FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



259 



For the companies which, have not reported 

 the amount of their stocks and bonds held 

 abroad, estimates have been carefully prepared 

 by the best authorities on this subject. The 

 character of these statements and the repre- 

 sentations which accompanied them is such as 

 to show that the aggregate given above, name- 

 ly, $243,000,000 of stocks and bonds, is not an 

 over-estimate. 



MISCELLANEOUS SECURITIES (PARTIALLY KNOWN AND 

 PARTIALLY ESTIMATED). 



Municipal bonds $7,500,000 



Canal bonds 5,003,967 



Mining shares and bonds 10,000,000 



A careful estimate of other forms of foreign 

 indebtedness on November 1, 1869, gives the 

 following additional elements : 

 Capital lying in the United States in conse- 

 quence of the comparatively low rate of 

 interest in Europe credits, bills of ex- 

 change, etc $50,000,000 



Cuban moneys temporarily transferred in con- 

 sequence of the revolution 25,000,000 



Foreign capital invested in mortgages of real 



estate, etc 25,000,000 



RECAPITULATION. 



State bonds, $100,000,000 



Railway bonds 130,000.009 



Railway shares 113,000,000 



Mining bonds and shares 10,000,000 



Municipal bonds 7,500,000 



Miscellaneous bonds and shares 5,000.000 



Capital temporarily invested 50,000,000 



Cuban moneys 25,000,000 



Real-estate mortgages, etc 25,000,000 



Total 7465,500,000 



Adding $1,000,000,000 of Federal securities 

 held abroad, as before estimated, we have, as 

 the total of the present foreign indebtedness 

 of the United States, the sum of $1,465,500,000 ; 

 on which, at an average of 6 per cent., an an- 

 nual payment of interest accrues to the amount 

 of $87,930,000 ; and of which $80,000,000 may 

 be estimated as paid regularly. 



But enormous as is this sum, the process of 

 incurring indebtedness still continues as active- 

 ly as ever. The account of the United States 

 with foreign countries for the fiscal year end- 

 ing June 30, 1869, may be exhibited substan- 

 tially as an adverse foreign balance for 1868- 

 '69, as follows : 



Imports of merchandise, gold value $417,371,765 



Exports (gold values) $275,611,591 



Reexports, etc 10,907,753 



286,519,344 



$130,852,421 

 Less excess of foreign goods, in bond, 1869 



over 1868 14,702,079 



Adverse balance 1868-'69, merchandise ac- 

 count $116,150,342 



MOVEMENT OF SPECIE AND BULLION. 



Exports $42,915,966 



Reexports 14,222,414 



Total $57,138,380 



Imports 19,654,776 



Loss of specie and bullion $37,483,604 



If we suppose the excess of specie and bul- 

 lion exports to have been devoted exclusively 

 to the liquidation of balances incurred on the 

 merchandise account, the remaining balance 

 on this account to be settled for in some other 

 manner would be $78,666,738. 



To this sum must be added the following 

 other items : 



Obligations for interest (paid), estimated. . . . $80,000,000 

 Excess of freights carried in foreign bottoms 24,000,000 

 Expenditures of Americans in foreign coun- 

 tries 25,000,000 



The following table exhibits the proportions 

 of the total trade of the country for each year, 

 1859-1869, inclusive, carried in American and 

 in foreign vessels, respectively, wHth the gain 

 to the United States or to foreign nations from 

 the excess of freights carried in each year : 



IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND REEXPORTS. 



Assuming that the sums chargeable to smug- 

 gling and undervaluation of imports are coun- 

 terbalanced by the undervaluation of exports, 

 the sum total of the adverse balance of indebt- 

 edness of the United States to foreign coun- 



* Excess of American over foreign. t Partly estimated. 

 % American gain. 



tries will, at the present time, probably aver- 

 age about $210,000,000 per annum. 



To meet and settle this constantly-increasing 

 and adverse balance, there would seem to be, 

 under the present condition of prices and cost 

 of production in the United States, but one re- 

 source, viz., to remit certificates of indebted- 



