Some typical charges for the year 1835 in the port of Liverpool were as follows :

Pilotage British vessels, outward, 4 shillings per foot; inward 4 shillings per foot and up to 9 shillings for maximum distance.

Towage 100 h.p. tug from Dock to NW Lightship, 14 guineas. 40 h.p. tug from Dock to NW Lightship: 8 guineas. Inward charges slightly less.

Light dues Vessels from overseas I penny per ton of register admeasurement.

Dock dues Varying for distance from overseas. Maximum from Pacific, 3 shillings per ton. Minimum home trade, 3 pence per ton.

It will be seen from these figures that the savings in tonnage dues from having an overloaded and unsafe ship were hardly worthwhile, but it was the old tale of getting something for nothing, and the growing practice of marine insurance did not help.

Of these items, pilotage rates were based on the ship's draft at so much per foot, so that the deep-draft ship was actually at a disadvantage. This was a source of much dissatisfaction among the pilots, who complained that many foreign ships were increasing in length and tonnage but not draft and were still paying thc old rates. They tried unsuccessfully to have the rates changed from footagc to tonnage in 1854 and 1861. Tugboat rates were based on the distance towed and the power of the tug, which could be anything between 40 and 100 h.p. in the early days. Here again tonnage had no effect other than physical size affecting the choice of tug. Light dues and dock dues were based on the ship's tonnage.

They were vigorously opposed and called schemers, agitators and revolutionists, this being a time of much social unrest, but eventually they were able to bring about a change by 1836, whereby the internal cubic capacity of the ship was calculated on a reasonable mathematical basis using internal cross-sectional areas, amidships and at onesixth the length from each end of deck; which areas by a simple formula including the length and depth were converted into tons of capacity at 92.4 cu. ft per ton. This system of measurement was referred to as the New Measurement and was in use until 1854 when a much more accurate assessment of a ship's actual internal volume was initiated which gave tonnage capacity on the basis of 100 cu. ft per ton, which is still the basis today. A disadvantage or rather an inconvenience of both of the latter systems of tonnage measurement lay in the fact that measurements had to be made over certain members of the ship's internal structure. This meant that accurate detailed structural drawings had to be made before the ship was built in order to arrive at a specific tonnage. This was beyond the capability of quite a good number of otherwise competent builders, lid for this reason they continued to quote prices for new vessels on the Jld measure (Builder's Measure), as also did shipowners when selling or chartering. Such vessels would have their official taxable tonnage assessed by whatever authority ruled in their first port ofloading.

Although this new freedom, in killing the old excuse for a bulky ship, was said to have been the major impetus in improved design, the advantage gained for foreign-going British ships only applied to the homeward end of the voyage.