COMPARISON OF FIGURES 185 



The totals in Groups I. and IV. are not quite correct 

 for these groups, since in the Annual Statement of the 

 Board of Trade the items are grouped differently, 

 mahogany being included under I. For our purpose 

 the above lump totals are, however, sufficiently ac- 

 curate. A comparison of the above figures with those 

 given in the table analyses for the six months August 

 1913 to January 1914 and August 1914 to January 1915 

 shows : 



(i) That the totals of imports for the period com- 

 prising the six months August 1913 to January 1914 

 are slightly higher in value than those for the other six 

 months of the twelve — i.e. £22,345,682 as against 

 £20,379,318. 



(2) The decrease for the first six months of the war 

 amounts to practically a little under a third of the 

 total imports of the year, supposing the decrease 

 were to be maintained during the following six 

 months. 



(3) That importing countries, unaffected directly by 

 the war — i.e. non-belligerent countries — have not yet 

 taken full advantage of the favourable market con- 

 ditions existing in this country to increase their supplies 

 to any very large extent, with the exception perhaps 

 of Norway and Sweden. This apparent inaction in 

 the face of so favourable an opportunity is probably 

 due, in part at least, to the shortage in freight vessels 

 already commented upon. 



A great variety of different industries and trades in 

 this country are dependent upon the various classes of 



