204 THE BALANCE OF INDEBTEDNESS, 1918-28 
as a fair average for the freight upon the average inward cargo 
for the year 1926. This proportion of £21,000 upon £397,000 
gives the estimate that freight charges amounted to 5-3 per cent. 
of the value of cargo carried. But expenses in Australian ports, 
other than cost of fuel, amounted to 21 per cent. of the gross 
freight which leaves the net freight charge at 4:2 per cent. of 
Tarte XLIV 
Freight Charges on Imports, 1920-8 
Year. 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
1924 
1925 
1926 
1927 
1928 
Recorded 
value of 
ymports. 
£m. 
98-974 
163-802 
103-066 
131-758 
140-618 
157-143 
151-638 
164-717 
148-117 
Freight 
as per- 
centage 
of cargo 
(estimated). 
Price 
index. 
1,363 
1,038 
959 
1,061 
1,029 
1,008 
1,000 
992 
a72 
Freight 
index. 
3,671 
1,343 
1,060 
1,014 
4,067 
908 
1,000 
993 
021 
Freight 
as per- 
centage 
of cargo 
(correcied). 
& 
54 
4.6 
4.0 
43 
3-8 
4-2 
4-2 
2.9 
Cost of 
inward 
freight. 
£m. 
11-084 
8-845 
4-743 
5-271 
6-047 
5-971 
6-369 
6-918 
b-776 
the invoice value of the typical cargo.l The method used by the 
customs authorities for arriving at the value of imports for 
revenue purposes adds 10 per cent. to the invoice value, and the 
figures should, strictly speaking, be reduced by one-eleventh. 
But, since the value of the typical cargo was obtained on the 
basis of the recorded figures, and the freight figures published 
by the steamship companies were reckoned as a percentage of 
the recorded value of imports, the customs figure has been 
retained in the next table. A lower cargo value and a higher 
L At first sight it is somewhat surprising that the cost of freight does not differ 
more widely for the Canadian and Australian trade. Rates of freight, however, are 
not determined on mileage alone, since the number of ports and the expenses in 
loading and discharging ships are important considerations for the shipowner. 
Conditions in the Canadian and the Australian trade are, in fact, vastly different. 
Ships sailing from Britain to Australia usually carry good cargoes of manufactures 
and both the outward and homeward voyages contribute fairly to the cost of the 
round trip. Cargoes to Canada, on the other hand, are usually very small, and 
a higher rate proportionately to distance is charged than for the Australian voyage. 
This seems to explain the relatively small difference between this figure and that 
of 3-5 per cent. obtained by Viner for Canada.