n NANTES OF Tin-; r SITED STATES. 



gag 



:iet annual loss, in consequence of the de- 



. liiu- nf >ur ocean commerce, of $88,921,828. 



A<lci t<> these the table showing thu rclativ.- 



j.ri>portii>n in value of the imports and exports 



H riran and foreign vessels to and from 



iiiird States, and wo have a complete 



rpitoine of the condition to which the shipping 



inter. --N have been reduced. The following 



shows tin- total foreign commerce of the United 



Slates in 1850, 1855, I860, 1865, and I860 : 



FISCAL YEAR. 



1680 

 I860 



Export! ml 1m- 

 porU In Anitri- 

 ean rtuclt. 



405,485,402 

 507,247,757 

 167,402,872 

 289,950,272 



ExporU and Im 

 porU In foreign 

 vwoli. 



$90.74,Jtr>4 

 i:t1.i:fi,!M)l 

 255,040,793 

 437,010,124 



$830,037.038 



604.412.9% 

 870,442,28-1 



It will be seen by the foregoing that in 1850 

 T" per cent, of the total exports and imports 

 \\ re shipped in American vessels. In 1855, 

 7"i per cent, in American, and 25 per cent, in 

 foreign vessels. In 1869, 84 per cent, in Amer- 

 ican to 66 per cent, in foreign vessels. The 

 exports have doubled since 1853, while the 

 percentage carried in American vessels has 

 fallen from 67 per cent, to 34 per cent. 



The following are the values of imports into 

 the district of New York during the fiscal year 

 ending June 80, 1869, with estimated propor- 

 tion in sailing and steam vessels : 



Total value of Imports. $295,137,415 



Of which estimated pro- 

 portion In sailing-ves- 

 sels 57,867,025 or 19 607-1000 per ct. 



Proportion in steam-ves- 

 sels... 237,270,390 or 80 893-1000 per ct. 



Total $295,137,415 



Estimated proportion in 



American steamers... 85,441,606 

 Estimated proportion in 



foreign steamers 201,828,784 



Total in steamers. .$237,270,390 



Xearly 70 per cent, of the imports at the 

 chief commercial city of the country were in 

 foreign steamers. At the commencement of 

 1870 there were 89 steamships running regu- 

 larly to and from the port of New York, the 

 aggregate tonnage of which was 205,338 tons. 

 Estimating the freights paid at 8 per cent, of the 

 value of the cargoes, and these paid to foreign 

 carriers of goods to a single port, in round 

 numbers, $16,000,000, while the amount paid 

 to outward cargoes will probably reach half 

 that sum, making a grand total of $24,000,000 

 annually, to support the steamships of foreign 

 nations, which constitute the naval reserve of 

 those powers. 



The remedies proposed by the committee 

 did not look to such complete relief from legis- 

 lative burdens as existed during the period 

 when the national commerce was the most 

 prosperous. They were, however, as follows : 



1. The remission of the duties imposed upon the 

 raw material entering into the construction 01 vessels 

 and steamers, limiting the amount to the minimum 

 of duties per ton collected on the material required 



for certain classes of vessel*, and, where American 

 ii-'.n it used in the construction of iron venue-!*, an 

 amount per ton equivalent to the dutici on a like 

 imp. nut of imported raw materials, limiting the 

 amount to bo paid. 



2. That nil ntore to be used by vessels sailing to 

 foreign port* may bo taken in bond free of duty. 



i iirther to encourage investment in tmpfiaf. 

 iin.j t<> eui-n.l the aid to ship* already built, and 

 v hii-li have been sailed during and since the rebellion 

 at great disadvantage, allow 'ing t<> all sail vessels and 

 to all steamers running to the British North Ameri- 

 can Provinces, $1.60 per ton ; on steamers to Euro- 

 pean port*, $4 per ton ; and on all other steamers run- 

 ning to foreign port* $8 per ton. 



In view ot the fact that the tux upon tonnage can- 

 not be removed without relieving the vessels of all 

 foreign nations of the name, while no such exemption 

 is iv\t.-n<l<-<l to American vessels in foreign port*, and 

 in view of the further fact that the shipping interest 

 of the country is to receive some relief by the pas- 

 sage of the proposed measures, the committee recom- 

 iiiund only the removal of all tonnage, harbor, pilot- 

 age, and other like taxes imposed upon shipping by 

 State and municipal authority (which taxes have been 

 declared by the Supreme Court unconstitutional), and 

 the readjustment of the present tax upon tonnage, so 

 that it will fall more equitably upon the different 

 classes of vessels affected thereby. 



The following comparative distances be- 

 tween London and New York, and some of 

 the principal ports of Eastern Asia, were re- 

 ported by the committee, to illustrate the ad- 

 vantages of our position: 



London to Yokohama, Japan, via Suez Canal 11.509 



London to Yokohama, Japan, via New York and 



San Francisco ; 10,000 



New York to Yokohama, Japan, rfa Pacific Kail- 

 road and San Francisco 7.580 



San Francisco to Yokohama, Japan, per steamer.. 4,520 



London to Shanghai, via Suez Canal 10,469 



New York to Shanghai, via Pacific Railroad and 



San Francisco 8,665 



San Francisco to Shanghai, per steamer 6,'R86 



Chicago to Yokohama 6,900 



St. Louis about same distance as Chicago. 



They consider that nothing in the future is 

 more certain than that the foreign importations 

 of the West are to be made directly to her chief 

 commercial cities, and distributed therefrom 

 from ports on the Atlantic as they now are 

 from the ports of the seaboard. The railways 

 which are to supply them in part are but in 

 their infancy, and, by means or improvements 

 yet to be introduced, may, ere long, be able to 

 compete successfully with steam transportation 

 by water. Through such improvements, the 

 routes across our continent, already the most 

 direct, may become the cheapest routes from 

 London to China and Japan. Between the 

 western termini of these routes and the lands' 

 that are washed by the Pacific and Indian 

 Oceans, Nature has provided free of cost a 

 great highway, which we have only to occupy 

 with vehicles of transportation. No mountain- 

 barriers are to be scaled or levelled to reae h 

 them. 



The following table shows the tonnage of 

 United States and British registered vessels 

 employed in the foreign trade of each country 

 during the years respectively, 1830, 1840, 1860, 

 and from 1860 to 1868, both inclusive. It also 

 includes Channel Island vessels, but not those 

 of British plantations : 



