122 



COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



A summary of the total foreign commerce 

 of the leading commercial nations, comparing 

 the returns for 1878 (for 1879 in the cases of 

 Great Britain and the United States) with those 

 for 1875, showing the fluctuation in the trade 

 of each in the four (or respectively five) years, 

 is given by the Secretary of State in the volume 

 of Consular Reports, for the purpose of com- 

 paring the development of the international 

 trade of the United States of late with that of 

 other countries. In Austria, the total volume 

 of commerce increased from $422,806,000 in 

 1875 to $528,252,000 in 1878, an increase of 

 25 per cent., and the balance of trade changed 

 from $17,232,000 against her to $49,046,000 

 in her favor, a gain of $66,278,000. In Belgi- 

 um, the volume of commerce grew from $464,- 

 912,000 to $498,927,000 ; increase, 7 per cent. ; 

 the adverse balance increased from $31,786,000 

 to $69,559,000 ; loss, $37,773,000. China's to- 

 tal trade increased from $211,790,000 to $213,- 

 588,000, 1 per cent. ; the balance changed from 

 $3,162,000 in favor to $1,868,000 against; loss, 

 $5,030,000. The trade of France was $1,430,- 

 130,000 in 1875, and $1,419,708,000 in 1878 ; de- 

 crease, of 1 per cent., the favorable balance of 

 $64, 848,000 changing to an adverse oneof $192,- 

 228,000; loss, $257,076,000. Germany's com- 

 merce increased from $1,612,266,000 to $1,686, - 

 820,000, 4 per cent., the adverse balance from 

 $68,586,000 to $92,882,000 ; loss, $24,296,000. 

 Italian commerce fell off from $430,117,000 to 

 $397,177,000, decrease 7 per cent. ; the adverse 

 balance decreased from $35,530,000 to $1 1,698,- 

 000; gain, $23,832,000. Russian commerce 

 advanced from $639,160,000 to $703,862,000, 

 increase 10 per cent. ; the balance was altered 

 from $104,374,000 against to $35,248,000 in 

 favor; gain, $139,622,000. British trade de- 

 creased in volume from $3,165,665,000 in 1875 

 to $2,947,795,000 in 1879, 6| per cent. ; the ad- 

 verse balance growing from $428,397,000 to 

 $573,577,000; loss, $145,180,000. American 

 trade increased in the five years from $1,106,- 

 402,000 to $1,157,415,000, 4 per cent.; the 

 favorable balance from $12,074,000 to $265,- 

 859,000; gain, $253,785,000. 



The following is the statement of the mer- 

 chandise exports and imports in 1879-'80 : 



Exports of domestic merchandise $823,946,353 



Exports of foreign merchandise 11,692,305 



Total $835,038.658 



Imports of merchandise 667,954,746 



Excess of exports over imports of merchandise $167,683,912 

 Aggregate of exports and imports $1,503,593,404 



Compared with the previous year, there was 

 an increase of $125,199,217 in the value of ex- 

 ports of merchandise, and an increase of $222,- 

 176,971 in the value of imports. The annual 

 average of the excess of such imports over ex- 

 ports for ten years previous to June 30, 1873, 

 was $104,706,922; but for the last five years 

 there has been an excess of exports over im- 

 ports of merchandise amounting to $920,955,- 



387, an annual average of $184,191,077. The 

 specie value of the exports of domestic mer- 

 chandise increased from $376,616,473 in 1870 

 to $823,946,353 in 1880, an increase of $447,- 

 329,880, or 119 per cent. The imports of mer- 

 chandise increased from $435,958,408 in 1870 

 to $667,954,746 in 1880, an increase of $231,- 

 996,338, or 53 per cent. 



There was an increase in the value of the 

 exports of wheat, wheat-flour, and corn, as 

 compared with similar exports of the preced- 

 ing year, of $78,253,837, or 39 per cent. ; an 

 increase in the value of the exports of cotton 

 of $49,231,655, or 30'3 per cent.; an increase 

 in the value of the exports of provisions of 

 $10,184,592, or 8'7 per cent. ; and an increase 

 in the exports of live animals of $4,394,366, 

 or 38-3 per cent. There has also been a no- 

 ticeable increase in the value of the exports 

 of tallow, oil-cake, vegetable oils, seeds, clocks 

 and watches, hops, wool, and a few other com- 

 modities. The export trade in neat-cattle for 

 the eight months ending August 31st amounted 

 to $12,462,837, which was nearly double that 

 of the same period in 1879. During the year 

 breadstuffs constituted 35 per cent, of the value 

 of the exports of domestic merchandise; cot- 

 ton, 27 per cent. ; and provisions, 15 per cent. 



The imports of merchandise for the year ex- 

 ceeded such imports during any previous year 

 in the history of the country. The leading 

 articles, showing marked increase in quantity 

 or value imported, are coffee, hides and skins, 

 raw silk, and tea, all of which are free of duty, 

 and copper, manufactures of cotton, silk, and 

 wool, fruits, glass, iron and steel, lead, leather, 

 precious stones, leaf-tobacco, wool, and zinc. 

 The imports of unmanufactured wool increased 

 from 39,000,000 pounds in 1879 to over 128,- 

 000,000 pounds in 1880. The value of the 

 imports of railroad-bars of iron and steel in- 

 creased from $70,071 in 1879 to $4,952,286 in 

 1880. 



Of the total commerce of the United States 

 57 per cent, has been conducted on an aver- 

 age for the last ten years through the port 

 of New York. In 1879-'80 the share of New 

 York in the total was 58 per cent. ; in 1878- 

 '79 it was 55 per cent. The large imports 

 of 1879-'80 account for the relative increase 

 in the trade of that city. The imports of 

 New York, including coin and bullion, in 

 1879-'80, were $543,595,398; the exports, 

 $388,441,664 there was, therefore, an excess 

 of imports at that port of $155,153,734, while 

 the total commerce of the whole country shows 

 an excess of exports of $72,305,190. The fol- 

 lowing statement exhibits the values of the 

 leading classes of imports, with the aggregate 

 value of all other classes and the bullion im- 

 ports, entering through New York, the aggre- 

 gate imports of the other ports of the United 

 States, and the total imports of the United 

 States, with the quantities and values of spe- 

 cial articles for the port of New York, in the 

 year ending June 30, 1880: 



