REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, BUREAU OF STATISTICS, Washington, December 13, 1911. 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, 1911: ORGANIZATION. The Bureau of Statistics was organized as a separate bureau of the Treasury Department in 1866, and was transferred to this Department when the latter was created in 1903. OPERATIONS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR 1911. The Bureau collects and publishes annually, quarterly, and monthly the statistics of the foreign commerce of the United States, and monthly such information concerning the internal commerce as is available under existing laws; an annual abstract of the statistical statements prepared by this Bureau and by other branches of the Government service; and such special monographs, press bulletins, and special statements as are of current interest. Following are the publications issued during the fiscal year: Report on the Commerce and Navigation of the United States (annual). Imported Merchandise Entered for Consumption in the United States and Duties Collected Thereon (quarterly). Advance Sheets from the Summary of Commerce and Finance (monthly). Bulletin of Exports of Domestic Breadstuffs, Meat and Dairy Products, Food Animals, etc. (monthly). Imports and Exports of the United States (total values; single sheet; monthly). Internal Commerce of the United States (from the Summary of Commerce and Finance (monthly). A considerable number of the tables which appeared in the first mentioned report were published also in separate form for the convenience of the public. The statement published in the annual report as Table 15 and entitled "Imports for consumption," which shows about 3,000 principal articles imported, giving, in each case, the value, the quantity wherever possible, the rate of duty, and the duty collected, is now issued also in quarterly form for distribution to importers, customhouses, trade bodies, the daily commercial press, and others desiring these details at more frequent intervals than in annual statements. The preparation and publication of this statement in quarterly form has materially increased the labor of the Bureau and has also added considerably to the expense of publication. The Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance was so enlarged that at the close of the fiscal year the number of articles enumerated in both the import and export statements had increased about 20 per cent, an increase which has added considerably to the work and in some degree to the expense of the Bureau. Both these enlargements of the work were made in response to numerous requests from trade bodies and individuals engaged in commerce, these requests being so urgent as to justify the increased expense of preparation and publication. The changes in the character and in the movements of the commerce of the United States, as well as the increase in the volume of both imports and exports, have stimulated a desire on the part of the public for commercial information in much greater detail and with much greater promptness than it is possible to present under existing conditions. Such increases in the detail of the statistics and improvements in the process of presentation can only be obtained by the material enlargement of the force now assigned to their preparation in this Bureau and presumably also in the Customs Service of the Treasury Department by which the original figures of imports and exports are now supplied. Committees have therefore been appointed by this Department and by the Treasury Department to consider jointly this matter of the material enlargement and the more prompt presentation of the statistical statements of our foreign commerce and to compare our own methods with those of other countries. These committees have already entered upon their appointed work. INCREASE OF THE FOREIGN COMMERCE. The foreign commerce of the United States has greatly increased during recent years, and with this increase has also come a marked change in the character of the trade movements. Manufactures, which in 1880 constituted less than 15 per cent and in 1890 about 21 per cent of the total exports, formed in 1911 over 45 per cent of the greatly increased total, and at certain seasons of the year constituted more than 60 per cent of the total; while manufacturers' raw material, which in 1880 constituted less than 20 per cent of the total imports, formed, in 1911, 334 per cent of the greatly enlarged total. The value of all manufactures exported in 1911 (including in this term both manufactures ready for use and those for further use in manufacture) amounted to about 908 million dollars as compared with nearly 466 million in 1901, having thus practically doubled in a single decade, while the value of manufacturers' raw material imported increased from over 248 million dollars in 1901 to more than 511 million dollars in 1911. Meantime the value of foodstuffs exported fell from nearly 583 million dollars in 1901 to 385 million dollars in 1911. The share which foodstuffs formed of the exports of domestic merchandise has fallen steadily from 56 per cent in 1880 to 42 per cent in 1890 and to less than 20 per cent in 1911. The total foreign commerce of the country during the fiscal year 1911 showed a larger value of exports than any earlier year and a larger value of imports than any year except 1910. In 1911 this total value of exports was $2,049,320,199, an increase of over 300 million dollars over the preceding year and of more than 168 million dollars over the former high-record year (1907). The total imports during the fiscal year 1911 were valued at $1,527,226,105, a reduction of about 30 million dollars below the figures of the preceding year. This fall in the value of imports occurred in the group "Manufacturers' raw material," and is chiefly due to a reduction in the imports of india rubber, hides and skins, and wool, which in 1910 were exceptionally heavy. Most of the other classes of raw materials showed larger totals in 1911 than in 1910. The growth in exports in 1911 is about equally divided between manufactures and manufacturers' materials, the increase in the value of manufactures exported (including manufactures ready for further use in manufacturing) being about 141 million dollars and the increase in manufacturers' materials 147 million over the preceding year. The growth in the total value of exports of raw materials occurs chiefly in cotton, of which the export price was exceptionally high in 1911. Increases in manufactures exported during the year occurred in many important articles, especially in manufactures of iron and steel, which amounted to about 231 million dollars in value as compared with over 179 million dollars in the preceding year; manufactures of wood, which showed an increase of about 13 million dollars; those of cotton, more than 7 million dollars; agricultural implements, about 8 million dollars; and copper 16 million dollars over the preceding year. PERSONNEL. At the close of the fiscal year 59 persons were on the pay roll of this Bureau. From January 23 to March 23, 1911, the work of the Bureau was so great that it was necessary to increase the hours of labor to seven and one-half per day for the entire force. During the fiscal year four employees were temporarily transferred from the Bureau of the Census for a period of 120 days in order to relieve the strain. This increase in the amount of work of the Bureau resulting from enlargement of its statistical statements, together with the increasing demands upon it for special information for the use of the legislative and executive branches of the Government, renders necessary an addition to the present working force of the Bureau. Respectfully, To Hon. CHARLES NAGEL, O. P. AUSTIN, Secretary of Commerce and Labor. |