Expenditures of the Russo-Japanese war / by Gotaro Ogawa.

EFFECTS ON COMMUNICATIONS

233

for our use on a peace footing. The increase of vessels may
be seen from the foregoing table.
Before the war, our mercantile marine consisted of some
650,000 tons, but it swelled to 920,000 tons at the close of the
war, an increase of no less than 270,000 tons. In addition to
this, there was no small amount of chartered tonnage. The
release of commandeered vessels thus gave birth to the problem of a superabundance of ships. A keen competition ensued among the steamship companies engaged in the coastal
service, and the freight rates fell at one time by some 20 to 30
per cent as compared with I903, while the shipping traders
found themselves in a trying circumstance because of the rise
in the price of coal. At the same time, however, it must be
remembered that the surplus of vessels led to the opening of
many new lines and proved the cause of a great stride in our
shipping trade. For example, the Osaka Shosen Kaisha
organized the Hankow and Dalny lines; the Nippon Yusen
Kaisha, the Hankow and Siam lines; the Toyo Kisen Kaisha,
the South American line, besides an extension of its North
American line. Up to October, I906, tramp steamers were
also newly run on the South Sea, North and South American,
Hongkong, and Vladivostok lines, in all I4 ships with a gross
tonnage of 40,000 tons. Meanwhile, through the rapid
economic growth of this country after the war, the surplus
shipping was gradually absorbed, which marked a new epoch
in the development of our shipping business.