336 



INDIA. 



the Suez Canal. The total value of the coasting- 

 trade, imports and exports, was 835,159,862 ru- 

 pees, exclusive of Government stores and treasure. 

 The overland trade had a total value of 118,410,- 

 481 rupees, the imports of merchandise by the 

 land frontiers being 64,148,758 rupees, and ex- 

 ports 54,261,723 rupees. 



In the year ending March 31, 1902, the imports 

 were 75,000,000 rupees more in value, and the ex- 

 ports, 165,000,000 rupees in excess of those of the 

 previous year, though prices were lower. Grain 

 imports decreased, owing to diminution of the 

 famine areas. There was a growth of the import 

 trade in cotton piece goods and yarn, copper, 

 silver, sugar, petroleum, matches, and cigarettes, 

 and in machinery, steel, coal, dyes, and other im- 

 ports for industrial purposes. Cotton goods from 

 Lancashire constitute over a third of the total im- 

 ports of India and a third of England's cotton 

 manufactures. The United States and the Con- 

 tinent of Europe furnish special classes of cotton 

 goods, but the amount compared with English im- 

 ports is small. The total imports of cotton manu- 

 factures in 1902 were 21,930,000 in value, 40 

 per cent, of the total imported merchandise. The 

 value of metals and metal manufactures was 8,- 

 769,000, 15 per cent of the total; and in steel, 

 which tends to supplant iron, England finds Bel- 

 gium a serious rival, and Germany one in hard- 

 ware and cutlery. Sugar imports were larger in 

 all the provinces except Burma. The average im- 

 ports of refined sugar from 1890 on were 2,358,000 

 hundredweight, 539,000 hundredweight of it boun- 

 ty-fed, till 1899, when the total imports rose to 

 3,765,000 hundredweight, the bounty-fed sugar to 

 1,510,000 hundredweight. In that year a counter- 

 vailing duty was imposed, and in 1900 the total 

 imports declined to 2,936,000 hundredweight ow- 

 ing to famine, the bounty-fed to 840,000 hundred- 

 weight. In 1901 the total rose to 4,842,000 hun- 

 dredweight, the bounty- fed to 1,740,000 hundred- 

 weight; in 1902 the total increased to 5,429,000 

 hundredweight, of which 2,850,000 hundredweight 

 was bounty-fed, 2,258,000 hundredweight from 

 Austria, and 577,000 hundredweight from Ger- 

 many, while cane-sugar from Mauritius, owing 

 to a less abundant crop, fell off from 2,085,000 

 hundredweight in 1901 to 1,759,000 hundred- 

 weight, which was still above the average. The 

 countervailing duty averaged Is. 6d. per hundred- 

 weight, yielding 270,000 of revenue to the Gov- 

 ernment. Before the sugar conference at Brussels 

 had concluded a compact to abolish bounties the 

 countervailing duties were increased to 4s. 4d. on 

 Austrian and 3s. lOd. on German sugars in order 

 to counteract the cartels and stimulate Indian 

 production. In Behar modern central factories 

 have been erected. Nine-tenths of the sugar con- 

 sumed in India is produced within its confines, 

 but methods of cultivation and manufacture are 

 an age behindhand. 



Petroleum, fourth in magnitude among imports, 

 was imported to the extent of 100,000,000 gallons, 

 the trade being partly speculative. Russia sent 

 84,000,000 gallons, an increase of 25 per cent.; 

