Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-09-18
OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE.
New Record Made by United States
During Past Year.

The foreign commerce of the Uni
ted States made a new and remarka-
he record in the fiscal year Just
ended. ,he total value of the mer-
chandise entering and leaving the
country in it's trade with foreign
lands and it's own island possessions
! in the fiscal year 1912 was four bill
| lion dollars; the value of manufac-
lures exported was more than one
billion dollars; and the value of non
dutiable merchandise entering the
country was one billion dollars. OF
this one billion dollars worth of nom
dutiaIble merchandise entering the
country during the year ending June
80, 1912, about 900 million dollars
worth was from foreign countries
and 100 million dollars worth from
Hawai-; and Porto Rico. OF the mer-
chandise coming from foreign coun-
tries only land not including that
from Hawaii and Porto Rico) $50
per cent entered free of duty, against
44.3 per cent during the entire per-
iod of the Dingley law, ass per
cent under the Wilson law, and SO
PER cent under the Mckinley law
when the admission of sugar free of
duty made the percentage OF duty
tree imports unusually large, but not
so high as that of the year just end
ed. In fact, the value of duty-free
merchandise entering from foreign
countries in 1912 not only exceeds
by far that of any earlier year, but
also forms larger share of the total
imports than in any previous years
except 1892 and 1894, the opening
and closing years of the operations
Of the Mckinley law, when the i'm
ports of sugar free of duty were alb
normally large. Imports of duty
free merchandise never reached as
much as 100 million dollars prior to
1873. They touched the 200 million
dollar line in 1880, the 800 million
dollar line in 1891, the 400 million
dollar line in 1892, the 500 million
dollar line in 1905, the 600 million
dollar line in 1907, the 700 million
dollar line in 1910, and in 1912 APP
proXimated 900 million dollars; and
the addition of the merchandise COM
ing from our own islands brings the
grand total of non-dutiable merchan-
disc in the fiscal year 1912 up to a
round billion dollars.
The principal articles forming the
free merchandise entering continent
tai United tates during the fiscal
year 1912 are, according to the Ia
test reports of the Bureau of Stats
tics of the Department Of Commerce
and Labor, food stuffs and manufac-
turers' materials. The food stuffs
entering without payment of duty in
cluded about 100 million dollars
worth of coffee, approximately 35
million dollars worth of tea and CO.
Goa, over 20 million dollars worth
of fruits and nuts, five milliin dol
lars worth of spices, and about 90
million dollars worth of sugar from
Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philip
pines. The manufacturers materials
entering free of duty included ap-
proXimately 100 million dollars
worth of hides and skins; over 100
million dollars worth of India rub
Der and substitutes therefor; about
Go million dollars worth of raw silk;
80 million dollars worth of tin in
bars, blocks and pigs; 40 million
dollars worth of copper in ore and
pigs; so million dollars worth of fl
bers, including hemp, jute and sisal,
and about 20 million dollars worth
Of raw cotton.
| OF the more than one billion dol
| lars worth of manufactures exported
during the year, those of iron and
steel aggregated about 275 million
dollars in value; copper and mineral
oils, each more than 100 million ;
| lumber and other manufactures of
wood, nearly 100 Million; leather
and manufactures thereof, about 60
million; and cotton manufactures,
about so million. Manufactures ex-
ported in the month of May amount
ed to 10S million dollars for the sim
gle month and formed 63 per cent of
the total domestic exports OF that
month. For the full fiscal year man
ufactures formed about 46 per cent
of the total domestic export. During
! the "a months in which the present
tariff law has been in operation, man
ufactures exported averaged 70 mill
| lion dollars per month and formed
| As per cent of the total exports. Dur
ing the entire existence of the Ding
ley law they averaged 46 million dol
| lars per month and formed 81 per
cent of the total exports; during the
entire operations of the Wilson law
exports of manufactures averaged %
million dollars per month and form
ed 90 per cent of the total exports;
and during the existence of the Nc
Kinley law they averaged 16 million
dollars per month and formed II per
cent of the total exports.