Another could well be devoted to the history of lake navigation, which it is no overstatement to pronounce the most impressive chapter in the history of the American merchant marine.

In this volume, however, but brief attention can be given to either.
The figures show how honorably our whole body of shipping compares in volume to that operated by any maritime people.

Our total registered shipping engaged in the fisheries, coastwise, and lake traffic, and foreign trade numbered at the beginning of 1902, 24,057 vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 5,524,218 tons.

In domestic trade alone we had 4,582,683 tons, or an amount exceeding the total tonnage of Germany and Norway combined, or of Germany and France.

Only England excelled us, but her lead, which in 1860 was inconsiderable, in 1901 was prodigious; the British flag flying over no less than 14,261,254 tons of shipping, more than three times our tonnage! It is proper to note that more than two-thirds of our registered tonnage is of wood.
[Illustration: THERE ARE BUILDING IN AMERICAN YARDS ] I have already given reasons why, in the natural course of things, this disparity between the American and the British foreign-going merchant marine will not long continue.