Arizona republican., 1909-06-28
COMPARISON BY YEARS
A Decline Last Year Was
Less Than That of Other
Countries Dealing With
the Island Empire An
Analysis of the Trade.

Washington. D. c., June 27.-Jepan-
ese imports from the United States in
1908 amounted to 7S,00O.OO0 yen or
! $39, 600 900, the value of the yen being
in round terms 50 cents. The share
which merchadise from the United
States formed Of the total imports into
that country was in 1908. us per cent;
in 1898, 1857 per cent, and in 1883, SCI
per cent This total of 7S,0OO,000 yen
is practically twice as great as a de-
cade ago, the imports from the United
States in 1898 having been 40.000,000
ven and in 1883, $500. 600. The eX-
ports from Japan to the United States
We're in 1908, 122,O00,000 yen; in 1898.
63,OO0,O0O ven. and in 1883. 100000:
forming in 1908, 32.2 per cent; In 1898.
29.O6 per cent. and in 1883, 3745 per
cent of the total exports Of Japan.
These figures are from the official
publication of that government. en-
tiled Annual Return of the Foreign
Trade of the Empire Of Japan. 1908, -
just received by the bureau Of sta
tistics of the department of commerce
and labor. A comparison of the fig
ures of this document with those Of
similar official publications for earlier
years shows that the value Of mer-
chandise from the United States i'm
ported into Japan In 1908 exceeded that
of any earlier years except 1907 and
1905. having been in 1908 about 3,000.-
600 yen below the figures of 1907, and
p, 100000 below 1905, when imports
from the United States in the closing
year of the Russo japanese war were
abnOrmally heavy. The percentage
which merchandise from the United
States formed o fthe total imports was
larger in 1908 than in 1907. despite the
slight falling off in total-this increase
in percentage in the face of a decline
in total being due to the fact that
Japan's total imports were materially
less in 1908 than i'm 1907, having been
in 1908, 436,O00OO0 yen, and I'm 1907,
494 100000 yen.
Wheat and flour from the United
States show a marked decline in 1908
compared with 1907. the value of wheat
imported from this country falling
from little more than i2.500.000 yen
in 1907 to practically 100000 in 1908:
while four fell from more than $40
600 in 1907 to little less than 2.275,-
000 in 1908. though it may be added
that the United States supplied very
large proportion of the wheat and flour
entering japan in 1908 as well as in
1907. OF condensed milk the United
States IS also the largest source Of
supply. the value Of this article i'm
ported from the United States being
considerably more than that from all
other countries combined, and the
quantity of 1908 showing a slight in
crease over 1907. The value of con-
densed milk imported from the United
States alone in 1903 was 1,319,000 yen,
the yen. as already indicated. equaling
practically so cents in United States
currency.
Petroleum and its products are inn
portant articles in the import trade OF
Japan, and especially in its trade with
the United States. OF the T2,0O0, 900
gallons Of petroleum oil imported into
Japan in 1903, 43.O00.000 came from
the United States, 29.0O0.000 from
Dutch India. and but 50O0,O 900 gallons
from any other country. In lubricat-
ing oil the reliance upon the United
States is still greater. the quantity i'm
ported from this country being SO per
cent of the total imported. OF paraffin
wax. also a product of petroleum.
ree-fourths of the imports are from
the United States, the total value Of
paraffin imported in 1903 amounting
to 100000 yen, of which 100000
came from the United States.
Raw cotton forms the largest single
article in value imported into Japan
from the United States, its value be
ing in 1908, 26,5O0. 900 yen. against 2S.-
275.OO0 in 1907. In this articles raw
cotton, India supplies a larger share
Of Japans total importation than does
the United States. The value of cotton
from India in 1903 being 39.500.0OO yen.
and from China 16125,0O American
cotton is also higher in value per unit
of quantity than that of India or China.
since 100000 picul of cotton from the
United States was valued at 26,5O0, 900
yen, 100000 picul from India at &c.
100000 yen. and $4,000 picul from
China at 16125,00O ven. CThe picul
equals 1873 13 pounds avoirdupois.) In
cotton goods, however, the United
States supplies but a small share of
the total imports into Japan. The to-
tai value of imports into Japan of
cotton goods of all classes amounted
in 1908 to 100000 yen, of which over
5000. 600 was from the United King
dom, and practically all of the remain
der from other European countries
Germany, Belgium, France and Switz-
erland-the total Of all cotton goods