Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/793

 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

671

Shipping and Navigation.

Merchant marine, December 31 : —

1907 1 1908 1909 I 1910 1 1911

No.

Tons j No. Tons ] No.j Tons No.

Tons No.

Tons

Sailing Vessels Steamers

3 74

964 1 4 119,223 84

3,038 149,287

4 1 3,183 5 3,402 8

97 '184,261 99 187,730 93

i 1

5,905 160,515

Total

77

120,187, 88

152,325 '101 187,444 104 jl91,132 101

166,420

The navigation at Belgian ports is shown as follows

Vessels

1907

1908

1909

No.

Tons

No. Tons No. Tons

1910

1911

No.

Tons No. ' Tons

» COOCIO-

Entered '10,800 13,465,447 10,256 13,409,331 10,539 14,283,345 10,943 15,101.171 ll,10'o 15,907,359 Cleared |10,325{l3,493,769|lO,268 13,441,09310,519, 14, 274,01440,929;i5,074,06l{ll,122,15,896,915

Total. '20,631, 26,959,216'20,524'26,850,424 21,058

2S,557,359;21,872!30,175,232'22,228;31,804,274

The vessels entered and cleared in 1911 were as follows :-

Nationality

Entered

Cleared

No.

Tonnage

No.

1,959 5,155 1,728

Tonnage

Belgian British German

1,959 5,160 1,725

2,074,930 7,024,959 4,042,578

2,060,649 6,991,793

4,048,815

Internal Communications.

The total length of the roads in Belgium (1911) was as follows: — State roads, 5,072 miles ; provincial roads, 987 miles ; conceded roads, 140 miles; by-roads, 19,347 miles ; total, 25,446 miles. The majority of the roads are paved with stone.

The total length of n ivigable waterways (rivers and canals) in 1911 was 1,238 miles.

The length of railways (1911) :— State lines, 2,697 miles ; private lines, 218 miles; light railways, 2,420 miles; total, 5,335 miles. Under con- struction, 464 miles.

Passengers conveyed by State railways in 1911, 180,840,189, by com- panies 18,049,557. Gross receipts 1911 for the State 313,872,749 francs; for companies 33,909,926 francs ; expenses for the State 210,645,039 francs ; for the companies 14,151,463 francs. The first cost of State railways to end of 1911, 2,824,458,916 francs; net receipts 2,854,876,425 francs; financial charges 2,790,909,215 francs.

The work of the Post Office in Belgium in four years was as follows : —

1908

1909

Private letters. Official letters. Post- cards Printed matter.

Newspapers

182,546,179 35,194,749 105,056,568 207,562,321 155,721,476

193,620,497 35,473,873 112,601,424 220,865,628 160,521,278

1910

1911

208,696,675 36,091,149 119,736,212 246,988,121 171,964,993

218,176,673 37,392,456 123,255,448 261,797,474 180,198,608