Vol. VIII. No. 95. 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
[November, 1902.] 289 
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL 
RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — Increased values are shown by the Board of Trade 
returns for September, both in the imports and the exports, though in 
making comparisons it must be remembered that the month this year 
contained one more working day than it did last. In the imports, which were 
valued at £41,764,491, there was an increase of £3,555,700, or 9*3 percent. 
In articles of food and drink, although on the whole there was a considerable 
increase, decreases were reported in many individual cases — for example, 
cattle, sheep, bacon, fresh beef, cheese, Indian corn, all showed decreases, 
both in quantity and value, ranging from 9^3 per cent, to nearly 30 per cent. 
Preserved meat (not salted), however, increased by 21 per cent., and the 
quantity of fresh mutton was greater by 52*3 per cent., the increment of 
value being 58*1 per cent., while butter, worth £1,709,514, showed an 
increased value of 24*2 per cent. In cereals, heavier shipments from the 
United States, Russia, India, and Canada brought the quantity of wheat up 
7,899,673 cwt. — an increase of 1,880,973 cwt. or 31*2 per cent., the value 
improving by £696,310 or 36 '2 per cent. Wheat flour, oats and barley 
were all better, the quantity of the last-named increasing by 33*4 per cent, 
and its value by 30‘o per cent. Indian corn, however, mainly because 
of smaller arrivals from the United States, fell off by 1,150,135 cwt. 
(29’8 per cent.) in quantity and by £268,454 (or 26^ per cent.) in value. 
Refined sugar improved in quantity and value, but though the quantity of 
raw sugar was i6 - 6 per cent, greater, its value was 9^9 per cent. less. In 
tobacco there was a very large increase, the quantity being greater by yg’g per 
cent, and the value by 89^5 per cent. In raw materials for textiles the 
imports of raw cotton were less by 8‘4 per cent., smaller shipments 
coming from the United States and Egypt, though larger ones from Brazil 
and India ; the value was less by 7*5 per cent. Flax and hemp were also 
less, but of jute the quantity was better by 93*9 per cent., and the value 
by 74'4 per cent. Of sheep’s wool, Australia and New Zealand sent larger 
supplies, and the quantity rose by 6,479,517 lb. (or 31 '3 per cent.), and 
the value by £249,000 (or 41*2 per cent.). Hewn and sawn wood was 
worth £3,092,244, an increase of 31*3 per cent.; its quantity rose by over 
200.000 loads (20*2 per cent.). The exports of British and Irish merchandize 
at £23,809,101 showed an increase of £1,837,799 or S'3 per cent., almost 
all classes of articles being better. Raw materials formed an exception, 
for coal, though the amount sent away was 110,400 tons larger than in 
September of last year, was £139,891 less in value. In iron and steel 
there was an increase of nearly £600,000 (2 7 ‘9 per cent.), the quantity 
having increased still more (40' 1 per cent.). Machinery, too, improved in 
value to the extent of i4'o per cent. ; new ships sold to foreigners were 
worth £272,254 more. In yarns and textiles cotton yarn was worth 
2 '8 per cent, less, though 4’5 per cent, greater in quantity; in cotton piece- 
goods there was a fall of 4*4 per cent, in quantity and of 3‘8 per cent, in 
value, the shipments to Turkey and China being smaller, though those to 
Argentina and Brazil increased. Higher values were reported for other 
cotton manufactures, linen yarn and piece-goods, and woollen and worsted 
yarns and tissues. Soda-compounds, though 107 per cent, greater in 
quantity, fell off 0*3 per cent, in value, but chemical manures increased 
39 - 8 per cent, in the former respect and 42-8 per cent, in the latter. The 
re-exports of foreign and colonial merchandize were worth £4,796,675, 
compared with £4,768,235 in September of last year, the increase thus 
being £28,440. For the first nine months of the present year the imports 
had an aggregate value of £388,871,037 against £384,460,711 in the same 
period of last year; the difference, £4,410,326, represents an increase of 
ri per cent. The exports were worth £209,513,671 against £209,143,040, 
thus showing a gain of £370,631 or o"i per cent. The re-exports, however, 
decreased from £50,543,899 in the first nine months of 1901 to 
£49,348,686 in the same period of the present year, the fall thus being 
£1,195,213, or 2 per cent. 
A Japanese Imperial Government Loan was successfully floated in 
London during last month by the agency of British and Japanese houses 
only. The Loan was for 50,000,000 yen, equal to £5,104,166, the yen 
being taken at the fixed exchange value of 2s. o^d. The bonds are to 
bearer in amounts of 1,000 and 5,000 yen each, and bear 5 per cent, interest. 
