1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/United Kingdom/Communications

Shipping.—The table at foot of p. 604 shows the tonnage of vessels entered from and cleared to British possessions and foreign countries at the principal ports of the United Kingdom.

			1890.	1895.	1900.	1905.	1909.
			Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.
London	${\Big \{}$	Entered	7,708,705	8,435,676	9,580,854	10,814,115	11,605,698
		Cleared	5,772,062	6,110,325	7,479,008	7,913,115	8,622,316
Liverpool and Birkenhead	${\Big \{}$	Entered	5,782,351	5,598,341	6,001,563	7,806,844	7,747,994
		Cleared	5,159,450	4,883,199	5,778,114	6,932,687	6,593,094
Cardiff	${\Big \{}$	Entered	3,173,699	3,739,856	5,132,523	4,337,720	5,771,476
		Cleared	5,641,511	6,500,510	7,636,717	7,476,879	8,888,756
Tyne Ports[1] & [2]	${\Big \{}$	Entered	3,401,216	3,292,624	3,897,142	4,058,618	5,700,405
		Cleared	5,010,098	4,822,648	4,894,157	5,158,899	6,899,023
Southampton	${\Big \{}$	Entered	888,352	1,420,531	1,613,913	2,087,277	4,279,052
		Cleared	813,133	1,328,393	1,395,486	1,888,030	4,108,063
Hull	${\Big \{}$	Entered	1,997,138	2,150,654	2,666,598	2,546,064	3,517,953
		Cleared	1,655,996	1,612,385	2,274,137	2,102,160	3,164,156
Glasgow	${\Big \{}$	Entered	1,121,700	1,184,537	1,454,860	1,635,609	1,917,144
		Cleared	1,697,662	1,911,739	2,229,574	2,836,462	3,160,916
Newport	${\Big \{}$	Entered	920,560	871,886	1,092,068	1,250,192	1,548,258
		Cleared	1,316,430	1,374,237	1,511,383	1,773,161	2,105,509
Dover	${\Big \{}$	Entered	789,846	742,940	973,074	2,928,741	1,636,530
		Cleared	767,724	734,334	964,476	2,944,774	1,631,751
Middlesbrough	${\Big \{}$	Entered	833,562	953,985	1,096,130	1,227,017	1,728,385
		Cleared	623,967	875,059	882,156	1,092,958	1,586,148
Blyth[2]	${\Big \{}$	Entered	—	—	974,285	1,094,168	1,292,353
		Cleared	—	—	1,525,727	1,623,003	1,836,503
Sunderland	${\Big \{}$	Entered	725,859	730,396	800,027	981,606	1,357,201
		Cleared	956,266	1,002,552	1,163,310	1,344,999	1,676,777
Swansea[3]	${\Big \{}$	Entered	565,644	580,481	1,018,148	635,458	1,020,480
		Cleared	858,215	931,588	1,427,903	1,335,134	1,719,654
Leith	${\Big \{}$	Entered	706,491	887,842	1,055,291	1,124,281	1,344,898
		Cleared	626,573	750,257	982,309	1,085,734	1,314,361
Grimsby	${\Big \{}$	Entered	663,513	763,892	931,238	1,094,531	1,289,476
		Cleared	689,165	829,837	960,236	1,074,495	1,334,566
Manchester	${\Big \{}$	Entered	—	317,625	787,497	1,133,003	1,275,937
		Cleared	—	288,001	595,757	970,620	1,067,835

For the purpose of showing the relative importance of British and Irish ports falling below the list, the following figures may be quoted for 1909 only: Methil, entered 824,375 tons, cleared 1,105,048 tons; Harwich, entered 792,980, cleared 776,595; Grangemouth, entered 988,007, cleared 1,064,217; Burntisland, entered 609,722, cleared 815,507; Bristol, entered 858,933, cleared 6151,266; Goole, entered 815,177, cleared 817,226; Hartlepool, entered 934,836, cleared 730,141; Newhaven, entered 385,313, cleared 376,083; Folkestone, entered 364,524, cleared 359,697; Belfast, entered 490,513, cleared 165,670; Borrowstounness (Bo'ness), entered 301,549, cleared 292,194; Dublin, entered 219,081, cleared 80,868; Cork, entered 146,724, cleared 7413; Maryport and Workington, entered 118,388, cleared 67,494. The figures for Plymouth have included vessels which call “off” the port to embark passengers, &c., by tender only since 1907; for 1909 they were: entered, 1,455,605; cleared, 1,292,244.

The table at the commencement of page 605 shows the total tonnage of vessels entered from and cleared to British possessions and foreign countries at ports in the United Kingdom, and also the nationality of vessels under British and the principal foreign flags.

