TRADE AND SHIPPING. 



TRADE AND SHllM'lNC. 



The Board nf Trmde, through the medium of its registrar, U also 

 charged with the registration of all Joint-Stock Companies (19 ft 20 

 Viet. o. 47). By the statute giving a copyright in design*, their 

 registration is cBectcd by the Registrar of the Board of Trade (5 ft 6 

 . 100 ; 6 ft 7 Viet. o. 66 ; 13 ft 14 Viet o. 104 ; 14 ft 15 Viet c. 

 8 ; 16 ft 16 Viet. o. 6). The Board also controls the proceeding* of 

 the Commissioners for regulating the employment of coaf-whippera and 

 the discharge of coal laden vessels in the port of London (6 ft 7 Viet c. 

 ci. (local and personal) j ft 10 Viet c. xxxvi. ; 14 ft 16 Viet c. 

 Ixxviii.) A department of the Board of Trade has the immediate con- 

 trol of the Government schools and museums of science and art, as 

 explained under Soiuco* AXD ART, DIPABTMEHT or. Lastly, another 

 department of the Board of Trade is charged with the collection and 

 publication of table*, containing information with resj>ect to the 

 revenue, trade, commerce, wealth, population, and other statistics of 

 the United Kingdom and iU dependencies, as well as of foreign 

 countries. The officers of another department collect and prepare the 

 tables of the price* of corn, which formerly, and before the abolition of 

 the corn-laws, regulated the amount of duty, and still govern the rent- 

 charge in lieu of tithe under the Tithe Commutation Act (Blackst 

 ' Comm.; Mr. KBIT'S edit). 



1 KAUE AND SHIPPING. The foreign trade of England is coeval 

 with its earliest history. It must not, however, be supposed that the 

 commercial dealings of those early days bore much resemblance to 

 those of more modern times. The visits of foreigners to our shores 

 (for England was an exporting country before its inhabitants were 

 become ship-owners or navigators) were then confined to procuring tin 

 from Cornwall. We may be certain that those by whom this earliest 

 British trade was conducted did not obtain the metal without leaving 

 in exchange that which was considered more valuable by the miners. 

 Of what those importations consisted we sre not precisely informed. 

 "Salt, earthenwares, implements made of copper, of ivory, and of 

 amber," are said to have formed the principal merchandise at that time 

 imported into Britain ; but no mention is made of wool, which after- 

 wards, and at a comparatively remote period of our annals, became a 

 principal article of export from this country. We learn from Madox's 

 'History of the Exchequer' that in the reign of Kit-hard I. Qervase 

 de Aldermaubury accounted, as chamberlain of London, for money 

 received as fines from merchants for leave to export wool. In li:,.".. 

 according to liymer (torn ii., p. 60), wool was allowed to be exported 

 upon payment to the king of 10*. per sack. Within the next twenty 

 years the custom of wool was raised to 20>. the sack, and in 1296 was 

 further raised at the will of the king to 40. the sack. This export 

 duty has been justified on the ground of its being a tax upon the 

 foreign manufacturers or consumers, to whom English wool was an 

 article of necessity ; but the duty acted as a burden upon the grower, 

 not only in respect of his surplus quantity which was necessarily 

 exported, but also because the price of the remainder was as necessarily 

 governed by the net value that could be obtained for that surplus. 

 Accordingly we find that this imposition of customs upon the export 

 of wool was a frequent cause of ill feeling between the commons and 

 the crown. 



In a statement of the trade of England, said to have been found 

 upon record in the Exchequer, and quoted in a tract called the ' Circle 

 of Commerce,' published in 1628 by Edward Misselden, the list of our 

 exports comprised only wool, coarse woollen cloths, and a small 

 quantity of leather, amounting in value to 294,184'., including the 

 export-duty; while the imports included fine woollen cloths, wax, 

 wine, linen cloth, mercery, and grocery wares, to the amount of 

 3S.U70'. The shilling at that time contained 213 grains of silver. 