The interest was made at par, or £102. is. Sd. per bond of 1,000 yen. 
As to redemption, the bonds are to remain unredeemed for five years from 
their respective dates of issue ; after that period the amount to be redeemed 
will be settled by the Minister of Finance, but bonds to the value of 
25.780.000 yen will be redeemed not later than 1955, and to the value of 
24.220.000 yen, not later than 1956. The issue was largely responded to, 
many of the applications being for small amounts, and applicants received 
only about 25 per cent, of what they applied for. 
Colonies. — In Western Australia, the revenue for the year ending 
June 30 last amounted to £3,688,049 or ,£271,040 more than the estimate. 
The expenditure was £3,490,025, and after liquidating the deficit of 
£74,830 from the preceding year, the surplus reported by the Colonial 
Treasurer in his financial statement was .£123,194. The estimates for the 
current financial year, are — revenue, including the surplus from 190 1-2, 
£4,156,134; expenditure, £4,154,504; surplus, £1,630. This estimated 
expenditure includes interest, £522,714 ; sinking fund, £180,572 ; Malcolm- 
Laverton Railway, £55,000; Gooseberry Hill Railway, £18,000; and 
depreciation of Government Stores, £60,000. In the loan accounts, the 
total authorizations amount to £15,940,929, and £855,620 remains to be 
raised. Of the total loan expenditure, £7,547,950 has been actually spent 
on railways, £1,835,210 on harbours, £2,329,963 on the water-supply, and 
£784,824 in developing the goldfields. 
The report of the Commissioners of the New South Wales Government 
Railways for the year ending June 30 last, shows that, by the addition of 
187 miles of new line, the total mileage in operation at the end of the 
commercial year was brought up to 3,025 miles, the total capital cost of 
which in construction and equipment had been 40 } million sterling. The 
receipts for the year were £3,668,686; this amount is nearly £100,000 
greater than in the preceding year. The expenditure increased by £200,000 
to £2,267,369, but the net earnings were only £1,401,317, or £129,000 
less than in the preceding year. The interest earned on the capital invested 
was the lowest return obtained during the last six years, and was only 
3^ per cent. ; hence, as the average interest on the capital employed is 
calculated at 3*56 per cent., there was a loss on the transaction of £33,000. 
The gold output of the Transvaal for September amounted to 170,802 oz. 
of fine gold. In August the amount was 162,750 oz., and in September 
of last year 31,936 oz. In September, 1899, just before the war broke 
out, the yield was 426,556 oz. The Rhodesian return for September 
was 15,164 oz. In Western Australia, the crushing returns of all the 
gold-mining companies show that 173,377 tons of ore -were treated in 
September, and that 186,965 oz. of gold were obtained, the average yield 
per ton thus being 1 oz, r dwt. 13 gr. In September of last year, 
1 35,342 tons of ore produced 163,253 oz. of gold, the average per ton being 
thus 1 oz. 4 dwt. 3 gr. 
The following table shows the variations which have occurred in certain 
Colonial Government securities during the last three months : — 
28th Aug. 
29th Sept. 
29th Oct. 
Canada 3 per cent. 
102^-103 
102 J-I02f 
102^—103 
Cape 3 per cent. 
94J- 94 f 
92 - 92^ 
91I— 92 
Natal 3 per cent. 
96^- 97 i 
95 |- 9 6 i 
95J- 96I 
New S. Wales 3 per cent. . 
94 i" 94 f 
9 I b- 92 
9 1 !- 9 J f 
New Zealand 3 per cent. 
96J- 96^ 
945 “ 95 
94 -“ 95 
Queensland, 3 per cent. 
9 93 l 
92 - 92^ 
9 2 E- 9 2 f 
South Australia 3 per cent. . 
931 - 94 ’i 
9 2 f- 93*1 
9 2 f~ 93 l: 
Tasmania 3^ per cent. 
103^-104! 
103I-104I 
103^-104^ 
Victoria 3 per cent. 
West Australia 3 per cent. 
94 1 - 95 
932 ” 94 
93 i~ 93 i 
(May-Nov.) 
93 h 94 a 
9 2 2 “ 93 -i 
90^- 91I 
India. — The following table shows the prices of certain leading Indian 
railway companies at the end of each of the last 
three months 
29th Aug. 
30th Sept. 
29th Oct. 
