To put the matter differently. In 1892 another reckoning was made; the comparison being expressed by numbers, for the Merchant-Navies of several Nations. It stood as follows:—
The Merchant fleet of Italy was taken as slightly over One. Then, in proportion, the French fleet was represented by something over Two; the Norwegian, by the same; the United States, by Three; the German, by something over Three; and the British, by something over Twenty-two! This included the whole tonnage or carrying power of the fleets in question, both sailing and steam-driven vessels.
The figures speak for themselves.
Or, again, let us take all the steam fleets of the world, reckoning only vessels over one hundred tons, and only those used for merchandise; not Men-of-War.
These steam-fleets shall be pictured in our minds or on paper by broad black lines, one-tenth of an inch wide. Now let us see how long such lines would have to be, at two different dates, for a few of the leading fleets.
In the year 1889 they would have been given thus:—
Japanese.—Less than one-tenth of an inch long.
American.—Three and a half tenths of an inch long.
French.—Four and a half tenths of an inch long.
German.—Six and a half tenths of an inch long.