COMMERCE. 



27 



Cemmerce. 



The first year 

 of Geo III 



Tonnage of Merchant 

 Vessels cleared out- 

 wards. 



•- 

 < 



1788 



1789 

 1790 

 1791 

 1792, 

 f!793 

 1794.! 

 1795! 

 1796' 

 1797J 

 1793 



L 1 799; 



English. 



1,411,689 

 1,515,021 

 1.124.912 

 1,511 246 

 1,561,158 

 1,240,202 

 1.382,166 

 1.145,450 

 1 254,621 

 1.103,781 

 1 319,151 

 1,302,551 



Value of our 



~ ! > Exports 

 Foreign. 



128,997 17,472,408 

 103,722 19,159 471 

 148,91920,120.121 

 184,72922,731,995 

 175,405 24.905,200 

 187,032 20.390.180 

 218 07726,748 083 

 382,567 27,123 339 

 478.35630,518 913 

 396,27128,917,010 

 365,71933,591,777 

 414,774l33,6t0,357 



Nett amount 

 of our Cus- 

 toms. 



3,780,770 

 3.710,340 

 3 782.822 

 3,952,507 

 4.027,230 

 3.978,645 

 3,565,117 

 3,569,360 

 3,661,757 

 4,111,10.5 

 5 599 087 

 7,538.85.5 



The first year 

 of Geo. Ill 



War. 1800 

 War. 1801 

 Peace. 1802 

 1803 

 1804 

 1805 

 1806 

 1807 

 1 



1809 

 1810 

 1811 





Tonnage of Merchant 

 Vessels cleared out- 

 wards. 



English 



1 .445 271 

 1,345,621 

 1,626,966 

 1,453,066 

 1,463.286 

 1,495,209 

 1,486,302 

 1 424,103 

 1,372 810 

 1,531,152 

 1,624,120 

 1 507.353 



Foreign. 



685051 



804,88 : 

 461,723 

 574.542 

 587 849 

 605,^2 i 

 568,170 

 631.910 

 282,145 

 699 750 

 ,138,527 

 696,232 



Value of our 

 Exports. 



Nett amount 

 of our Cus 

 toms. 



38. 120,120 

 37 786,857 

 41,411,966 

 31.438 495 

 ;4 451,367 

 34,954-845 

 36,527 185 

 34,566,571 

 34.554 268 

 50,301,763 



6,799.755 

 5,895,711 

 6,087 569 

 7,179,621 

 8,357 871 

 9,084 459 

 9 733,814 

 9,207735 

 8797 823 

 10,289,807 



Commerce. 



Having thus seen the history of the progressive aug- 

 mentation of our exports, we are next to observe the 



proportions in which they are distributed to different 

 countries. 



Custom-house Return of the Official Value of the Exports from Great Britain to the Continent of 

 Europe, to the West Indies, to America, to Africa, and to Asia, respectively, from 1805 to 

 1809, inclusive. 



Continent of Europe 

 West India Islands . 

 Continent of America 



Africa . 



Asia 



1805. 



£ 15.465,430 



4,096,196 



8,067 671 



990-625 



1,669 214 



1806. 



£13.216,386 



5,339 612 



10,754,140 



1,433,153 



1,936,954 



1807- 



12,689 590 



5.433,267 



9,455 028 



797,741 



1,884,438 



1808. 



£11 280,490 



7,507,575 



8 369,472 



532,842 



1,933,225 



1809. 



4:23.722 615 



8 755 193 



10.570.100 



703,180 



1,647,927 



In both Tables, the value inserted is not the real, 

 but the official value ; that is, a valuation of merchandise 

 at a given sum per bale, trunk, cask, or other package, 

 according to a scale laid down for the regulation of the 

 custom-house officers above a century ago. Since the 

 imposition of convoy duty, which is a tax ad valorem, 

 the commissioners of the customs are in possession, by 

 the declarations of the merchants, of the real value of 

 exported goods, and find it in general about 60 per 

 cent, above the official computation. Still the old form 

 is retained, and is useful as exhibiting a correct state- 

 ment of the progressive increase, in quantity, of our ex- 

 ported merchandise. The following extract, from a 

 custom-house report, exhibits a contrast between the 

 two modes of valuation, in the case of an important 

 branch of our commerce. 



Official and Real Value of the Exports from Great 

 Britain to the Continent of Europe, from 1805 to 

 1809, inclusive. 



Official Value. 

 1805 . ... £15,465,430 



1806 13 216 386 



1807 12 689 590 



1808 11.280 490 



1809 23,722,615 



Real Value. 

 £20 435 940 

 17547,243 

 15.420,514 

 13 983,123 

 27,190,337 



Official and Real Value of the Imports into Great Bri- 

 tain from the Continent of Europe, from 1805 to 

 1809, inclusive. 



Official Value. Real Value. 



180.5 .... £10,008,61-9 £21,744,762 



1806 . 8,197,256 17,855,524 



1807 7,973,510 17,442,755 



1808 4,210,671 8,905,099 



1809 9,551,857 19,821,601 



The discrepancy between the two modes of valuing, 

 is evidently much smaller in the case of continental ex- 

 ports than imports ; a discrepancy which is chiefly to 

 be attributed to inequalities in the alteration of the 

 value of particular articles since the formation of the 

 Customhouse Table. It is more particularly owing to 

 the circumstance, that coffee, which is now very fre- 

 quently exported at L. 5 per hundred weight, is valued 

 in the Table in question so high as L. 14, the culture 

 of that plant being at that time very little understood. 



We are next to direct our attention to the question B a i ance of 

 of the balance of trade ; — a point on which, until late- trade, 

 ly, our merchants and ministers were accustomed to 

 lay great stress. It is still a current notion, that the 

 profit attendant on foreign trade is realized in the shape 

 of a clear balance of payments made to us by the rest 

 of the world. The customhouse books have been re« 



