FOOTNOTES:
[170] See ante, vol. ii. note, page 312.
[171] Timber freights from Quebec rose from 30s. per load, the ordinary rate, to 55s. Coal freights to Constantinople advanced from 20l. to 70l. per keel of twenty-one tons four cwt.; and freights from India, which had previously ranged from 50s. to 80s., ran up as high as 180s. per ton.
[172] The new law of admeasurement, which came into operation on the 1st of January, 1855, while it produced great improvement in the models of our ships, had the important advantage of creating very little difference in the gross tonnage of the Empire, on which so many dues are levied, and thus rendered unnecessary any change in the long-established scale of charges, which in many cases would have been altogether impracticable. For instance, 1100 vessels, large and small, which were taken promiscuously, measuring under the old law 248,842 tons, were found under the new law to measure 231,277 tons, showing a difference of only 7 per cent.
[173] My own firm had somewhere about 100,000 tons of shipping (a large proportion of which consisted of steam-vessels) under our management engaged as transports for the Government of France. It was then that I for the first time met the Emperor. I had occasion to visit Marseilles with regard to the fitting of some of these ships, and, on my return to Paris, I had an interview with Marshal Vaillant, the then Minister of War, which led to an audience with his Majesty. I daresay the Emperor had sent for me to confirm, or otherwise, certain calculations of his own which he had been making as to the number of ships requisite to transport a given number of men, and so forth; for, after a long audience, I remarked at parting, “Sire, you had no need to send for me, as you know more about ships and their capacity than I do.” The fact is, he was thoroughly master of the subject, and could tell me to a man the number of troops to be placed on a given ship, and to an animal the number of horses a ship of 1000 tons could or should carry from Marseilles to Kaemish; the space required for each, and for their fodder and water, the height of deck requisite to allow for the toss of the head; and the important, but not generally known fact, that though a horse must feel its own weight on its own legs at sea, it must also be slung, for if it lie down the chances are that it will not be able to get up again. At least, if the Emperor did not know all about these things when I entered the Tuileries, he was the most apt scholar I ever met, for he knew all about them before I left. I mention this circumstance because this audience, subsequently, enabled me to render some assistance in a matter of far greater importance to both France and England and to mankind, to which I shall hereafter refer, viz.: the change in the French navigation laws, which is more to the purpose of this work, than the transport of troops and horses to a field of slaughter.
[174] Annual circular of W. S. Lindsay & Co. for 1854, quoted in Tooke’s ‘History of Prices.’
[175] When war was declared, the greater portion of the work of engaging transports devolved upon the Civil Lord of the Admiralty; and though, perhaps, few men could have been found more competent for the duty than Captain (now Admiral Sir Alexander) Milne, who then filled that office, it was impossible for any one man to get through the work he was expected to do, especially with the system, or rather want of all system, which then prevailed. From my knowledge of what took place, I have no hesitation in saying that everything relating to the engagement of the requisite number of ships, and to the transport of troops and stores to the Crimea, was a huge chaos; and I fear some serious disaster would have ensued had the pluck and genius of the nation not come to the rescue in the mode of conducting affairs at home, as well as, so far as I could ascertain, in the field of action abroad. At home, there was certainly no organisation, so far as regards the transport service, or, at best, it was of the most imperfect description. Stores were shipped without bills of parcels, and, frequently, without bills of lading; and the current stories, at the time, of the shipload of boots and shoes which lay at anchor in Balaclava harbour unknown to our authorities, while the troops were bootless and shoeless; of the tops of mess tables sent to the Crimea without the legs, and of the guns without carriages, were no exaggerations. The Admiralty, it is true, were responsible for the transport of the troops; but the Civil Lord, by whom it was represented, had no control over shipments by either the Ordnance or by the Medical Departments. A case came under my own knowledge which would be ludicrous were it not melancholy. One day, when I had occasion to visit a transport which lay at Woolwich, two gentlemen, when I stepped on board, were wrangling over the main hatchway. One was from the Ordnance, the other was evidently in charge of certain medical stores which, with piles of shot and shell, lay on the wharf ready for shipment. The shot and shell representative insisted on having his goods in the centre compartment of the vessel because they were heavy; the other gentleman was as determined to have his physic stored in the same division of the ship because it was perishable. Each would have his own way; and, as neither would give way, after an hour’s altercation, they, to the amazement and horror of the mate of the ship, came to a compromise by ordering the stores of both departments to be stowed in this one favourite position! It is needless to state the result; I may just, however, say that when the ship arrived at the Crimea it was found that the shot and shell had played sad havoc with the medicine cases, and that the floor of her centre compartment was strewed with fragments of fragile cases, demolished physic bottles, and countless numbers of squashed pill-boxes.
