There is perhaps no question of greater real moment to the newly erected kingdom than the free navigation of the Danube; for whether its possessions are limited on the southern boundary by that river, or whether at some future time they should extend beyond it, the reader cannot fail to see from what has preceded that the Danube is the great artery through which, so to speak, the industrial life-blood of the nation circulates. But if it be a matter of primary importance to Roumania, it is hardly less so to ourselves. The greater part of the external trade of the countries bordering on the Danube which passes in and out of the Sulina mouth, the only navigable embouchure, is carried on in British bottoms, as the following figures will show:-- _Tonnage entering and leaving the Danube in 1880._ ____________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | | | | |Steamers|Tonnage| Sailing |Tonnage|Total| Total | | | | | Ships | |Ships|Tonnage| | |________|_______|________ |_______|_____|_______| | | | | | | | | |British flag | 479 |408,492| 15 | 4,214| 494|412,706| |All other nations| 242 |150,536|1,526[25]|238,312|1,768|384,848| | |________|_______|_________|_______|_____|_______| | | | | | | | | | Total | 721 |559,028| 1,541 |238,526|2,262|797,554| |_________________|________|_______|_________|_______|_____|_______| Thus it will be seen that the carrying trade of Great Britain to and from the Danube amounts to nearly 30,000 tons more than that of all other nations put together. And now as regards the nature of the goods carried. They consist outwards (from Roumania, &c.) of cereals, and inwards of a great variety of manufactured goods. Of the former 5,394,729 quarters were exported in 1879; and it may be said generally that Roumania receives in return almost every article of consumption in the way of manufactured productions, and notably from this country cottons and cotton yarn, woollens, coals, and iron. In any year of scarcity our importations of feeding stuffs from the Danube would become a most important factor, for in 1881 the Board of Trade returns show the following comparative importations:-- _Imports of Cereals in 1880._ Cwts. From United States 68,138,992 " Russia 12,830,851 " Canada 9,455,076 " India 6,458,100 " Roumania 4,355,344