GREAT IM1TAIN AND IRELAND. 



Swansea, (irimsby, Lcith, and Harwich hiul over 

 no tons each, and Bristol, Dublin, and 

 Belfast under that figure. Tin- tonnage of Tenela 

 entered with cargoes in 1890 was 28,979,000 tons, 

 of which '31,189,000 tons were British and 7,- 

 si'.Mioo tons foreign; and the tonnage of vessels 

 cleared with cargoes was 355,857,000 tons, of 

 which , > r ) ,'j(J7,000 tons were British and 8,r>!)0,ooi) 

 tons foreign. The number of vessels entered 

 coastwise was 307,240, of 47,788,000 tons, and 

 the number cleared was 270,270, of 42,317,000 

 tons. Including these, the total number of 

 (steam and sailing vessels entered at the ports of 

 the I'nited Kingdom in 1890 was 870,075, of 

 M.">?1.:!'.M tons, and the total number cleared 

 ::'.U,446, of 79.766,033 tons. 



Tin-re were 8,894 sailing vessels, of 575,147 

 tons, cm ploying 87,618 sailors, and 2,004 steamers, 

 of 825,062 tons, employing 22,850 men, engaged 

 in the home trade in 1890. The number of sail- 

 ing vessels engaged partly in the home and 

 partly in the foreign trade was 381, of 50,991 

 tons, employing 2,219 men ; and the number of 

 steamers was 250, of 133,563 tons, employing 

 4.;!stl men. In the foreign trade alone were en- 

 gaged 2,295 sailing vessels, of 2,267,434 tons, 

 employing 44,381 men, and 3,601 steamers, of 

 4,5li;U19 tons, employing 124,654 men. The 

 total number of vessels was 17,425, and the ag- 

 gregate tonnage was 7,915,336 tons. The total 

 number of sailors was 236,108, of whom 27,227 

 were foreigners. The total number of vessels 

 registered as belonging to the United Kingdom 

 and the Channel Islands in 1890 was 21,591, of 

 7,978,538 tons ; and of these, 14,181, of 2,936,021 

 ti.ns. were sailing vessels, and 7,410, of 5,042.517 

 tons, were steamers. The number of new vessels 

 built and first registered during 1890 was 858, of 

 652,013 tons, of which number 217, of 122,224 

 tons, were sailing vessels, and 581, of 528,789 

 tons, were steamers. 



Railroads. The length of British railways 

 in operation at the end of 1890 was 20,073 miles, 

 of which 14,119 miles were in England and 

 Wales. :{.1(J2 miles in Scotland, and 2,792 miles 

 in Ireland. The total paid-up capital in shares 

 and loans was 897,472,026. The total receipts 

 for the year were 79,948, 702, of which 34,327,- 

 !)'>(! \vere from passengers, and 42,220,382 from 

 freight. The number of passengers carried was 

 817,744,046, exclusive of holders of season tickets. 

 The working expenses amounted to 43,188,556, 

 which was 54 per cent, of the gross earnings. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The number of 

 letters delivered in the United Kingdom during 

 ism was 1,705,500,000, being 45 per head of 

 population. In England and Wales the num- 

 ber was 1,462,750,000 ; in Scotland, 143,000,000 ; 

 in Ireland. 90,750,000. The number per capita 

 : >1 in England, 36 in Scotland, and 21 in 

 Ireland. The number of postcards carried in 

 the I'nited Kingdom was 227,700.000 ; of book 

 t s, 481,200.000 ; of newspapers. 161 ,000,000 ; 

 of pare, u. 46,200,000. There were 8,864.483 in- 

 land money orders issued, to the total amount of 

 ''?.7i>7. Including foreign and colonial 

 orders the number issued altogether was 10,260,- 

 nd the total amount was 27,867.887. The 

 orders numbered 48.841,765, of the total 

 value of 19,178,867. Exclusive of telegraphs, 

 the revenue of the post office in 1891 was 9,- 



851,078, and the working expenses were 6,687,- 

 os'.i. leaving a net revenue of 8,178,989. The 

 length of telegraph lines ut the beginning of the 

 fiscal year 1891-'92 was 31,824 miles, and the 

 Icn-th of wires 194,312 miles, including 17,211 

 miles of private wires, but excluding the wires 

 of the railroad companies. The number of mes- 

 sages sent in 1891 was 66,409,211, of which 55,- 

 i;:.s.nss were in England and Wales, 7,077,888 in 

 Scotland, and 3,673,735 in Ireland. The gross 

 receipts for 1891 were 2,416,691, and the work- 

 ing expenses were 2,266,356, leaving a profit of 

 150,385, which is insufficient to pay the interest 

 on the capital invested by the Government, 

 amounting to about 300,000 per annum. 



The Parliamentary Session. The seventh 

 and last session of the twelfth Parliament of 

 Queen Victoria, and the twenty-fourth of the 

 United Kingdom, was opened on Feb. 9, 1892. 

 In the speech from the throne announcement 

 was made of the agreement concluded with the 

 United States, defining the mode by which dis- 

 putes concerning the seal fisheries in Bering Sea 

 will be referred to arbitration. The first place 

 in the list of measures recommended was given 

 to the Irish local-government bill, with which 

 was coupled a bill for supplementing the English 

 act. A measure to promote the increase of small 

 holdings came next, and after this bills dealing 

 with Irish education, private bill procedure in 

 Scotland and Ireland, Indian legislative councils, 

 rates on English elementary schools, church dis- 

 cipline, the examination of accused persons in 

 criminal cases, the agreement between the Gov- 

 ernment and the Bank of England, and employ- 

 ers' liability. Mr. A. J. Balfour succeeded Mr. 

 W. H. Smith as the leader of. the House, while 

 Mr. Chamberlain was elected to the position of 

 leader of the Liberal Unionists, previously held 

 by the Duke of Devonshire. Toe gap caused 

 by the death of Mr. Parnell was filled by Mr. 

 Redmond, while Mr. Sexton was the head of 

 the anti-Parnellites in the absence of Mr. McCar- 

 thy. Mr. Sexton's home-rule amendment to 

 the address was rejected by a vote of 179 to 

 158. But little progress was made before Easter, 

 and discontent and disorganization were appar- 

 ently prevalent among the ministerialists. The 

 Irish local-government bill, which was based 

 upon the widest popular franchise, and trans- 

 ferred to county councils all the fiscal powers of 

 the Irish grand juries, with many others, was 

 vigorously denounced by the Opposition, who, 

 however, did not challenge a division, and it was 

 announced thet the second reading would not be 

 taken till the small-holdings bill had got through 

 committee. The small-holdings bill, which was 

 introduced by Mr. Chaplin, on Feb. 22, empow- 

 ered county councils to borrow public money, on 

 easy terms," to an amount not involving for any 

 year a charge on the rates of more than one penny 

 in the pound, in order to purchase land by agree- 

 ment with the owner, ana to sell it to small own- 

 ers in parcels under 50 acres, the occupier paying 

 one fourth of the purchase money in cash, one 

 fourth remaining secured by a perpetual rent 

 charge, and the remainder being repayable, with 

 interest, by installments. Holdings under 10 

 acres might be let instead of being sold. The 

 measure passed both the first and second read- 

 ings without a division, and an amendment to 



