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.. ' 13^8 THE LE1PEB, [No. 454, December...
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O O MM EEC IA L
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OTJK TRADE IN 1857. The annual statement...
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OUR TBADE IX 1358. We may now add, from ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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.. ' 13^8 The Le1peb, [No. 454, December...
.. ' 13 ^ 8 THE LE 1 PEB , [ No . 454 , December 4 , 185 ft . .
O O Mm Eec Ia L
C O M M E R C I A L .
Otjk Trade In 1857. The Annual Statement...
OTJK TRADE IN 1857 . The annual statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for 1 S 57 was published on Wednesday , the 1 st instant . A . n abstract of the principal items was published late in the spring , which tobk off the edge of the public curiosity : to gratify it , or rather to satiate it with the details of this great subject , has required exactly eleven months . The present publication , however , is a great improvement on former publications . A fewyears ago we had to wait much longer even than now for a return that was far less complete . The total computed value of all our trade in the two last years was— 1856 . 1857 . £ . £ . Imports 172 , 544 , 154 187 , 844 , 441 Exports ... 139 , 220 , 353 146 , 174 , 301 Transit 4 , 579 , 048 4 , 508 , 4 S 7 316 , 343 , 555 338 , 527 , 229 Of the total imports , there came— * From for . countries 129 ; 517 , 568 141 , 661 , 245 Firom Brit , possess . 43 . 026 , 586 46 , 183 , 196 Of the total exports , which include foreign and colonial produce , there went—To for . countries ... 102 , 524 , 675 105 , 738 , 700 To BriL possessions 36 , 695 , 678 40 , 435 , 601 The value of imports , therefore , which includes the cost of bringing the goods hither , exceeds the value of the exports , which doe 3 not include the cost of conveying the goods abroad , by about 27 per cent , on the average of the two years ; and the trade to foreign countries , compared to that to British possessions , taking the average of the two years , and the whole of the exports and imports , is three times as great . According to the theories of trade which prevailed when most of the old restrictive laws of Europe were made on foreign trade , the excess in the value of imports so marked in , these two years , and so invariably the rule , was set down as a balance of trade against the country , and the restrictive laws were made to cast the balance , if possible , on the other side . No account is here taken of the movement of the precious metals ; but formerly it was supposed that the excess of imports had always to be paid for by the export of the precious metals , ana to keep or bring them into the country was then the darling object of legislators . They were ignorant of the fact , now from its magnitude perfectly clear , that the value of goods in every country must always be greater at the place of import than at the place of export ; and as a consequence , in general the value ot imports in every country must be greater than the value of exports . They tried by laws , therefore , to reverse the order of nature , which makes mutual exchange advantageous to both parties ; and though they did not , succeed , they are in many cases still trying to effect the same hopeless object . They tried , too , for many years to chrok foreign trade , and confine trade as much as possible to their own countries and to colonies . With the approbation generally of their people , they tried to effect this object on many occasions by war , with a deplorable want of success , as the present condition of our trade testifies . No country has poascssions abroad at all comparable to our possessions , and yet our trade with foreign countries is three times as great as the trade to our own possessions . Wo should , however , fall into as grievous an error as the old restriotionists were wo on this account to depreciate this latter trade . In faot , somo of it is a foreign trade , as our cottons and woollens pass through India into Thibet and Affghanistau ; aud without colonial trade , such as the import of indigo from India and wool from Australia , we could not carry on to an equal extent foreign , trade , such as the oxport of woollen cloth to the United States . All branches of trade , therefore , arc closely oonncoted with , and arc necessary to , one Another ; and we only indicate tho more or less of the several branches as matters of faot oalculftted to gratify curiosity , not to raise one above the othor in the general estimation .
