‘ Vol. VIII. No. 91. 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
[July, 1902.] 177 
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL 
RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — The Board of Trade Returns of British foreign 
trade in May are fairly satisfactory, there being an increase of £411,258 on 
the total of imports and exports as compared with May of last year, when the 
number of working days was the same. The imports were valued at 
^43,353,705, showing an increase of £926,946, or 2*1 per cent. This 
increase was spread over all classes of articles, except living animals for food, 
chemicals, raw materials for textiles, and raw materials for sundry industries. 
Among the last the falling off mainly occurred in wood, which declined in 
value from £1,903,444 to ,£1,297,752, and in quantity from 749,501 loads to 
540,690 loads. In materials for textile industries there was a decrease of 
20 per cent, in the quantity of cotton imported, and of 18*4 per cent, in its 
value ; Egypt and Brazil sent larger consignments, but those from India and 
the United States were much smaller. In sheep’s wool, too, there was a decrease 
of over 1 2 per cent., both in quantity and value, the British colonies sending 
less, though Belgium and France sent more. As to cereals, there was a very 
large increase in wheat, which rose in value from £1,676,698 to ,£2,893,824, 
or 72*5 per cent., and in quantity from 4,938,400 cwt. to 8,354,061 cwt. 
(69*1 per cent.) ; the United States, Canada and Argentina were mainly 
responsible for the larger consignments. Wheat flour fell off over 19 per 
cent., both in quantity and value; barley increased 21 ‘6 per cent, in the 
former respect, and 25*2 in the latter; oats fell off 28*2 per cent, and 10 per 
cent. ; while Indian corn increased in value from £894,157 to £1,019,682, 
the rise in quantity being much less. Rice more than doubled in amount, 
but its value only increased 267 per cent. In refined sugar there was a big 
drop of 39*5 per cent, in quantity and 49*9 per cent, in value, but raw sugar 
rose 54*6 per cent, in amount, its value, however, being fractionally smaller. 
Unmanufactured tobacco also increased largely, rising in value from £131,360 
to £197,836, or 50*2 per cent, though its value was only 36*9 per cent, 
better. The largest movement of all was shown by nitrate of soda, which 
increased 210U per cent, in quantity and 236*4 per cent, in value. The 
exports of British and Irish produce declined 2*1 per cent, in value, from 
£23,336,662 to £22,831,974. This decrease is more than covered by coal 
alone, which was less in quantity by 417,628 tons (9*7 per cent.) and in value 
by £674,237 (22*4 per cent.). Iron and steel improved substantially, 
gaining 6*5 per cent, in quantity and 14*8 per cent, in value. Machinery 
also improved from £1,637,804 to £1,854,429, or 13*2 per cent. New 
ships sold to foreigners were more by £17,734- Cotton yarn and cotton 
piece-goods were both more in quantity but less in value, the increases being 
7*7 and 1*6 per cent, respectively, and the decreases 1*0 and 2*8 per cent. ; 
of the piece-goods the Philippine Islands, China, Japan and British South 
Africa took more, but less w r as sent to Turkey, Morocco, Persia, Colombia 
and Argentina. In woollen and worsted yarns there w*as an increase in 
quantity of 10*3 per cent., but a decrease in value of n*8 per cent., while in 
woollen and worsted tissues there was a decrease in both respects. Chemical 
manures improved 16*9 per cent, in amount and 20*7 per cent, in value; 
and in soda-compounds the improvement w*as 26*7 and 17*5 per cent, in the 
two respects. The re-exports of colonial and foreign merchandise were valued 
at £5,256,747, against £6,056,229, the decrease thus being £799,482. 
The conclusion of peace in South Africa necessitated a revision of the 
provisions of the Budget. The original estimates were, it will be remem- 
bered, for a revenue of £152,935,000, and an expenditure of £184,469,000. 
This latter sum included an item of £17,750,000 for contingencies, which 
has now been dispensed with. Instead, £750,000 has been added for 
Constabulary in South Africa, provision has been made for a grant of 
£250,000 in aid of the West Indies, and the sinking fund of £4,640,000, 
which was suspended, has been allowed to stand. 
