Arizona republican., 1907-06-28
Articles of Imported Man.
 ufaCtureS and fOOdStuffS
In the Latter There Has Been Little or No Ad- vance in Prices

ptI tinent or commerce and labor, seems to have occurred largely in manufacturers matei-a-s. and, in a more limited way. in manufactures. while foodstuffs show little advance and in some cases a decline. The bu- reau of statistics obtains it's valuation of im1oSsed articles by dividing into the total value of imports for a given period the total quantity imported. thus obtaining the average valuation per pound. bushel. gallon. ton or other unit of quantity; and as the valua- tions of imported articles are required by law to be the actual market value or wholesale price of such merchan- disc. as bought and sold in wholesale quantities at the time of exportation to the United States. in the principal markets of the country whence i'm ported" the figures of value which it thus obtains may be looked upon as a fair representation of the wholesale market value in foreign countries of the articles in question.
 The 25 principal articles which the bureau of statistics has selected for a careful comparison of prices at the present time with those of a decade ago include most of the important ar ticles in the import trade in which quantities as well as values are stat ed. and the value of these 20 articles when aggregated forms one-half the total value of all merchandise import ed into the country in the period in question. this calculation being made with reference to the ten months end ing with April 1907. in comparison with the ten months ending with April. 1897. thus comparing the pres ent average prices abroad of the ar ticles in question with those of a cor responding period a decade ago.
 The advances in prices shown in these principal articles imported. com pairing average prices in the ten months ending with April. 1907. with those of the corresponding months of 1897. are as follows: Pig tin. an 3d vance of 207 per cent; copper in pigs, bars. ingots. etc. l27 per cent; un- manufactured fibers. IF per cent; iron ore. los per cent; shellac. 107 per cent; raw cotton. 69 per cent; lumber. 6f per cent; hides and skins. 63 per cent; india rubber. g per cent: raw silk, g per cent: wood pulp. 56 per cent; wool g ger cent; nitrate Of soda. 31 per cent: and pig iron. 22 per cent. In foodstuffs imported the more i'm portant articles show in some cases a decline and in others but a slight ad- vance. The importation of food in cludes a much smaller number of ar ticles than the imports for manufac- turing the principal articles import ed for food purposes being. in the or der of their value. sugar. coffee. tea, cacao. fruits. wines. liquors. spices. & etc. Taking the average price of the ten months ending with April. 1907. and comparing with that for the cor responding period of 1897 sugar shows an advance of slightly less than 1 per cent. coffee shows a decline of over 29 per cent. tea an advance of 100 per cent. cacao an advance of 4S per cent. distilled spirits an advance of 15 per cent. and champagne and other spark ling wines an advance of ? per cent.
 While the figures above quoted show merely the percentage of advance or decline in each case. the actual ad- vance or falling off in price per unit of quantity is equally interesting. Comparing the figure for the ten months of 1907 with those of the same month of 1897, pig tin shows an ad- vance from l3 cents per pound in 1897 to 40 cents per pound in 1907; copper in pigs. ingots. bars. etc. from Sls cents per pound in 1S97 to 19 cents in 1907; unmanufactured fibers. from s61 per ton in 1897 to S133 per ton in 1907: iron ore. from s1.44 per ton in 1897 to g per ton in 1907: shellac, from Is cents per pound in 1897 to g cents in 1907; tea. from a little over F cents per pound in 1897 to a fraction above 24 cents in 1907: raw cotton. from l1h cents per pound in 1897 to 19 cents in 1907: hides and skins. from IA cents per pound in 1897 to 22 cents in 1907; boards. blanks. and deals. from s10 per NJ feet in 1897 to GIT in 1907: raw silk. from s2.41 per pound in 1897 to s.7s in 1907: wood pulp. from s19 per ton in 1897 to s29 in 1907; india rub Der. from 49 cents per pound in 1897 to v cents in 1907; cacao. from 9h cents per pound in 1897 to IA cents in 1907. while sugar is in each case val ued at practically 2 cents per pound. the advance being slightly less than 1 per cent. and coffee shows a fall from II cents in 1897 to cents in 1907. Thus coffee and sugar. which form by far the largest items in the importation of foodstuffs. show in one case a decline and in the other no ad- vance. while tea and cacao. of which the value of the imports is less than one-fourth that of coffee and sugar, show an advance
 Tn finished manufactures prices per unit of quantity are more difficult to obtain. and especially comparative prices. since a large proportion of the finished articles are of such miscel- laneous character that theN determina- ton of the price is difficult. while in other cases the quality and form of articles under a given name vary so greatly from year to year that com parisons are liable to be misleading. Tn few articles. however. if is prac- ticable to compare prices at the pres ent time with those of an earlier date. Jute bagging, for instance. of the class designated by the tariff classificat ton as not exceeding % threads to the square inch" shows a price per pound in 1898 of AZ cents and in 1906. SC cents: burlaps, not exceeding 90 threads to the square inch. show q