed. The death of Queen Victoria on Jan. 22, 

 1901, necessitated the assemblage of Parliament, 

 which held a formal session on the following day, 

 when members of both houses who were present 

 took the oath of allegiance to King Edward VII. 

 After the delivery of tributes to the virtues of the 

 deceased sovereign there was an adjournment till 

 the middle of February. When the members of 

 the Privy Council were sworn, King Edward de- 

 clared his determination to be a constitutional 

 sovereign in the strictest sense of the word. All 

 civil and military officers under the Crow r n in the 

 United Kingdom were continued in their func- 

 tions, as has been the law since the reign of Que?n 

 Anne, and all officers in the colonies and depend- 

 encies, as was enacted in the reign of William IV. 

 The King opened his first Parliament in person on 

 Feb. 14. As provided by the bill of rights, he made 

 the formal Protestant declaration, denouncing the 

 doctrine of transubstantiation, and characterizing 

 as superstitious and idolatrous the adoration of 

 the Virgin Mary and invocation of saints and 



