The Washington times., 1915-12-23
BIO WAR IMPORTS NOW


Our dumfounding war exports
have been the cause of much Ameri-
can misconception as to the volume
of our imports. More than once
this newspaper has reminded de-
tenders of Mr.. Wilson's tariff that
they did not exactly know what they
were talking about when they
thought that our diminished Gus
toms revenues were entirely or even
in large measure due to obliterated
imports.
Except for a brief period follow
ing the outbreak Of the war, our i'm
ports have done very well, indeed.
In recent months they have been
rising almost sensationally. The
October figures, for example, at
$149,1 72,729, were some $11,000,000
more than for the corresponding
month last year and some $16,000,-
900 more than for the corresponding
month in 1918.
The full November reports have
not yet been made public, and De-
cember, Of course, still has several
days to run; but the weekly returns
in November were very large, and
December has been promising to
make record.
For the ten months ending with
October imports were some $93,Q00,-
600 lower than for the correspond
ing period Of the year before; but
the latter period, it must be remem-
bered, covered the melancholy days
when our tariff floodgates had been
thrown wide open under the new
economic policy of Mr.. Wilson and
his party, and American industries
were being swept away by the tidal
wave of foreign products rushing
into our markets as they never had
done before in the history of the
country.
Compared with the ten months of
1918, the imports for the CORE
spending period this year we're down
only $4,000, 900; and probably by
now that difference has been more
than wiped out by the swelling inn
ports of November and December.
Some idea of how really big our
imports have been in the last year
may be gathered from the fact that
in the whole fiscal year of 1913
ending with June Of that ycar-our
imports were only $1,s13,O09, 234. II
the twelve months of this calendar
year do not equal the twelve months
Of that fiscal year they will come 50
near it that the shortage will not
be worth arguing about one way OF
the other.
1t has been only in very recent
years that this country ever i'm
; ported in a full twelve months al
high value of foreign products al
we imported in only ten months Of
this calendar year of 1915.
From the fiscal years of 1905 t.
1909, inclusive, there was no yea
when the imports for twelve month";
were as big as they were in tn,
ten months of this year. In tn,
whole of 1910 the imports were onl.
: $1,557, s19,9Ss, in 1911 only $1,527,
226, 105, and as late as 1912 the!
were no higher than 1858, 264, 1884
But between the imports Of tn
present and the imports of the oil
tariff there is this big difference
both from the point of view of tn
American Treasury needing reve
v nues and of American industrie
t needing in normal times home sup
: port: Many articles which paid som
|. duties under the old tariff now com
n in free of any duty, and article
n which paid higher duties under tn
d old tariff are now paying lowe
y duties.
|. We have the imports PRACTICAL
y just as much as ever we had then
/ We haven't the duties. If we ha
more imports than we actually hav
Il they would not, under the existin
a tariff, yield the revenue that tn
Government requires. If we had tn
), old duties, even a much smaller vo
q ume of imports than we now az
# tualIy have-and there is no reaso
IS to suppose that it would be smalle
% would produce more revenues b
. a huge amount than the Government
- now gets through the custom housu
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