Total value (in rupees) of the imports and exports of the colony of Mauritius, exclusive of duty-free goods to the dependencies other than Seychelles, from and to each country, in the year 1880. CONTINENT OF AMERICA. NORTH AMERICA. BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. DOMINION OF CANADA. Report by Consul-General Stearns on the commerce of Montreal and the Dominion of Canada for the year 1883. I have the honor to transmit herewith a tabulated statement showing the imports and exports at the port of Montreal for the year ending June 30, 1883.* This statement has been made up under my supervision from the records of this office and of the custom-house and from other sources of information which I have reason to believe reliable. I regret the delay in transmitting it, but it has been impossible to obtain access to all the custom-house records so as to complete the statement at an earlier date. The tables are arranged to show the several articles of import and export separately, the quantity and value of each, the countries from which the former came and to which the latter were sent, and the amount of duties paid on the imports. In the import tables the free goods and the dutiable goods are put in separate classes. The recapitulation shows the value of the imports and exports for the years ending June 30, 1882, and June 30, 1883, respectively, to and from each country with which any trade has been carried on through this port, and the comparative increase and decrease in the same; also the grand total of values of imports and exports for such years, and the amount of the increase this year in the imports, and the decrease in the exports, the amount of duties collected during these years, and the increase in the same this year, and the total value of free goods imported this year, and the increase over last year. I also submit a statement showing the several kinds of goods entered for consumption in the Dominion of Canada (exclusive of British Columbia), the quantity and value thereof, and the amount of duties collected thereon during the year ending June 30, 1883, and another statement showing the goods exported from the Dominion of Canada (exclusive of British Columbia), and their value, arranged under the head of "Products of mines," "Products of fisheries," &c., with the aggregate value of the exports which were produced in the Dominion of Canada and in all other countries stated separately; also the values of coin and bullion exported. I also submit a statement compiled from the records of the customhouse showing the number of vessels which arrived at and departed *The statements as submitted by the consul-general were too voluminous for publication. The recapitulations, showing the imports and exports of Montreal, are given, and will be found at close of report. 151 from this port during the year, the flag, destination, kind, and tonnage of the same. These statements have been made up with all possible care, and have involved a considerable amount of labor and research on the part of those who have had them to do. In their form and arrangement I have followed the plan adopted by my predecessors. They are, so far as they go, accurate, and will no doubt be useful for reference. I do not, however, feel satisfied with them, particularly with those which relate to the imports and exports of the Dominion. These latter are compiled from the official monthly reports published in the Canada Gazette, but are too vague to be of much use. The classification in the statement of exports is so general as to render it practically useless for purposes of comparison. It simply gives the returns under a few large heads, e. g., "Products of mines," "Products of forests," &c., with no attempt at details. The sources of more particular and definite information are not accessible until about the time of the opening of Parliament, which is not usually until February. This is of course too late to make them available for my report without unduly delaying it. I hope, but without much confidence, to make some arrangement next year by which I can obtain them in advance of their publication, and so be able to furnish hereafter fuller and more satisfactory statistics in regard to the foreign trade of the Dominion. The following matters of interest I have gathered from the tabular statements of this year and from a comparison of them with those of last year, and I submit them as a résumé of most important information. The total value of goods entered for consumption in the Dominion (exclusive of British Columbia) during the past year was $117,511,195, and the total amount of duties collected thereon was $22,076,812.90. The total value of goods exported during the same year was $91,318,775, of which $9,712,192 was the product of other countries and $631,600 was bullion. There was an increase over last year in the total value of goods imported of $8,362,985, and in the amount of duties collected of $1,109,174.17; of this increase in the value of goods imported nearly $4,000,000 was in free goods. Going more into detail and mentioning the principal articles in which this increase has taken place, the following appears: The increase in the value of agricultural implements was $104,000, or about 90 per cent.; of coal, $1,687,244, or about 35 per cent.; of cotton manufactures, about $1,000,000, or 10 per cent.; of fancy goods, $209,000, or about 12 per cent.; of dried and fresh fruit, $630,000, or nearly 40 per cent.; of manufactures of iron and steel, $1,190,950, or about 10 per cent.; manufactures of sugar and molasses, $482,177, or 8 per cent.; wood and manufactures of wood, $732,611, or about 50 per cent.; and of miscellaneous articles, $1,114,822, or about 13 per cent. There was a decrease this year, as compared with last, in the total value of goods exported of $3,611,571, and in the value of goods the product of Canada of $5,945,585. This decrease was entirely in agricultural products, there having been $6,000,000 less, and of agricultural products of Canada, as distinguished from those of other countries, about $8,000,000 less exported this year than last. There was a small increase in products of the mines, an increase of about $1,000,000 or 15 per cent. in products of the fisheries, and of about $1,250,000 or 7 per cent. in the products of the forest. In 1881-82, the importations exceeded the exportations by $14,217,864, |