Bengal and North Western 
128-132 
128-132 
128-132 
Bengal-Nagpur Gua. 4 per cent. . 
102-106 
102-106 
1 02-106 
Bombay, Baroda & Cent. India . 
ISI-TSS 
146-152 
Indian Midland 4 per cent. 
103-107 
103-107 
103-107 
Madras Grntd. 5 per cent. 
133-137 
133-137 
1 33-!37 
South Indian 4^ per cent. Deb. . 
H 
i 
►h 
4 - 
I 37 _I 4 1 
r 35~ I 39 
Southern Mahratta 3J per cent. . 
IO3-IO6 
104-107 
103-107 
Foreign Countries.— The French estimates for 1903 put the revenue 
at 3,575,000,000 fr., and the expenditure at 3,602,000,000 lr„ there thus being 
a deficit of 27,000,000 fr. In preparing his 
estimates, the 
Minister <1 
Finance had to face a total deficit of 207,000,000 fr., arising a;, to 
124.000. 000 fr. from diminution in the revenue, as to 42,000,000 fr. from 
increase in expenses, and as to 41,000,000 fr. from the reduction of the 
sugar duty to 25 fr. as necessitated by the Brussels Congress. To meet 
this position he hopes to save 32,000,000 fr. by conversion of the Three- 
and-a-Half per cent. Rentes ; 26,000,000 fr. on the interest of the new 
Three per cent. Rentes ; 22,000,000 fr. from suppression of the Savings’ 
Bank Redemption Fund; 11,100,000 fr. from the Chinese Indemnity, and 
3.700.000 fr. from the suppression of the annuity to the school funds ; 
further he hopes to realize 50,000,000 fr. from the bouHkrs de cm , by 
modifications of the laws relating to private distilleries; 19,000,000 fr. 
from reduction of the privileged tobacco zones ; 3,000,000 fr. from revision 
of the mortmain tax on buildings; 3,700,000 fr. from extension of the 
coupon tax to life annuities; 4,000,000 fr. from increasing the price of 
Maryland tobacco, and 44,000,000 fr. from the issue of sexennial bonds 
for the guarantee of interest to be paid the Railway Companies. The 
total expected to be produced by these proposals amounts to 218,500,000 fr., 
so that if expectations are realized, there should be a surplus of 1 1,500,000 fr. 
But it is proposed to apply 11,000,000 fr. to the redemption ol existing 
sexennial bonds ; hence the budget balances with an estimated surplus of 
500.000 fr. onl) r . According to a report of the Acting French Consul in 
London, the total import and export trade of France in 1901 was 
8.800.000. 000 fr., of which 1,931,000,000, or 22 per cent, was trade 
between France and the United Kingdom ; of the French exports, vorth 
4.166.000. 000 fr., nearly 30 per cent. (1,264,000,000 fr.) were accounted 
for by sales to Great Britain. France’s next best customer was Belgium, with 
purchases worth 596,000,000 fr. Of imports into France, which reached a 
total of 4,714,000,000 fr., England supplied 14 per cent. (667,000,000 fr.), 
the United States following with 481,000,000 fr. France’s total trade with 
Belgium was 982,000,000 fr., with Germany 878,000,000 fr., and with the 
United States, 721,000,000 fr. 
Our usual table of exchanges follows :■ — 
28th Aug. 
29th Sept. 
29th Oct. 
Paris, cheques 
. 25b 1 Sc. 
25b 1 6-J-c. 
25 b I2C. 
Berlin, sight 
. 20m. 48|pf. 
20m. 45|-6pf. 
2cm. 46pf. 
Vienna, sight 
23kr. 96^11. 
2 3kr. 95I1. 
23kr. 9ih. 
Amsterdam, sight 
1 2 fl. 12^ 
J 2 fl. 13 
J2fl. I3J 
Madrid, sight 
. 34ps. 46 
— 
33 P S ’ 2 5 
Lisbon, sight 
• 4 I iird* 
4i-|d. 
4 4 <T 
St. Petersburg, 3 months 
. 94 r. 15 
93 r * 9° 
93 r - 8 5 
Bombay, T.T. 
. is. 3 |-|d. 
is. 3-Ud. 
is. 
Calcutta, T.T. 
• IS - 
IS. 3yfd. 
is. 
Hong Kong, T.T. 
. is. 8Jf-d. 
is. SyVd. 
is. Sy^d. 
Shanghai, T.T. . 
. 2s. 4d. 
2s. 3fd. 
2S. 3£d. 
