The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-11-01
A CONTRAST

We hope our readers will study the
subjoined statement of the trade returns
of our cousins across the water till they
understand and get them permanently
fixed in the memory. They afford con-
trast to our own which it may be edify-
ing to contemplate when we have "the
blues" as most of US have had large
portion of the time for the last five years.
We will point out the contrast when the
reader has mastered the figures from
England, which are given by the British
Mercantile Gazette, of Sept. 18th, as fol
lows:
"In the year 1877 the imports of mer-
chandise into the United Kingdom were
of the value of 1894, 419, namely.
from foreign countries e304, 1856 1884, and
from British possessions e89, 553, 99S.
The total is equal to Ell los. 1Od. per
head of the population of the United
Kingdom. The exports of British and
Irish produce and manufactures in the
year were of the value of e198, 500 O65.
equal to e5 18s. lid. per head of popu
latlon; e12S,969, 715 being the value of
t me eoe exports SP to foreign countries, and
E69, 923, $50 to British possessions To
this is to be added e53, 452, $50. the val
ue of foreign and colonial produce ex-
ported hence, making our total export
OF merchandise e252, 346,O2O. The total
value, therefore of imports and exports
was E646, 765, 702, equal to e196s. Sd. per
head of population of the United King
dom. 1t exceeded ego per head in each
of the four years 1925. This does not
include 1S2 ,241, the value of the
foreign merchandise transhipped at
ports In the United Kingdom. The i'm
ports OF gold and silver bullion are stat
ed in the custom house accounts at e37.
l52, 799, and the exports at $50, SIC, 619.
These make our entire imports in the
year G431, 572,4Sl, and our entire ex
ports e292, loo, $50. Including the tran
shipment trade, the grand total is e735,-
911, 1851"
Now.si if the reader will take his pen
ell and subtract the "Entire Exports" as
given above, from the entire imports, he
will find that the excess of British i'm
ports over. exports for the year 1877
amounted to e139, 415,842, which reduc-
ed to dollars, is equivalent to the hand
some sum of $677, $50, 992. With such
showing of its trade how long Great
Britain will remain the wealthy nation
it is, must be an interesting question for
British merchants and statesmen to de-
termine. True, their interest account
will do wonders in overcoming adverse
balances, for nearly all the rest of the
world is indebted to them, but snch bal
ances as have been occurring of late are
too large for even this voracious mon
ster-interest-to swallow up. Hence,
to us, for example, they have been oblig-
ed to deliver over, within three years,
according to the best accounts, some two
thirds of the principal which we owed
them-owed l. E. in the shape of govern
eminent bonds.
Instead of our outgoes in the way of
trade being more than six hundred and
seventy-five million dollars in a wear in
excess of our income, like the English.
statistics show that our exports three
years ago exceeded our imports by
$40, 600, 900, two years ago by $1e6, 500,
600, and last year by $261, zoo, 900; or
altogether in the three past years our
exports have been $54S, O0,00O more
than imports. This rate of our growing
rich is not quite so rapid as the English
of growing poor, but do not the figures
show that there is light ahead for us