2,514 ships, of 259,773 tons, including 189 steamers, of 13,152 horse-power.
If we were engaged in war, and the resources of our shipbuilding yards were applied exclusively to the construction of fighting vessels, we should in twelve months be able to create an overwhelming fleet. At the Elswick Works, 1,500 men are employed in making guns for every foreign government. In this establishment the British Government possesses another Woolwich, and all its resources would of course be entirely at the disposal of this country in the event of war.
In marine steam machinery we stand at the head of the maritime nations. 'All the recent improvements,' said Admiral Porter, in his report of 1870, 'were made on the Clyde and the Mersey, where giant strides are taking place in the construction of machinery for war and for the merchant service.'
The magnitude of our mercantile marine may be illustrated by pointing to a few of the most important lines. The Cunard Company alone have 49 ocean-going steamships, of 90,000 tons and 15,000 horsepower, far exceeding the entire fleet of the German Empire. In Glasgow alone, Messrs. Henderson Brothers, of the Anchor Line, give employment to 30,000 persons. They build and equip their own ships. The United States have seven regularly established naval yards; but only four of these are capable of fitting out more than two or three vessels at a time; and in the seven navy yards there are but three dry docks, so that, in this most important feature, the entire re-
