GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



369 



posed a scheme for the "benefit of British agri- 

 culture, according to which store-cattle would 

 be imported from the Northwest through Can- 

 ada, to be fattened by British farmers, instead 

 of being fed up by American farmers and im- 

 ported as fat cattle or in the form of meat. To 

 this plan more objection was to be expected 

 from the Canadian breeders of cattle than from 

 the English authorities. 



Navigation. The entries of vessels engaged in 

 foreign commerce show in 1883 a total tonnage 

 of 32,105,080 tons, the clearances 32,856,673. 

 The tonnage entered in 1882 was 30,318,938, 

 in 1860 12,172,785. Of the total tonnage en- 

 tered, 23,239,544 tons were British. The steam 

 tonnage entered in 1883 was 23,920,023 tons, 

 against 21,331,444 in 1882 and 2,549,000 in 

 1860; the steam tonnage cleared, 24,367,587 

 tons ; the steam tonnage entered carrying the 

 British flag, 19,548,811 tons. The total ton- 

 nage of vessels entered with cargoes in 1883 

 was 26,310,318 tons, cleared 29,373,160. The 

 coasting tonnage in 1883 was 43,235,517 tons, 

 cleared 36,596,187 tons, against 41,535,274 tons 

 entered and 35,353,775 cleared in 1882. 



The mercantile navy iu 1883 comprised 

 17,906 sailing-vessels, with a total capacity of 

 3,471,000 tons, against 3,577,000 tons in 1882, 

 and 6,241 steamers of 3,725,000 tons, against 

 5,795 steamers of 3,332,000 tons in 1882. The 

 mercantile navies of the colonies contained in 

 1883 12,849 sailing-vessels and 288 steamers of 

 an aggregate tonnage of 1,935,000 tons. The 

 total tonnage engaged in the lesser coasting- 

 trade in 1883 was 934,000, the number of sail- 

 ors employed 50,171 ; in the greater coasting- 

 trade 142,000 tons, the number of sailors em- 

 ployed 5,308; in long voyages 5,950,000 tons, 

 the number of sailors employed 145,248. 



Railroads. The length of railroads in opera- 

 tion in 1883 was 13,202 miles in England, 2,964 

 in Scotland, and 2,502 in Ireland, total 18,668, 

 against 18,457 miles in 1882. The total cost 

 of construction was 784,921,000, the gross 

 receipts 71,062,000, net receipts 33,964,000. 



The railroads are all private property sub- 

 ject to state control. An act of 1854 requires 

 the railroad companies to afford reasonable tar- 

 iffs, protects the public from unequal and preju- 

 dicial treatment, and secures through trans- 

 portation. In 1873 the railway commission 

 was created for the better enforcement of these 

 provisions. This commission, which was con- 

 tinued by the acts of 1878, 1879, and 1882, has 

 accomplished little besides the duties of inspec- 

 tion, such as seeing that tariff lists are kept at 

 the stations, that canals owned by railroad 

 companies are kept in navigable condition, etc. 

 The maximum rates of Id. to 5d. per ton per 

 mile for the five classes of goods are not ob- 

 served by the railroad companies. The differ- 

 ential rates, which are less for American meat 

 slaughtered in Glasgow than for native meat, 

 and 60 per cent, more for Manchester goods 

 for export than for the same destined for the 

 London market, were complained of before the 

 VOL. xxiv. 24 A 



Parliament committee of 1881. Competitive 

 rates did not exist. The capital account of 

 the railroads shows a rapid tendency toward 

 concentration, the sum of the ordinary shares 

 being less in 1883 by 500,000 than in 1882, 

 while 32,000,000 of new debts were contract- 

 ed by the existing companies during the year 

 for the extension of their lines. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The post-office in 1883 

 -'84 forwarded 1,322,000,000 letters, 154,000,- 

 000 post-cards, 437,000,000 newspapers, 13,- 

 800,000 internal postal orders, of the total 

 value of 25,045,000, 200,000 postal orders for 

 the colonies, and 600,000 for foreign countries. 

 The number of letters sent in England was 

 1,112,000,000, in Scotland 122,000,000, in Ire- 

 land 88,000,000. The receipts in 1880-'81 were 

 6,733,427, the expenses 4,135,659. 



The length of the state telegraph lines in 

 1882 was 43,633 kilometres, of the wires 198,- 

 227. The number of dispatches in 1883-'84 

 was 32,843,120, 27,606,846 in England, 3,299,- 

 428 in Scotland, and 1,936,846 in Ireland. 



The Army. The regular army establishment 

 provided for in the army estimates for 1884- 

 '85 comprises 134,401 infantry, 16,998 cavalry, 

 34,041 artillery, 5,723 engineers, colonial corps 

 of 2,489 men, and 8,253 in the administrative 

 services ; total, 201,905 officers and men, with 

 23,210 horses. The regular army reserve mus- 

 ters 50,750 officers and men. The battalions 

 in Egypt are on the war footing. Of the total 

 force provided for in the estimates 107,818 

 were in the United Kingdom, 61,591 in India, 

 25,097 in the colonies, and 7,399 in Egypt. 

 The militia counts on its lists 150,930 officers 

 and men, the volunteer force 247,661. The 

 native Indian army musters 120,882 officers 

 and men, making the total war strength 772,- 

 128 men. There are besides an armed con- 

 stabulary in Ireland about 14,000 strong, a na- 

 tive military police of 190,000 men in India, 

 and militia and volunteer bodies in many of 

 the colonies. There were with the colors in 

 the regular army at the close of 1883 191,273 

 officers and men, with 23,282 horses and 584 

 cannons. The army of occupation in Egypt 

 was 15,000 strong in September, 1884. 



The alarm which has lately been felt regard- 

 ing the efficiency of the English military de- 

 fenses was heightened by the result of investi- 

 gations into the management of the transport 

 and commissariat services in the Afghan and 

 Egyptian wars. In the first Afghan campaign 

 60,000 camels and 30,000 other baggage ani- 

 mals were lost from neglect and starvation. 

 In the Egyptian war bales of hay were accept- 

 ed from contractors which were filled with out- 

 side wrappers, or contained bricks and stones, 

 or in which the hay was coarse and ill-smell- 

 ing. The flour was moldy. The commissary- 

 general ordered no inspection before it was 

 sent, nor did the chief of the staff in Egypt ex- 

 amine the supplies. Many of the mules that 

 were bought were so weakened by poor feed- 

 ing that they were not ready for service till 



