Page:The empire and the century.djvu/365

 tons, or 28&middot;6 per cent.; so that while the British merchant tonnage rose 12&middot;8 per cent. to 16&middot;2 per cent. in the two periods, foreign merchant tonnage made the astonishing rise from 2&middot;2 per cent. to 28&middot;6 per cent. It may be argued that percentages are misleading, that the proportionate foreign rise is much more rapid, because the foreign tonnage starts from so low a figure, and that it was much easier to rise from one ton to two tons than from a million to two million. This is perfectly true so far as it goes; yet, even making all allowances, it does not account for everything. It is a most striking fact that, of all the tonnage entering our own British ports between 1892 and 1902, the foreign tonnage shows an absolute increase much greater than ours. The total of all the tonnage entering British ports in 1892 was 75,000,000, and in 1902 it was 99,000,000, or an increase of 24,000,000. Out of that increase, which has nothing to do with percentages, the British have only ten and a half millions of tons, and the foreigners thirteen and a half.

On the whole, it may be still said that British shipping creditably holds its own. There is no reason for sounding a note of serious alarm, but there is reason for a distinct note of warning. The British flag is a great heritage, and we have been the possessors of the most magnificent mercantile fleet in the world. We are now subject to keener competition than we have ever experienced, and a proportionate increase of effort is necessary if we are to maintain our supremacy. In regions where we were first in the field, where all our agencies were established, where there was ample shipping at our command, there has been striking expansion—but it has not always been British development that has been especially marked. It might have been expected that, with all these advantages of priority of settlement and management, we could have increased our trade and shipping more easily than those who were not on the spot. But to take the instance of Singapore, an important and typical colony, it has been stated by Sir Alex-