COMMERCE. The value of the total foreign trade of London has amounted for years past to considerably over1.000.000.000 a year. In 1901) it was about :31.300.000.000. The average annual tonnage of over-sea shipping amounts to more than 10.000.000 tons a year. The tonnage of the over-sea vessels entering and clearing in 1900 was 16.700.727 tons. In recent years Lon don. while practically holding its own in the amount of home products exported or com modities imported for domestic consumption. ha: lost a considerable part of its forwarding trade. The reason is chiefly because Ilambnrg. Rotter dam, Antwerp. Bremen. and Amsterdam. in the course of the large development of their shipping trade within the past fifteen years. have estab lished many connections with foreign ports that they formerly did not possess: consequently. they do not now rely so notch upon London for a part of their over-sea transportation. London. how ever, is still more thoroughly connected by direct lines of communieation with all quarters of the globe than any other port in the world: and its business is greatly augmented by the bet that its coasting trade with the other ports of Great Britain is about equal to that of all the other ports together.
Three-fourths of the great aggregate of Lon don's over-sea trade is imports. the exports being comparatively small. Th. re are several reasons fur this di-parity between the import and the export trade. In the first place. London is the largest nucleus for the consumption of fond-sup plies and many other commodities in the world. The amount of foreign supplies brought in for consumption in the Netropolitan District is greater than the total imports of many large seaports. Vegetables are brought in from as far away as Spain and the Canary Islands. Then London, the centre of the railroad system of the island, is the hugest distributing point for com modities purchased in the neighboring European countries for consumption throughout Great Britain. Nearly all British imports also that are of high value and small bulk come to London for distribution either inland or to foreign coun tries. London is the chief British market for most eolonkil wares, and some other foreign and colonial products. such as spices, indigo, cacao, jute, tin. hides, fur, ivory, precious stones, petroleum, and spirits. It is the largest market for tea and coffee, but is surpassed by Liver pool in imports of raw cotton, rice, and tobacco. .lore one-third of the entire British im port trade falls to London. It is second to
Liverpool in the export of British manufac tures; and other products, but controls more than one-half of the country's export forwarding trade.
The most important and bulkiest article among London's imports is wool, which is sent direct to the metropolis from Australia. the Cape of flood Mope, and Argentina, to be sold at auction at the Wool Exchange, the largest of the world's wool markets. Great quantities of the fibre are reshipped to the European mainland. and impor tant amounts are sent to the United States. The larger part of the foreign and colonial commodi ties reshipped from London go to other Euro pean ports.
INnusnuEs. None than 1,000,000 persons are engaged in manufacturing pursuits. Although London is not prei1minent in special lines of pro duction, as Birmingham, Leeds, and Sheffield are. il. is still the leading manufacturing city of the Kingdom. The industries are widely dis tributed through the metropolis, hut the great region of factories extends in a semicircle to the east and south of the City of London. from Clerkenwell through Spitalfields. Bethnal Green. Nile End, Rotherbithe, and Southwark to Lam beth; thus the Surrey side of the Thames. as well as the East End to the north of the river, is well represented in the manifold manufac tures of the metropolis. About 20,000 men. in round numbers, are engaged in making machin ery. 25.000 in,the manufaet tire of furniture, 30,000 in the printing industry. 80.000 in making clothes, and over COQ° in weaving silk. Wall-paper, glass. pottery, musical and surgical hist nummts, jewelry, clocks, watches, and guldsmithery are conspic uous for the quality and quantity of their prod uct, The leather. saddlery. and other leather wares of London, produeed chiefly on the south side of the Thames. have made a great reputa tion; and about 200 breweries turn out an as tonishing quantity of beer and ale. the national beverages. Most. of the breweries have sunk ar tesian wells and obtain an ample supply of pure water. Over 600.000 persons are employed in the building. fitting, and furnishing of houses. Lon don was the great shipbuilding centre in the days of wooden vessels; but now that iron and steel have largely supplanted wood, the industry is much reduced, as more northern ports have the advantage of being nearer to iron and coal. Hun dreds of other industries give employment to thousands of working people.