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UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
605
  1890. 1895. 1900. 1905. 1909.
  Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.
 Total ....  Entered  36,835,712 40,001,691 49,913,223 55,623,974 66,309,519
   Cleared  37,448,157 40,537,483 50,182,439 55,416,760 66,958,163
 British...  Entered  26,777,955 29,175,282 32,135,745 35,200,369 39,661,660
 Cleared  27,195,157 29,516,644 32,147,060 35,762,218 40,102,311
 German ...  Entered  2,161,536 1,940,353 2,966,426 4,293,769 6,766,591
 Cleared  2,230,419 1,948,284 3,060,782 4,340,284 6,754,026
 Norwegian..  Entered  2,477,936 2,604,049 3,839,602 3,392,216 4,315,870
 Cleared  2,522,865 2,660,795 3,821,969 3,387,152 4,308,221
 Swedish...  Entered  783,025 990,228 1,788,844 2,114,028 2,452,144
 Cleared  792,767 1,003,634 1,808,354 2,117,717 2,478,534
 Danish...  Entered  901,819 961,730 1,735,288 2,106,717 2,889,986
 Cleared  952,183 990,006 1,759,509 2,123,830 2,886,731
 Dutch...  Entered  952,695 1,150,098 1,600,317 1,949,161 2,272,075
 Cleared  943,196 1,156,936 1,613,450 1,957,107 2,294,584
 French...  Entered  834,039 929,250 1,417,128 1,574,395 1,640,466
 Cleared  852,935 909,493 1,405,247 1,587,762 1,663,197
 Spanish...  Entered  631,629 645,210 1,309,915 1,462,488 1,477,199
 Cleared  644,431 682,184 1,399,332 1,471,300 1,499,319
 Belgian...  Entered  449,470 551,513 804,472 936,918 1,355,135
 Cleared  423,639 537,969 797,134 920,597 1,357,668
 U.S.A....  Entered  146,721 323,700 282,152 664,360 274,241
 Cleared  145,212 332,825 277,400 675,096 280,464


The construction of railways (especially in England) was undertaken originally by a vast number of small companies, each under separate acts of parliament. But it was soon discovered that there could be neither harmonious nor profitable working of a great many systems, and this led to a series of amalgamations (see under England; Ireland; Scotland).

The number of passengers carried per mile in 1832 was 4860 but before ten more years were past the number of passengers had not only increased in proportion with the opening of new lines, but more than doubled per mile, and, instead of being under 5000, had in 1842 come to be near 12,000. In 1861 the number of passengers carried per mile of railway was 15,988; in 1876 it was 31,928; and in 1900 it was over 52,000.

The two following tables illustrate the further development of railways in the United Kingdom:—

 Year.   Mileage.   Paid-up 
 Capital. 
 Number of 
 Passengers.* 
 Traffic Receipts.   Percentage of 
 Working Expenses 
 to Receipts. 
 Total.   Per Mile. 
    £   £ £  
1860 10,433 348,130,127 163,435,678 27,766,622 2,661 47
1865 13,298 455,478,143 251,862,715 35,890,116 2,701 48
1870 15,537 529,908,673 336,545,397 43,417,070 2,794 60
1875 16,658 630,223,494 506,975,234 58,982,753 3,541 54
1880 17,933 728,316,848 603,885,025 62,961,767 3,511 51
1885 19,169 815,858,055 697,213,031 66,644,967 3,477 53
1890 20,073 897,472,026 817,744,046 76,548,347 3,313 54
1895 21,174 1,001,110,221 929,770,909 81,396,047 3,844 56
1900 21,855 1,176,001,890 1,142,276,686 98,854,552 4,523 62
1905 22,847 1,272,601,000 1,199,022,102 105,131,709 4,601 62
1909 23,280 1,314,406,000 1,265,081,000 110,682,266 4,754 62

* Excluding season-ticket holders, whose number in 1880 was 502,174; in 1900, 1,749,804; and in England and Wales alone, in 1880, 449,823; in 1900, 1,610,754.

