Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-06-11
DAILY Observation-Disclosures
orr FOREIGN CoxMkRCE.

orr FOREIGN COMMERCE.
The debate on the Tariff Commission
bill in the House givesa fresh interest in
the facts regarding the foreign COM
merce Of the United States which are
presented in the lest report of the BH-
,sau Of Statistics.
The first point to mote il that our ex-
ports Of msrchandise 10 nearly all the
great trading countries have Of late
years largely sxeSedsd in value the in
ports which w. take from thsm. This
n true Of Great Britain and ireland, OF
France, Of Germany, Of Russia, Of Bel
aium, of Netherlands, Of Spain, and OF
Denmark. In few countries thers is
nearly q balance; while Cuba, Brazil,
the British and Dutch Fest Indies,
China, Japan, and some Spanish colo
NAL possessions hsbitually send rs a
much greater valux Of merchandise than
We export to them. But taking the
whole trade together, the value OF our
merchandise exports TO rthe last half
dozen years, in excess Of the imports,
has been 81. ,6ss, Jos; and during the
fiscal year alone, this excess OF imports
was no less than e259, 49, l8.
In the next plaoe, the value Of the i'm.
ports Of merchandise entered for con-
sumption in the United States during
the last fiscal year was t66oS ,9s96S.
The dutiAble part Of this WAS valued At
e44S, 06l, ISL. IS, while the remainder, or
free portion, amounted to $202, 5o7, 4l1.6s.
An average Of about 43H per cont. on
the former sum was levied as duties, the
actual amount collected being $l93, 500
S79.67. OF this sum Sl36, g1,l47.3S, or
more than 70 per cent. was collected at
the port of New York.
Again, the sum of Sl33, 5so,347.SS, or
more than GO per cent, was collected
from six classes of merchandise. These
were: Sugar and molasses, paying $47.-
984, O32.S4; wool and its manufactures,
81, 2S5, 62i.78; iron and steel and their
manufactures, gu, 462, 34.Sa; silk manu-
features, $l9, 03s, 665.Sl; cotton manufac-
tn res, $lO,s25, 1881; fax and its manu-
features, $6,984.374.90. The duties on
these GLASSES vary from 24.79 per cent,
in the case Of sugar and molassas, down
to 800 per cent, in the case Of flax and
its manufactures.
Turning once moro to our aggregate
imports, both dutiable and free, we find
that tho value of the sugar and molasses
was 993. 4O4, :cs8, or not much over IA per
cent. of the total imports; that coffee
amounted to &c, 7S4 ,391, or nearly 3 per
cent; iron and steel and their manufac-
tures to SIG. 439, IA, being over ] per cent;
silk and it, manufactures to 81, 914 1865;
wool and its manufactures to $40, $780,
394; drugs, dyes, and chemicals, and
medicines in general, to t36,59O, Alb.
Thus these nix CLASSES Of imports aggre-
gate &317, 024, 258, or nearly half of tho
total value of the fiscal years imports.
The seventh highest class is that Of cot
ton and its manufactures, whose value
was 81 ,976,637.
It should be noted. however, that while
our excess Of merchandise exports for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, to
those countries which took from us more
than they sent in return was $44l $751;
687, and while the contrary excess of
our merchandise imports from those
countries which sold us more than they
bought was tlsl 1852 .969, thus leaving
the vast balance, already spoken of, in
our favor, on this item, Of t259, IL, 7ls,
yet the current movement of trade is
different results, The latest |
bulletin Of the Eu,ran of Statistics re-
cords that while during the year ending
Feb, %. 1881, the excess Of merchandise
exports over imports had been $225, h47,-
III, the excess for the year ending Feb.
q, 1882, was only tl20. l56. OLA falling |
Of Of $40, 390, 756. The changed ten
aency becomes strongly marked also in
the two Februarys; for, while
he excess of the exports was $l9.974,
IN February, 1881, during the CORES
bonding month Of 1882 the imports had
'sgainsd the lead, after many years, sur
passing the exports BY $2,3si,629. The
movements in gold and silver coin am
'ullion, Of course, have a certain de- -.
u relation to those in meechs ,d;ca
he excess Of imports Of coin aD ), huIIion
or the twelve months endir a Fab %
1882. having.fallen of nsp ,.,v half from
he twelve months pr, v;ous vh;,a Che
'xoss Of The past F. Urinary was on the
'.po.s side' reach .ng g. s4.o5l.
NOV " ..low that ve o to see
. 'n.:sn.s" .eous return to tho condition
y snair n 1872, when the excess Of our
l"po1~ Of merchandise over the exports
.@o Antsd for the FISCAL year to $is2,-
" s,ll9. In fact. the falling of in some
OF our chief exports last fall and winter
Was obvioasly due to an exceptional and
purely temporary circumstance, tho in
duenoe Of an extensive drought in caus-
ing many short crops.
~----
Yaquina Bay b not praised very highly
By . recent visitor thereto. Tho bar has
but eight fest Of water upon il At low
tide, and frSn fourteen to sixteen al
hiOh tida. Ths 0overnmant in axn.ctad