The following table shows the value of the imports for consumption and of the exports of domestic merchandise per head of population, and the quantities of various articles retained for consumption in the United States per head of population.

The following is the trade of Great Britain and Ireland with the United States, according to the Board of Trade returns :

Imports from the

United States. 126,062,155 120,081,188 138,789,261 141,015,465 126,961,601 122,112,652 Exports of Bri

tish produce. 14,716,489 18,119,380 19,780,831 18,393,883 23,760,913 22,605,131

The value of the total exports (including foreign and colonial merchandise) from Great Britain to the United States was, in 1900, 37,343,9557.; in 1901, 37,651,1507.; in 1902, 43,081,0737.; in 1903, 41,605,2067.

The quantities and values of the wheat, wheat-flour, and maize imports into Great Britain from the United States were as follows in each of the last five years :

Other cereals imported in 1903 were barley, 2,526,771 cwt.; value 818,8047.; oats, 660,689 cwt.; value 176,5237.; oatmeal, 457,695 cwt.; value 343,6907.

The imports of raw cotton into Great Britain and Ireland from the United States were of the following quantities and value in each of the last five years :—

1899

1900

1901

1902

1903

Quantity, cwts. 11,017, 490 12,190,169 13,221,303 12,177,136 12,153,019 £. 19,164,130 30,196,513 32,355,712 29,283,929 32,345,746

Value

The following statement shows the values of other important imports into the United Kingdom from the United States in the last 2 years :

The following table gives the total value of the leading articles exported from the United Kingdom to the United States in the last five years :

:

Other exports from the United Kingdom to the United States in 1903 were chemical products, 763,0517.; silk and silk manufactures, 281,772.; jute manufactures, 1,002,5217.; machinery, 671,4357.; earthenware, 583,8647.; copper, 68,0017.; skins and furs, 799,672.; wool, 677,6471.; coal, 681,640Z.

The importance of British trade with the United States is shown by the following statement (from British_statistics) relating to the total imports from and total exports to British Possessions, the United States, and other countries in 2 years :

:

A considerable amount of Canadian produce, however, is imported viâ United States ports, and some of it is attributed to the United States.

The total trade of the United States (imports and exports of merchandise) is divided as follows in 1902-03 among the various coasts and frontiers of the States in percentage of the total :-Atlantic Coast, 70-54; Gulf Coast, 13.22; Mexican Border Ports, 1·61; Pacific Coast, 5.55; North Boundary, 8.50; Interior Ports, 58.

The percentage of the leading ports was as follows:-New York, 45'98; Boston, 7:13; Philadelphia, 5.46; Baltimore, 448; New Orleans, 7.28; San Francisco, 2.86; Galveston, 4.32.

Shipping and Navigation.

The foreign commerce of the United States is at present largely carried on in foreign bottoms. The shipping belonging to the United States was classed as follows for 1903 :-Sailing vessels (exclusive of canal boats and barges), 12,836 of 1,965,924 tons; steam vessels, 8,054 of 3,418,088 tons; tota! (including canal boats and barges), 24,425 vessels of 6,087,345 tons.

Of vessels registered as engaged in the foreign trade and the whale fisheries, the aggregate was in 1903, 888,776 tons, showing an increase of 15,541 tons on 1902; while of vessels engaged in the coasting trade the total in 1903 was 5,141,037 tons, or 282,323 tons more than in the preceding year.

The shipping was distributed thus (June 30, 1903):—

Grand Divisions

Sailing Vessels Steam Vessels Canal Boats

Barges

Total

No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons No. Tons Atlantic & Gulf. 11,125 1,260,372 3,913 1,382,708 242 30,656 1,938 475,975 17,218 3,149,711 Porto Rico

51

5,528 8 2,134

Total, 1903

59

7,662 564 39,045 2,575 775,859 69 36,320 185 71,761 3,110 1,902,698 153 48,146 1,394 215,095

12,836 1,965,924 8,054 3,408,088) 695 78,406 2,840 634,927 24,425 6,087,345

The following table shows the distribution of the United States vessels between the foreign trade, the coasting trade, and the whale, cod, and mackerel fisheries since 1861:

Tons

Tons

Tons

Tons

Tons

Tons

1861

102,608 2,496,894 1871 180,914 1,363,652 1881 152,769 1,297,035 1891 235,070 988,719 1,776,269 3,609,876 1899 355,913 837,229 2,115,981 3,965,313 337,356 816,795 2,316,455 4,286,516 426,259 879,595 2,491,231 4,582,645 455,017 873,235 2,718,049 4,858,714 1903 527,410 879,264 2,846,835 5,141,037 67,044 6,087,345

774,596 2,704,544 338,375 5,539,813 906,723 2,764,600 154,355 4,282,607 1,112,232 2,646,011 114,688 4,057,734

1900 1901 1902

86,164 4,684,759 61,696 4,864,238 61,528 5,164,839

61,978 5,524,218 65,953 5,797,902

During the year 1903 there were built:-Sailing vessels, 470 of 89,979 tons; steam vessels, 551 of 271,781 tons; canal boats, 19 of 2,215 tons, and 271 barges of 72,177 tons.

The total tonnage on June 30, 1903, was 3,418,088 steam and 2,679,257 other than steam.

The tonnage entered and cleared in the foreign trade during three fiscal years was as follows :

The tonnage entered and cleared at the principal ports of the United States in year ending June 30, 1904, was as follows:

The following table gives a summary by ports of the shipping entered and cleared in 1903 and 1904 :

According to nationality the vessels entered and cleared at United States ports in year ended June 30, 1903, were as follows:

In 1901-02 23 vessels of 56,967 tons cleared from Atlantic ports for Pacific ports, and 16 vessels of 45,443 tons cleared from Pacific for Atlantic ports, viâ Cape Horn.

Of the total foreign trade conducted in vessels in 1902-03, only 9.6 per cent. in value was carried in vessels belonging to the United States. The proportion in 1859 was 66.9 per cent.