Q 413-564. General note.

Basic governmental sources of historical merchant-marine and water-traffic statistics include American State Papers: Class IV, Commerce and Navigation, vols. 1 and 2, for 1789-1823; the various annual issues of Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, for 1821-1946, originally issued by the Register of the Treasury and then by the Treasury Department, later by the Department of Commerce and Labor, and finally by the Department of Commerce; the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Navigation, 1884-1923, the issuance of which followed a similar succession beginning with the Treasury Department; annual issues of Merchant Marine Statistics, 1924-1965, originally prepared by the Department of Commerce as successor to the statistical section of the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Navigation, and issued annually by the Bureau of Customs until 1965, supplemented by records of the U.S. Coast Guard, and the various annual issues of the Annual Report of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Corps of Engineers. The Statistical Abstract of the United States, a secondary source, also contains historical merchantmarine and water-traffic statistics. The Statistical Abstract has been issued by the following agencies: 1878-1902, Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department; 1903-1911, Bureau of Statistics, Department of Commerce and Labor; 1912, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce and Labor; 1913-1937, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce; 1938 and thereafter, Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.

Congressional documents also contain historical series on the merchant marine, foreign commerce, and related fields. For 17891882, a particularly valuable collection of documents was found in the library of the Department of Commerce, bound together under the title Decadence of American Shipping and Compulsory Pilotage. The documents included are as follows: Foreign Commerce and Decadence of American Shipping, H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 111, 41st Congress, 2d session; Causes of the Reduction of American Tonnage and the Decline of Navigation Interest..., H. R. Report No. 28, 41st Congress, 2d session; Foreign Commerce and the Practical Workings of Maritime Reciprocity, H. R. Ex. Doc. No. 76, 41st Congress, 3d session; Causes of the Decadence of Our Merchant Marine; Means for Its Restoration and the Extension of Our Foreign Commerce, H. R. Report No. 342, 46th Congress, 3d session; American Shipping, H. R. Report No. 1827, 47th Congress, 2d session; American Merchant Marine, H. R. Report No. 363, 48th Congress, 1st session; Ship-Building and ShipOwning Interests, H. R. Report No. 750, 48th Congress, 1st session; and reports of lesser interest, H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 37 and Report No. 1848, both of the 48th Congress, 1st session.

Since 1921, publications of the Maritime Commission and its predecessor agencies should also be consulted, particularly the reports entitled, Ocean-Going Merchant Fleets of Principal Maritime Nations, Iron and Steel, Steam and Motor, Vessels of 2,000 Gross Tons and Over, issued quarterly or semiannually, 1921-1941, and Employment of American Flag Steam and Motor Merchant Vessels of 1,000 Gross Tons and Over, issued quarterly, 1923-1941. Finally, the Bureau of the Census (and its predecessor Census Office) published the results of five censuses of water transportation, for the years 1880, 1889, 1906, 1916, and 1926 (see general note for series Q 414-505, below).

Q 413. Persons entering the United States by ship, 1933-1970.

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances, various issues.

Data include persons entering by documented vessels, excluding ferryboats.

Q 414-505. General note.

Statistics on documented merchant vessels and shipbuilding are from Merchant Marine Statistics, various annual issues, supplemented by records of the U.S. Coast Guard. Many are from the 1936 issue. Some of the estimates from the 1936 report have been modified, however, as explained below in table II. The text statements, and the correction of errors found in the published tables are based on reference to the primary sources, as follows: For 1789-1823, see American State Papers: Class IV, Commerce and Navigation, vols. 1 and 2 (published in 1834); for 1821-1892, see annual issues of Commerce and Navigation of the United States; for 1884–1923, see issues of Annual Report of the Commissioner of Navigation; for 1924-1945, see annual issues of Merchant Marine Statistics.

Of the Maritime Commission reports cited in the general note for series Q 413-564, above, the first, Ocean-Going Merchant Fleets..., provides data for each leading maritime nation on ocean-going merchant vessels of 2,000 gross tons and over, showing number and tonnage of such fleets classified by age, speed, size, boilers, engines, draft, etc., by major vessel type. The second, Employment of American Flag Steam and Motor Merchant Vessels..., shows for seagoing merchant vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over the number and tonnage of such vessels employed in U.S. foreign and domestic trade, arranged by major vessel type, ownership (government and private), and area of operation.

Census statistics on water transportation are not presented here. For reports of these censuses, see Tenth Census Reports, vol. IV, Report on Agencies of Transportation, 1880; Eleventh Census Reports, Report on Transportation Business, part 1, "Transportation by Water"; Transportation by Water, 1906; Water Transportation, 1916; and Water Transportation, 1926.

The first census, for 1880, was limited to steam vessels. The report of this census includes a detailed history of steam navigation in the United States with separate discussion and single-year construction statistics by geographic region, from the beginning to 1880. (See T. C. Purdy, "Report on Steam Navigation in the United States," Tenth Census Reports, 1880, vol. IV.) The report of the shipbuilding census, also taken the same year, includes a detailed technical history of shipbuilding in all aspects, with particular reference to sailing craft. Single-year figures are shown for New England shipbuilding, 1674-1714, classified by type of vessel and place where built. (See Henry Hall, "Report on the Ship-Building Industry of the United States," Tenth Census Reports, 1880, vol. VIII.)

The censuses of 1889 and 1906 included all classes of vessels. However, the 1889 census included fishing vessels for the Pacific Division only and the 1906 census excluded fishing vessels. The censuses of 1916 and 1926 provided data for all U.S. vessels and craft of 5 tons net register and over, documented and undocumented, whether propelled by machinery or sails, or unrigged, except that certain specified types of vessels were excluded. (See Bureau of the Census, Water Transportation, 1926, p. 5.) While the census reports of 1850 and 1860 contain some statistics relating to water transportation, these statistics apparently were collected by other agencies.

Data shown here are for documented merchant vessels only, ex