The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-23
OUR TRADE RELATIONS.
No Cause for Alarm shown by the
Statistics.
BY R. M. Larner.


By r. M. Larner.
Washington. May 22.-The alarms
which have been sounded during the
past two years regarding the trade re-
lations between the United States and
certain other countries of the world
find no justification in the figures of our
commerce up to this time. The three
countries which have been mentioned
from time to time as likely to decrease
their importations from the United
States are Russia, Austria Hungary
and Germany. A study of the latest
figures of the treasury bureau of sta
tistics regarding our imports and ex-
ports shows steady growth in the
trade relations with all of these coun-
tries, and indicates that our commerce
with each of them is likely to be larger
in the present fiscal year than in any
previous year in the history of our
commerce. This is true both of the
imports and exports. To each of these
three countries our exports are steadily
and rapidly increasing, and from each
of them our imports are also steadily
anu IdpiQiy increasing.
This is especially marked in the fig
ures of our trade relations with Rus
STA in the present fiscal year. The
latest figures of the Bureau of Statis-
tics are for the nine months ending
with March. They show that our ex-
ports to Russia in that period were
nearly double those of the correspond
ing period in any year of the last de-
cade, and that our imports from Rus
STA are also steadily and rapidly in
creasing, being double those of 1899
and three times those of 1894. In both
imports and exports the figures of
our trade with Russia are about three
times as large, in the nine months end
ing with March, 1894. In the exports
the increase has been especially marked
in the past year, our total exports to
Russia in the nine months ending with
March, 1908, being $13,5S4,S75, against
81, AL OLA in the corresponding months
of last year. In imports from Russia
the figures of the present year also
show a marked increase over last year,
and it is quite apparent that our i'm
ports from Russia in the present fiscal
year will be the largest in the his
tory of our commerce with that coun-
try. Our principal imports from Rus
STA are hides and skins, WOOL licorice
root and fibers; for all of which there
is a constantly increasing demand
among manufacturers Our principal
exports to Russia are cotton, of which
the United States produces three
fourths of the worlds supply; copper,
of which we produce one-half of the
worlds supply; agricultural imple-
ments and machinery
In the case of Austria Hungary the
growth is in both imports and exports.
Our imports from Austria Hungary in
the nine months ending with March
were larger than in any corresponding
period of our commerce with that
country, and double those of the same
period in 1895, 1898 and 1899. Our own
figures of our commerce with Austria
Hungary show imports from that
country much larger than exports to it,
and this has been the case in our en-
tire record of commerce with that
country; though the fact that the otti-
cial reports of Austria Hungary show
much larger imports of products of
the United States than our own figures
of exports to it, indicates that consider
able quantities of merchandise report
ed to our custom houses as exports to
other countries ultimately reach Aus
tria-Hungary. Our principal imports
from Austria-Hungary are sugar,
chemicals, glassware and f1bers; and
the principal articles shown by our
own reports Oh exports 10 tldI COui-
try are cotton, copper and mineral oil.
In our commerce with Germany the
record of the nine months ending with
March shows larger imports and ex-
ports than in the same period of any
preceding year. The imports from Ger
many for the nine months are $91, 246,-
SIG, against $54, S5S, 440 in the same pc
riod of 1894; and 1t is apparent that
for the fiscal year 1908, they will be the
largest in the history of our trade with
that country. Our largest exports to
Germany in the nine months are $685.
742,047, and for the twelve months will
also exceed the figures of any earlier
year in the history 'of commerce with
that country. Our largest exports to
Germany are cotton, breadstuffs, pro-
visions and copper. Our largest imports
from that country are chemicals, man
ufactures of cotton, silk, wool, leather
and iron and steel.
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