2o8 [August, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 92. 
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL 
RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom.— The returns of our foreign trade for June are not 
unsatisfactory, when it is remembered that two working days were rendered 
useless by the holidays appointed for the Coronation, which, in itself, 
doubtless exercised a slackening effect on many businesses. The imports, 
valued at £40,665,315, showed a decrease of £1,045,723, or 2'5 percent., 
which was spread over most classes of articles, except duty-free articles of 
food and drink, tobacco, manufactured articles, and miscellaneous articles. 
There was a decrease in the quantity, accompanied by a rather less than 
proportional decrease in the value, of cattle, sheep and lambs, bacon and 
fresh beef ; on the other hand, preserved meat (not salted) increased 807 per 
cent, in quantity and 567 per cent, in value ; while mutton improved 45*5 
per cent, in the former respect and 547 in the latter, larger amounts 
being shipped by Holland, Argentina, and New Zealand. Butter, worth 
£1,649,502, was 3 ‘8 per cent, better in amount and 2 ‘8 per cent, in value ; 
in cheese the increase in quantity was 16*9 per cent., but there was a fractional 
falling-off in value ; while eggs, worth £585,693, advanced 227 and 2 7 *2 per 
cent, in the quantity and value respectively. In cereals, the only increase 
was in wheat, which rose 407 per cent, in value, to £2,850,924, the quantity 
increasing by 39' 1 per cent., owing to larger arrivals from Russia, Roumania, 
the Pacific Coast of the United States, Argentina, India, Australia, and 
Canada. The diminution in the quantities and values of other cereals were, 
in wheat flour, 327 and 307 per cent. ; in barley, 147 and 9*6 per cent. ; in 
oats, 45 '9 and 32*0 per cent. ; and in Indian corn 267 and 18*2 per cent. The 
decline in the quantity of Indian corn sent by the United States is particularly 
remarkable; in June last it was only 13,273 cwt., against 1,883,200 cwt. in 
the same month of last year, while in the first half of 1901 we received 
20,653,400 cwt. from the United States, but only 1,005,636 cwt, in the same 
period of the present year. In raw sugar there was the large increase of 
284,786 cwt. (50*2 per cent.) in quantity and £62,109 (307 per cent.) in 
value, but the refined article fell off by 14*2 per cent, to 910,268 cwt., the 
value declining 297 per cent, to £485,214. There was a large movement in 
unmanufactured tobacco, the quantity of which was greater by 143*0 per 
cent., though lower prices limited the rise in value to SS*6 per cent. The 
value of sawn and hewn wood declined by 157 per cent, to £2,353,020, but 
the decrease in quantity was somewhat less. Raw cotton fell off by 297 per 
cent, in amount and 277 per cent, in value, owing to smaller shipments from 
the United States. In sheep’s wool there was a decline in quantity of 23*8 
per cent, and in value of 22T per cent., for although larger consignments were 
received from British South Africa, India, and New Zealand, those from 
Australia and South Africa were smaller. In the exports of British and Irish 
produce, which were valued at £21,252,383, there was a decrease of 
£1,192,041, or 57 per cent., which was spread over all classes of articles, 
except apparel and articles of personal use. Coal, though fractionally 
greater in quantity, was worth £307,51 2 less. Iron and steel also fell off 
by o'2 per cent, in quantity and 2'o per cent, in value, while the value of 
machinery and millwork was less by 3*8 per cent. ; the value of new ships 
sold to foreigners v r as also less. In yarns and textiles smaller shipments of 
cotton yarn to India had the effect of reducing its quantity by ix‘2 per 
cent, and its value by 97 per cent. Cotton piece-goods declined 7*2 per 
cent, in quantity (30,806,600 yards) and in value by 8*2 per cent. (£364,361) ; 
the exports were higher to China, Japan, Brazil, and British South Africa, 
but there was a large decrease in those to India, Bombay taking only 
37,895,000 yards, against 81,910,000 in June of last year. Other cotton 
manufactures w*ere worth 9*0 per cent. more. In woollen and worsted yarn 
there was an improvement of 5*1 per cent, in quantity and 8 ’6 per cent, in 
value. In chemical manures there was a considerable fall in prices, and 
the exports, though only 07 per cent, less in quantity, were 127 less in 
value; soda compounds, however, increased i3'2 per cent, in the former 
and 57 per cent, in the latter. The re-exports of foreign and colonial 
merchandise were valued at £5,609,128, against £5,522,270 in June of last 
year, there thus being an increase of ,£86,858. For the first half of the 
present year the total of the imports was o*i per cent, higher than in the 
same period of last year, but that of the exports of British and Irish produce 
w r as 27 per cent. less. 
