How wonderful has been the scale upon which this great industry of carriage by steam vessels has grown can only be shown by tables of statistics. The steam tonnage in the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany, beginning with 1840, was as follows: ------+-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------- | United States. | | | +----------+----------+---------+ | | Years.|Registered| Enrolled | | | | | for | and | Total. | United | France. | German | oversea. | licensed.| | Kingdom.| | Empire. ------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------+---------- | Gross | Gross | Gross | | | | tons. | tons. | tons. |Net tons.|Net tons.| Net tons. 1840 | 4,155 | 198,184 | 202,339| 87,539| 9,535 | ... 1850 | 44,942 | 481,005 | 525,947| 167,698| 13,925 | ... 1860 | 97,296 | 770,641 | 867,937| 452,352| 68,025 | ... 1870 | 192,544 | 882,551 |1,075,095|1,111,375| 154,415 | 81,994 1875 | 191,689 | 976,979 |1,168,668|1,943,197| 205,420 | 183,569 1880 | 146,604 |1,064,964 |1,211,558|2,720,551| 277,759 | 215,758 | | | | | (1884) | (1884) 1885 | 186,406 |1,308,511 |1,494,917|3,969,728| 511,072 | 413,943 {| 197,630 |1,661,458 |1,859,088|5,112,683| 503,791 | 722,521 1890 {| | | | Gross | Gross | Gross {| | | | tons. | tons. | tons. {| | | |8,167,762| 848,522 |1,054,899 ------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------+---------- This statement, showing our steam tonnage registered for foreign trade to be 6,000 tons less in 1885 than in 1870, is not an encouraging one, especially when taken in connection with the fact that our tonnage in foreign trade has steadily lessened, and the percentage of our imports carried in American vessels has dwindled from 75.2 per cent. in 1856 to 66.5 in 1860; to 35.6 per cent. in 1870; and to 12.29 per cent. in 1890. Even during the civil war it never fell below 27.5 per cent. * * * * * The amount of steam tonnage built in the United States and in Great Britain at intervals of five years from 1855 is as follows: