The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-01-28
GIANT STRIDES
OF COMMERCE
Foreign Markets Report Re-
views CentuPy's Growth.
EXPORTS INCREASE
F0RTY-F0LD
Among Outgoing Shipments
Agricultural Products Lead.


Washington, Jan. 27.-Frank H.
Hitchcock, chief of the section of for
eign markets in the agricultural de-
partment. in his annual review of the
trade of the United States in agricul-
turaI products says
The fiscal year 1900 brought to a
close a. century of marvellous develop
ment in the history of United States
commerce. In 1880. a century ago. the
total value of the merchandise import
ed and exported in our trade with for
eign countries was considerably less
than 5O0O0,00O The value of the
goods exchanged during the past fiscal
year reached nearly 81 SOC. 0OO. 600. far
exceeding all previous records. Since
the opening OF the century our COM
merce with the rest of the world has
increased more than twelve-fOld.
1t was chiefly in the export trade
that the enormous growth of the cen
fury occurred. Our domestic exports
during 1900, with a value of 81 $40. 763. .
5l, were over forty times as large as
IN 1901 The total imports for 1900 on
the other hand amounting in value to
$64S,S4I1l64, were less than ten times
as large as IN 1900. Compared with the
value of our imports for 1900. that of
cur domestic exports showed an excess
of $500. S22,3S7.
"Of the merchandise imported from
foreign countries during the fiscal year
1900, about 49 per cent consisted of az
ricultUral products. These products had
an aggregate value of 1920. 1876. 3S1- .ex-
ceeding by ALMOST 500, 600. zoo the record
of the year before. Hides, silk and
wool were the leading factors in the
growth, although vegetable ffbres.
sugar ana tobacco, also. showed i'm
portant gains The six items mentioned
contributed nearly $50 000, 900 to the in
crease in value.
Agricultural Exports Lead.
Products of United States agricul-
ture were marketed abroad in the fiscal
year 1900 to the value of 1914, SIC, $50
forming about 81 per cent of the total
exports. W 18th the single exception of
1898, the past year Witnessed the largest
annual export trade in farm products
on record. The value attained came
within 5000 600 of the phenomenal fig
ures of 1898. and surpassed those for
1899 by more than $4,000. 600. A con-
siderable portion of the increase over
1893 was accounted for by the higher
price of cotton. The exports of this
staple, although smaller in quantity
than during the preceding year. eX-
hibited an advance Of nearly S33, 100000
in value.
A comparison OF the value of our ag-
riculturaI exports for 1900 with that of
cur agricultural imports shows the
former exceeds the latter by S424 49,
149. The export value was slightly more
than double the amount of the import
value.
Among the agricultural imports of
the United States for the fiscal year
1900, the leading items, named in the
order of value, were; Sugar, hides and
skins, coffee, silk, vegetable fbreS,
wool, fruits and nuts, tobacco, tea,
wines, vegetable oil and cocoa. These
twelve items comprised in value nearly
90 per cent Of our entire import trade
in the products of foreign agriculture
during the year.
''Breadstuffs, cotton and meat pro-
cake, vegetable oils, fruits and nuts.
dairy products and seeds comprised
over 80 per cent of the total exports Of
farm products during 1900
Corn Triumphs Over Wheat.
"Our exports of breadstuffs during
1900, although far exceeding in value
the average for preceding years, show
a slight falling off when compared with
the exceptionally heavy shipments Of
1898 and 1899. This decline is tracea bic
chiefly to a falling off in the shipments
of wheat. Accompanying the decline
in wheat shipments, there was a fur
Their marked increase in the exports Of
corn, and for the first time in the his
tory Of the trade, the total export value
of corn exceeded that of wheat"