 Taking into account the different value of money then and at present, 

 these values are equivalent to 728,6067. and 96,5182. of the present coin 

 respectively. This statement of imports and exports does not appear 

 entitled in all respects to be considered accurate ; but it is remarkable 

 that this circumstance was brought forward and commented upon 

 as the proof of ' an extraordinary balance of trade in favour of 

 the nation," a strange conclusion from such premises. It is now 

 generally acknowledged that the commerce of a country to be successful 

 must include in the value of its imports the whole value of its exports, 

 together with the gain which forms the sole inducement of the 

 merchants by whom it is prosecuted. 



Still, however, the trade and commerce increased, and from the 

 beginning of the present century has continued to increase till it has 

 attained a most colossal importance. This has arisen in a great degree 

 from a juster perception of the true principles of political economy, and 

 also from the vast improvement in mechanical contrivances for the 

 diminution of mere manual labour, of which the application of the 

 powers of steam by the invention of Watt, may be deemed the chief. 

 It Is due also to the memory of Pitt to say, that he early perceived 

 the truth of the principles propounded by Adam Smith, and in the 

 commencement of his career endeavoured, though circumstances 

 rendered his efforts ineffective, to establish a more liberal. If not an 

 entirely free trade. Old prejudices and the war with France coml.in.-d 

 to prevent the adoption of those principles, and the first quarter <>f the 

 century showed little permanent increase. Thus the official value of 

 imports in 1802 amounted to 2V,S2B,2104., and the declared value uf 

 exporU to 46,102,3304. ; while, with considerable fluctuations in 1 1- 

 interval, in 1825 the import* only reached 44,187,4824., and the export* 



38,87 7,3884. , the latter year including Ireland, which the former does not, 

 but the amount of Irian trade was not greet. The official valuation is, 

 however, deceptive, a* the price fixed does not represent the real value. 

 This commerce was carried in 1802 inwards by 7806 British ships, 

 registered at 1,833,005 tons, and 8728 foreign ships with a total of 

 48u,261 tons, and outwards in 1802 by 7471 British ships, registered 

 at 1,177,224 tons, and 3832 foreign vessels with 467,530 tons. In 

 1886, the official value of imports had increased to 67,028,8674., and 

 the declared value of exports to 63,868,671'., and the nun. 

 British ships inwards to. 14,847, of an segregate burden of 2,. 

 tons, and outwards to 14,207, of a burden of tons, and the 



foreign ships inwards to 7131, of a burden of 988,899 tons, and out- 

 wards to 7048 ships, and a burden of 1,035,120 tons. In 1>4<;. the 

 tariff was materially reformed, and successive improvements have been 

 since introduced ; and in 1864, the real value of the total imports into 

 the United Kingdom was ItZJHVflUL; in 1865 it was 143,64. 

 and in 1856 it was 172,544,1641. These values are computed from the 

 average prices fixed for the articles, which are chiefly entered by 

 quantities at the Custom House. The value of the exports is obtained 

 from the declared value set on the articles, except in the case of foreign 

 and colonial produce, of which the price is computed in the some way 

 as with the imports. In 1854 the total value of exports amounted to 

 115,821,0924., of which 97,184,7267. were for the produce or manufac- 

 ture of the United Kingdom, the remainder bring for foreign or 

 colonial produce. In 1865 the total value was 11 6,691, 3001., of w l.i.h 

 95,688,0864. were for the produce or manufactures of the United 

 Kingdom; and in 1856 the total value amounted to 139,220,8.'. : 

 which 115,826,9481. were for home productions; the official values of 

 the export* show a singular contrast to the real values ; they -.-. 

 the three years respectively, 29,808,0444., 31,494,3911., and 33,4'J 

 The official values of the import* for the three years show less dis- 

 crepancy ; they were 124,136,0184., 117,2S4,8bl'., and 131,987,768/. 



