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.