Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
GROWTH QF COMMERCE
INTERESTING STATISTICS FUR
N1sHED BY5MR. o. p. AUSTIN.
Lecture Before University School
Shows United States to Be in
Lead of Producers.

The story Of the growth Of American COM
merce from less than hundred million dol
lars at the beginning of the nineteenth
century to over two thousand millions OF
Its close was outlined before the school of
comparative jurisprudence and diplomacy
OF the Columbian University yesterday
AFTERNOON by Mr.. o. P. Austin, the chief
OF the bureau of statistics. The address
was the second Of the series of lectures on
commerce being delivered by Mr.. Austin,
ana was attended by a large number Of
persons other than members of the class,
the course being open to the public
The people Of this country have always
peen commercial people, Mr.. Austin said.
lhelr commerce grew from million dol
lars In LOO to seventeen millions in 1773,
and after the revolution rapidly increased
until it was nearly one hundred millions in
the Closing years of the eighteenth century.
Inc Napoleonic wars threw a large share
or the carrying trade between the European
countries and their colonies into the hands
or American vessels, which landed 1t, con-
structlVely or otherwise at American ports,
SO that 1t might be considered nominaily
American commerce and thus evade the
biockades of the European countries; and
hence our apparent commerce In foreign
goods during the opening years of the CEN
fury was abnormally large. Taking the do
nestle exports only and the imports less
the re-exports, the total Of the year 1900
was eighty-four millions. although the
grand total Of domestic and foreign was
about one hundred and sixty-two millions.
Taking this basis of eighty-four millions,
MI. Austin showed that the net imports
the imports less the re-exports) had grown
from ffty-tWo millions to over nine hundred
millions during the century and the exports
from thtrty-two millions to fourteen hun
dred and sixty millions in 1901. The i'm
ports are sixteen times as much as in 1900,
the eXnOrfS fOrfv-Ciy times G rnnch in
1900.
Comparing the growth in our exports
with that Of England, France and Russia,
Mr.. Austin showed that the United States
had since 1925 moved from the third In
rank to the head of the list, and comparing
domestic exports with those of the united
kingdom, France and Germany. since 1870
the United States had moved from the bot
tom to the top of the list, the actual in
crease in the exports of these four coun-
tries from 1870 to 1901 being: France, two
hundred and sixty-three millions; united
kingdom, three hundred and ninety-four
millions; Germany, five hundred and sixty
one millions; United States, ten hundred
and eighty-four millions, the increase by
the United States being nearly as much as
that of France, Germany and the united
kingdom combined.
This supremacy of the United States as
an exporting nation, Mr.. Austin said, was
ments of man are food. clothing. heat light
and manufactures, and of all these the
United States is the worlds greatest pro-
Queer. For food the, United States produces
more wheat and meats than any other ma
ton and three-fourths of the corn of the
world. For clothing she produces three
fourths of the cotton of the world. For
heating the United States is the worlds
greatest producer of COAL for light, her
petroleum production, of a quality fit for use
in lighting Is the largest in the world and
of manufactures her production is not only
larger than that Of any other nation, but
nearly double that of the united kingdom
and about equal to the combined production
Of Germany, France and Russia. The fears
that have been expressed that some other
country would %outgrow the United States
as a producer, Of the great staples which
the world requires have not been realized,
but, on the contrary, our recent growth
has been far more rapid than that of any
other country.