According to the recently published returns of navigation and shipping in 
the United Kingdom for 1901, the total number of British vessels entered at 
ports in the United Kingdom was 315,056, with a net tonnage of 83,800,000 ; 
in the previous year the number was 316,816, and the tonnage 84,195,000. 
The number of British vessels cleared in the same year was 310,537 (tonnage 
82,878,000), against 311,875 (tonnage, 82,917,000) in the preceding year. 
The total number of vessels built in the United Kingdom, exclusive of those 
for the Navy and for foreigners, was 1,204, the ne t tonnage being 
775,681. In the year before the number was 1,171, and the tonnage 
736,906. 
The loan of £1, 000, 000 Three per cent. Stock recently offered in London 
by the Victorian Government appears to have been a failure, at least so far as 
the public is concerned, for the underwriters are understood to have been left 
with 95 per cent, of the total, since only about ,£50,000 was subscribed. The 
unhappy fate of this issue has led to a loan of £751,000 projected by British 
Colombia being withdrawn from the underwriters. 
Colonies. — In the last financial year the receipts of the Australian 
Commonwealth amounted to £11,304,800, of which £8,908,300 came from 
Customs and Excise, £2,378,700 was from postal receipts, and £17,800 
was from sundries. The expenditure having been £3^31,300, a sum of 
£7,373,50° was left for distribution among the States, being £519,000 more 
than was expected. In Western Australia the revenue for the financial year 
ending June 30, rose to £3,688,048 against £3,078,033 in the preceding 
year. Of these totals, the State contributed £2,129,047, as compared with 
£1,875,691 in the previous year, and the Commonwealth £1,559,001, 
compared with £1,202,342. In Queensland the Treasury returns showed 
a revenue of £3,535,000 for the year, and an expenditure of £3,967,000; 
both these sums are less than in the preceding year, the former by £561,300, 
and the latter by £657,500. According to the financial statement of the 
Acting Colonial Treasurer, last year’s revenue in New Zealand amounted to 
£6,152,839, and the expenditure to £5,914,915. There was thus a balance 
of £237,924 ; this, added to the balance of £32,564 brought over from the 
preceding year, gives a total surplus of £270,488. For the current year the 
expenditure is estimated at £5,987,063, and the revenue at £6,083,500 ; the 
surplus of £96,437, added to the £270,488 brought forward from the 
present year, gives a surplus of £367,000, available for supplementary 
estimates or for transfer to the Public Works Fund. The latter had a cash 
balance of £454,059 at the end of the year, excluding some £100,000 of the 
last loan which has yet to come in. There is an intention of raising a new 
loan of if millions sterling, to be spent in the construction of railway lines, 
and the provision of new bridges and stock. The gross public debt now 
amounts to £52,900,000, the increase during the last financial year having 
been £3,370,000. The financial statement of the Dominion of Canada for 
the year ending June 30 last shows that the revenue amounted to 
$56,303,694, or 5J million dollars more than in the preceding year. The 
total surplus over expenditure is expected to reach the sum of seven million 
dollars, or a million more than was anticipated by Mr. Fielding in the 
Budget speech. The imports for the year were valued at $202,791,595, and 
the exports at $211,725,563, the increase in the former case being 21 million 
dollars, and in the latter 15 millions. The Customs revenue was $32,500,000, 
or 3^ millions more than in the preceding year. About three million dollars 
were added to the public debt in the year. In Newfoundland, too, an 
excellent account is given of the financial situation, the revenue for the fiscal 
year ending on June 30, amounting to nearly $2,200,000, which is $100,000 
more than in the previous year, and the largest recorded in the history of the 
colony. The gold output of the Transvaal mines is slowly increasing. For 
June it amounted to 142,780 oz. of fine gold, against 138,602 oz. in May. 
