THE BALANCE OF INDEBTEDNESS, 1918-28 203 
OREDITS. 
Year. 
1919-20 
1920-21 
1921-22 
1922-23 
1923-24 
1924-25 
1925-26 
1926-27 
1027-98 
Commo- 
dity 
sports. 
137-936 
121-307 
117-791 
111-451 
112-349 
156-999 
140-006 
129-848 
135-207 
Re- 
2 rnOrts. 
5-254 
5-387 
5-278 
3-119 
3-325 
3-088 
3-067 
2-989 
1-988 
Specie 
and 
sullson. 
3-634 
5-465 
1-328 
3-300 
3-813 
2-043 
5-489 
2-303 
2.740 
Ships’ 
stores 
& coal. 
2-688 
3-561 
3-163 
2-887 
2-614 
2-716 
2773 
2-781 
2.825 
BAWRA 
divi- 
dends. 
77 
9-9 
5-9 
5-3 
2.0 
Total 
Credits. 
162-512 
143-420 
140-900 
126-657 
127-401 
164-845 
151-335 
147-921 
149-048 
Difference 
‘minus sign 
for Debit). 
66-139 
—6-395 
42-628 
6-741 
-0-819 
20-770 
13-141 
—-2-123 
15-011 
Excess of Credits 155-093 
II. Freight, Insurance, and Tourist Expenditures. 
The calculation of freight charges paid by Australia on inward 
cargoes is a comparatively easy matter for the post-war years. 
In the first place a satisfactory freight index has been computed 
for the years since 1920 by the Chamber of Shipping of the 
United Kingdom.! Secondly, the comparative data for all 
British lines trading to Australia has been assembled for the 
years 1926, 1927, and 1928 by the Oversea Shipping Representa- 
tives Association. These two groups of data make possible a 
far more accurate assessment of the cost of shipping services to 
Australia than for any previous years. 
Taking, first, the statistics for all British lines represented in 
the report referred to, the following estimates may be extracted. 
The figures are arranged in two groups, viz. (i) Cabin-cargo ships, 
and (ii) Cargo ships. Dividing the total tonnage carried by these 
ships for the three-year period by the number of voyages made, 
the average cargo is found to be about 14,000 ship tons. The 
average annual invoice value of merchandise imported for the 
three years amounts to £150 millions in round figures, and the 
average value of an inward cargo was estimated to be £397,000 
in 1926. The total freight for eighty-one round voyages was £4-123 
millions, or £51,540 per voyage. Now the proportion of inward 
bo outward cargo was 534 to 518, but some deduction has to be 
made for intermediate ports. Therefore £21,000 may be regarded 
sheltered” industries.’ —ZEconomic Journal, 1928, p. 276, in a review of Taussig’s 
International Trade. 
1 Annual Report, 1928-9.