Colonies. — A proclamation was issued at Pretoria on June 9th, 
substituting for the 5 per cent, tax on the net profits of mines imposed by 
the Transvaal Volksraad, a tax of 10 per cent, on the net produce obtained 
front the working of claims, mynpachts, and other gold-bearing grounds in 
the Transvaal colony. This net produce is to be taken as the value of the 
gold produced after deduction of the cost of production and of the sums 
allowed for exhaustion of capital, as provided in the proclamation. The 
output of gold from the Witwatersrand mines which have so far re-started 
crushing was 138,602 oz. of fine gold in May last; in the preceding month 
the amount was 119,588 oz. In New South Wales the output was 16,865 oz> > 
compared with 17,032 oz. in May of last year; in Queensland the amount 
was 77,900 oz. ; in Victoria the yield was 66,150 oz., an increase of 
5,672 02. In Western Australia the output was 171,813 oz., obtained from 
151,538 tons of ore ; in May of last year the amount of gold was 147,395 0Zt 
and of ore treated 129,885 tons. New Zealand’s yield was 48,157 oz., 
compared with 36,457 oz. last year. 
The following table shows the fluctuations which have occurred in 
certain Colonial Government securities during the last three months 
28th April. 
28 th May. 
30th June. 
Canada 3 per cent. 
102^-103! 
1034-104 
102 -1024 
Cape 3 per cent. 
9l\~ 97# 
98 - 984 
97#- 97 t 
Natal 3 per cent. 
95 - 96 
96|- 97! 
97 ~ 97a 
New S. Wales 3 per cent. . 
95#— 9 6 l 
95 " 95a 
95#- 95# 
New Zealand 3 per cent. 
95V- 96 
95#- 96 
96 - 964 
Queensland, 3 per cent. 
95#~ 9 6 i 
95#- 9 6 i 
94#" 95 
South Australia 3 per cent. . 
95 ~ 95i 
96 - 964 
95 4“ 95# 
Tasmania 3^ per cent. 
1034-104! 
1044-1054 
1034-1044 
Victoria 3 per cent. 
97#- 97# 
98J- 98I 
97#- 97# 
West Australia 3 per cent. 
(May-No v.) 
93§“ 94i 
94i- 95i 
94f- 95# 
India. — The reports of most of the Indian railways for the second half 
last year are now available. 
According to 
the Economist 
the figures, 
reduced to a common basis at the rate of 15 rupees to £1, show that 
there was an increase in passenger receipts of £2 15,094, while in merchandise 
the improvement was only £25,932 ; indeed, of the 13 railways, seven have 
to report a falling-off in goods traffic. The gross receipts showed a total 
expansion of £281,713. Most of the lines were able to secure an increase 
in their net earnings, the aggregate of which was £3,497,274, against 
£3,248,479 in the same period of 1900, and also to reduce the proportion 
of gross revenue spent in working expenses. 
The fluctuations which have occurred in the stocks of certain of the 
more important lines are shown in the following table 
29th April. 
29th May. 
30th 
Jure. 
Bengal and North Western 
i3°-i34 
130-! 34 
129- 
-133 
Bengal-Nagpur Gua. 4 per cent. . 
104-108 
105-109 
105- 
-109 
Bombay, Baroda & Cent. India . 
158-163 
160-164 
158- 
-162 
Indian Midland 4 per cent. 
104-108 
105-109 
104- 
-108* 
Madras Grntd. 5 per cent. 
i3 2-I 36 
135-139 
T 37" 
-141 
South Indian 44 per cent. Deb. . 
13S-143 
138-143 
I 37" 
-141 
Southern Mahratta 34 per cent. . 
106-109 
106-109 
I0 5- 
-10S* 
* Ex. 
div. 
Foreign Countries. — In Italy the financial situation has, of late, 
undergone a distinct change for the worse. For the financial year ending on 
June 30, 1901, there was a surplus of nearly £2,000,000, and for the 
present financial year a surplus of over £1,000,000 was originally expected. 
But now this estimate has been reduced to £500,000, less the cost of 
militarizing the railway men, calling out the 1878 class of reserves, etc., in all 
£380,000, and even the remaining £120,000 seems in danger of being 
swallowed up by unforeseen outlays. The revenue during 1901-1902 has 
been better than that of the preceding year by half-a-million sterling, though 
of late it has shown a disposition to fall off, but the expenditure has increased 
by nearly double that amount. For this, in some quarters, the blame is 
thrown on the Treasury Minister, Signor di Broglio, who is accused of not 
being sufficiently firm in resisting demands for increased expenditure, and 
who, it is said, has already accumulated engagements for the coming financial 
year which will require an expenditure at least £500,000 greater than 
during the current year, without any reasonable hope of a corresponding 
increase in revenue. 
In Spain, the loan of £13,536,000 sterling of new Five per cent. 
