The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1879-07-19
nublit afairs,
WHERE We SELL AND BUY.

Of wheat, corn, tobacco, cotton, beef, &c,
produced in the United States, VIC are
lead to wonder where all this great mass
Of products are consumed. Acres upon
acres Of wheat and corn aud the cattle on
thousands Of hills are annually grown, and
raised, and sold, and somewhere disposed Of |
This varied produce Of myriad tf Amer
ican farms is taken to the nearest railroad |
stations and from thence sent to the great |
Atlantic commercial cities and from them |
shipped across the ocean TO foreign buyers
The question next naturally arises which |
of foreign nations buys most Of us, which
Of them all is our best customer This in
teresting query is quito satisfactorily an
swered 10 recent lengthy article ia the
New York Times, from which we obtain
the following commercial statistics and
interesting general information respecting
our exports aud imports. 1t is proposed,
therefore, as briefly as possible, to present
an account Of our trade with the principal
foreign countries not SO much for the pur-
pose Of aseeFtaining where the Amaricanl
people buy, as indicating the chief markets
in which they now sell their vast surplus
products, also to review the history and
observe the remarkable growth of our do
nestle products
The English, Of all foreign people, are
preeminently our best customers. OF the
total exports, during the fiscal year end
ing September 30, 1873, no less an amount
than s297 ,6s3, ,240 Of domestic products,
and 50, ,257 ,266 of foreign products were
shipped from the United States to Eng
land alone, and there found market BY
foreign products we understand such pro-
ducts as are first brought here from South
America, or other countries, and then re.
shipped to England; by domestic products
are meant only such things as our own
people manufacture or produce. We sold
10 Ireland s01 POI ,79l worth Of domestic
products, and 1924, PIT Of foreign pro-
ducts; while the Scotch people bought
from us s24 1864, 196 worth, chiefly Of
breadstuffs aud provisions; for Scotland is
not naturally a fertile country but has
within its limits great deal Of sterile
land and has, moreover, quito cold and
humid climate unfavorable to the growth
Of more important cereals. OF all that we
produced and manufactured during the
past year and sold in the markets OF the
world, England with her colonial and
other possessions bought from us nearly
63 per cent. On the other hand we pur
chased from England and her dominions
during the past fiscal year Of 1878, good
amounting to 1857 900, 900, coin value Al
the places Of shipment; the total amoun
Of our imports from all countries being
I s437 ,05l, ,532.
Since the year 1920 an annual repor
0 has been compiled and published by tn
Treasury Department at Washington Civ
g ing the imports, exports, and other trad
Q statistics during each Of the fifty-eigh
!. fiscal years which has sine, elapsed; th
: details Of our trade, therefore, with th
!. principal foreign countries during tn
i past half century are well-known; bu
i for the intervening period Of thirty-on
IS years from the Union Of the States i
\ 1889 TO 1920, it is difficult, and in regar
K to some years impossible to obtain reliab
l. detail statements Of the amount Of whi
y the people Of the United State bought an
}, sold; and as to the still more remote co
J. onial period Of our history there are n
d data at hand showing the extent or yalu
! Of what the American colonists purchase
g abroad; il Is, however, well-known tina
!, the early settlers sent to England consiC
d erable quantities Of tobacco and raw cotton
The first known article sent by the Amel
y lean eolonists to England was cargo {
d sassafras, gathered in the extreme easter
n portion Of Massachusetts, near Cape Coz
in 16Os; it is curious fact that sassafra
was exported to considerable extent dul
d ing the early portion Of our country's hi
I, tory. Capt John Smith during the sam
e year, l60s, sent TO England from Virgini
/ "pitch, tar, glass, frankincense, and soar
: ashes, with what wainscot and clapboar
+ could be provided" The people Of Vii
I ginia also sent large amount Of tobacc
5 70 England and, in 1921, $4,000 pound
!, oftobaeco were sent to Holland in order I
q evade the duties levied on this article i
= England; also TO obtain more extende
9 market for il among the Dutch. In 164
0 tobacco was so great an article Of expol
T from Virginia that the colonists Of ths
i locality were dependent upon It's sale i
e London, England, for their clothing an
e other supplies, and quarter of ceutur
!, afterwards, in 1874, the demand for e
! bacco 10 England was so great that Vii
!, ginia aud Maryland shipped to that couu
Z try about 10000 pounds Previous /
q l73l considerable lumber was expcrte
( annually in tobacco ships to England.
+ Connecticut sent considerable faxsee
to ireland and Scotland from 1880 /
1852. Mention is made Of rye being sen
Z from Massachusetts to Portugal preyiou
9 TO l640. The exports Of breadssuffs fror
!, all the Colonies in l770, Eve years befor
| the breaking out of the Revolutionary wal
y are estimated to haze been as follows :
D of -four, meal, and bread, ASS. .S6s barrelI
valued at about s2,se2 100; Of whoa
S5l ,240 bushels, aad Of Indian corn. 579
: 34a bushels. 1t was in 1870 that cotto
tirst made its appearance as an article q
export; and Il is curious to ncte, IN I'll
. light Of modern events, that even In 17s
5 an American ship because she carrie
I eight bags Of cotton into Liverpool En-,
land, was there seized on the grouad ths
SO much cotton could not be he produe
0 Of the United States--a country. whic
. during the past year has sold the Enalis
: notless than sll7 ,431 900 worth Of cotio
{ alone Indeed so valuable eommodit
is cotton, and so greatly does il enter int
our commerce that forty-two per cent. q
!, our exports during the last eight YEAR
G since 1870, has consisted Of il, and is sal
, during the same period has brought int
0 our couDtry an average Of sl3g, ,356 ,0O(
each yeks. We have already remarke
no data can be found to show with tha
!. accuracy the value of merchandise In
. ported from England and It's dependepcie
s during the fiscal year Of 1920, and Il
many Of the preceding years; but the al
nual statistics from 1920 up to 1878 clearl
. indicate large and rapidly incrcasin
Q trade between the two great Annlo-Sa
. nations; trade which shows that os
people, during tho last 5s years. have pul
chased from Englana and Der possession,
! ID round numbera 81 117 00o non ,v,..,