The countries from which the imports aud to which the exports were of the greatest value , to enumerate only a few , were the following : ¦ . —
1857 . Countries from Value of Countries to Y- £ ** ? J which Imports Imports , which Exports Lxports . came = £ went . •*•• United States 33 , 647 , 227 United States 18 , 985 , 939 India , Ceylon , India , Ceylon , and Singapore 21 , 094 , 301 and Singapore lo , 118 , Q 2 fl Russia 13 , 447 , 584 i Australia . 11 , G 32 , 524 France 11 , 965 , 407 ; Hanse Towns 9 , 595 , 902 CUina & Hong- | Holland ...... G , 364 , 394 21328
Kong 11 , 448 , 639 I France C , , o Egypt 7 , 353 , 876 Brazil 5 , 541 , 710 British W . In- B . N . America 4 , 329 , 075 dies , including Turkey .. 3 , 107 , 401 Guiana 7 , 214 , 566 Russia 3 , 098 , 819 Holland 7 , 203 , 785 China & Hong Prussia 6 , 732 , 078 Kong 2 , 449 , 982 B . N . America 6 , 399 , 110 British W . In-Australia 5 , 925 , 305 dies , including Hanse Towns 5 , 822 , 188 Guiana 2 , 349 , 041
With the exception of the United States and India none of these countries stand in the same relation to both imports and exports . Russia sent us 13 , 447 , 5847 . of her goods , and took only 3 , 09 S , S 19 / . of ours , but her hemp , her tallow , and timber were indispensable for our business ^ however they niight be paid for . Australia appears the lowest but oue on the import list and the highest but two on the export list ; if the gold she has sent us were added she would probably stand third on the import list . The trade with all these countries is advantageous , nay , necessary to our welfare , and this table , like every return , oiily convicts us of error when we condemn a trade because it appears not to be what is called reciprocal , that is , when the exports are not about ecjual to the
imports . To refer to the changes in trade which these returns indicate , we may ' notice that the imports from Russia , which in 1 S 55 were only -173 , 000 / ., were , in 1 S 57 , 13 , 447 , 584 : / . The imports from Egypt were in 1854 only 3 , 355 , 000 / ., aud in 1 S 57 , 7 , S 53 , 87 G / . ; much of the increase arising from goods transmitted through Egypt from India . Large as the imports from the United States were in 1 S 57 , they were larger in 1 S 50 by 2 , 400 , 000 / . ; and in ISii'J were only 4 , 000 , 000 / . less . The exports to British North America declined before 3857 ; those to India inoreased from about 8 , 000 , 000 / . in 1853 to
which have been built , together with the imbro ™ ment m constructing and navigating them TU latter is not a measurable quantity , the former is jj the year 18 o 7 , the amount of tonnage built and «• gistcrcd in the United Kingdom ancf its possession exclusive of 30 , 302 tons of shi pping built here for foreigners , and exclusive also of the 6000 tons of the ^ rcat ^ st "" ' *» if' but not registered , was no less than : 423 , 477- At the same time the tonna » e of registered shipping wrecked and sold to forei g ners was 180 , 119 , leaving us a clear increase of 237 358 tons for to be added
carriage to a similar increase through several previous years . When the shipowners build shi ps and improve navigation , they cannot ensure an increase of cargoes to be carried . To increase subsistence ,--however , by agricultural improvement , in the present half-fed and half-clothed condition of the multitude , does , on the principle of population , ensure a market for it ; and the farmers , accordingly , have flourished by their own exertions ' while the shipowners have done too much for their own benefit . What they really want is mor e cargoes to carry , and no means are so effectual to increase these as to abolish restrictions for the
renewal of which some of our shipowners are foolish enough to pray . These tables inform us that the value of the exports of our own produce from Liverpool was 55 , 178 , 536 / ., and from London only -27 , 832 , 315 / Hull is next on the list 15 , 75 S , S 13 / . j awl then Glasgow 5 , 107 , 3 Si / . ; all the other ports are much below these . We sec no account of the value of imports at the different ports / but something equivalent is the amount of customs duties paid , at each port . London stands first in this list , 11 , 405 , 998 / ., and Liverpool next , 3 , G 2 l , 109 f Bristol collects 1 , 211 , 035 / . ; at no other port is 1 , 000 , 000 / . collected . Such a magnificent trade , with such a vast revenue collected from it as ours ,
was n-ever possessed by any nation cither ancient or modern , and being founded on freedom , or i he laws of nature , is sure , if we will only grant it scope , to increase continually .