[176] When the war ceased, the Transport Board was abolished, and the mode of conducting this important branch of the public service reverted pretty much to what it had been previously. The Admiralty found ships for the transport of troops at home and to our colonies abroad, but a board at the India Office engaged vessels for all the troops and stores to and from our possessions in the East, while other departments had their own separate shipping offices; all of which, when vessels were in demand, were bidding against each other, and also against another department of the government, the Emigration Office. The rates of freight were, of course, materially enhanced by this unnecessary competition; and there would have been the same sad story to tell as in the case of the Crimea, had we been unfortunately involved in another war. Unable to obtain the necessary reform by any other means, I, on the 5th of January, 1860, brought the existing state of affairs under the notice of the House of Commons (see ‘Hansard,’ vol. clviii. pp. 2051-2061), when a committee was unanimously appointed on my motion, “To inquire into the organisation and management of those branches of the Admiralty, War Office, India Office, and Emigration Board, by which the business of transporting, by means of shipping, troops, convicts, emigrants, materials of war, stores, and any other similar services, is now performed.” After a diligent inquiry which lasted the whole session, the Committee did me the honour to almost as unanimously adopt my report. But some time elapsed before a permanent Transport Board was established, so numerous were the obstacles, or rather prejudices, which had to be overcome. That board is now, or ought to be, responsible for the conveyance of all troops and Government stores from their embarkation until landed at their port of destination.
[177] The Great Republic belonged to the well-known mercantile firm of Messrs. A. A. Law & Co., of New York. When launched she registered 4000 tons; but, having unfortunately been partially destroyed by fire shortly after she was built, her upper deck was removed, thus reducing her size to 3400 tons. Her dimensions were 305 feet in length, fifty-three feet extreme breadth, and thirty feet depth of hold. She was fitted with double topsails, an American invention then rare in this country, but now very common; she had on board a steam-engine of eight horse-power for working ship, or loading and discharging cargo. She brought 3000 tons of guano as “ballast” from New York to London, and made the passage to the Scilly Islands in thirteen days, beating up the English Channel thence against an easterly gale in three days to the Downs. But, on her arrival in London, where she was consigned to the care of my firm, I found she was much too large to be employed, profitably, in any of the ordinary channels of commerce; and, had not the French Government, then in want of transports for the Crimean War, been induced, by the large space she afforded for the conveyance of their troops, to engage her for this purpose, she must have remained long after her arrival unemployed.
[178] When I was a member of the House of Commons, there was a great brewer, a most excellent man, who sat close to me on the cross benches, who frequently complained of the heavy “losses” he sustained in his trade. I was under the impression that the brewing trade was a very lucrative one, especially to persons like himself, who conducted it on a gigantic scale, and I was puzzled to understand how, in the face of such “losses,” he could continue adding vat to vat, and rearing fresh mountains of beer-barrels every year to his brewery yard. Turning one night to a mutual friend who knew him more intimately than I did, I asked, in the simplicity of my heart, if it really was the case that the great establishment of which our friend was the senior was a losing concern. “It is so,” he answered, “according to our friend’s way of calculating; for every pound less than 75,000l. per annum, which is estimated as his share of the net profits, is booked as loss!” Such must also have been the way in which some of our large shipowners calculated their “losses” after the repeal of the Navigation Laws.
