because or in spite of it—the commercial navy of Great Britain made such rapid strides.
The increase of the British merchant navy has indeed been remarkable, if it is judged by the standard of continuous growth. Its total tonnage at the time of the Armada in 1588 was 12,500 tons, exclusive of fishing-boats. In 1791, just before the wars occasioned by the French Revolution, it amounted to 1,511,400 tons, including the shipping of the colonies. Half a century later, in 1840, the merchant navy of the United Kingdom and the Colonies reached a total of 3,311,000 tons; in 1880 the total was 8,447,000 tons; in 1890, 9,688,000; in 1900, 10,751,000; and in 1903, 11,831,000. The progress is striking, and the growth is certainly continuous. The fifties, so far as they are by themselves a test, give much cause for satisfaction, and are in any case an excellent barometer to indicate the power and importance of the Empire. They have risen with its rise; they have multiplied with its power and position; and they bear witness to valiant and indomitable effort in the past.
There is, however, some reason for not coming to a conclusion too hastily, or, at least, for not assuming that progress, because it has been very good during many years, will spontaneously continue so without great energy on the part of traders and careful attention by statesmen. Comparison with foreign merchant navies is instructive. It has just been mentioned that the merchant navy of the British Empire increased between 1880 and 1890 from 8,447,000 tons to 9,688,000 tons, which is 12·8 per cent. of the total British merchant tonnage in 1890; and between 1890 and 1902 (the last year for which all the comparative foreign figures are available) the growth was from 9,688,000 to 11,566,000 tons, or 16·2 per cent. What are the corresponding tonnages of the combined principal foreign merchant navies? Between 1880 and 1890 they rose from 8,812,000 tons to 8,497,000 tons, or 2·2 per cent., and from 1890 to 1902 from 8,497,000 tons to 11,136,000
