Trade Progress 1850-1940 

from
DANIEL R. HEADRICK
The Tentacles of Progress:
Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism, 1850-1940.
Oxford University Press ( 1988)

                           CONTENTS                                .
Figure 1   Lengths of the Seven Longest Rail Networks, 1845-1940
Table  1   World Trade and Industrial Production, 1820-1948
Table  2   Comparative Railways Lengths, 1845-1940 (in kilometers) 
Table  3   Comparative Railroad Densities in 1935 (in kilometers
	     of track per 1000 square kilometers)
Table  4   Number of Passengers, 1871-1939 (in millions)
Table  5   Number of Passenger-kilometers, 1882-1939 (in millions) 
Table  6   Net Tons of Goods Carried, 1871-1939 (in thousands)
Table  7   Net Ton-Kilometers of Goods Carried, 1882-1939 (in millions)
Table  8   Submarine Cables, British and Non-British, 1887-1908

Figure 1. Lengths of the Seven Longest Rail Networks, 1845-1940

Table 1.1 World Trade and Industrial Production, 1820-1948

			World 
	   World 	Industrial
Period     Trade	Production
1820-1840  +2.81%	+2.9% 
1840-1860  +4.84	+3.5 
1860-1870  +5.53	+2.9 
1870-1900  +3.24	+3.7 
1900-1913  +3.75	+4.2 
1913-1929  + .72	+2.7 
1929-1938  -1.15	+2.0 
1938-1948   0   	+4.1

Table 3.1 Comparative Railways Lengths, 1845-1940 (in kilometers) 

Year   USA     Russia  Canada   India  Germany  France  Britain
1845    7,456    144      26      -     2,143     875   3,931
1850   14,517    501      106     -     5,856   2,915   9,797
1855   29,569   1,049a  1,411    325    7,826   5,035  11,744
1860   49,286   1,626   3,323   1,542  11,089   9,167  14,603
1865   56,462   3,842   3,605   5,655  13,900  13,227  18,439
1870   85,167  10,731   4,212   8,637  18,876  15,544  21,000
1875  119,243  19,029   7,768  11,751  27,970  19,357  23,365
1880  186,111  22,865  11,635  15,764  33,838  23,089  25,060
1885  258,302  26,024  17,337  20,662  37,571  29,839  26,720
1890  334,979  30,596  22,537  27,227  42,869  33,280  27,827
1895  375,416  37,058  25,895  32,007  46,500  36,240  28,986
1900  416,461  53,234  28,684  40,396  51,678  38,109  30,079
1905  493,728  61,085  33,153  46,084  56,739  39,607  31,456
1910  566,099  66,581  50,579  52,767  61,209  40,484  32,184
1915  629,466  65,100  73,759  59,585b 62,091  36,400  32,650c
1920  654,309  71,600  82,354  61,957  57,545  38,200  32,707
1925  672,613  74,500  86,902  64,707  57,716  42,100  32,849
1930  691,811  77,900  91,062  70,565  58,176  42,400  32,632
1935  674,664  84,400  92,005  72,126  58,841  42,600  32,450
1940  653,356  86,400d 90,979  72,144  61,940d 40,600  32,094

Notes: (a) 1853; (b) 1915-16 and every five years thereafter; (c) approximately; (d) 1939.
Sources: For India Morris D. Morris and Clyde B. Dudley, "Selected Railway Statistics for the Indian Subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), 1853-1946-47" in Artha Vijnana 17, no. 3 (September 1975): 193-96. For Canada: M. C. Urquhart and K. A. H. Buckley, eds., Historical Statistics of Canada (Cambridge and Toronto, 1965), pp. 528-32. For the United States: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970 (Washington, D.C., 1975), pp.728 and 731. For Europe: B. R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics, 1750-1970 (New York, 1975), pp. 581-88.

Table 3.2 Comparative Railroad Densities in 1935 (in kilometers of track per 1000 square kilometers)

Germany 157 
Britain 133 
France	77.6
US	72.1 
India 	16.1
Canada	9.2
Africa 	2.4 
USSR 	3.8 

Table 3.3 Number of Passengers, 1871-1939 (in millions)