Redeemable Stock, guaranteed by the tobacco monopoly, attracted applications 
to the amount of £155,491,908 sterling. Naturally, therefore, applicants 
received only a small proportion of what they asked for, the more so that 
one-third of the issue was reserved for the holders of Treasury Bonds, whose 
applications were not considered pro rata at all. 
The preliminary report of the Council of the Ottoman Public Debt states 
that for the financial year ending March 13 last, the receipts were 
£T2,i26,59i, an increase of £T58,6S2 on the preceding year. In the 
revenues directly administered by the Council, there was a decrease of 
^^35,475- But the Turkish Government paid up £26,245 of the balance 
outstanding on account of the Cyprus revenues, and the receipts from the 
Tobacco Re'gie exceeded those of the previous year by £T57,79S. The 
Bulgarian Government, however, were again in complete default. The 
money was spent as follows; — Service of priority bonds, £T43o,5oo ; 
extraordinary sinking fund, £1159,000 ; ordinary sinking fund, £^’307,318; 
interest on converted debt at 1 per cent., £"11,005,025 ; interest on lottery 
bonds, £T 1 56,326, and on prescribed bonds £T9,458. Of the balance of 
£T5S,464, the special account of the Turkish Lottery Bonds receives 
£T7,72i and the residue is carried to the reserve fund for increasing the 
rate of interest on the converted debt. During the year a sum of £7671,435 
was applied to the redemption of outstanding bonds. 
The report of the Suez Canal for 1901 states that the total receipts for 
that year were io,ooo,ooof. more than in the preceding one, and that for the 
first time the transit dues exceeded ioo,ooo,ooof. During the year 3,699 
ships, with a net tonnage of 10,823,840, passed through the canal. In 1900 
the number was 3,441 and the tonnage 9,138,152, the increase for 1901 
being thus 258 ships and 1,685,688 tons. These results are the more satis- 
factory in that they w*ere obtained under quite normal conditions. 
A recent Foreign Office report by the Consul-General at Bushire on the 
trade of the Persian Gulf does not show that much success is attending 
Russia’s efforts to seize the trade of that region. In 1901 the total tonnage 
entering the Gulf was 558,080 tons, against 508,075 in 1900, and of this 
466,663 tons were British in 1901 and 408,664 tons in 1900. In 1900 
Russia’s share was nil, and last year it was 12,713 tons. France in 1901 had 
640 tons against 920 in 1900, and Austria-Hungary which had 1,500 tons in 
1900, had nothing in 1901. The total value of the imports was £3,617,409 
in 1901, against £2,873,485 in the preceding year. Of this total in 1901, the 
United Kingdom had £1,061,125 (£788,114 in 1900), India, £1,296,799 
(£1,034,824 in 1900); France, £174,303 (£119,712 in 1900); Germany, 
.£21,341 (£23,078 in 1900); Russia, £210,300 (£125,112 in 1900); the 
Arab Coast, £276,881 (£189,424 in 1900); and Persian Ports, £423,932 
(£438,059 in 1900). Of the exports, India, in 1901, took the largest share 
with £1,017,679 (£745,142 in 1900), Persian ports took £417,769 (£346,449 
in 1900); the Arab Coast, £247,983 (£207,061 in 1900) ; China, £289,836 
(£31:8,611 in 1900); the United Kingdom, £119,351 (£163,716 in 1900); 
Russia, £167,383 (£192,172 in 1900) ; Germany, £12,021 (£14,747 in 
1900); France, £914 (£7,664 in 1900). 
Our usual table of exchanges follows . — 
28th April. 
25b 1 8c. 
20m. 48|pf. 
24kr. oifh. 
iafl. 13^ 
Paris, cheques . 
Berlin, sight 
Vienna, sight 
Amsterdam, sight 
Madrid, sight . , 
Lisbon, sight 
St. Petersburg, 3 months 
Bombay, T.T. 
Calcutta, T.T. 
Hong Kong, T.T, 
Shanghai, T.T. . 
Id. 
IS - OTPS" 
IS. 3j|d. 
is. 8fVd. 
2S. 3fd. 
28th May. 
25k 21c. 
20m. 49pf. 
24kr. 3I1. 
I2fl. 14! 
34PS- 65 
4iJ|d. 
94r. 20 
is. 3 fd. 
is. 3^d. 
is. S|d. 
2s. sifdL 
28th June. 
25k 17c. 
20m. 46|pf. 
2qkr. ih. 
iafl. 14^ 
34ps. 40 
4 2 id. 
94r. 10 
IS * 3irfd. 
is. 3^d. 
is. 8id. 
2S. 3-fd. 
