COMMERCE, INTERNATIONAL. 



173 



from the British colonies suddenly increased 

 in the two years 1871 and 1872 from 1 1 to 17 

 millions sterling, the average before the year 

 1871 having been 11 millions, and since that 

 year is| millions per annum. The average 

 value per bale declined from 23} in 1865 and 

 21J in I860 to 15} in 1869, and then rapid- 

 to 26 1 in 1872; it has since declined 

 to 18}, where it has stood for the last three 

 years. The prices in the latter part of 1878 

 were about 18 per cent, below that figure. 

 The imports into Europe from the chief sheep- 

 grazing countries which export have been for 

 the last eight years as follows, in thousands of 

 bales : 



The diminution of 49,000 bales in 1878 was 

 occasioned by droughts, but it did not have the 

 effect to raise prices ; for, although the quan- 

 tities absorbed in the European trade were 

 larger than in 1877, the large surplus stocks 

 remaining from the preceding year prevented 

 any deficiency being felt. The decrease in the 

 exports of woolen fabrics from Great Britain 

 has been from 32 millions sterling in 1872 to 17 

 millions in 1877, two thirds of the diminution 

 being in the quantities exported, and the re- 

 maining third in the diminished value of cloth, 

 which was not compensated by any propor- 

 tionate reduction in the cost of raw wool. 



SILK. Since the silk-crop of Europe has 

 fallen away from 7 down to 3 million kilo- 

 grammes per annum, in consequence of the 

 silk-worm disease, the factories of Europe have 

 been obliged to make up the deficiency by in- 

 creased imports of raw silk from the East. 

 The great factories of Lyons depend almost 

 entirely on Oriental silk. The silk-crop of Eu- 

 rope and Western Asia amounted in 1875 to 4, 

 in 1876 to 1-7, and in 1877 to 2-6 million kilos. 

 Of the product of the last-named year, France 

 furnished half a million, and Italy (mainly 

 raised from cocoons imported from Japan) 1 

 million kilos ; Spain furnished a small quanti- 

 ty ; the rest came from Persia, Syria, and Asia 

 Minor. The total is not as great as it should 

 be, owing to the failure to include the crops 

 of Austria, Greece, Algiers, and other produc- 

 ing lands. The importations of raw silk from 

 Eastern Asia in 1875 were 5*6 million kilos ; in 

 1876, 5-2 million ; and in 1877, 5'7 million. In 

 the latter year the proportion furnished by 

 China was 4 - l million, by Japan 0'9 million, 

 and by British India 0'7 million. 



The exports from France have diminished at 

 a rapid rate within the past few years. The 

 decline has been from 477 million francs in 

 1873 to 415, 377, and 270 million, respectively, 



in the three following years, and illustrates the 

 great decrease in the consumptive capacity of 

 all countries. A part of this shrinkage, how- 

 ever, is to be explained by the loss of the trade 

 of the United States for all except the most 

 expensive silk manufactures, owing to the de- 

 velopment of a protected native silk industry. 

 The exports of silks from France to the United 

 States, who used to be one of her best custom- 

 ers, have decreased from 59 million francs in 

 1871 to 34 million in 1877. 



COAL AND IRON. The coal trade of Great 

 Britain exhibits some abnormal and unexpect- 

 ed features, and has passed through an event- 

 ful period. In 1872 there was a great activ- 

 ity in the mining industry, owing to the high 

 prices of iron and coal ; the output increased 

 6J million tons over that of 1871. In 1873 

 the wave of prosperity rose still higher, al- 

 though, owing to labor conflicts, the produc- 

 tion surpassed by only 3 million tons that of 

 1872. In 1874 the contraction had set in, arfd 

 there was a decrease of nearly 2 million tons in 

 the production of the mines. Yet in 1875, with 

 an increasing depression in all other branches 

 of industry, the production of coal began again 

 to increase, with a vast stride of 6| million 

 tons, and in 1876 a further increase of nearly 

 1 million tons occurred. In 1877 the out- 

 put was still further increased by H million 

 tons. This augmented volume of trade was 

 only achieved by the gradual reduction of wa- 

 ges to the lowest endurable living rate, and 

 was the result of the great influx of laborers 

 who had been attracted into this branch of in- 

 dustry by the high wages of 187l-'73. But 

 in the last couple of years the aggregate pro- 

 duction was increased, while large numbers of 

 men have abandoned the trade; that is, the 

 quantity mined per man has been increasing. 



The total production, export, and home 

 consumption of coal in Great Britain for the 

 twelve years 1866-'77 were as follows, in mil- 

 lions of tons : 



In France, Belgium, and Germany, the coal- 

 mining interest, owing to the contracted con- 

 sumption of iron, is languishing from the ef- 

 fects of diminishing demand and sinking prices. 



The world's production of crude iron ap- 

 proaches the figure of 16 million tons per an- 

 num, of which 12 millions are produced in Eu- 

 rope and 6-6 millions in Great Britain alone. 

 The production of the different iron-producing 



