The Philipsburg mail., 1899-04-21
OUR PHILIPPINE TRADE
Shipments to the Islands Nearly Ten Times
Greater Than Last Year.
LARGE EXPORTS AND IMPORTS
Gratifying Conditions of Our CONNER
cial Relations with the Islands.
Growth of Our Trade With
Cuba and Porto Rico.

Some interesting statistics regarding
the trade of the United States with
Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines
have just been made public by Acting
Secretary of War Meiklejohn. Atten-
tion is called to the fact that normal
conditions of trade have not yet been
fully restored between the islands
named. The returns for February
show an increase of imports from the
islands to this country amounting to
1914, 40S, and a corresponding increase
of exports from the United States to
the islands of $G93, 800, as compared
with the same month year ago.
The trade of the United States with
the Philippines, it is said, begins to
show the natural growth due to the d.
rection of the attention of American
exporters to the archipelago. While
exports from our ports to the Philip
pine islands for February of last year
amounted to only $l907, for the same
month this year they are nearly ten
times as much, being S19. 525. For the
they were only 500, 235, while for the
corresponding period Of the present
fiscal year they show gain of nearly
10 per cent, reaching $l17,021. Our
direct importations from Manila for
February We're $271 ,033, a gain of
nearly 30 per cent over the same month
last year. Notwithstanding the decline
of imports into the United States from
the Philippines during the months of
active warfare, the imports for the
eight months preceding March reached
w, GAL, 10, as compared with 50, 1O2, $50
for similar period the year before
Our trade with Porto Rico likewise
shows an excess of imports over exports
to that island For the eight months
OF the fiscal year the imports from
Porto Rico to the United States gained
$50, 600 in value over the former year.
being $3.50. SS4 against $525, SS4. Of
this gain more than one half was in
the month of February when the i'm
ports OF 1899 reached 1924, 61S against
Ss9, 1856 for 1898. The trade balance be-
tween this country and Porto Rico is
now i'll favor of our exporters. as for
the same month the exports were $2G1,
Gl9. or $40, 545 in excess of those of
1898. For the eight months of the
fiscal year the exports amounted TO
~, 1926, 596. gain of $12, 5SG
Trade with Cuba has been in the
past several times as large as our trade
with Porto Rico and the Philippines
and now is already showing
wonderful gains over the older figures.
A year ago, in February before the
war. we imported from the island of
Cuba goods valued at 81, O5O 729, while
for the same month of the current year
the figures were s., 3O7, $40. For the
period OF July l, 1898, to Feb. 49, 1899,
the total imports to the United States
ports fro Cuba were So, ITS, rs, against
s6, AS. O2S for the like period a year
earlier.
The exports to Cuba have also pros
oered. those of January and February
showing an increase of over 81 200, 600
II value. For February, 1898, the
merchandise exported from this coun-
ry to Cuba was valued at 81, 1866, IA,
while for the same four weeks of 1899 |
he figures were 81, ,671, S46