Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-17

The debate on the tariff commission
bill in the House gives fresh interest to
the facts regarding the foreign cora
merce of the United States which are
presented IN the last report of the Bureau
of Statistics.
The first point to note is that our ex-
ports Of merchandise to nearly all the
| great trading countries have of late years
largely exceeded in value the imports
which we take from them. This is true of
Great Britain and Ireland, of France,
of Germany, of Russia, Of Belgium, of
Netherlands, of Spain and of Denmark.
In few countries there is nearly bal
ance, while Cuba, Brazil, the British and
Dutch East Indies, China, Japan and
some Spanish colonial possessions ha-
bitually send us a much greater value of
merchandise than we export to them.
But taking the whole trade together, the
value of our merchandise exports for the
last half dozen years, in excess of the
imports, has been 81. .1S0, SOS, 105, fsand
during the last fiscal year alone, this ex-
cess of exports was no less than $685.
712,718.
In the next place, the value of the
imports of merchandise entered for con-
sumption in the United States during the
last fiscal year was $3.50, 61S 999 63. The
dutiable part of this was valued at
$44S, ,061, ,5S7 90. while the remainder, or
free portion, amounted to $202, ,557,-
All 6S. An average of about 434 per
cent on the former sum was levied as
duties, the actual amount collected be-
ing S193 800. $40 go. OF this sum
$136 211 1877 80, or more than 70 per
cent, was collected at the port of New
York.
Again the sum of $133, ,3sO, ,347 ss, or
more than SO per cent was collected
from six classes of merchandise These
were: Sugar and molasses, paying $47,-
9S4 032 "a; wool and its manufactures,
$27 1856. .624 rs; iron and steel and their
manufactures, $21, 400, 694 81 : silk manu-
factures, $19,03S 665 81; coarse manu-
factures, $10,S25 115 81; fax and its
manufactures, So, 284, ,374 90 The duties
on these classes vary from "a 70 per
cent, in the case of sugar and molasSes,
down to 3. 60 per cent, in the case of fax
and its manufactures.
Turning once more to our aggregate
imports, both dutiable and free, we find
that the value of the sugar and molasses
was $93, 404, ,2SS, or much over IA per
cent of the total imports; that coffee
amounted to $50, 7S4, 391, or nearly 8 per
cent iron and steel and their manufac-
lures to SAG, 539, 747, being over per
cent; silk and its manufactures to $42,-
944. 965; wool and its manufactures to
$40, $50, 394; drugs, dyes and chemicals,
and medicines in general, to $50, SOC, 473.
Thus these six classes of imports agQre-
gate 1917, ,024, ,25S, or nearly half of the
total value of the fiscal years imports
The seventh highest class is that of cot
ton and its manufactures, whose value
was $31, ,976, 637.
1t should be noted, however, that
while our excess of merchandise exports
for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1881,
to those countries which took frOln us
more than they sent in return was SAL
675, 687, and while the contrary excess of
our merchandise imports from those
countries which sold us more than they
bought was $181 ,962, 800, thus leaving
the vast balance, already spoken of, in
our favor, on this item, OF $3.50, 712, 71S,
yet the current movement of trade is
showing different results. The latest
bulletin of the Bureau of Statistics re-
cords that while during the year ending
February %, 1881, the excess of mer-
chandise exports over imports had been
$225,546, III, this excess for the year
ending February 2S, 1882, was
only $120 1856 021 "a falling off
of $101, 800, 756. The changed
tendency becomes strongly marked also
in comparing the two Februarys; for,
while the excess of exports was $19,974,-
313 in February, 1881, during the cor
responding month of 1882 the imports
had regained the lead, after many years,
surprising the exports by 50, ,381 ,629
The movements in gold and silver coin
and bullion, of course, have a certain de-
gree of relation 10 those in merchandise,
the excess of imports OF coin and bull
lion for the twelve months ending Feb
ruary %, 1882. having fallen off nearly
half from the twelve months previous,
while the excess of the past February
was on the port side, reaching 81, ,6S4 ,051.
1t does not follow that we are to see
an instantaneous return to the condition
of affairs in 1879, when the excess of
our imports of merchandise over the ex-
ports amounted for the fiscal year to
1882, All, ,491. In fact, the falling off in
some of our chief exports last fall and
winter was obviously due to an excep-
tional and purely temporary circum-
stance, the influence of an extensive
drought in causing many short crops.