REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, BUREAU OF STATISTICS, Washington, December 14, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the work of the Bureau of Statistics during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910: The work of the year has been exceptionally exacting, owing to the numerous calls on the Bureau for information regarding the operations of the new tariff law, the imports of the various classes under that law, the prices of imported and exported articles, and especially details regarding the imports for consumption, including not only their quantity and value but the duties collected and average ad valorem rates of duty, article by article. These comparisons of imports under the new law with those under its predecessor have added greatly to the labors of the Bureau. The large number of requests for information regarding the imports for consumption indicate a public demand for a more frequent publication of that statement, and in compliance therewith arrangements have been made for its publication quarterly as well as annually. RISE OF MANUFACTURES AND DECLINE OF FOODSTUFFS IN THE EXPORT TRADE. The foreign commerce of the United States in the fiscal year 1910 showed a continuation of those characteristics which have been distinctly observable during recent years-a decline in the exportation of foodstuffs and an increase in the exportation of manufactures. Coincidentally with the increase in the exportation of manufactures has occurred an increase in the importation of manufacturers' materials. This change in the character of the export trade, the increasing share which manufactures form thereof, while more distinctly observable in recent years, has been in process during the past quarter of a century and especially during the past decade. The share which manufactures formed of the exports of the United States was, in 1880, 14.78 per cent; in 1890, 21.18 per cent; in 1900, 35.37 per cent; and in 1910, 44.85 per cent; while in the first nine months of the calendar year 1910 manufactures actually formed more than one-half of the exports, the precise figures being 51.34 per cent. The value of manufactures exported has grown from 48 million dollars in 1860 to 70 millions in 1870, 122 millions in 1880, 179 millions in 1890, 485 millions in 1900, and 767 millions in 1910, these figures being in all cases for the fiscal year. Thus, the gain in exports of manufactures from the United States in the twenty years from 1890 to 1910 is over five times as great as in the thirty years from 1860 to 1890. The proportion which manufactures ready for consumption formed of the figures of exports of manufactures above quoted was, in 1860, 75 per cent of the total; in 1870, 80 per cent; in 1880, 75 per cent; in 1890, 74 per cent; in 1900, 68 per cent; and in 1910, 65 per cent, the remainder in each case being of the class designated "Manufactures for further use in manufacturing." The percentage of increase in the exportation of manufactures has been much greater than that in the production of manufactures, especially during the past twenty years. The census figures of gross value of manufactures produced in the United States are, for 1890, 9,372 million dollars; for 1900, 13,004 millions; for 1905, including neighborhood industries and hand trades, which were included in the earlier census reports, 16,867 millions, and in 1910 will presumably exceed 20,000 million dollars. This would indicate an increase of more than 100 per cent in the value of manufactures produced in the period from 1890 to 1910, while the increase in the value of manufactures exported is over 325 per cent. GROWING CONSUMPTION OF IMPORTED FACTORY MATERIALS. Coincidentally with the increased production and exportation of manufactures has occurred increased importations of manufacturers' materials. In fact, the most striking feature of the import trade in recent years has been the increased importation of manufacturers' materials, both those in the crude form and those partly manufactured for further use in manufacturing. Crude materials for use in manufacturing imported in 1890 amounted to 171 million dollars; in 1900, 276 millions; and in 1910, 566 million dollars, forming 21.62 per cent of the imports in 1890, 32.50 per cent of those of 1900, and 36.37 per cent of those of 1910. Manufactures for further use in manufacturing imported in 1890 amounted to 117 million dollars; in 1900, 134 millions; and in 1910, 287 millions, forming 14.81 per cent of the imports of 1890, 15.79 per cent of those of 1900, and 18.43 per cent of those of 1910. With the increase in manufacturing and increase in the exportation of manufactured products has come a decrease in the value of foodstuffs exported and a marked decline in the percentage which foodstuffs form of the total exports. This is especially true of the last decade. The value of foodstuffs exported was, in 1880, 459 million dollars; in 1890, 357 millions; in 1900, 545 millions; and in 1910, 369 millions, a marked decline in the decade from 1900 to 1910. The percentage which foodstuffs form of the exports has steadily fallen since 1880, in which year they represented 55.77 per cent of the total value of the exports; in 1890, 42.21 per cent; in 1900, 39.80 per cent; and in 1910 but 21.59 per cent of the total. TRADE BY GRAND DIVISIONS. With this change in the character of the exports (a decline in foodstuffs and an increase in manufactures) has come a distinct change in the trend of trade currents-a decline in the exports to those sections of the world whose principal imports are foodstuffs and an increase in the exports to those sections of the world in which manufactures are the principal articles of importation. Exports to Europe, which in 1880 formed 86.10 per cent of the total, formed, in 1890, 79.74 per cent; in 1900, 74.60 per cent; and, in 1910, 65.10 per cent, the percentage of the exports of the United States sent to Europe in the fiscal year 1910 being less than in any year since 1865. The total value of merchandise exported from the United States to Europe in 1910 was 1,136 million dollars, against 1,147 millions in 1909, 1,284 millions in 1908, and 1,298 millions in 1907, the high-record year. To North America the exports of 1910 are the largest on record, being 386 million dollars, against 309 millions in 1909 and 350 millions in 1907, the former high-record year, forming, in 1900, 22.09 per cent of the total exports, against 13.45 per cent in 1900, 10.98 per cent in 1890, and 8.31 per cent in 1880. To South America the total exports of 1910 are also larger than in any earlier year, aggregating 93 million dollars, against 77 millions in 1909 and 84 millions in 1908, the former high-record year in the South American trade. To Oceania the exports of 1910 amounted to 51 million dollars, against 41 milsions in 1909 and 47 millions in 1908, the former high-record year. To Asia and Africa the figures of 1910 are less than those of certain earlier years, this being especially true of the exports to Asia, which in 1910 amounted to but 61 million dollars, against 72 millions in 1909, 102 millions in 1908, and 129 millions in 1905, the high-record year of exports to that grand division. To Africa the total exports in 1910 were 18 million dollars, against 17 millions in 1909, 20 millions in 1908, and 38 millions in 1903, the high-record year in this trade. The falling off in exports to Asia is due, in part, to a large reduction in the purchase of American cotton by Japan (the result of high prices of cotton in the United States), in part to a reduction in the quantity of flour sent to Japan and China, in part to a reduction in both quantity and price of mineral oil sent to China and Japan, and in part to a cessation of purchases of copper for coinage purposes by the Chinese Government; while the quantities of cotton cloths sent to China in 1910 are far below the figures of 1905 and 1906 and slightly below those of 1909. PRINCIPAL ARTICLES EXPORTED. The growth in the exportation of manufactures occurs in nearly all the important articles, with the exception of mineral oil, in which the quantity shows a slight decline and the value a material reduction due to lower export prices in 1910 than in immediately preceding years. The value of iron and steel manufactures exported in 1910 aggregated 179 million dollars, against 145 millions in 1909, being, however, slightly below the high records made in 1907 and 1908, in which years the totals were respectively 181 and 184 million |