13 , 118 , 020 / . in 1557 ; and those to Australia were greater in 1 S 53 than iu 1 S 57 . To France the exports have more than doubled since 1853 , indicating the advantages she has derived from the relaxations latterly made in her restrictive system . No fact stated is , however , more strange than the large amount of our import trado from China , 11 , 448 , 639 / ., which should be increased by some of the transit throughout Egypt , considering that we were for a part ot the year at war with that country , and that we are indebted , according to many pompous statements , to Lord Elgin ' s treaty in 1858 for opening ' China , to the trade of the world . JBy 'themselves these annual returns afford us no means of comparing the shipping employed in . 1857
with that cmploycdin previous years . Ihey contain only an account of its amount in 1857 . Exclusive oi transports and ships with Government stores , which employed a considerable amount of our sluppwig , the total tonnago of British shipping which entered and cleaved with cargoes was 11 , G 3 G , 257 , 000 , 134 more than in 1850 , which was greater than in any previous year , aud more than double the Untisli tonnage entered and cleared with cargoes in 1843 . Tliat foreign shipping should also Imvo incrensed , looking at tho immense voluo nnd quantities of our imports from all tho countries of the world , is really
more gratifying than surprising , notwithstanding tho present distress of our shipowners , which wo trust is very transitory . la our coasting trade , including tho Isle of Man , which it must bo remembered includes all the opposite shores of the Continout between Brest and tho Elbe , the total amount of tonnage which , entered and cleared iu 1857 was 31 , 877 , 680 tons , wlicroof foreign shipping amounted to tho very small quantity ot 102 , 954 tons . Tho distress of oar shipping is clearly tho consequence of the decline in our trade in 1857—there arc fewer goods to carry—mnd of tho groat number of ships
Our Tbade Ix 1358. We May Now Add, From ...
OUR TBADE IX 1358 . We may now add , from the monthly returns we noticed last week , a comparison between our present trade and that of 1 S 57- In the three first quarters , according to the corrected and full return of the value of imports for that period , fhcnilrst published , the figures were these reimports . Exports . 111 , 799 , 104 80 , 3 ^ 0 , 329 Excess of imports ... £ 28 , 188 , 865 A similar excess in the value of the imports exists in the present as in former years , hut the perocntago—nearly 32 per cent . —is somewhat greater . If to this wo add the excess in nine months of bullion imported above that exported , S , 217 , 341 / ., have an excess in the value of imports in lUe muo months of 185 S of 30 , 700 , 200 / . This excess , greater even than usual , will help to explain our abundance of capital . Our cap italists , who g ><> rally make advances to their friend * abroad . . « this year , from tho general loss of confidence au »» homo somo of their capital . , f , | lC To consider the trade of the nine month ouiw present year more closely , we observe Uiai o ^ 1 H , 7 O < U" 4 Tho total imports «« ft . > n , 0 l There came from foreign countries 262 'lM And from our own possessions 8 ( j'j ) i () , !]•>!) While of tho totul exports - ' o 7-J , 03 l There wont to foreign countries aoWr " 8 And to our own possessions ...... ' ( k . Our trado with foreign countries , tl \ caZ fa [ , in * tho importa and exports together 14 * , u-- . ^ as against our trade with pur ° ^/ fif < i' » 66 , 48 b , 008 / ., vras more than two an * ' »» llnBft as great . It was rehUivciy a small per ^ less % excess than in 1857 . Repeating o t w w of nine months such a statement « « J ° Jrf » ** of tho trado of 1957 with different counin shall flnd somo remarkable differenc es .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 4, 1858, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04121858/page/24/
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