COMMERCE, INTERNATIONAL. 



171 



port duties on tobacco, which ' question was 

 being agitated at that time. 



The monopoly of tobacco in Italy was car- 

 ried into effect in the year 1869. The manu- 

 facture was made the exclusive privilege of the 

 society called the AVyiY, in consideration of a 

 rent paid annually to the state, with a certain 

 share in the profits as an additional royalty. 

 During the first six years of the monopoly the 

 domestic crop of tobacco increased from 8,673,- 

 669 kilos in 1870 to 4,421,418 in 1875 ; and its 

 value from 1,968, 779 to 2,439,948 francs. The 

 consumption of tobacco per capita is - 708 kilo, 

 of the value of 5*47 francs. The sales increased 

 from 14,252,619 kilos in 1868, the year before 

 the establishment of the monopoly, to 17,658,- 

 847 in 1874 ; tho next year they fell off to 17,- 

 001,000 kilos, and have been gradually increas- 

 ing again since then. The total receipts from 

 the sales of 1876 were 134,053,132 francs, of 

 which 41,816,795 francs represented the total 

 cost of the materials, manufacture, and sales, 

 and 92,236,337 was net profit. The share of 

 the Regie in this profit was 5,093,827 francs ; 

 the rent paid in to the Government amounted 

 to 79,484,891 francs ; the share of the state in 

 the profits was 5,093,827 francs, besides 2,563,- 

 792 francs which proceeded from supplement- 

 ary taxes. The home production has not kept 

 pace with the increase in the importations from 

 abroad : in 1871 the domestic growers fur- 

 nished about 28 per cent, of the total quantity 

 required by the Regie, and in 1875 not more 

 than 19 per cent. Italy has therefore become 

 a large consumer of foreign tobacco. The Re- 

 gie's purchases abroad were 9,341,511 kilos in 

 1871, 14,299,250 in 1872, 12,837,021 in 1873, 

 15,148,423 in 1874, 19,393,609 in 1875, and 18,- 

 375,031 in 1876. The largest part of the for- 

 eign supply is purchased in the United States, 

 whence about 75 per cent, of the imports were 

 derived in 1871, and over 80 per cent, in 1874, 

 1875, and 1876. The imports of tobacco from 

 the United States for the several years were as 

 follows: 1871, 6,948,145 kilos, value 7,669,511 

 francs; 1872, 10,549,405 kilos, value 13,902,- 

 493 franc* ; 1873, 10,470,078 kilos, value 11,- 

 974,690 francs; 1874, 12,865,131 kilos, value 

 15,544,532 francs; 1875, 15,472,440 kilos, value 

 25,039,686 francs; 1876,15,060,020 kilos, value 

 20,634,238 francs. 



COTTON. In the cotton trade and industry 

 the year 1878 was one of unprecedented de- 

 pression. The extension of manufacturing fa- 

 cilities in all commercial countries during the 

 period of inflated values and over- stimulated 

 consumption before 1873 necessitated a fierce 

 struggle for trade in the subsequent period of 

 diminished consumption. The short grain- 

 crops in Europe and the famines in India and 

 China lessened the power of consumption, and 

 occasioned a great fall in tho prices of the manu- 

 factured stock ; while no corresponding decline 

 took place in- the price of raw material, owing 

 to the short supply of cotton. The deficiency, 

 compared with 1877, amounted at one time to 



700,000 bales; while raw cotton declined in 

 average price in Liverpool ^d. to Jrf. per Ib. 

 below the level of 1877;' the prices for yarns 

 in Manchester declined for the twelve months 

 1-fad. to 1-ffd., and manufactured goods \d. 

 to l^fd. per Ib. The British imports for 1878 

 amounted to 3,015,840 bales, an increase of 

 225,920 bales American, with a decrease of 

 189,580 bales Brazilian, 109,300 Egyptian, 

 and 90,110 East Indian; the net decrease for- 

 the year was 182,250 bales. The average im- 

 port price in 1878 was 6^^. per Ib., against 

 6K in 1877, 6K in 1876, 7^rf. in 1875, 9Ad. 

 in 1873, 8d. in 1871, and llfytf. in 1869. The 

 annual consumption of Great Britain for the 

 last ten years, in millions of pounds, was as fol- 

 lows: 1878, 1,176; 1877, 1,237; 1876,1,274; 

 1875, 1,230; 1874, 1,266; 1873, 1,246; 1872, 

 1,175; 1871, 1,205; 1870, 1,071; 1869, 939. 

 The quantities and values of the British ex- 

 ports of cotton manufactures for ten years 

 were as follows, in millions and tenths of mil- 

 lions : 



The following table presents an estimate of 

 the total value of the cotton goods produced 

 in Great Britain and the cost of the raw cotton 

 consumed each year from 1867 to 1878 inclu- 

 sive, the difference giving the balance left for 

 wages, interest, profits, and all the other ex- 

 penses of manufacture, the figures representing 

 millions and fractions of millions of pounds 

 sterling : 



From the above it appears that the labor and 

 capital engaged in the production of the raw 

 material have borne the burden of reduced 

 values in a somewhat greater measure than the 

 capital and labor engaged in its manufacture, 

 and that the cost of the material in the first 

 four years of the twelve was 46'4 per cent, of 



