GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



277 





imports 12,727,99 and of silver exports 13,- 

 !).")."). 132. In 1898 the gold imports were 43,- 

 722,960 and exports 36,590,050, the silver imports 

 14,677,799 and exports 15,623,651. In 1897 the 

 gold imports were 30,808,858 and exports 30,- 

 808,571, the silver imports 18,032,090 and ex- 

 ports 18,780,988. In 1896 the gold imports were 

 24,468,337 and exports 30,123,925, the silver 

 imports 14,329,116 and exports 15,048,134. 



Navigation. The total number of vessels that 

 entered the ports of the United Kingdom during 

 1H!)S was 358,030, of 100,547,373 tons; the total 

 number cleared, 355,107, of 100,300,683 tons. This 

 includes 293,285, of 55,422,029 tons, entered coast- 

 wise and 290,688 coasting vessels, of 54,462,061 

 tons, cleared. The number of vessels engaged in 

 foreign commerce entered at British and Irish 

 ports during 1898 was 64,745, of 45,125,000 tons, 

 of which 38,722, of 31,857,000 tons, were British 

 and 26,023, of 13,268,000 tons, were foreign. The 

 number cleared was 64,419, of 45,839,000 tons, 

 of which 38,360, of 32,360,000 tons, were British 

 and 26,059, of 13,479,000 tons, were foreign. The 

 tonnage of vessels entered with cargoes was 34,- 

 51(5,000, of which 25,172,000 tons were British and 

 9,344,000 tons were foreign. The tonnage cleared 

 with cargoes was 39,463,000, of which 27,959,000 

 tons were British and 11,503,000 tons foreign. The 

 total tonnage entered and cleared Avas 73,979,000, 

 and of this 53,131,000 tons were British. The 

 foreign tonnage entered and cleared with cargoes 

 amounted to 20,847,000 tons. With cargoes and 

 in ballast the total foreign tonnage entered and 

 cleared was 26,747,238, and of this Norway had 

 (5,604,693 tons, Germany 4,539,912 tons, Denmark 

 2.828,918 tons, Sweden 2,728,160 tons, the Nether- 

 lands 2,614,124 tons, France 2,027,726 tons, Spain 

 1,377,669 tons, Belgium 1,404,946 tons, Russia 

 790.397 tons, Italy 643,926 tons, the United States 

 314,445 tons, and Austria-Hungary 247,790 tons. 

 The tonnage entered and cleared at the port of 

 London was 15,003,187 tons; at Liverpool, 11,- 

 373,277 tons; at Cardiff, 7,887,097 tons; at New- 

 castle, 5,218,879 tons; at Hull, 4,237,958 tons; at 

 Glasgow, 3,527,277 tons; at Southampton, 2,843,406 

 tons; at North and South Shields, 2,372,041 tons; 

 at Leith, 1,835,444 tons; at Sunderland, 1,806,202 

 tons; at Middlesboro, 1,708,011 tons; at Swansea, 

 1,059,696 tons; at Grimsby, 1,654,980 tons; at 

 Kirkcaldy, 1,515,467 tons; at Newport, 1,497,192 

 tons; at Grangemouth, 1,345,120 tons; at Bristol, 

 1,076,875 tons; at Manchester, 1,041,528 tons; at 

 Hartlepool, 696,416 tons; at Belfast, 513,509 tons; 

 at Dundee, 260,321 tons. 



The number of vessels registered as belonging 

 to the United Kingdom on Jan. 1, 1899, was 20,- 

 404, of 9,001,860 tons, of which 11,556, of 2,387,943 

 tons, were sailing vessels and 8,838, of 6,613,917 

 tons, were steamers. The number of vessels en- 

 gaged in the home and foreign trade in 1898 was 

 15.207, of 9,080,728 tons. The number of seamen 

 employed was 242,553, of whom 35,308 were for- 

 eigners. The total number of vessels belonging 

 to the British Empire was 35,000, of 10,460,643 

 tons. The number of vessels built and first regis- 

 tered during 1898 was 1,370, of 695,997 tons, of 

 which 665, of 41,839 tons, were sailing vessels 

 and 705, of 654,158 tons, were steamers. Besides 

 these 179 merchant vessels, of 167,879 tons, were 

 built by foreigners, comprising 31 sailing vessels, 

 of 3,051 tons, and 148 steamers, of 164,828 tons. 

