German shipping has increased more quickly than ours ; Starting
from 982,355 tons in 1870, it reached 2,322,045 in 1903. But ours in that year was 11,831,439 tons. To say with Mr. Chamberlain that " our bitterest and severest competitors and rivals are galloping up behind us at a greater rate than any- thing we can reach " is a preposterous exaggeration. The really wonderful thing, as the Daily Chronicle rightly insists, is that in spite of all.the great developments of foreign shipping, the percentage of our own should remain so constant. For the rest, as the Daily Chronicle points out, our supremacy in the constructing and carrying trades alike depends on Free- trade. We can construct cheaply because the raw materials come in free. Our enormous share of the carrying trade is largely due to the fact that with our free ports we can always be sure of return cargoes.
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