In the next table further details are given for 1909:—

  1909.
 England and 
 Wales
 Scotland  Ireland
 Mileage of    Double or more lines. 10,746 1,580 670
 Single lines.... 5,299 2,264 2,721
  £ £ £
   Passenger traffic.. 43,919,702 5,080,603 2,204,756
 Total goods traffic .. 50,647,426 6,836,920 1,992,859
 Traffic  Including—      
Receipts   Minerals... 24,837,682 3,286,074 281,634
  General merchandise .  24,885,494 3,299,588 1,392,600
 Working expenditure.... 65,169,619 7,200,173 2,667,796
 Net receipts....... 37,979,313 5,489,579 1,667,572

In 1909 the percentage of working expenses to total receipts was 63 in England and Wales, 57 in Scotland and 62 in Ireland.

Tramways.—An act passed in 1870 to facilitate the construction of tramways throughout the country marks the beginning of their modern development. It led to the laying down of “street railways” in many large towns. According to a return laid before the House of Commons in the session of 1878, the total length of tramways authorized by parliament up to the 30th of June 1877 was 363 m., and the total length opened for traffic 213 m., comprising 125 m. of double lines and 88 m. of single lines. On the 30th of June 1900 there were in the United Kingdom 70 tramway undertakings with 585 m. of line belonging to local authorities, while 107 with 592 m. of line belonged to other than local authorities. The capital expenditure on the former amounted to £10,203,604, on the latter to £11,532,384.

The development of tramway enterprise in the United Kingdom, as shown by the mileage open, the paid-up capital, gross receipts, working expenses and number of passengers carried, has been as follows:—

 Years 
 ending 
 June 30 
 Miles 
 open. 
 Paid-up 
 Capital. 
 Gross 
 Receipts. 
 Working 
 Expenses. 
 Passengers 
 carried during 
 year. 
    £ £ £  
1890 948  13,502,026   3,214,743   2,402,800   526,369,328 
1895 982  14,111,521   3,733,690   2,878,490   661,760,461 
1900 1177  20,582,692   5,445,629   4,075,352   1,065,374,347 
1905 2117  51,501,410   9,917,026   6,565,049   2,068,913,226 
1909 2526  70,345,155   12,641,437   8,045,658   2,659,981,136 

Authorities.—The following publications relating to the United Kingdom are issued annually in London (unless otherwise stated): Finance Accounts; Financial Estimates; Return showing Revenue and Expenditure (England, Scotland and Ireland); National Debt Accounts; National Debt during 60 Years; Local Taxation Returns; Army Estimates; Army Accounts; Army List (quarterly); Navy Estimates; Navy List (quarterly); Royal Commission an Agriculture, Reports (1896); Mineral Statistics; Reports of Inspectors of Mines; Reports on Factories and Workshops; Reports of Inspectors of Fisheries; Return of Fish conveyed inland by rail; Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom; Statement of the Shipping and Navigation of the United Kingdom; Report of the Postmaster-General. Vital statistics: Reports of the registrars-general respectively for England, for Scotland (Edinburgh), for Ireland (Dublin); Census Reports (decennial, 1901, &c.), ditto; Education: Reports of the Board of Education for England and Wales; Report of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland; Report of the Committee of Council on Education in Scotland; Electoral Statistics (London, 1905); Statistical Tables relating to Emigration and Immigration; Judicial Statistics of England and Wales, of Scotland, of Ireland; Local Government Reports, ditto; Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom; in which the most important statistics are summarized for each of the fifteen years preceding the year of issue. Among books may be mentioned the following: Sir W. R. Anson, The Law and Custom of Constitution (2 vols., 2nd ed., Oxford, 1892–1896); W. J. Ashley (edited by), British Industries (London, 1902); E. G. Boutmy, Le Développement de la constitution et de la société politique en Angleterre (2nd ed., Paris, 1897). Of this there is an English translation (from 1st ed.)