292 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The total exportation of specie and bullion 

 was less than that for the preceding year by 

 $35,625,840, while the exports of domestic 

 goods have increased in value $26,298,147. 



Importations of merchandise decreased to 

 the amount of $72,264.246 as compared with 

 those of the preceding fiscal year, and of 

 $106,665,152 as compared with the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1874. 



There was an increase in the value of the 

 importations of a few articles, chiefly raw 

 products and necessaries admitted free, as fol- 

 lows : Barks, medicinal, and cork-wood, $611,- 

 540; coffee, $6,197,509; dye-woods in sticks, 

 $611,377; jute, raw, $371,490; silk, raw, 

 $920,202. 



There was a decrease in the value of the 

 importations of chemicals, drugs, and dyes, 

 of $2,081,317; gums, $444,061; hides and 

 skin*, $5,501,195 ; India-rubber and gutta-per- 

 cha, crude, $611,831; paper-materials, $916,- 

 699; tea, $3,149,537; tin, in bars, blocks, and 

 pigs, $510,923 ; wood, unmanufactured, $488,- 

 904; malt-liquors, $580,653; cotton-manufact- 

 ures, $5,012,803; fancy goods, $1,046,852; 

 flax, and manufactures of, $2,157,196 ; fruits, 

 $624,180; glass and glass-ware, $998,167; hair, 

 $507,844; hemp, raw, $862,763; iron, and 

 manufactures of, $5,365.877 ; gunny-cloth, $1,- 

 048,497; lead, $836,672; leather of all kinds, 

 $1,944,357; opium, $231,887; precious stones, 

 $919,379; flax-seed, $2,367,516; silk-manu- 

 factures, $634,956; soda, and salts of, $1,181,- 

 082: sugar and molasses, $18,735,958; tin, and 

 manufactures of, $2,950,848; tobacco, and man- 

 ufactures of, $688,447; watches, etc., $826,- 

 116; wines, spirits, and cordials, $1,174,986; 

 wood, and manufactures of, $1,015,006; wool, 

 unmanufactured, $2,823,642 ; wool, manufact- 

 ures of, $11,400,896. 



There was an increase in the exports of the 

 following articles, the values being stated in 

 currency : 



Indian-corn, $8,808,343 ; wheat, $8,775,036 ; 

 wheat-flour, $721,039 ; copper, in pigs, bars, 

 and sheets, $2,055,859 ; cotton, raw. $2,020,- 

 637; cotton-manufactures, $3,651,096; leather, 

 and manufactures of, $2,744,919; oil-cake, 

 $636.285 ; mineral oil, crude, $814,250 ; refined, 

 $1,725,277 ; sperm, $519,232 ; shot and shell, 

 $507,452; bacon and hams, $11,051,843; re- 

 fined sugar, $2,967,205; tallow, $1,042,175; 

 timber, sawed and hewed, $1,105,510. 



The exports of domestic gold and silver in 

 excess of the imports were $34,102,010, as 

 against $62,956,412 for the previous year. 



There was a decrease in the value of the ex- 

 portations of the following articles: 



Agricultural implements, $368,923 ; brass, 

 and manufactures of, $743,655 ; clock?, and 

 parts of, $255,323; copper-ore, $645,107; 

 fruits, $818,216 ; manufactures of hemp, $1,- 

 823,804; pig-iron, $307,699; steam-engines, 

 locomotive, $435,080 ; machinery, $1,264,467; 

 muskets, pistols, rifles, and sporting-guns, 

 $1,835,270 ; manufactures of lead, $326,583 ; 



rosin and turpentine, $585,796 ; beef, $1,011,- 

 652; butter, $397,500; cheese, $1,389,520; 

 lard, $471,037 ; spirits of turpentine, $252,476 ; 

 leaf-tobacco, $2,504,166 ; shooks, staves, and 

 headings, $1,283,223. 



There was little change in the proportion of 

 the foreign carrying-trade transacted in foreign 

 vessels, about seventy-two per cent, of imports 

 and exports, during the last fiscal year, having 

 been carried in foreign vessels as against seven- 

 ty-four per cent, for the preceding year, and 

 seventy-two per cent, for the fiscal year 1874. 



The Register of the Treasury reports the 

 total tonnage of vessels of the United States to 

 be 4,279,458 tons, a decrease of 574,274 tons 

 from that of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1875. 

 This decrease is principally caused by the drop- 

 ping of canal -boat tonnage exempt under the 

 act of Congress approved April 18, 1874. 



The actual decrease is believed to be about 

 583,611 tons, this amount being the excess of 

 the losses over the gains during the last fiscal 

 year ; but this decrease is reduced to 574,274 

 tons by corrections of the balances outstanding. 



The legislation of Congress, relative to the 

 currency, embraced two measures of impor- 

 tance. The first was the passage of the follow- 

 ing act, approved April 17, 1876 : 



Be it enacted, etc., That there be and hereby is ap- 

 propriated out of any money in the Treasury, not 

 otherwise appropriated, the sum of $163,000, to pro- 

 vide for engraving and printing, and other expenses, 

 of making and issuing United States notes, and the 

 further sum of $18,000, to provide tor engraving and 

 printing national-bank notes, to be disbursed under 

 the Secretary of the Treasury. 



SECTION 2.' That the Secretary of the Treasury is 

 hereby directed to issue silver coins of the United 

 States of the denomination of 10, 20, 25, and 50 

 cents of standard value, in redemption of an equal 

 amount of fractional currency, whether the same be 

 now in the Treasury awaiting redemption, or wher- 

 ever it may be presented for redemption ; and the 

 Secretary of the Treasury may, under regulations 

 of the Treasury Department, provide for such re- 

 demption and issue by substitution at the regular 

 sub-treasuries and public depositories of the United 

 States, until the whole amount of fractional curren- 

 cy outstanding shall be redeemer!, and the fractional 

 currency redeemed under the act shall be held to be 

 part of the sinking-fund provided for by the exist- 

 ing law, the interest to be computed thereon as in 

 the case of bonds redeemed under the acts relating 

 to the sinking-fund. 



The other measure was the passage of a 

 joint resolution which provided : 



That a commission is herehy authorized and con- 

 stituted, consisting of three Senators, to he ap- 

 pointed by the Senate, three members of the House 

 of Kepresentatives, to be appointed by the Speaker, 

 and experts not exceeding three in number, to be 

 selected by and associated'with them, with authori- 

 ty to determine the time and place of meeting, and 

 take evidence, and whose duty it shall be 1. To 

 inquire into the change which has taken place in 

 the relative value of gold and silver, the causes 

 thereof, and the effect thereof upon trade, commerce, 

 finance, and the productive interests of the country, 

 and upon the standard value in this and foreign 

 countries; 2. Into the policy of the restoration of the 

 double standard in this country, and, if restored, 

 what the relation between gold and silver coin 



