TABLE XIV.-Number of days saved, for vessels of different speeds, by the Panama Canal route between European ports and ports of Pacific America and of New Zealand— Continued. 24.4 21.9 18.1 15.5 13.5 22.4 20. 1 16.7 14.2 12.3 9.1 9.4 8.1 Southern China and the Philippines-Hongkong and Manila-are near the center of the section whose commerce with New York and the other north Atlantic ports of the United States may use the Panama or Suez Canal with equal advantage, as far as distance and time of voyage are concerned. Relative tolls and coal prices via the alternative routes, and the traffic possibilities at intermediate ports, as will be explained in Sections IV and V, rather than the days to be saved by taking one route rather than the other, will determine whether the Panama or the Suez Canal will be used by vessels bound to or from that part of the Orient. Of the commerce of the western side of the Pacific with Europe, only the trade of New Zealand can save time by using the Panama instead of the Suez or some other alternative route. The point on the west coast of South America equally distant from a port of Europe via the Panama Canal and the Straits of Magellan is somewhat south of 40° south latitude. Coronel, the most southerly port mentioned in Table XIV, is 37° south of the Equator. TONNAGE OF THE VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE COMMERCE THAT MIGHT HAVE ADVANTAGEOUSLY USED THE PANAMA CANAL IN 1909-10.1 INTRODUCTION. In the report made by the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1901 it was stated that in the year 1899 4,891,075 net register tons of shipping would have used an Isthmian Canal had it then been open to traffic. That sum was ascertained by an analysis of the entrances and clearances, at the ports of the United States and European countries, of the vessels employed in the commerce that might have advantageously used a Panama canal. A study was also made of the figures collected by the new Panama Canal Co., which had, for a number of years, kept a record of the movements or voyages of all vessels whose routes were such that the vessels would naturally have passed through a Panama canal. The records kept by the French company presented separate tonnage totals for vessels (1) moving between Europe and PacificAmerica, (2) between Europe and the Orient, (3) between Atlantic and Pacific America, and (4) between Atlantic-America and the Orient. Most of the tonnage of the vessels moving between Europe and the Orient (Group 2) was excluded from the total because it belonged to the Suez, rather than to the Panama, route. There were added 336,998 tons for the commerce crossing the Isthmus of Panama, because the records kept by the French company could not have included that traffic. These changes having been made in the total tonnage of vessel movements as recorded by the Panama Canal Co., it was found that their records indicated an available Panama traffic in 1899 of 5,001,798 tons net register a total but slightly larger than that ascertained by the study of recorded entrances and clearances. To determine what tonnage of vessels would have used a Panama canal in 1910, had it then been available, an analysis has been made of the records of the leading commercial nations concerning the entrances and clearances of vessels. The figures here presented are for the latest available year, in most instances for the year 1910. In the case of some foreign countries, figures for 1909 were the latest obtainable. The years covered by the figures are stated in the statistical tables. The tables contained in this report have been so constructed as to show (1) total entrances and clearances; (2) the tonnage of vessels with cargo as distinct from those in ballast; and (3) the tonnage of sailing vessels separately from the tonnage of steamships. It is important to know what share of the vessels using the Panama Canal In the preparation of this section, valuable assistance was received from Dr. Grover G. Huebner, statistician. will probably move in ballast, because the tolls are ordinarily made less for empty than for loaded vessels. The tonnage of sailing vessels needs to be known to ascertain to what extent traffic will need to shift from sail to steam, for sailing vessels will not use the Panama Canal. The statistics of vessel entrances and clearances have certain limitations which make it impossible to accept them without careful analysis. Different countries follow dissimilar rules in making their records. There are unavoidable duplications in some instances; and in other cases there are serious understatements due to the fact that the records of vessel movements do not, and can not, correspond to the actual movements of commodities in international commerce. In analyzing entrance and clearance statistics, the following facts are to be kept in mind: 1. The methods or rules followed in recording entrances and clearances in the various nations are not uniform. The regulations of the United Kingdom provide that vessels bringing cargo from more than one foreign port are to be recorded as entering from the first port at which cargo for the United Kingdom was embarked; and that loaded vessels departing from the United Kingdom for more than one foregin port are listed as clearing for the last port to which their cargo is consigned. Vessels in ballast are recorded as entering from the last foreign port at which they touched before reaching the United Kingdom, and as clearing to the first foreign port to which they are bound. The rules of France, Belgium, Germany, and Austria are essentially the same as the British. The Italian regulations, however, provide that when vessels with cargoes come from, or go to, more than one foreign country, each country is credited with the tonnage. The rules in force in the United States state that "in tabulating clearances to foreign ports, the tonnage is credited to the country in which is located the first foreign port at which the vessel will enter for discharge of cargo; but if the bulk of the cargo is to be discharged at some other foreign port, the tonnage will be credited to the country in which that port is located. In cases of entrances, the first foreign port from which the vessel sailed with cargo for the United States is that to which the entered tonnage will be credited." The American rule for entrances is, therefore, like the rules of Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, France, and Austria, but the American rule for clearances is different. 