Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-08-19
MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL
The Worlds Commerce.

The Washington correspondent of the New
York Journal of Commerce introduces an inter-
esting review of Tie worlds commerce as fol-
lows
''If we still lived in the commercial age in
which the delusiOn prevailed that the wealth
of one nation could only be-increased by the
impoverishment of others, if we still believed
that exhaustion must be the consequence OF an
adverse balance OF trade, there might be occa-
sion for us to regard WITH gladness the situation
just descr. bed"
With these words gins the conclusion of an
article in the Deutsche Ruldschau, of Berlin, for
July OF the CURE mt year. upou the Transition
of the Centre of Gravity IF the Worlds Com
merce" from England toward The Uni,ed States
by way of Germany. The author OF the article
Herr F. X. v. Neumaun- Spalia art gives tables
showing that the propnIti ton of the worlds
commerce ira, sacted by Great Britain was d.
minished from "a per cent in 1865 to 10 per
sent. in 1882. According TO his tables the for
eign commerce of Great Britain, compared with
that of the European Continent. has steadily
dimi nished. In 1868. of the total foreign COM
merce of Great Britain and the Continent
Great Britain's per centage was 34.5 and that of
the Continent exclusive ofSwitzefland, which
country at that time kept no records of its for
eign commerce) was 655. In 1882 Great Britain's
per centage was % and that of the Continent
II.
SIN the apparent inexhaustible wealth of
coal and the cheapness of its p-oa uction was
once thought to be the talismaD of Englands
strength. To-day this talisluan seems to have
begun to lose Its virtue'' The figures given by
Herr Neumann Justify this statement In 1868
Great Britain produced $50 per cent. of the
TIL QQo
1shed TO 40.7 per cent. Comparing Great Brit
aims coal product with that of the Continent of
Europe we find from the statutes of Herr Neu-
mann that in 1858 Great Britain's percentage
was 62.7, and In 1883 sos
The statistics of the production of pig iron
show a corresponding dlminution of England's
percentage. In 1868 her proportion of the
worlds production of pig iron was AL per cent
and in 1888 1911 per cent.
"Nearly half million laborers in Great Brit
ain are directly under the sceptre of King Cot
ton at the spinning-frames and looms, and it
is estimated that not less than four millions of
souls depend for their existence upon the man.
ufacture and sale of cotton and cotton goods.
Here, too, the statistics show that England's
power is waning. In the years 1856 to 1860 her
consumption of raw cotton was 603 per cent,
and that of the European Continent 1877. In
1888 Great Britain's portion was reduced to 52.3
per cent. and that of the Continent had in
creased to Az per cent.
From these figures Herr Neumann concludes
that the hegemOny of Great Britain in the
worlds commerce has been diminished by
per cent. for each of the last seven years.
The movement of the centre of gravity of cot
ton manufactures toward America is shown by
the increase of the consumption of raw cotton
In the United States
Herr Neumann says that it may with good
reason be assumed that the movement which
has been steadily going on from 1876 to 1888 will
continue in the near future. AS to its rapidity
no calculation can be made. 1t may be hinder
ed and impeded. but it cannot be stopped, be-
cause the causes of 1t continue to operate-|
These causes are plain. The exhaustion of the
productive power of English land and of her
mineral wealth is continuous. The advantage
of cheap and convenient intercourse is no lon
ger monopoly of England but is shared in
common by Western Europe and North Amer
lea. Besides there is a constant stream of en-
igration of skilled laborers from Great Britain
into the United States-the very element which
formerly upheld the supremacy of British in
dustry.
The statistics of the worlds commerce given
by Herr Neumann do not correspond exactly
with those furnished by the Bureau of Statis-
tics of the United States Treasury Department
In the last summary of the total values of i'm
ports and exports of merchandise, and the per-
centage of the trade of each principal country
to the total trade Of all, Germany is omitted
because of insufficient data. 1t seems strange
that a nation noted for devotion to the exact
sciences should fall SO far behind the other
great powers in commercial statistics; but it is
said that this is caused by the determination
of the German Government to allow no figures
to be published which might tend to show evil
results from the adoption of the protective tar
III system.
1t appears from the last quarterly report OF
the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics that exclu-
ding Germany, the worlds commerce was di-
vided among the principal nations of the world
as follows