CLASSIFICATION OF ESTIMATED NET TONNAGE OF SHIPPING USING THE PANAMA CANAL IN 1915, 1920 AND 1925
| Average per annum during 1915 and 1916 | 1920 | 1925 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coast-to-coast American shipping | 1,000,000 | 1,414,000 | 2,000,000 |
| American shipping carrying foreign commerce of the United States | 720,000 | 910,000 | 1,500,000 |
| Foreign shipping carrying commerce of the United States and foreign countries | 8,780,000 | 11,020,000 | 13,850,000 |
| Total | 10,500,000 | 13,344,000 | 17,000,000 |
CULEBRA CUT ON A HAZY DAY
NET TONNAGE OF VESSELS THAT MIGHT HAVE ADVANTAGEOUSLY USED A PANAMA CANAL IN 1909-10.
| Total Entrances | Total Clearances | Total Entrances and Clearances | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe with: | |||
| Western South America | 1,553,887 | 1,594,513 | 3,148,400 |
| Western Central America and Pacific Mexico | 80,788 | 118,714 | 199,502 |
| Pacific United States, British Columbia, and Hawaii | 419,865 | 269,853 | 689,718 |
| Pacific United States via Suez Canal | [(1)] | [(1)] | [(1)]158,000 |
| Oriental countries east of Singapore and Oceania | 618,704 | 555,881 | 1,174,585 |
| Eastern United States coast with: | |||
| Western South America, Pacific Mexico, and Hawaii | 309,909 | 166,686 | 467,595 |
| Pacific Coast of United States (via Cape Horn) | 117,147 | 55,508 | 172,655 |
| Pacific Coast of United States and Hawaii (via American-Hawaiian S.S. Co.) | 181,713 | 181,713 | 363,426 |
| Oriental countries east of Singapore and Oceania | 600,000 | 900,000 | 1,500,000 |
| Pacific traffic: | |||
| Pacific Coast | 158,558 | 259,932 | 418,490 |
| Atlantic Coast | ... | ... | ... |
| Eastern Canada with Alaska, Chile and Australia | 13,410 | 22,248 | 35,658 |
| Total | 4,044,981 | 4,125,048 | 8,328,029 |
Note.—(1) Reported by Suez Canal Company; hence the total is not separable into entrances and clearances at American ports.
After all, however, the most patient investigation of the past and the most careful and scientific calculations of the probabilities of the future may produce a wholly inaccurate result. The real effect of the Canal on the world’s commerce may be something wholly different from what the experts expect. But we may proceed upon the well-established fact that no new route of swifter and cheaper transportation ever failed to create a great business, and to develop thriving communities along its route. This fact finds illustration in the building up of the suburbs and back country by the development of trolley lines, and, on a larger scale, the prodigious growth of our Pacific coast after the transcontinental railroads had fought their way to every corner of that empire still in the making. Much is uncertain about what the Panama Canal will do for the expansion of our trade and influence, but the one thing that is certain is that no sane man is likely to put the figures of increase and extension too high.
Photo by Brown Bros.