					   Russia/
Years    India  France  Germany  Britain   USSR
1871-74   22.0  111.2    	   416.6      24.0a 
1875-79   35.1  142.1    	   526.6      28.5b 
1880-84   58.6  191.8    	   636.2      37.3c
1885-89   92.1  223.6    358.5d    715.2     39.4
1890-94  123.0  287.8    453.3e    839.6     49.8
1895-99  147.0  374.9    699.0     995.5     76.6
1900-04  188.0  415.8    922.2   1,151.3    116.6
1905-09  276.6  454.6  1,290.4   1,219.1    148.8
1910-14  392.2  475.8  1,681.5f  1,315.1f   214.4
1915-19  443.1  345.2 			    310.8
1920-24  545.6  684.0  2,441.3g  1,295.0    116.0
1925-29  609.0  762.6  2,032.0   1,042.9    277.0
1930-34  515.4  710.0  1,516.0     809.0    630.8
1935-39  536.4  558.8  1,783.0h    866.6  1,098.8

Notes: (a) 1871-73; (b) 1875-76; (c) 1872-74; (d) 1888-89; (e) 1890-92; (f) 1910-13; (g) 1922-24; (h) 1936-38.
Sources: Morris and Dudley, pp. 206-10; Mitchell, pp. 601-12.

Table 3.4 Number of Passenger-kilometers, 1882-1939 (in millions) 

Years         India      France      Germany   Russia/USSR
1882-84        4,879      6,895       7,400
1885-89        6,475      7,469       8,700
1890-94        8,281      9,162      12,120
1895-99        9,425     11,482      16,400      10,200a
1900-04       12,275     13,360      21,740      14,600
1905-09       17,591     15,220      29,720      20,200
1910-14       23,497     17,080      38,875b
1915-19       27,781     12,200
1920-24       30,713     26,560                  12,600
1925-29       33,353     27,860      47,520      24,200
1930-34       28,482     26,360      35,940      68,800
1935-39       29,473     23,100      48,200c     82,900

Notes: (a) 1897-99; (b) 1910-13; (c) 1935-38.
Sources: Morris and Dudley, pp. 206-10; Mitchell, pp. 601-12.

Table 3.5 Net Tons of Goods Carried, 1871-1939 (in thousands)

						    Russia/
Years        India   France    Germany   Britain    USSR
1871-74      4,231    51,593             181,851    21,418a
1875-79      7,755    62,890             207,003
1880-84     14,460    84,718             252,664    45,818b
1885-89     20,601    79,052             272,506    55,150
1890-94     26,996    96,180   218,965c  308,474    76,181
1895-99     34,525   109,600   301,589   372,368   106,027d
1900-04     45,351    83,200   378,816   435,869   166,000
1905-09     58,011    99,600   492,261   493,496   200,000
1910-14     73,972   117,800   613,064   533,418e  163,000f
1915-19     84,644    75,300   364,350              91,000
1920-24     92,768   154,000   358,700   318,292    49,000
1925-29    111,723   205,600   499,540   302,588   136,000
1930-34    101,529   175,800   368,760   272,984   270,000
1935-39    120,299   143,600   516,800g  284,767   491,000

Notes: (a) 1872-76; (b) 1882-84; (c) 1888-92; (d) 1895-98; (e) 1910-13; (f) 1910 and 1913-14; (g) 1935-38.
Sources: Morris and Dudley, pp. 214-18; Mitchell, pp. 589-600.

Table 3.6 Net Ton-Kilometers of Goods Carried, 1882-1939 (in millions)

				       Russia/
Years      India    France   Germany   USSR
1882-84    4,443    10,797   16,300
1885-89    5,561    10,096   19,000
1890-94    6,901    12,184   23,800
1895-99    8,491    13,700   30,600    30,600a
1900-04   11,964    16,000   38,000    42,200
1905-09   15,566    19,100   49,400    52,100
1910-14   22,939    22,300   63,100b   64,800c
1915-19   32,133    19,300             52,300
1920-24   30,515    30,200   53,llld   20,700
1925-29   33,302    39,000   70,000    60,500
1930-34   30,079    34,100   52,800   166,200
1935-39   35,687    28,800   76,300e  339,800

Notes: (a) 1897-99; (b) 1910-13; (c) 1910 and 1913-14; (d) 1922-24; (e) 1935-38.
Sources: Morris and Dudley, pp. 214-18; Mitchell, pp. 589-600.

Table 4.1 Submarine Cables, British and Non-British, 1887-1908 

        British 	Non-British
Year    Kilometers %	Kilometers %    Total
1887	149,269    70    64,948    30 	214,217 
1894	172,465    63   100,137    37   272,602 
1901 	225,795    63   132,342    37 	358,137
1904	248,265    60   163,766    40   412,031
1908	265,971    56   207,137    44   473,108

Sources: Maxíme de Margerie, Le réseau auglais des câbles sous-marins (Paris, n.d. [1909?]), p. 36. Pierre Jouhannaud, Les cables sous-marins, leur protection en temps de paix et en temps de guerre (Paris, 1904), pp. 31-32.