There can be little doubt, however, that some trouble is being found in 
getting a sufficient supply of labour. The Stock Exchange at any rate finds 
it convenient to believe that this is the case, in spite of reassuring telegrams 
from the Transvaal Chamber of Mines which assert that there are no special 
reasons for anxiety on the point. The Rhodesian output for June was 
15,842 oz., which is greater than the yield in June of last year (14,863 oz.), 
but considerably less than that in May last (19,597 oz.). In Victoria the 
yield for June was 78,954 oz., or 11,164 oz * niore than in the same month of 
last year. In Queensland the amount was 68,800 oz. In Western Australia, 
157,236 tons of ore yielded 173,185 oz. of gold; in June of last year 
150,688 oz. were obtained from 134,369 tons of ore. 
The following table shows the variations which have occurred during the 
last three months in the prices of certain Colonial Government Securities : — - 
28 th May. 
30th June. 
29th July. 
Canada 3 per cent. 
103^-104 
102 -102I 
102J-103I,- 
Cape 3 per cent. 
98 - 98-! 
97 -J- 974 
94 i“ 94 | 
Natal 3 per cent. 
96I- 972 
97 ~ 972 
952 “ 97 
New S. Wales 3 per cent. 
95 " 952 
954 - 95 t 
94 j- 94 $ 
New Zealand 3 per cent. 
95 i- 96 
9 6 “ 9 6 2 
96 - 96^- 
Queensland, 3 per cent. 
95 $” 9 6-1 
942 “ 95 
93 §“ 94 ^ 
South Australia 3 per cent. . 
96 - 96I 
954 - 95 $ 
94J- 94} 
Tasmania 3^ per cent. 
104J-105I 
1 03^-104 j 
103I-104 
Victoria 3 per cent. 
West Australia 3 per cent. 
9 8 1 “ 98| 
97 i~ 974 
94 $” 95 $ 
(May-Nov.) 
94 i- 9 5h 
94 f- 95$ 
94 ~ 95 
India. — According to the annual review of Mr, J. E. O’Conor, the 
Director-General of Statistics to the Government of India, the imports into 
India in 1901-2 were better by £5,000,000 than in 1900-1, while the 
exports increased in value by £11,000,000. The following table shows the 
total trade for four years in millions of pounds sterling, 
the rupee bei 
ng taken 
at is. 4d. : — 
1 90 1 -2. 
1900-1. 
1899-1900. 
1898-9. 
£ 
£ 
£ 
£ 
Imports of merchandise . 
59 -I 6 
53‘9 3 
50*21 
48*07 
Imports of treasure (net) . . 
6*27 
6*90 
8*67 
6*99 
Exports of Indian merchandise 
80*84 
69*68 
?o ‘55 
72*95 
Exports of Foreign merchandise 
2*17 
2*14 
2*19 
2*25 
Of the imports, the most important were, of course, cotton-goods, which 
accounted for 40 per cent, of India’s total imported merchandise, and for 
one-third of Lancashire’s exported cotton. Their total value in 1901-02 — 
nearly 22 million sterling — was slightly above the average of the last five years. 
The next imports in order of magnitude were metals and metal manufactures, 
which made up 15 per cent, of the whole and represented a value of 
£8,769,000. Here Belgian competition is making itself felt; in 1900-01, 
the imports of steel bars, girders, plates, etc., from Belgium and the United 
Kingdom were both of about the value of £330,000, in 1901-02 the Belgian 
share rose to £616,580, while the British are scarcely increased at all. Of 
refined sugar the total imports rose from 4,842,000 cwt. in 1900-01 to 
5.429.000 cwt. in 1901-02, but the noteworthy point is the increase in the 
import of bounty-fed sugar, which was 1,740,000 cwt. in 1900-01 and 
2.850.000 cwt. in 1901-1902, Austria-Hungary sending 1,321,000 cwt. in the 
former year and 2,258,000 cwt. in the latter. The export fist was for the first 
time headed by oil-seeds, with a value of £11,186,000 ; of these, France was 
the best purchaser, followed in order by the United Kingdom, Germany, and 
Belgium. Of jute, 14,755,000 cwt. were exported, which is the more remark- 
able when the increased requirements of the Indian mills are taken into 
account. Raw cotton, which declined heavily in 1900-01, rose to 
5.700.000 cwt. as a result of larger crops ; Japan took 44 per cent, of 
it, and China 10, the residue mostly going to Germany and Italy. Opium 
declined considerably and so did indigo. The area devoted to the cultivation 
of the latter in Bengal w r as 39 per cent, below the average of the previous 
five years, but the main factor in the diminution is doubtless to be sought in 
