The times., 1899-05-22
OUR CGJhIIRHEE!R!GGE AND
ENGLAuD'S COMPARED
The United States Now Leads
the World in Exports.
British Claim the Bulk of America S
Carrying Trade.
Interesting Facts Presented to the
Royal Statistical Society by Sir
Robert Giffen.

taken and passed the United Kingdom as
an export country and is now leading the
world as distributor of manufactures and
natural products is discussed at consider
able length in an elaborate paper by Sir
Robert Giffen, X. C. B., Ii. D., F. R. s.,
recently read before the Royal Statistical
Society of England, and just received by
the Treasury Bureau of Statistics. The
paper in question, entitled The Excess of
Imports occupies seventy closely printed
pages of the journal of the Royal Statis-
tical Society, and while it primarily dis
cusses the excess of British imports over
exports, incidentally gives much attention
to the rapid increase in exports of the
United States. Discussing this special sub
ject, the paper says:
There are obvious reasons why the
United States shauld have an excess OF ex-
ports. In the first place the United States
has to pay in its exports for the share of
the carriage of goods in its foreign trade
which is performed by foreign ships. This
| is a very large figure. In recent years the
proportion of the imports and exports OF
the United States carried in foreign ships
has ranged between 75 and so per cent, so
the United States is country which has
to pay other nations for the carriage of its
goods III the foreign trade. 1t may be
| mentioned by the way mat the foreign
country which does the carrying trade for
the United States is mainly the United
Kingdom, and in this difference between
the two countries accordingly we have,
pro tanto, an explanation of the excess of
imports in the case of the United King
| dom and of the excess of exports in the
case of the United States. Next, the
United States is country which owes
money in various ways to foreign nations
There is an annual stream of American
visitors TO Europe, and there is an Ameri-
can colony permanently residing in Eu-
rope whose expenses have 10 be paid for.
More important still, a great deal of cap
ital has been invested in the United States
by Europeans-by English people, by
Dutch people and Belgians, as well as by
French and Germans, not to speak OF
minor nationalities in Europe. The inter
est on this debt has, of course, to be paid
in exports, unless to the extent that in
any given period reinvestments are made
in the United States. In these various
ways. then, an excess OF exports from the
United States can be accounted for, and it
may be questioned whether in recent years,
when the excess OF exports was so large,
any great withdrawal of capital from the
United States was in progress
Discussing the changes in the export
trade of the United Kingdom, Mr.. Giffens
paper says: ''One cannot but be struck
by the incessant changes that are going
on in the nature of our foreign trade. 1t
is one thing at one period. another thing
at another period; and few years suf
flee TO make great transformation. Prob-
ably this has always been the rule At
one time in the history OF our foreign
trade the export of raw wool, to use a COM
mon phrase, was king; at a later, the ex-
port of woolen manufactures; later still,
the export of cotton manufactures, and
last of all, about twenty or thirty years
ago, the export of iron and iron manufac-
lures. What we see in the recent history
is that other things than those mentioned
have lately been developing the most rap
idly. Coal and other articles have been
exported more largely than ever before
and they occupy a larger proportionate
place in our export lists. Some entirely
new articles, such as cycles, appear in
these lists for the first time At the same
time our shipping fleet, whose work, as We
have seen, is an export in a special form,
has developed prodgiously. Coal and ship.
ping together, we may say, now occupy a
chief place such as was formerly held by
wool, then by woolen manufactures, and
then by iron and iron manufactures"
Summarizing the causes of the recent
changes in the foreign trade of various
countries, Mr.. Giffen's paper says: The
excess of imports is to be accounted for
in the trade of country like England in
several ways, principally by the fact that
England is a ship-owning country, and
does a large business all over the world
in carrying goods and passengers. This
work is really In itself in the nature of
an export, giving the country credit for
SO much In its dealings with other coun-
tries. In addition, England is country
which earns commissions of different kinds
in its trade with different countries rs the
commercial and monetary centre OF the
worlds trade. Last of ALL England is one
of the countries which has become entitled
to the receipt of large interest and profits
from other countries on account of capital
which ii has invested, and business which
It carries on in such countries, including
the sums receivable by British subjects in
the service of dependency like India.
with regard to the earnings OF ships,
ii is pointed out that the increase allowed
for is very much less than the increase in
the magnitude OF the shipping fleet it
self In 1882 the calculation was that the
shipping fleet consisted of 100000 tons
OF sailing ships, and 2,500.000 tons of
steamers, the equivalent in sailing tons of
the steamers being considered to be 10
600 600. making the total shipping in all
| IA, e00, 900 tons. AT the present time the
shipping fleet consists of a smaller num-
Der of sailing tonnage, the number of tons
being now only 2,500,000. But the num-
Der of steam tons has increased to $780,
GOO. equivalent on the former computation
to 100000 tons, and making the total of
the fleet at the present time in the equiv
alent of sailing tonnage over 2S.000, 600
tons or double what the figure was eight
cen years ago. If the earnings of the ships
had increased proportionately TO what they
were in 1852, the figure would now be no.
100000 pounds sterling, as compared with
an amount between 10000, coo and so ,000.-
600 pounds sterling above estimated. Along
with the increase of steam tonnage, how
ever, there has been great increase in
efficiency and diminution in the cost of
construction and working, resulting in a
great reduction of freights and ii is not
possible to estimate that the gross earn
ings have increased in proportion to the
increase of the feet itself. The estimate
finally arrived at is between 10000, 900 and
S0000,000 pounds"
Cincinnati Boy POisOner.