			1890.	1895.	1900.	1905.	1909.
			Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.	Tons.
Total .....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	36,835,712	40,001,691	49,913,223	55,623,974	66,309,519
		Cleared	37,448,157	40,537,483	50,182,439	55,416,760	66,958,163
British....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	26,777,955	29,175,282	32,135,745	35,200,369	39,661,660
		Cleared	27,195,157	29,516,644	32,147,060	35,762,218	40,102,311
German ....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	2,161,536	1,940,353	2,966,426	4,293,769	6,766,591
		Cleared	2,230,419	1,948,284	3,060,782	4,340,284	6,754,026
Norwegian...	${\Big \{}$	Entered	2,477,936	2,604,049	3,839,602	3,392,216	4,315,870
		Cleared	2,522,865	2,660,795	3,821,969	3,387,152	4,308,221
Swedish....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	783,025	990,228	1,788,844	2,114,028	2,452,144
		Cleared	792,767	1,003,634	1,808,354	2,117,717	2,478,534
Danish....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	901,819	961,730	1,735,288	2,106,717	2,889,986
		Cleared	952,183	990,006	1,759,509	2,123,830	2,886,731
Dutch....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	952,695	1,150,098	1,600,317	1,949,161	2,272,075
		Cleared	943,196	1,156,936	1,613,450	1,957,107	2,294,584
French....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	834,039	929,250	1,417,128	1,574,395	1,640,466
		Cleared	852,935	909,493	1,405,247	1,587,762	1,663,197
Spanish....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	631,629	645,210	1,309,915	1,462,488	1,477,199
		Cleared	644,431	682,184	1,399,332	1,471,300	1,499,319
Belgian....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	449,470	551,513	804,472	936,918	1,355,135
		Cleared	423,639	537,969	797,134	920,597	1,357,668
U.S.A.....	${\Big \{}$	Entered	146,721	323,700	282,152	664,360	274,241
		Cleared	145,212	332,825	277,400	675,096	280,464

Out of the following totals steam vessels had an aggregate tonnage of 30,604,578 entered and 31,080,481 cleared in 1890, and 64,327,508 entered and 64,968,655 cleared in 1909. The total tonnage of vessels entered and cleared coastwise was as follows: (1890), 47,738,612 entered, 42,317,876, cleared; (1895), 54,304,703 entered, 47,263,791 cleared; (1900), 55,828,569 entered, 54,425,666 cleared; (1905), 60,066,919 entered, 58,670,971 cleared; (1909), 60,566,043 entered, 60,060,979 cleared.

The number and gross tonnage of the registered sailing and steam vessels belonging to the United Kingdom were as follows at the end of each of the years named:—

Year.	Sailing Vessels.		Steam Vessels.
	Number.	Gross Tonnage.	Number.	Gross Tonnage.
1890	14,181	3,055,136	7,410	8,095,370
1895	12,617	3,040,194	8,386	9,952,211
1900	10,773	2,247,228	9,209	11,816,224
1905	10,059	1,796,826	10,552	14,883,594
1909	9,392	1,407,469	11,797	16,994,732

These figures show not only that steamers have been rapidly taking the place of sailing vessels, but also that large steamers are preferred to small, their average tonnage having increased from 1092 tons in 1895 to 1440 in 1909.

Railways.—The first ordinary roads deserving the name of highways were made about 1660, and canal-building began in the middle of the following century; but though roads and canals aided materially in raising the commercial and industrial activity of the nation, their fostering agency was very slight compared with that of railways, of which England is the birthplace. The first line of railway for regular passenger service, that from Stockton to Darlington, 14 m. in length, was opened on the 27th of September 1825. The first really important railway was the line from Manchester to Liverpool, opened on the 5th of September 1830, when William Huskisson, M.P., was accidentally killed. It took three years to get the bill for the London-Birmingham railway, which was passed at last in the session of 1833, obtaining the royal assent on the 8th of May. The first sod of the great line was cut at Chalk Farm, London, on the 1st of June 1834. Enormous engineering difficulties had to be overcome, originating not so much from the nature of the ground as from intense public prejudice against the new mode of locomotion. It took over four years to construct the railway from London to Birmingham, at a cost exceeding £4,000,000. Even friends of the railway presaged that such outlay could not by any possibility be remunerative; but the contrary became evident from the moment the line was opened on the 17th of September 1838. All the great railway systems of England sprang into existence within less than ten years after the opening of the London-Birmingham line. Out of this railway grew one of the largest companies, the London & North-Western; while the most extensive system as regards mileage, the Great Western, originated in a line from Paddington, London, to Bristol, for which an act of parliament was obtained in 1835, and which was opened in 1841. In 1836 a bill passed the legislature erecting the “Great North of England” Railway Company, from which developed the North-Eastern system. A few years later other acts were passed, sanctioning the “Midland Counties” and the “North Midland” lines, from which the present Midland system grew.

