Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-08-14
IMPORT RAN MATERIAL
Remarkable Growth in lmporta-
ton Of Manufacturers Ma
terial Is Shown.
Indicates Marvellous Increase in
the Industrial Progress OF
United States.
Most Notable Feature OF the
Foreign Commerce During
Past Year.

Washington. Aug. 14.-The growth in
the importation of manufacturers ma
terials and the increasing share which
sucn materials form in the total inn
of the foreign commerce of the United
States in the fiscal year Just ended.
Manufacturers materials form, in 1902,
nearly one half of the total importa
tons and show a remarkable increase
lover preceding years, while other
classes of imports show but Il very
slight increase. A table, showing the
importations by great classes in each
year from 1850 TO 1907 is printed in
treasury bureau of statistics and at
fords an opportunity to study the
growth in imports of manufacturers
materials and the growing share which
they form in the total imports.
The bureau of statistics distributes
the imports into five great groups,
namely ID Articles of food. and ami
mails. (2) Articles in a crude condition
which enter into the various processes
OF domestic industry, CD Articles
wholly or partially manufactured for
use as materials III the manufactures
and mechanic arts, ca Articles manu-
featured ready for consumption and (5)
Articles of voluntary use, luxuries.
etc.
Combining the two classes of articles
I'm. inf. n "a
crude condition and those wholly or
partially manufactured for use as ma
terials in the manufactures and me-
chanic arts" it is found that the total
value of importations for use in man
ufacturing. which amounted in 1881 to
$2lT,oI1, SOL We're, in 1902. S41S.776,6S1
or practically double those of 1881.
They formed in 1881, 333.44 per cent
of the total imports and, in 1892, 46.36
per cent of the total imports. This
phenomenal growth becomes even more
striking when it is compared with the
growth in Importation of all other ar
ticles than those for use in manufac-
turing. The table in the report of the
chief of the bureau of statistics which
sets forth the imports, by years, of the
great groups above referred to, shows
that the total value of imports 9th
er than manufacturers materials
amounted, in 1881, to $433. 047,44S and in
1902 to $4S4.550.390 and formed, in
1881, 66.56 per cent of the total i'm
ports and in 1902 but 1864 per cent of
the total imports. Thus. While inn
portations of manufacturers materials
have practically doubled from 1881 to
1902, iinportations OF articles other
than manufacturers materials have
increased but about II per cent.
Comparing conditions in 1902 with
those of 1892, Gere is an increase of
about so per cent in manufacturers
materials and an actual decrease of
about 10 per cent in other imports.
In 1892 the importations of manufac-
turers' materials We're s27S,31O.966
against s41S.716,6S1 in 1902 and the inn
ports of articles other than manu-
facturers materials We're, in 1892, $685.
2S1,379 and in 1902, SASH $50. These
figures seem especially interesting in
view of the fact that the total imports
of 1902 We're larger than in any year
in the history of our foreign COM
merce.
Even these figures. however, do not
indicate, in all cases at least the ac
tual growth in manufacturers mater
ials because of the fact that they are
figures of values only and, in many
cases, prices have so much fallen that
the value figures of 1902, when COM
pared with those of earlier periods, do
not fully Indicate the growth in guam
tity imported. The report of the chief
of the bureau of statistics gives in
conjunction with the table above re-
ferred to, another table showing the
quantity of principal articles imported
1t shows, for example, that while the
value of the quantity raw silk imported
IN 1902 is only 3ia times as much as
in 1850. the quantity is more than five