The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-03-10

Of 157 millions in the seven months
In question.
This falling of is practically notl-
ceable In the month OF January. 1909,
because OF the fact that In January,
1908. with which its recor.i is compar-
ed. large quantities Of merchandise
were being pushed out of the country
TO obtain funds 70 meet the conditions
which had arisen during the period OF
depression beginning with October,
1907. and the exports OF that month
were therefore abnormally large. The
January, 1908. export figures were. in
fact. the largest on record for any jan
uary. being 2o6 million dollars. while
the January exports since 1900 have
averaged but about 14o million dollars.
so that the apparent drop OF so million
dollars is in reality due largely to ex-
cessiye expectations of the one month
with which 1t Is compared-January
1908. This is true also with reference
to the seven month period ending with
January, since the export figures in
November and December. 1907, were
also exceptionally large; these three
months-November and December.
1907. and January, 19OS-being the
only ones In the history of our com
mcrce In which the exports exceeded
200 million dollars per month. Another
cause. however. of the falling off In
exports Is found In the reduced prices
OF that largest single item of our ex-
port trade-raw cotton. The average
value OF cotton exported In January.
1905, was III cents per pound, and in
January. 1909. "a cents per pound
and during the closing months Of 1907,
so that the 3,196. &C., OPS pounds ex-
ported In the seven months ending
with January, 1909, brought actually
20 1-2 million dollars less than did the
2,73G.347,7Oo pounds exported In the
corresponding months of the preceding
year the quantity exported increasing
$50 million pounds and the value de-
creasing 20 IL million dollars.
Another cause of the decline is the
falling off in quantity of corn, wheat.
and flour exported. The prices of all
these articles have been. as is we'll
known, unusually high during the past
few months and this presumably ac-
counts, In part at least, for the fact
that the quantity of corn exported fell
from "a million bushels in the seven
months ending with January, 1908, to
19 million bushels in the correspond
Ing months ending with January, 1909; !;
wheat fell from IS million bushels in
the seven months ending with jan
uary, 1908. TO 5S 81 millions In the
seven months ending with January.
1903. while flour also showed a slight
decline in quantity.
Still another of the causes of the
reduction in export figures is found
in the marked decline in values Of
iron and steel manufactures exported: ::
the total value of exports Of iron and
steel manufactures in the seven
months ending with January, 1909. be-
Ing so million dollars against 116 IL
millions in the corresponding months
of 1908, decline of sc 12 million dol
lars In the value of iron and steel
manufactures exported To how great
an extent this is due to lower prices,
and to what extent it Ia due TO smaller
quantities exported. can not be de-
finitely determined because of the fact
that in many articles of iron and steel
quantities are not named in the re-
ports To the bureau of statistics,
though the fact that the export prices
of pig iron. steel billets, steel rails.
and wire are all less in January, 1909.
than January, 1908, indicates that the
fall In export values of iron and steel
is due, In part, at least, to lower prices.