sum of 78,000,000l., is composed almost exclusively of food and raw materials. The main augmentation in the American exports in the interval from 1868 to 1878 consists of food and the raw materials of industry. The exportation of the principal manufactured articles is still on an insignificant scale. and The following table gives the comparative value of British the exportations of manufactured articles from Great Britain and the United States for 1876. exports of manufactured articles for 1876. Mr. Plunket states, in his commercial report, that, speaking in round numbers, it may be said that more than one-half of the exports from the United States are made up of breadstuffs, mineral oils, provisions, and tobacco leaf; and if we add to them the value of the export of raw cotton (187,662,425 dollars), we find that the five together represent about four-fifths of the total amount exported in 1876. Of the total domestic exports in 1877, less than 11 per cent. consisted of manufactured articles, and they showed an increase of only 377,856 dollars (75,571.) over the previous year. American exports of home produce, 1868-78. The following table of the values of the principal commodities of domestic production, the exportation of which from America greatly increased from June 30, 1868, to June 30, 1878, is taken from the Economist:' 6 Commenting on the figures relating to manufactured articles, M. Leroy Beaulieu observes that they are comparatively trifling in amount, affording no indication, as the 'pessimist' writers would have us believe, that the United States are on the point of inundating Europe with their manufactured goods. Mr. Drummond states in his recent report that the United States cannot compete with us in heavy machinery, that the increased exportation is confined to the smaller articles. The increase in the cotton manufactured goods exported in 1878, compared with 1877, was only a quarter of a million sterling. Since 1851, the value and percentage of agricul tural products has always been more than 50 per cent. of the total domestic and foreign exports from the United States. In 1878 the percentage amounted to 81.98. the manufac tured in 1873 The Commissioners of Customs give a tabular state- Imports of ment of the manufactured goods imported into United Kingdom in the years 1873 and 1877. The goods most important items are cotton, silk, and woollen and 1877. goods, glass, iron, and leather manufactures. The results are set forth in the following table: The increase of our imports is considerable, but we can show a still larger increase in our own exportations of the same commodities. dominance export Mr. Newmarch has shown, in a clear and compre- Our prehensive tabular statement, the conspicuous superiority in the of the United Kingdom over every other manufacturing trade. country in respect to the exportation of articles of native production and manufacture. The subjoined table, with Mr. Newmarch's commentary on the figures, has been extracted from his able paper, recently read before the Statistical Society, on the progress of the Foreign Trade of the United Kingdom, 1856-77. Imports (General) and Exports (Special or of Native Production and Manufacture), Four Periods, 1860-75. Totals per of Population. Five Leading Protectionist Countries. (From Stat. Ab. For. Cts., iv. p. 31.) Head 32,000,000 25,000,000 74,000,000 210,000,000 37,000,000 24,000,000 50,000,000 271,000,000 60,000,000 54,000,000 87,000,000 295,000,000 8. 1875 178,000,000 237,000,000 84,000,000 85,000,000 115,000,000 374,000,000 100 105 8. 140 30 186 196 58 240 26,000,000 27,000,000 66,000,000 135,000,000|| 34,000,000 32,000,000 28,000,000 165,000,000 44,000,000 42,000,000 57,000,000 190,000,000 1875 . 155,000,000 176,000,000 50,000,000 60,000,000 104,000,000 225,000,000 3. 8. 50 16 66 66 84 80 1188 20 24 28 17806 43 18 8. 30 121 54 142 24,000,000 33,000,000 38,000,000 90,000,000|| Increase 64,000,000| Note.-As regards Germany, I find, on inquiry of Mr. Giffen, that there are as yet no official figures for 1860-65-69. It will scarcely be said that on the face of these figures the United Kingdom suffers in any particular when compared with any one of the four countries for which the imports and exports are given at each of the four dates during the sixteen years; or indeed with all the four countries (France, Austria, Russia, and United States) in combination; in other words, the 30,000,000 people in the United Kingdom, aided by Free Trade, bear most advantageous comparison with the 150,000,000 relying upon protection. Thus: Increase in Imports, 1860-75. Four foreign countries, France, Austria, 206,000,0007. = = 26s. per head Russia, and United States. United Kingdom . 164,000,0007.1008. Increase in Exports, 1860-75. If the several countries be compared singly with the United Kingdom, as in fairness they should be, seeing that the population is about equal (Russia excepted), and the climate better, and the natural resources greater than the United Kingdom, not one of them exhibits progress in any degree approaching that of the United Kingdom.' merated Mr. Newmarch proceeds to examine the statis- Unenutics of the supplementary imports and exports-that articles. is to say, the large number of new and miscellaneous articles which grow up year by year, and, for the sake of conciseness and uniformity, have to be entered in the official tables under the title of Unenumerated Articles.' |