2. The records of vessel entrances and clearances often include duplications. This is especially the case in the trade between Europe and the west coast of South America, the Orient, and Oceania. The cause of these duplications will be explained in discussing what deductions from the recorded figures are to be made to eliminate the duplications. 3. The records of the vessel movements between some sections, as between the eastern coast of the United States and the Orient and Oceania, understate the tonnage of shipping actually employed in the commerce; and, for reasons that will be stated later, it is necessary to increase the recorded figures. 4. For the commerce between some sections, as between Europe and Pacific-Mexico and Central America, the records are incomplete, in that they do not state the tonnage by Atlantic and Pacific ports separately. It is thus necessary to subject entrance and clearance statistics to a careful analysis and to ascertain whether they tally with the known facts as regards vessel movements and commercial exchanges; but, when so tested and corrected, they enable one to determine, with approximate accuracy, the actual vessel tonnage at present available for the Panama Canal. VESSEL TONNAGE OF EUROPEAN TRADE WITH THE WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA, 1909. The tonnage of shipping recorded by European countries as having cleared to, and entered from, the west coast of South America in 1909 is stated in Table 1. There were 2,007,857 net tons of European entrances and 2,177,600 net tons of European clearances, a total of 4,185,457. TABLE I.-European entrances and clearances, net register tonnage of vessels trading between Europe and the west coast of South America (1909). 1 Year 1910; cargo and ballast separated according to ratio obtained from remaining countries, except in case of clearances to Peru. Cargo and ballast separated according to ratio obtained from remaining countries, except in case of clearances to Peru. The figures in Table I contain certain rather large duplications because of the fact that (1) Vessels outbound from German and British ports and recorded in the German and British clearances may call at Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, or Portugal; and, under their rules as to clearances, be again recorded as cleared from one or more of those countries. (2) Vessels inbound at German and British ports and recorded in the German and British entrances may have called en route at one or more of the above-named countries and have been recorded in their entrances. (3) The Spanish and Portuguese entrances and clearances may, in addition to possible British and German duplications, contain some tonnage that has been included in French or Italian records. The recorded entrances and clearances of the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, and Sweden may be accepted without change, for those countries are so situated as to be the European termini of vessel movements between Europe and the west coast of South America. In the case of Belgium, however, there are duplications, because steamers both outbound from and inbound to German and British ports call at Belgium with cargo. Under the Belgian, as well as the British and German rules, vessels with cargo are entered from the first port and cleared to the last port at which they loaded or discharged cargo during their voyage. Belgian entrances from the west coast of South America are one-half of those of Germany and within 160,000 tons of those of the United Kingdom, although the imports of Belgium from Pacific South America are small as compared with those of Germany or Great Britain. The Belgian entrances of sailing vessels amount to 109,723 tons, and may be accepted without change, because they are for chartered vessels which usually bring in and discharge full cargoes. The entrances in ballast-1,512 tonsmay also be accepted, because under the entrance rules of Belgium, Great Britain, and Germany vessels in ballast are entered from the last point at which they touch. Owing to the smallness of Belgian imports as compared with those into Germany and Great Britain, and the comparative magnitude of Belgian vessel entrances, it was thought that not more than three-fourths of the remaining steam entrances should be included in the revised figure of entrances. makes the net Belgian entrances 198,483 net tons. This Belgian clearances of sailing vessels contain no duplications, but amount to only 21,055 tons. The clearances of vessels in ballast (2,188 tons) may also be accepted without change. The exports from Belgium to the west coast of South America are considerably less than those from Germany; yet the recorded clearances from the two countries are not very far apart. It should also be noted that British exports to the west coast of South America do not require so much vessel tonnage as clears from British ports, and ships from Great Britain are known to call at Belgium en route. It is probable that the duplications are greater in the recorded clearances of Belgium than in the entrances. In Belgium, Holland, France, Spain, and Portugal many ships cleared from Great Britain take on cargo, and a smaller number of German vessels call at Belgium to complete their cargo for the west coast of South America. It is thought that the steamship clearances from Belgium should be reduced one-half, |