[179] See ‘Copies of Address to the Queen from owners of British ships and others interested in the prosperity of British navigation, and of the subsequent correspondence relating thereto.’ Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by command, 1859.
[180] Table showing the total amount of French and Spanish tonnage which entered and cleared in the United Kingdom in the indirect trade, viz., trade with other countries than France and Spain respectively in each year, from 1853 to 1857 inclusive:—
| Entered. | Cleared. | Total. | ||
| France | 1853 | 23,554 | 85,052 | 108,606 |
| ” | 1854 | 23,284 | 122,763 | 146,047 |
| ” | 1855 | 24,094 | 55,164 | 79,258 |
| ” | 1856 | 21,618 | 79,288 | 100,906 |
| ” | 1857 | 36,401 | 125,775 | 162,176 |
| Spain | 1853 | 11,606 | 20,085 | 31,691 |
| ” | 1854 | 18,681 | 14,068 | 32,749 |
| ” | 1855 | 6,180 | 8,883 | 15,063 |
| ” | 1856 | 8,200 | 4,810 | 13,010 |
| ” | 1857 | 12,720 | 10,373 | 23,093 |
| Entered. | Cleared. | Total. | ||
| France | 1853 | 35,160 | 23,367 | 58,527 |
| ” | 1854 | 33,955 | 47,709 | 81,664 |
| ” | 1855 | 104,147 | 127,630 | 231,777 |
| ” | 1856 | 198,842 | 152,919 | 351,761 |
| ” | 1857 | 66,845 | 46,383 | 113,228 |
| Spain | 1853 | 24,967 | 109,591 | 134,558 |
| ” | 1854 | 67,051 | 123,373 | 190,424 |
| ” | 1855 | 91,416 | 105,166 | 196,582 |
| ” | 1856 | 52,030 | 102,663 | 154,693 |
| ” | 1857 | .. | .. | .. |
[182] Act 18 and 19 Vict., chap. vii.
Coasting Trade of the United Kingdom, 1857.
| Nationality of Vessels. | Entered. | Cleared. | ||||||
| Sailing Vessels. | Steam Vessels. | Sailing Vessels. | Steam Vessels. | |||||
| Vessels. | Tons. | Vessels. | Tons. | Vessels. | Tons. | Vessels. | Tons. | |
| Russian | 4 | 1,603 | .. | .. | 5 | 1,729 | .. | .. |
| Swedish | 22 | 3,755 | .. | .. | 22 | 3,630 | .. | .. |
| Norwegian | 27 | 5,580 | .. | .. | 26 | 5,426 | .. | .. |
| Danish | 85 | 9,633 | .. | .. | 85 | 9,692 | .. | .. |
| Prussian | 50 | 9,953 | .. | .. | 44 | 9,043 | .. | .. |
| Mecklenburg-Schwerin | 17 | 3,600 | .. | .. | 19 | 4,400 | .. | .. |
| Hanoverian | 30 | 2,176 | .. | .. | 36 | 2,448 | .. | .. |
| Oldenburg and Knyphausen | 4 | 330 | .. | .. | 4 | 451 | .. | .. |
| Hamburg | 6 | 694 | .. | .. | 5 | 689 | 1 | 250 |
| Bremen | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Lubeck | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Dutch | 47 | 4,535 | 2 | 336 | 40 | 4,143 | .. | .. |
| Belgian | 4 | 593 | .. | .. | 3 | 337 | 5 | 840 |
| French | 4 | 507 | .. | .. | 9 | 854 | .. | .. |
| Spanish | 3 | 572 | .. | .. | 2 | 401 | .. | .. |
| Portuguese | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | 95 | .. | .. |
| Sardinian | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Tuscan | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Papal | 2 | 381 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Two Sicilies | 3 | 615 | .. | .. | 5 | 1,080 | .. | .. |
| Austrian | 1 | 387 | .. | .. | 4 | 1,002 | .. | .. |
| Greek | 1 | 312 | .. | .. | 2 | 532 | .. | .. |
| America, U.S. | 7 | 4,797 | .. | .. | 12 | 5,883 | .. | .. |
| 317 | 50,023 | 2 | 336 | 324 | 51,835 | 6 | 1090 | |
| Vessels, 319. Tons, 50,359. | Vessels, 330. Tons, 52,925. | |||||||
The Entrances and Clearances of British ships in the same year amounted to upwards of 80,000,000 tons!!
