The Government of that country has reserved, as we have seen, this trade to the national flag. In this report it is stated that they have done so, on the ground of its being a Coasting trade; and that they are supported, by analogy, in several other countries under similar geographical conditions: for example, the trade between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coasts of France and Spain.[184] And, further, that, with reference to the technical difficulty, it would not be competent for the Queen, under the retaliatory clauses alluded to, to exclude United States ships from any branch of British trade, except the coasting trade of the United Kingdom; and it had been shown that the share of this trade enjoyed by the United States was so small, that such a measure could neither injure the United States nor benefit British shipping. [Sidenote: Presumed advantage of the Panama route.] It was thought, moreover, that the value of this branch of trade on the American coast had been greatly overrated. In the first place, it was obvious that every year would diminish its importance if the surmise was correct that the bulk of the trade between the two sea-boards of the North American continent would shortly be carried across the Isthmus of Panama, and would thus, be placed at the disposal of British ships.[185] [Sidenote: Question discussed.] Whatever opinion may be formed concerning the validity of this comparison, the Board of Trade assured the Shipowners that the Queen’s Government had held on this question, that, although the inter-Oceanic trade of the United States might, in a strictly technical sense, be properly defined as a Coasting trade,[186] yet, on the broad ground of international equity, it should rather be regarded as analogous to the trade between the United Kingdom and her distant dependencies, and that British ships were, therefore, fairly entitled to participate in the former, in return for the complete assimilation of the United States to the British flag in the latter field of profitable employment. It should, however, be remarked that, with reference to this question, the reservation of the coasting trade to national vessels does not appear to apply to the carriage of passengers; so that, as far as can be ascertained, foreign vessels lie under no disability in the transport of passengers coastwise from port to port of the United States of America. [Sidenote: Was the depression due to the withdrawal of Protection?] It remains now to inquire how far such depression can be, in truth, attributed to the withdrawal of protection from British shipping, and to the consequent unrestricted competition with the shipping of other countries; for it is, only, by an examination into general results, that any satisfactory conclusions upon this question can be arrived at.