234 



COMMERCE. 



The increase in foreign is very marked. In 

 1860 the amount of foreign tonnage was less 

 than 30 per cent, of the whole amount entered, 

 and in 1862 it was nearly 40 per cent. The 

 number of arrivals has however been larger 

 than ever, and if foreign vessels found their 

 gain in the fears excited as to the safety of 

 American bottoms, the supply of the latter was 

 greatly decreased as well through the cessation 

 of building as through the purchases of the 

 Government. The immense outward grain 

 freights of the past ten years have to some ex- 

 tent made up for the want of cotton and to- 

 bacco. The clearances of vessels have been as 

 follows : 



The number of foreign vessels exceeded 

 that of the American, as also did the number 

 of seamen, although the aggregate tonnage was 

 not so large. The American vessels are gen- 

 erally of a larger size than the foreign. Many 

 of the latter, which run short voyages, in effect 

 coasting voyages to and from the provinces, 

 are small, and making a number of trips in the 

 year, swell the tonnage to a high figure. The 

 same remarks apply to the entries which have 

 been as follows, distinguishing foreign vessels 

 and seamen : 



The arrivals and departures of the ocean 

 steamers have been very active during the 

 year. The following table shows the number 

 of passengers carried to and brought from Eu- 

 rope by the various lines during the past year: 



Increase in 1862 over 1861 9,619 



The number of persons arrived from abroad 

 has in the past ten years greatly exceeded the 

 number of those who departed. None of the 



lines of steamers lost any vessel during the year. 

 The oldest line, the Cunard, ran with their ac- 

 customed regularity, and have placed two new 

 steamers on the route : the Scotia, a side wheel, 

 and the China, a screw. This, with the Aus- 

 tralasian, makes two screw steamers, and there 

 are indications that the screws may supplant 

 the side wheels for mail and passenger service. 

 The Scotia, however, made the shortest passages 

 of the year, both ways, viz. : western passage, 

 June 21 to July 1, 9 days 22 hours, and eastern 

 passage, August 27 to September 5, 9 days 7 

 hours. 



The City of Washington of the Liverpool, 

 New York, and Philadelphia line made the 

 passage to Liverpool in 9 days and 22 hours. 

 This line has 8 steamers, and the Cunard 6, 

 but it carries by far the greatest number of 

 passengers, having nearly one third of the 

 whole. 



The Fulton and Arago, formerly running be- 

 tween New York and Havre, have been em- 

 ployed by the Federal Government during the 

 past year. 



A few transient steamers have made one or 

 more voyages within the year, among which 

 were the Stella, Congress, Melita, &c. 



The Great Eastern made four passages dur- 

 ing the year. The longest, west, 11 days 3 

 hours, and the shortest, east, 9 days 20J hours. 

 She did not thus sustain her reputation founded 

 on her great size, of being able to make the 

 shortest passages. 



The statement of the coasting trade is made 

 up with more difficulty since, in order to facili- 

 tate intercommunication with' domestic ports, 

 all vessels engaged in coastwise commerce may 

 arrive and depart without official record, unless 

 they have foreign goods or distilled spirits on 

 board. Few of the vessels arriving from do- 

 mestic ports come within this exception, and 

 the official record of coastwise arrivals includes 

 but a fraction of the actual trade. The vessels 

 which clear from New York for other domestic 

 ports oftener carry the description of goods 

 specified, and thus the clearances on this record 

 are far greater than the entries. During the 

 last two years the coastwise commerce has, of 

 course, been greatly interrupted, and the record 

 is very small. The official returns, however, 

 show the following results: 



