COMMERCE (FOREIGN) OF THE UNITED STATES. 



127 



of machines, tools, and utensils ; or on account 

 of the excellence and solidity of their work- 

 manship, as in the case of leather, muslin, etc. ; 

 or they are produced by some mechanical pro- 

 cess which has superseded manual work, and 

 are therefore cheaper and often superior, as in 

 the case of watches, and many other articles ; 

 or they are staple American products improved 

 by mechanical means, such as tobacco, turpen- 

 tine, starch, drugs, etc. There is a large trade 

 with the neighboring countries of the Ameri- 

 can Continent, for which the United States are 

 favored by their geographical position. The 

 imports from all the countries of North and 

 South America, and domestic exports to them, 

 were, for the last four years, in millions of dol- 

 lars : 1874 imports 224, exports 110; 1875 

 imports, 206, exports 97; 1876 imports 184, 

 exports 94; 1877 imports 198, exports 96. 

 To the same countries were sent foreign ex- 

 ports to the amounts of 10, 13, 8, and 9 mill- 

 ions in these years. A great portion of the 

 imports consist of coffee (of which Brazil alone 

 furnished 40 million dollars' worth in 1876), 

 and of sugar about 50 millions' worth of un- 

 refined sugar and molasses coming from Cuba 

 alone the same year. There are also many raw 

 materials imported from the countries of Span- 

 ish America, which are improved in American 

 factories. The exports and imports to and 

 from the Dominion of Canada average 35 and 

 81 million dollars respectively for the last four 

 years. There is a very large export trade over 

 the border to Canada which is not reported in 

 the American Government returns, the main 

 portion of which consists of manufactured arti- 

 cles. This unreported trade in 1876, according 

 to Canadian reports, amounted to 10 million 

 dollars, 8 millions of which was in finished arti- 

 cles. The Canadian returns of imports from the 

 United States for 1875 and 1876 make them 50 

 and 46 million dollars. The imports from Span- 

 ish America, or all the countries on the Amer- 

 ican Continent and the West India Islands, aver- 

 age 172 millions for four years, and the exports 

 to those countries only 64 millions. Nearly all 

 of the exports are finished manufactures, a good 

 part of them consisting of rude and bulky wares, 

 such as soap, candles, household furniture and 

 utensils, hardware, and other articles such as 

 America does not export to other countries; 

 they consume, also, finer American manufac- 

 tures. The commercial relations of the United 

 States with the different states are of very dif- 

 ferent degrees of intimacy. In the foreign 

 trade of Cuba and Porto Rico they take the 

 lead ; with nearly all of the continental coun- 

 tries their share is secondary. Over two-thirds 

 of the trade is in the hands of the English, 

 while each of the commercial nations of Eu- 

 rope bears away some portion of the remain- 

 der. England's trade with the entire Western 

 Continent amounted, in 1874, to over 1,000 

 million dollars, nearly one-third of her total 

 commerce ; and her trade with Spanish Amer- 

 ica amounted to 362 million dollars above 



one-third of the total commerce of the United 

 States. The total foreign trade of the coun- 

 tries on the American Continent lying south 

 of the United States amounts to about 520 

 million dollars a year, in which the United 

 States share to the extent of some $112,350,- 

 000. Their share in the navigation is much 

 less, not over one-third of their own commerce 

 with the Spanish-speaking countries being car- 

 ried under the American flag. The American 

 trade with Asia and the Pacific islands resem- 

 bles that with Spanish America, in that the 

 imports largely exceed the exports, and that 

 these imports consist principally almost ex- 

 clusively in this case of articles of consump- 

 tion ; and also in the fact that the exports con- 

 sist almost entirely of finished products. In 

 the Australian trade alone is the balance in 

 favor of the United States. In the trade of 

 China and Japan the balance is very largely in 

 favor of those countries, although England near- 

 ly balances her large imports with the products 

 of her manufactories ; and if the trade of the 

 British colonies with China and Japan is 

 coupled with that of Great Britain, there is a 

 large balance on the other side. America takes 

 a considerable share in the carrying-trade of 

 those countries, and in the whole navigation of 

 the Pacific Ocean. Their share in the navi- 

 gation of Japan is nearly 50 per cent, of the 

 whole ; that of England, 30 per cent. ; their 

 proportion in the Chinese carrying-trade is 

 not half as great as that of England, but more 

 than that of all other countries together. Of 

 the exports of Japan, 37i per cent, consisted 

 of tea shipped to the United States in 1876. 



The interest of the United States in the total 

 foreign trade of Great Britain has been, for the 

 last few years, about 11 per cent. About 9 per 

 cent, of the British exports go to America, the 

 chief articles being iron, woolens, cottons, and 

 linens ; in all of which there has been a steady 

 and serious decline since 1872, iron manufac- 

 tures falling off from 44 million dollars in that 

 year to 18 millions in 1875, and cotton goods 

 from 29 to 16 millions. The imports into Great 

 Britain from the United States, forming about 

 13 per cent, of the entire import trade, consist 

 chiefly of cotton, wheat, bacon, and hams ; In- 

 dian corn and cheese have largely increased 

 within a few years. The chief articles which 

 show a steady progress from 1871 to 1875 are 

 wheat (89 to 60 million dollars), bacon and 

 hams (9 to 26 millions), Indian corn (13 to 23 

 millions), cheese (9| to 13| millions), lard (6 to 

 7 millions), oil-cake (4| to 6 millions), lumber 

 (3 to 5 millions), petroleum (3 to 4 millions), 

 skins and furs (2 to 3 millions) hides and leath- 

 er (If to 8 millions), turpentine, and fish. In 

 1864 and 1865 the balance in the trade with 

 England was against the United States. The 

 balance in favor of the United States has since 

 1866 been steadily growing, and amounted, in 

 1875, to 215J million dollars nearly half of 

 the enormous surplus of imports over exports 

 in Great Britain for that year. Among the 



