United States. By taking the trade in cheap goods which British makers refuse to furnish, the foreign competitors obtain a chance to cut into the better

class of trade also.

Navigation. The number of vessels engaged in foreign commerce entered at the ports of the United Kingdom during 1895 was 60,714, of 40,001,000 tons, of which 37,534, of 29,175,000 tons, were British and 23,180, of 10,826,000 tons, were foreign; the number cleared was 60,696, of 40,537,000 tons, of which 37,283, of 29,516,000 tons, were British and 23,413, of 11,021,000 tons, were foreign. The tonnage of vessels entered with cargoes was 31,358,000, of which 22,992.000 tons were British and 8,366,000 tons were foreign; the tonnage of vessels cleared with cargoes was 36,272,000, of which 26,933,000 tons were British and 9,339,000 tons were foreign. Of a total foreign tonnage of 21,847,248 tons entered and cleared, Norway had 4,653,008; Germany, 3,652,788; the Netherlands, 2,293,796; Sweden, 1,960,571; Denmark, 1,940,097: France, 1,832,149; Spain, 1,304,660; Belgium, 1,082,445; the United States, 650,164; Russia, 615,153; Italy, 297,466; and Austria, 196,701. The tonnage entered and cleared at the port of London was 14,546,311; at Liverpool, 10,481,540; at Cardiff, 10,201,127; at Newcastle, 4,601,408; at Hull, 3,763,339; at North and South Shields, 3,513,864; at Glasgow, 3,096,276; at Newport, 2,246,123; at Southampton, 2,748,924; at Middlesbro, 1,829,044; at Sunderland, 1,732,948; at Leith, Grimsby, Swansea, Grangemouth, and Kirkcaldy, more than 1,000,000 tons each.

The number of British vessels engaged both in the home and foreign trade in 1895 was 16,105, employing 240,486 seamen, of whom 32,335 were foreigners. Their aggregate tonnage was 8,861,848 tons. There were 21,003 vessels registered as belonging, on Jan. 1, 1896, to the United Kingdom, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The aggregate tonnage was 8,988,450, and they were divided into 12,617 sailing vessels, of 2,866,895 tons, and 8.386 steamers, of 6,121,555 tons. The number of vessels built and first registered during 1895 was 860, of 519,622 tons, divided into 319 sailing vessels, of 54,155 tons, and 541 steamers, of 465,467 tons. Of the total number of vessels belonging to the United Kingdom, 7,495 sailing vessels, of 479,764 tons, and 2,633 steamers, of 406,477 tons, were employed in the home trade and the adjacent seas; 222 sailing vessels, of 26,721 tons, and 329 steamers, of 238,633 tons, were engaged partly in the home and partly in the foreign trade; and 1,765 sailing vessels, of 2,230,285 tons, were engaged in the foreign trade exclusively. The total number of vessels entered coastwise during 1895 was 323,616, of 54,304.703 tons; the number cleared was 289,310, of 47,263.791 tons. The total number of vessels entered at British ports was for that year 384,330, of 94,306,394 tons; the total number cleared was 350,006, of 87,801,274 tons.

Communications. The total length of railroads open to traffic in the United Kingdom at the beginning of 1896 was 21,174 miles, of which 14,651 miles were in England and Wales, 3,350 miles in Scotland, and 3,173 miles in Ireland. The paid-up share and loan capital amounted to £1,001,110,221. There were 929,770,909 passengers carried during 1895, exclusive of holders of season tickets. The receipts from all sources were £85,922,702; receipts from passengers, £37,361,162; from freight, £44,034,885. The working expenses were £47,876,637, equal to 56 per cent. of the gross receipts.

The number of letters that passed through the post office during the year ending March 31, 1896, Was 1,834,000,000, of which 1,559,000,000 were delivered in England and Wales, 163,000,000 in Scotland, and 112,500,000 in Ireland, being 47 per head

of population for the whole United Kingdom, 51 for England and Wales, 39 for Scotland, and 25 for Ireland. The number of postal cards for the United Kingdom was 314,500,000; of book packets, 672,300,000; of newspapers, 149,000,000; of parcels, 60,500,000. The number of money orders was 10,900,963, for the total sum of £29,726,817, of which 9,334,296, for £25,582.236, were inland orders. The number of postal orders was 64,076,377, for the gross amount of £23,896,594. The receipts of the post office, exclusive of the telegraph service, were £11,465,370, and the expenses £8,080,873, leaving a net revenue of £3,384,497. The telegraph receipts of the post office were £2,835,749, and expenses £2,773,536, leaving a surplus of £62,213. The total receipts of the telegraph service, including the valuation placed on work done for the Government, were £2,879,794; the total expenses, including those paid by other departments, were £2,914,581. The interest on the capital invested is £298,888. There is thus a deficit on the operations for the year of £333,675. The number of messages sent during 1896 was 78,839,610, of which 66,436,549 were English, 8,095,581 Scotch, and 4,307,480 Irish. Important postal reforms adopted in 1897 are the free delivery of letters to every hamlet, and, as far as possible, to every house; the penny letter rate extended to 4 ounces, with a halfpenny rate for each additional 2 ounces, books to go at the same rate; the abolition of the sample post; the reduction, subject to the consent of the Postal Union, of foreign letter postage from 24d. to 2d.; and the free delivery of telegrams within 3 miles,

The Queen's Jubilee.-The diamond jubilee, marking the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria, was commemorated on June 22. The Queen, escorted by a gorgeous procession, went from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving was held, and then back to her palace through a circuit of decorated streets. Besides 14,000 British regulars, Asiatic, and colonial contingents took part in the parade. To every part of the British Empire the Queen-Empress dispatched the telegraphic message: From my heart I thank my beloved people. May God bless them!" The celebration was planned above all to demonstrate the power of the British Empire and the unity and loyalty of all its constituent members. Celebrations were held simultaneously in all the British colonies and dependencies from the Northwest Territories of Canada to Cape Colony and from Malta to New Zealand. President Krüger chose the occasion as an appropriate one for releasing two Uitlander rebels who had refused to sue for pardon. President McKinley sent a message to felicitate the English Queen on "the prolongation of a reign which has been illustrious and marked for advance in science, arts, and popular well-being.' Salisbury, in moving an address congratulating the Queen on "the longest, the most prosperous, and the most illustrious reign," spoke of it as a period marked by "a continuous advance in the frontiers of this empire, so that many races that were formerly alien to it have been brought under its influence, many who were formerly within its boundaries have been made to feel in some degree for the first time the full benefits of its civilization and its educating influence." He dwelt also on the great political change: "The impulse of democracy, which began in another century and in other lands, has made itself felt fully in our time, and vast changes in the center of power and the incidence of responsibility have been made almost imperceptibly without any disturbance or hindrance in the progress the prosperous development of the nation." Mr. Balfour, in the House of Commons, extolled the virtue of the Queen, an example to every citizen in

Lord

of