The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-03
COTTON KING { OF EXPORTS Total Value Crosses the $4OO, Line. BREADSTUFFs ONLY slS6,OOO,OOO Provisions Worth $2lI.000, ,00O and
 Iron and Steel $I61, 100000. Europe Continues the Chief Purchaser
 of the Southern staple, While Ja- pan Buys Heavily in Some | Years.
BREADSTUFFS ONLY $lS6,OOO,OOO

Washington. Sept. 2-Cotton Is king in the export record of the United States for the fiscal year just ended.
 This is the introductory sentence of a statement just issued by the Depart ment of Commerce and Labor. Con- tinuing. the statement says:
 The total value. of raw cotton export ed for the first time crossed the $400.- 100000 line and exceeded by far the value of any other article of merchan- disc sent out of the country. The ex- ports of breadstuffs of all kinds aggre- gated but s1s6,0oo,0 ,00o. those of pro- visions but $211.0o0.000 and those of iron and steel manufactures but $751; 900, ,000.
 The value of cotton exported has. during the last five years increased very rapidly. It was not until 1901 that 1t crossed the $500. 100000 line and in a short five year period is has grown to more than $400. 100000. or an increase of 33 per cent. This growth is due in part to an increase in the quantity exported. but in part also to the advance in price, since the quanti- ty exported in 1908 was about 100000 pounds less than in 1905. while the value was $21,000,000 more than in 1905.
 The exportation of manufactured cot ton was also larger in 1906 than In any earlier year, aggregating practically @0S,OUUsVOO ABdiuSt 30utOVOsUuV III 1SV0 and S22,500,000 in 1904. The growth in exports of manufactured cotton has been as striking as that of the raw material
 Europe is of course. our principal customer for raw cotton The United Kingdom took last year $1T7,000,000 worth; Germany $101. 1000. .000; France s45. .ooo, 900 and italy about ss7 .Ooo. .OOO. while the other countries of Europe took about $32,000, ,000 worth
 Japmn Buys Some.
 Japan Is also a customer for our raw cotton but very irregular in the quantity bought since she only buys largely of American cotton when prices are low, relying on India and China in years when American prices are high.
 The value of cotton exported to Japan in the fiscal year 1906 was in round terms $s.000. 900, in 1905 $1I.0o0- 900 and in 1904 less than $3,0o0,0o0.
 In manufactured cotton China is by far our largest customer. The total value of all cotton manufactures ex- ported in the fiscal year 1906 was as above indicated, $53,000,0 900 in round terms of which about 10000 900 went to China. Practically all of the cotton goods sent to China was in the form of cloth, the total value of cotton cloths exported to China in the year being s29,5411ss and of other cotton goods, SIP, ss7
 The exports of cotton cloth to China in the fiscal year 1906 exceeded both in quantity and value t --e of any oth- CT earlier year. the value in 1906 being about $2. 900, ,000 greater than in 1905. and the number of yards about 24.00O.- 900 greater than in 1905. China's rank as a purchaser of American cotton is indicated by the fact thct of the Ill., 900 900 yards of cotton cloths exported in 1906, 49s.O00.O 900 went to China, while about 133. 100000 yards went to the American countries south of the United States and 25.O0O. 900 to Asia other than China and Oceanica.