 Of the total number of vessels belonging to the 

 United Kingdom, 6,521 sailing vessels, of 407,626 

 tons, and 3,102 steamers, of 438,382 tons, were 

 employed in the home trade and the coasting trade 

 between the mouth of the Elbe and Brest; 199 

 sailing vessels, of 26,174 tons, and 320 steamei'S, 



of 265,144 tons, were employed partly in the home 

 and partly in the foreign trade; and 1,388 sailing 

 vessels, of 1,878,896 tons, and 3,677 steamers, of 

 6,064,506 tons, were employed in the foreign trade 

 altogether. The crews of the sailing vessels in the 

 home trade numbered 26,989 men, in those partly 

 in the foreign trade 1,115 men, of those in the 

 foreign trade alone 31,063, of the steamers in the 

 home trade, 35,682 men, of those partly in the 

 foreign trade 6,722 men, of those in the foreign 

 trade alone, 140,982 men. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The to- 

 tal length of railroads open to traffic in the United 

 Kingdom on Jan. 1, 1899, was 21,659 miles, of 

 which 15,007 miles were in England and Wales, 

 3,476 miles in Scotland, and 3,176 miles in Ireland. 

 The paid-up share and loan capital amounted to 

 1,134,468,462. The number of passengers carried 

 during 1898 was 1,062,911,116, exclusive of holders 

 of season tickets. The receipts from all sources 

 were 96,252,501, of which 41,847,074 came 

 from passengers and 49,218,964 from freight. 

 The working expenses were 55,960,543, being 58 

 per cent, of the gross receipts. There were on 

 June 30, 1898, 1,064 miles of tramways, the re- 

 ceipts of which for the year were 4,560,126 and 

 expenses 3,507,895: number of passengers carried, 

 858,485,542; paid-up capital, 15,920,404; net re- 

 ceipts, 1,052,231. 



The number of letters that passed through the 

 British post office during the year ending March 

 31, 1899, was 2,186,800,000, of which 1,859,700,000 

 were delivered in England and Wales, 190,600,000 

 in Scotland, and 136,500,000 in Ireland, being 54 

 letters per head of population for the whole United 

 Kingdom, 59 letters per head in England and 

 Wales, 45 per head in Scotland, and 30 per head 

 in Ireland. The number of postal cards carried 

 by the post office in 1899 was 382,200,000; book 

 packets, 701,500,000; newspapers, 154,100,000: 

 parcels, 71,900,000; money orders, 11,475,201; for 

 the total amount of 33,278,517, of which 9,721.- 

 647, for 28,604,078, were inland orders; of postal 

 orders, 76,755,217, for the gross amount of 27,- 

 217,436. The receipts of the postal service were 

 13,049,317 and the expenses 9,194,437, leaving 

 a net revenue of 3,854,880. The telegraph re- 

 ceipts were 3,260,145 and expenses 3,477.949. 

 leaving a deficit of 217,804, not including 298.- 

 888 interest on the debt created for the purchase 

 of the telegraph lines in 1870. The telegraph lines 

 had on March 31, 1899, a total length of 43,803 

 miles, with 309,629 miles of wire. The number 

 of messages sent during the year was 87,043,652, 

 of which 73,249,702 were sent in England and 

 Wales, 9,064,629 in Scotland, and 4,729.321 in 

 Ireland. 



Dependencies. The total area of the British 

 Empire was estimated in 1899 at 11,726,217 square 

 miles and the total population at 385,782,293. 

 The area and population of British colonies is 

 given in the table on page 278. 



The area of the colonies added to that of the 

 United Kingdom and India makes 9,445,017 square 

 miles, with a total population of 349,552,293. The 

 British protectorates in Africa have an estimated 

 area of 2,160,000 square miles, with 35,000,000 

 population ; protectorates in the Pacific, 800 square 

 miles, with 30,000 population: protectorates in 

 Asia, 120,400 square miles, with 1,200,000 popula- 

 tion; total area of protectorates, 2,281,200 square 

 miles, with 36,230,000 population. 



The colonies and dependencies not elsewhere 

 treated of (see AUSTRALASIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 

 CANADA, CAPE COLONY, EAST AFRICA, INDIA, 

 XEWFOUNLAND, WEST AFRICA, WEST INDIES) 

 are described below. 