The total length of railways conveying passengers in the United Kingdom at the end of the year 1825 was 40 m., constructed at a cost of £120,000. Five years later, at the end of 1830, there were not more than 95 m., built at a cost of £849,925, but at the end of 1835 there were 293 m., costing £5,648,531. Thus, in the first five years of railway construction, from 1825 to 1830, the mileage doubled; while in the second five years, from 1830 to 1835, it trebled. It quintupled in the next five-yearly period. till the end of 1840, when the total length of miles of railway in the kingdom had come to be 1435, built at a cost of £41,391,634, as represented by the paid-up capital of the various companies. The next five years saw nearly another doubling of length of lines, for at the end of 1845 there were 2441 m. of railway created by a paid-up capital of £88,481,376. Not far from a fresh trebling took place in the course of the next quinquennial period, and at the end of 1850 there were 6621 m. of railways, constructed at the cost of £240,270,745.

The construction of railways (especially in England) was undertaken originally by a vast number of small companies, each under separate acts of parliament. But it was soon discovered that there could be neither harmonious nor profitable working of a great many systems, and this led to a series of amalgamations (see under England; Ireland; Scotland).

The number of passengers carried per mile in 1832 was 4860 but before ten more years were past the number of passengers had not only increased in proportion with the opening of new lines, but more than doubled per mile, and, instead of being under 5000, had in 1842 come to be near 12,000. In 1861 the number of passengers carried per mile of railway was 15,988; in 1876 it was 31,928; and in 1900 it was over 52,000.

The two following tables illustrate the further development of railways in the United Kingdom:—

Year.	Mileage.	Paid-up   Capital.	Number of   Passengers.*	Traffic Receipts.		Percentage of   Working Expenses   to Receipts.
				Total.	Per Mile.
		£		£	£
1860	10,433	348,130,127	163,435,678	27,766,622	2,661	47
1865	13,298	455,478,143	251,862,715	35,890,116	2,701	48
1870	15,537	529,908,673	336,545,397	43,417,070	2,794	60
1875	16,658	630,223,494	506,975,234	58,982,753	3,541	54
1880	17,933	728,316,848	603,885,025	62,961,767	3,511	51
1885	19,169	815,858,055	697,213,031	66,644,967	3,477	53
1890	20,073	897,472,026	817,744,046	76,548,347	3,313	54
1895	21,174	1,001,110,221	929,770,909	81,396,047	3,844	56
1900	21,855	1,176,001,890	1,142,276,686	98,854,552	4,523	62
1905	22,847	1,272,601,000	1,199,022,102	105,131,709	4,601	62
1909	23,280	1,314,406,000	1,265,081,000	110,682,266	4,754	62

^* Excluding season-ticket holders, whose number in 1880 was 502,174; in 1900, 1,749,804; and in England and Wales alone, in 1880, 449,823; in 1900, 1,610,754.

In the next table further details are given for 1909:—

			1909.
			England and   Wales.	Scotland.	Ireland.
Mileage of	${\Big \{}$	Double or more lines..	10,746	1,580	670
		Single lines.....	5,299	2,264	2,721
			£	£	£
	${\Bigg \{}$	Passenger traffic...	43,919,702	5,080,603	2,204,756
		Total goods traffic ...	50,647,426	6,836,920	1,992,859
Traffic		Including—
Receipts		Minerals....	24,837,682	3,286,074	281,634
		General merchandise .	24,885,494	3,299,588	1,392,600
Working expenditure.....			65,169,619	7,200,173	2,667,796
Net receipts........			37,979,313	5,489,579	1,667,572

In 1909 the percentage of working expenses to total receipts was 63 in England and Wales, 57 in Scotland and 62 in Ireland.

Tramways.—An act passed in 1870 to facilitate the construction of tramways throughout the country marks the beginning of their modern development. It led to the laying down of “street railways” in many large towns. According to a return laid before the House of Commons in the session of 1878, the total length of tramways authorized by parliament up to the 30th of June 1877 was 363 m., and the total length opened for traffic 213 m., comprising 125 m. of double lines and 88 m. of single lines. On the 30th of June 1900 there were in the United Kingdom 70 tramway undertakings with 585 m. of line belonging to local authorities, while 107 with 592 m. of line belonged to other than local authorities. The capital expenditure on the former amounted to £10,203,604, on the latter to £11,532,384.

The development of tramway enterprise in the United Kingdom, as shown by the mileage open, the paid-up capital, gross receipts, working expenses and number of passengers carried, has been as follows:—

Years   ending   June 30	Miles   open.	Paid-up   Capital.	Gross   Receipts.	Working   Expenses.	Passengers   carried during   year.
		£	£	£
1890	948	13,502,026	3,214,743	2,402,800	526,369,328
1895	982	14,111,521	3,733,690	2,878,490	661,760,461
1900	1177	20,582,692	5,445,629	4,075,352	1,065,374,347
1905	2117	51,501,410	9,917,026	6,565,049	2,068,913,226
1909	2526	70,345,155	12,641,437	8,045,658	2,659,981,136

Notes

1. Newcastle, North Shields, South Shields.
2. Blyth was included with North Shields till 1897.
3. Swansea included Port Talbot till 1904.