New Britain herald., 1930-10-22

same proportion as went to Europe and the Near East.
 Some of the leading exports from New England manufacturers to Eu- rope and the Near East, in point of value and order of importance, are: Leather, hardware, cutlery, and me- chanic's tools; and office appliances. Leading exports to Canada were: Cotton manufactures; nonferrous metal manufactures; and industrial machinery and parts. South Ameri- ca took chiefly leather; hardware, cutlery, and mechanics tools; and cotton manufactures. Cuba and Porto Rico took mainly leather footwear, cotton manufactures, and leather. To the other West Indies and Central America went leather and cotton manufactures. Mexico bought largely iron and steel manu- factures; industrial machinery and parts; and hardware, cutlery. and mechanics tools. The leading export 10 the Far East was leather; to Africa, industrial machinery; to Australia and New Zealand, hard ware, cutlery, and mechanics tools.
 Trade Practices
 Twenty one per cent of the firms reporting trade practices stated they sent sales representative abroad; 26 per cent advertised in foreign coun-. tries; and 25 per cent maintained an export sales department. Over 70 per cent of the firms exported direct from their factory to the foreign market. Rhode Island led in this respect, with 75 per cent of it's ex- porters shipping direct, followed in order by Massachusetts with Fl per cent, Vermont with 70 per cent, Maine with 6S per cent, Connecticut with 66 per cent, and New Hamp- shire with 63 per cent.
 Trend of Export Business
 Approximately fl per cent of the manufacturers in New England re- porting the trend of their export bus mess, in the years immediately pre- ceding 1880, indicated an increase;. about 20 per cent, a decrease; and S9 per cent, no change. More than twice as many firms, therefore, in dicated an increase in their export business as indicated a decrease.
 In S3 of the 4 5 principal groups reporting trends, more firms indicat- ed an increase than a decrease in their export business. In fact, in several groups four times as many firms reported an increase as report ed a decrease. For example, 46 ex- porters of paper manufactures re- ported an increase, as against 10 with a decrease, and 2S with no change.
 Imports
 Although the Foreign Trade Sur vey of New England" is largely de- voted to exports, there is much of interest in the section on imports. One of the noteworthy features brought out is that the total value of imports, s21S,oO0.O as reported by some 1000 manufacturers, is con- sidorably greater than the total value of exports, 6,O00,00O, as reported by some 2,000 manufac- turers. Of course these figures rep resent only goods imported by man. ufacturers, presumably for use in their own factories, and are natur- ally chiefly raw materials.
 Principal Imports
 Imports of wool and wool manu- factures ranged first in New Eng | land in 1928, with a value of S43,- coo, ,000, or nearly 20 per cent of the | total Next in order of importance | were rubber and rubber manufac- lures, accounting for about 1S per cent of the total; hides and skins for about 1 per cent; and silk and silk manufactures, for about 10 per cent. These four groups (each com- | posed predominantly of raw mate rials) comprised over half the total value of imports.
 If all the commodities imported by New England manufacturers Tn 1928 could be piled together in one place so that an interested person might rummage among them and note their origin, he would be be- Wlldereu Dy the NdFlelS ol al llSleo and intrigued by visions of the coun- tries from whence they came. Cotton from Egypt; human hair from the Orient; tobacco from Sumatra, Cuba and Turkey; crude petroleum from and Mexico; and corned beef from Argentina, are but a few of the wide variety of items.
 Size of Annual Import Business
 More than 75 per cent of the LIDO New England importers replying had annual imports of less than slo0,- 900 each, These imports, however, accounted for but per cent Of the total value of imports for the sec ton. Over 40 per cent of the firms less than s1Q,00O worth ot goods each and their imports made up less than 1 per cent of the total Approximately 33 per cent of the firms imported between $lO,oOO and $100,O00 worth of goods each, which accounted for per cent of the total. Four companies, importing over $5,- O00O0 worth of goods each, &C.,