The remissions or reductions of duties on imports during the suc- 

 ceeding years contributed to the continued increase of trade and com- 

 merce ; for the year ending December 31,1860, the amount of the 

 principal articles imported was 169,131, 068/., and this does not 

 include a variety of other importations, of which many are of Urge 

 amount, ac, for instance, animals, living, of which in the year there 

 were imported 77,010 oxen, bulls, and cows, 27,559 calve*, Slio.ilU 

 sheep, and 24,462 swine and hogs ; pearl and potashes, of which there 

 were imported 141,087 cwts. ; bark, 418,069 cwts. ; brin 

 1,007,503 cwts.; bristles, 2,534,217 Ibs. ; caoutchouc, 43,039 o 

 clocks and watches, 497,386 in number; nor eggs, in number 

 167,696,200, with a few other items. 



The principal articles imported, in addition to those above men- 

 tioned, were in articles used for diet coffee to the value of 

 2,543,211?., of which 1,81 3,2131. was from Ceylon; 887,2264. from 

 other British possessions, and the remainder from foreign com 

 Corn to the value of 16,564,0834., of which 4,823,8084. won froi 

 United States; 8,561,9074. from Russia; 8,410,1614. from Prussia; 

 1,610,7624. from France ; and the rest from Egypt, Moldavia, Walla- 

 chia, and other countries. Barley, oat*, peas, beans, and Indian corn 

 to the value of 10,668,1624. Wheat-meal and flour to the value of 

 4,320,5684., of which the United States supplied to the value of 

 1,826,5824. ; France, 1,594,0304.; and the rest from the Hanse towns and 

 other countries. Currant* and raisins to the value of 1,253,6704. Bacon, 

 870,2864. Butter, 4,078,017'. Cheese, 1,597,6694. Eggs, 478,658' 

 not in the husk, 1,023,1084. Spirits rum, brandy, and Geneva, to 

 the value of 1,918,8394. ; and wine to that of 4,201,4344., of which 

 1,784,6134. was contributed by Spain ; 1,036,6204. by France (almost 

 twice as much as in 1859); 898,3364. by Portugal, and the rest by 

 various countries. Sugar of all kinds, including sugar-candy and 

 molasses, to the value of 12,106,0694., of which, of the raw sugar of all 

 kinds 7,110,2034. came from British possessions, and 4,727,6584. from 

 foreign countries. Tea, 6,944,0424., an increase of 1,188,4974. 

 1859. Tobacco, to an aggregate of 1,777,6324. Of articles used in 

 manufacture*, we imported cotton to the value of 85,756,8894., the 

 United States supplying it to the amount of 80,069,31!)'. ; the I- 

 East Indies, 8,873,614'. ; Egypt, 1,480,8!':.' ; I'.ia/.il, .Mil. :'!!'/. ; ami 

 only 271.112'. from nil "tlu-r countries. The total quantity imported 

 was 1,390,988,752 Ibs. Flax to the value of 3,838,770'. wa imj 

 three-fourths being from Russia and Prussia; and hemp vali: 

 1,199,0184., of which 907,4424. was from Russia, the rest from various 

 countries, with jute and other substances used as substitutes for 

 hemp to the value of 666,7644. Hides, dry, wet, and tanned, or <1 rawed, 

 to the value of 8,296,6124. Indigo, to the value of 2,528,888'. Of 

 metals copper to the amount. of 2,21.'U-I1'.. Chili and <.'ul>a fur- 

 nishing the largest amount, though Australia sent ore to the amount 

 of 178,0614.; iron, 669,6204.; lead, 468,4364. ; spelter, 499,6364.; tin, 

 387,8074. Oils train, spermaceti, palm, and olive to the vul 

 3,923,2354. Saltpetre and cubic nitre to the value of l,165,si.V. silk, 

 raw and thrown, to the value of 1 0,323,837'., of which raw silk to the 

 value of 6,829,49W. \\i-n- -upplird by tin- liiiti-.li Kn.-t Imli. 

 Egypt, 2,186,7424. by China, while the whole of the thrown silk 

 only amounted to 886,9914., of which 172.J557'. came from J'i 

 Tallow, to the value of 4,014,2804., of which 3,n40,H!i7/. woe suj 

 by Russia, only 83,8304. by Australia, and the rent by South Al- 

 and other countries. Timber, to the aggregate value of 9,200. 



