Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker volume 6.djvu/25

12 Look next at the products of industry in the United States. In 1850, the iron-crop in the United States amounted to 564,755 tons. The ship-crop was 1360 vessels, with a measurement of 272,218 tons. The increase of American shipping is worth notice, and is shown in the following

The tonnage is still on the increase. In 1851 it amounted to 3,772,439, and at this moment must be considerably more than 4,000,000. The first ship built in New England was the "Blessing of the Bay," a "bark of thirty tons," launched in 1634. Nor far from the spot where her keel was laid, a ship has recently been built, three hundred and ten feet long, and more than six thousand tons burden. On the 30th September, 1851, there were, if the accounts are reliable, 12,805 miles of railroad in the United States. At present, there are probably about 15,000 miles.

To show the increase of American commerce, consider the following