§ Mr. Donnerasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will state the number and tonnage separately of effective United Kingdom vessels of 1,000 tons and over, omitting sailing ships, tankers and non-trading ships available for the carriage of food, raw materials and troops, in 1914, and separately in 1937?
Mr. StanleyThere are no figures available which enable a comparison to be made in the form stated in the question, nor is it possible to distinguish between ships available for the carriage of food, raw material and troops. The following are the best estimates which can readily be made of the number and tonnage of United Kingdom vessels of over 1,000 tons gross, excluding sailing ships, tankers and non-trading ships:
Numbers Gross Tons. 1914 … … 4,282 16,812,000 1937 … … 2,658 13,628,000