[184] I have great doubt whether the Board of Trade was justified in making this statement. The Royal Decree of 10th December, 1852, refers to a Law 9th July, 1841, which I have before me; but, when the differential tonnage duty was abolished, the Gibraltar merchants presented addresses thanking the authorities for the restoration of the flag. The ports between the Garonne and the Bidassoa are, surely, not under similar geographical conditions as either the ports or voyage between the Hudson and the Columbia.
[185] I really do not see it in that light. British ships would, indeed, have a shorter voyage from England to California, but they would still be precluded from going from New York to California viâ the Canal or passage at the Isthmus. The restriction would continue and would prove even more vexatious, as might be shown in a variety of ways.
[186] I deny this altogether. I cannot admit that a ship taking a cargo from Cronstadt to Odessa, thus making almost the circumnavigation of Europe, could be justly deemed to be making a Coasting voyage, however much Russian municipal law might declare it to be so.
[187] Table showing the total amount of tonnage of British and Foreign Vessels respectively, with cargoes and in ballast, entered and cleared in the United Kingdom in each year, from 1842 to 1857 inclusive.
| Years. | British. | Foreign. | Total. |
| Tons. | Tons. | Tons. | |
| 1842 | 6,669,995 | 2,457,479 | 9,127,474 |
| 1843 | 7,181,179 | 2,643,383 | 9,824,562 |
| 1844 | 7,500,285 | 2,846,484 | 10,346,769 |
| 1845 | 8,546,090 | 3,531,215 | 12,077,305 |
| 1846 | 8,688,148 | 3,727,438 | 12,415,586 |
| 1847 | 9,712,464 | 4,566,732 | 14,279,196 |
| 1848 | 9,289,560 | 4,017,066 | 13,306,626 |
| 1849 | 9,669,638 | 4,334,750 | 14,004,388 |
| 1850 | 9,442,544 | 5,062,520 | 14,505,064 |
| 1851 | 9,820,876 | 6,159,322 | 15,980,198 |
| 1852 | 9,985,969 | 6,144,180 | 16,130,149 |
| 1853 | 10,268,323 | 8,121,887 | 18,390,210 |
| 1854 | 10,744,849 | 7,924,238 | 18,669,087 |
| 1855 | 10,919,732 | 7,569,738 | 18,489,470 |
| 1856 | 12,945,771 | 8,643,278 | 21,589,049 |
| 1857 | 13,694,107 | 9,484,685 | 23,178,792 |
[188] Table showing the total number and tonnage of Sailing and Steam Vessels built and registered in the United Kingdom in each year, from 1842 to 1857 inclusive.
| Years. | Vessels. | Tons. | Years. | Vessels. | Tons. |
| 1842 | 914 | 129,929 | 1850 | 689 | 133,695 |
| 1843 | 698 | 83,097 | 1851 | 672 | 149,637 |
| 1844 | 689 | 94,995 | 1852 | 712 | 167,491 |
| 1845 | 853 | 23,230 | 1853 | 798 | 203,171 |
| 1846 | 809 | 125,350 | 1854 | 802 | 196,942 |
| 1847 | 936 | 145,834 | 1855 | 1098 | 323,200 |
| 1848 | 847 | 122,552 | 1856 | 1150 | 244,578 |
| 1849 | 730 | 117,953 | 1857 | 1278 | 250,472 |
From this it will be seen that the total of such tonnage was in—
| 1842 | 129,929 |
| 1849 | 117,953 |
| Decrease | 11,976 |
| 1850 | 133,695 |
| 1857 | 250,172 |
| Increase | 116,777 |
[189] Table showing the number and tonnage of registered Sailing and Steam Vessels (exclusive of river steamers) of the United Kingdom employed in the Home and Foreign Trade respectively in each year, from 1849 to 1857 inclusive.