 the United States less than 6,000,000 gallons, an 

 increase of 12 per cent. The production of crude 

 oil in Burma rose from 19,000,000 gallons in 1898 

 to 50,000,000 in 1901. German woolens, Austrian 

 and Belgium glass, and Austrian and German pa- 

 per are supplanting British, and aniline and aliz- 

 arine from Europe are displacing natural Indian 

 dyes. American manufactures of shoes, bicycles, 

 tools, hardware, sewing-machines, furniture, agri- 

 cultural implements, pumps, electrical machinery, 

 etc., are beginning to establish direct trade rela- 

 tions with India. The total exports of merchan- 



dise in 1902 were 16 per cent, more in value than 

 in the preceding year. The cotton factories were 

 busy again after a long period of inactivity. Jute 

 manufactures showed continued progress. Oil- 

 seeds were the leading export, amounting to 11,- 

 186,000, the trade having revived after several 

 years of depression. The linseed exports were 50 

 per cent, greater in quantity than in 1901, al- 

 though Argentine linseed competes now with 

 Indian. A heavy crop in the Punjab enabled 

 India to export four times as much rape-seed as 

 in the previous year. Earthnuts, after a series 

 of bad crops, were exported in large quantities, 

 and exports of cotton-seed increased from 225,- 

 000 to 2,036,000 hundredweight. The crops of 

 gingelly, poppy, and castor were also abundant, 

 but in 1902 the crops of oil-seeds were generally 

 poor. Rice exports increased rapidly till 1895, 

 but since then there has not been much surplus 

 for export, and 70 per cent, of what there is comes 

 from Burma. The wheat Harvest in 1901 was 

 poor except in Sind, which furnished the whole 

 of the export of 67,000 tons, and in 1902 the 

 harvest again averaged low. The jute-crop was 

 heavy and 14,755,000 hundredweight was ex- 

 ported, half of it to England and the rest to the 

 United States, France, and Germany. In 1902 

 the crop was poor, not much exceeding the re- 

 quirements of Indian mills, which manufacture as 

 much as the European mills. Jute and its manu- 

 factures taken together form the most important 

 of India's exports. Gunny-bags, over 230,000,000 

 in number, were exported to Australia, Great 

 Britain, China, the United States, Singapore, 

 Chile, and Germany, and 419,000,000 yards of 

 cloth, of which the United States took 273,000,000 

 yards. Exports of raw cotton amounted to 5,700,- 

 000 hundredweight, which went to Japan, Ger- 

 many, Italy, and China. Cotton manufactures 

 in Bombay recovered from a long depression, and 

 exports of yarn rose from 118,000,000 pounds in 

 1901 to 272*000,000 pounds in 1902, of which 95 

 per cent, went to China, constituting more than 

 half the requirements of the Chinese mills, while 

 Japan furnished a fifth and China the rest. The 

 raw skins exported went mainly to the United 

 States, hides to Germany and other countries, 

 leather and dressed skins to England. Poor sea- 

 sons and the competition of the cheaper drug of 

 western China reduce the exports of opium. The 

 indigo-crop was poor and the area in Bengal was 

 reduced two-fifths on account of the competition 

 of artificial indigo, but in Madras there was a 

 larger crop. Shipments, having averaged 148,000 

 hundredweight, declined to 102,000 hundredweight 

 in 1901 and less than 90,000 hundredweight in 

 1902. Exports of tea were 180,000,000 pounds, 

 10,000,000 pounds less than in 1901, with lower 

 prices. Overproduction brought on a crisis which 

 the planters try to overcome by reducing the out- 

 put of common grades, improving qualities by 

 finer plucking, and promoting the demand both 

 in India and in foreign countries, where Ceylon 

 tea makes more headway at present. India ex- 

 ports coal to Ceylon, Aden, and Singapore, and 

 only Indian coal is used now on the railroads. 

 Shellac goes to the United States in greater quan- 

 tity than to any other country. Coffee, small in 

 quantity, though good, goes to England and 

 France, but the price declined. Tobacco is grown 

 and exported in increasing quantities in the man- 

 ufactured and the raw state. Exports of hemp 

 increase. Pepper advances in quantity and value. 

 Manganese ore is preferred to the Russian, and the 

 foreign demand is growing. Exports of raw silk 

 increased in 1902, and France took over half. 

 Silk goods, wool, shawls, rugs, and teak show a 



