Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1905 — BIGGEST TRADE YEAR [ARTICLE]

BIGGEST TRADE YEAR

FOREIGN COMMERCE FOR 1006 BREAKS RECORD. Largest Volume of Import* and Exports Ever Recorded—Revenue Skewing Gains—lmprovement Since Close of Fiscal Year—Big August Figures.Washington correspondence: Commercial activity indicated by current statements of the Department of Commerce and Labor suggest that, if business continues at the shown by August foreign trade statistics, the calendar year of 1905 will enjoy the largest volume of imports and exports ever recorded. Figures just published for August show that exports of manufactures during that month increased nearly $9,000,000, or about 25 per cent, as compared with August a year ago, and about 520,000,000 as compared with August, 1901. Meantime manufacturers have in< creased their consumption of materials imported for use in various processes of domestic industry until the August imports of crude materials for use in manufacturing have increased, nearly 52,000,000 over the imports of August, 1904. For the eight months ended with August there has been an increase of about 550,000,000 in imports, compared with the corresponding period a yeas ago. Up to Aug. 31, 1905, imports amounted to 5770,412,020, as against $067,269,304 in the preceding year; and exports were valued at $900,012,007, as compared with $851,203,457 in the first eight months of 1904. The value of manufactures exported during the first eight months of 1905 practically equaled the total exports of manufactures during the entire calendar year 1899, being $370,198,079, as against a total of $380,787,891 for the entire year 1899.

Comparison of Figures. Current government figures show also that more manufactures are being exported from than are imported into the country—a condition which has been brought about during the short period since 1897. Imports of manufactures (including in that term for this comparison manufactures ready for consumption, articles wholly or partially manufactured for use as materials in the mechanic arts, and articles of voluntary use and luxuries) aggregated during August $45,000,000, while exports of manufactures during that month showed a total of $51,000,000. During the eight months ended with August, 1905, imports of manufactures, including all degrees of manufacture, aggregated $322,000,000, while exports of manufactures amounted during the same period to $370,000,000.

As recently as 1897 the records of our foreign commerce showed an importation of $283,000,000 worth of manufactures during the calendar year, as against $280,000,000 worth of manufactures exported. The following year was the first to show exports of manufactures in excess of imports of manufactures, and since 1898 there has been a steady increase in the outward flow of the products of our manufacturing industries. During the eight-month periods of the years named exports of manufactures have increased from $190,000,000 in 1897 to $376,000,000 in 1905, while imports of manufactures have only increased from $212,000,000 in 1897 to $322,000,000 in 1905. Gain in Revenue. Duties collected from customs have increased materially since the close of the fiscal year 1905, that year having shown no appreciable increase in customs revenue as compared with the preceding year. The total amount of duties collected from customs during the fiscal year 1905 was $262,000,528, as against $262,013,079 in 1904, the increase being very slight, while for June, the closing month of the fiscal year 1905, the total customs revenue was $22,504,652, as against $22,590,692 in June of the preceding year. The revenues derived from customs show a decided improvement since the close of the fiscal year. Thus the revenue derived from customs in July, 1905, amounted to $21,590,149, as against $19,483,750 in July of the preceding year, and in August amounted to $26,181,282, as compared with $22,417,674 in August, 1904. For the eight months ended Aug. 31, 1905, the total customs revenue aggregated $177,926,029, as against $170,475,010 in the same months of the preceding year, and of this Increase of $7,451,013, $0,570,007 was accumulated during the two months of July und August of the present year.