| Employed in the Home Trade. | Employed in the Foreign Trade. | ||||
| Years. | Vessels. | Tons. | Years. | Vessels. | Tons. |
| 1849 | 9,610 | 719,815 | 1849 | 6,694 | 2,089,037 |
| 1850 | 9,150 | 721,153 | 1850 | 7,235 | 2,188,420 |
| 1851 | 9,266 | 764,461 | 1851 | 7,411 | 2,348,892 |
| 1852 | 9,134 | 768,409 | 1852 | 7,580 | 2,449,364 |
| 1853 | 8,851 | 774,813 | 1853 | 8,357 | 2,791,224 |
| 1854 | 8,778 | 748,714 | 1854 | 7,418 | 2,759,120 |
| 1855 | 8,590 | 748,543 | 1855 | 7,957 | 3,018,951 |
| 1856 | 9,707 | 787,476 | 1856 | 8,551 | 3,190,011 |
| 1857 | 10,064 | 860,406 | 1857 | 8,100 | 3,168,105 |
| Employed partly in the Home and partly in the Foreign Trade. | Total Number Employed. | ||||
| 1849 | 1,917 | 287,490 | 1849 | 18,221 | 3,096,342 |
| 1850 | 1,507 | 227,639 | 1850 | 17,892 | 3,137,212 |
| 1851 | 1,507 | 247,582 | 1851 | 18,184 | 3,360,935 |
| 1852 | 1,105 | 163,111 | 1852 | 17,819 | 3,380,884 |
| 1853 | 998 | 164,050 | 1853 | 18,206 | 3,730,087 |
| 1854 | 1,211 | 221,259 | 1854 | 17,407 | 3,729,093 |
| 1855 | 1,281 | 222,676 | 1855 | 17,828 | 3,990,170 |
| 1856 | 1,012 | 178,590 | 1856 | 19,270 | 4,156,077 |
| 1857 | 1,164 | 182,971 | 1857 | 19,328 | 4,211,482 |
[190] Tonnage entered and cleared with cargoes and in ballast at ports of the United Kingdom, in 1857 and 1858 respectively.
| British. | Foreign. | Total. | |
| 1857 | 13,691,107 | 9,484,685 | 23,178,792 |
| 1858 | 12,891,405 | 9,418,576 | 22,309,981 |
| Vessels. | Tonnage. | |
| 1857 | 1278 | 250,472 |
| 1858 | 1000 | 208,080 |
[191] Total tonnage of British Vessels entered and cleared with cargoes (including repeated voyages) in the months of December 1858, and January 1859, as compared with corresponding months of 1856-7-8.
| 1856. | 1857. | 1858. | 1859. | |
| December | 848,762 | 853,619 | 970,174 | .. |
| January | .. | 678,705 | 603,393 | 700,445 |
[192] As an indication of this progress, it is enough to show how vastly the exports of British produce had advanced in value in that period. Thus the Foreign Trade rose from 39,163,407l. in 1847, to 85,039,991l. in 1857, and the Colonial Trade from 13,686,038l. in 1847, to 37,115,257l. in 1857.
[193] The shipping accounts of the United States of America for the year ended 30th June, 1858, showed a corresponding decline in the employment of United States tonnage.
The total tonnage entered and cleared of United States ships in the two years 1856-7, and 1857-8, having been
| 1856-7, | 9,302,021 tons. | |
| 1857-8, | 8,885,675 tons; | Decrease 416,346 tons. |
| 1857. | 1858. | |
| £ | £ | |
| Imports | 135,051,444 | 115,218,811 |
| Exports | 122,066,107 | 116,614,331 |
| 257,117,551 | 231,833,142 | |
| 231,833,012 | Decrease per cent. 9 4-5 | |
| Decrease, 1858 | 25,284,409 |
Shipping (total entered and cleared in Cargo and Ballast).
| Years. | Total. | British. |
| Tons. | Tons. | |
| 1857 | 23,178,792 | 13,694,107 |
| 1858 | 22,309,981 | 12,891,405 |