IMPORTS, EXPORTS, CONSUMPTION, AND STOCK OF COTTON. The following shows the quantities of each description of cotton for 1899, in thousands of pounds, and the corresponding totals of previous years : 1899. Import. Export. Consumption. Stock Dec. 31. American. 1,313,459 181,253 302,389 Brazilian.. 6,243 2,775 3,035 Egyptian. 367.835 49,123 Peru, West Indian, etc.. 11.618 12,836 3,308 East Indian, etc... 32,215 6,778 2,168 Total, 1899 1,731,430 203,964 360,521 Total, 1898, 2,224,189 214,776 659,217 Total, 1897 1,787,077 420,918 Total, 1896. 1,806,087 191,090 587,027 Total, 1895. 1,815,074 209,211 616,690 AVERAGE PRICE OF COTTON. Ellison & Co., of Liverpool, give the following estimate of the average price of cotton at that port for a series of years : 1899. 1898. 1897. 1896. 1895. 1894. 1893. 1892. 1891. 1890. d. d. Import..... 3 13-16 45-16 4 3-16 53-16 4 13-16 55-16 5 13-16 Export.. 47-32 444 4 7-16 4 11-16 4 3-16 4 5 16 51-16 411-16 4 15-16 55-16 Consumpt'n.. 45-32 3 13-16 4 5-16 44 458 5 3-16 4 13-16 55-16 5 15-16 WOOL. Helmuth, Swartze & Co., London, give the following statements of the supply, export, and consumption of wool in the United Kingdom: Domestic Imports of Wool, Left for Total Home Con- Total. Exports. sumption. Lbs. Lbs. 1895. 135,000,000 801.000.000 936.000.000 420,000,000 510,000,000 1896. 130,00.000 7336,01,000 8722.000.000 352.1111.000 520,000,000 1897 139,000,000 MM, 107.000 411.000.000 495,000,000 1898. 139.000,00) 7:31,02), 17.00.00 352, (210,000 5211,000,000 1899. 140,000,000 801,000,000 $34,000,000 4:36,000,000 510,000,000 FLAX, HEMP, AND JUTE. -Quantity £ 78,337 75,814 73,379 1,942,542 Holland.. 2,659 2,781 2,660 124,344 Fisheries. The merchandise imports and exports of Great Britain have been as follows for a series of years Imports. and Colonial. Produce. £120,691,997 £64,721,533 £263,530,585 £328,252,118 £748,944,115 435, 441,264 61,878,568 247,235,150 309,113,718 744,554,982 423,793,882 64,423,767 227, 138,270 291,640,166 715, 434,048 404,688,178 58,878,552 218,259,718 277, 138,270 681,826,448 408,344,810 57,780,30 216,005,637 273,785,867 682,130,677 416,689,658 59,704,161 226,128,246 285,832, 407 702,522,065 441,808,904 56,233,663 240,145,551 296,379,214 738,188,118 451,028,960 59,954,110 234,219,708 294,174,118 745,203,078 470,378,583 60,651,748 233,359,240 294,009,991 764,392,571 485,075,514 65,019,549 264,660,647 329,680, 196 814,755,710 CLASSES OF ARTICLES FOR TWELVE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31. Imports from foreign countries and British possessions (in thousands of £'s): (A.) Articles of food and drink, duty free.. (B.) Articles of food and drink, dutiable. Chemicals, dyestuffs, and tanning substances.. Raw materials for textile manufactures. Raw materials for sundry industries and manufactures. Exports of British and Irish produce and manufactures (in thousands of £'s): Articles manufactured and partly manufactured, viz. : (A.) Yarns and textile fabrics. (B.) Metals & articles inanufactured therefrom (except mach'y). 40,312 32,747 34,472 (C.) Machinery and mill work.. (D.) Apparel and articles of personal use.. (E.) Chemicals, and chemical and medicinal preparations... (F.) All uther articles, either manufactured or partly manufact'd 35,016 33,323 32,888 * Including £9,195,192, the value of new ships (not registered as British), not recorded prior to 1899. Oils..... Grain and flour. £49,723 £52,793 £53,580 £62,909 £58,089 Wool, sheep and lamb's. 23,026 23,580 23,763 32,638 Butter and margarine. 16,802 19,763 Woolen manufactures and yarn. *10,275 Seeds. 6,279 6,277 Leather. 8,050 8,581 Eggs.. 4,003 5,044 PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF BRITISH EXPORT, HOME PRODUCE (IN THOUSANDS OF £'s). £54,455 £59,334 £54,145 £55,977 £50,902 £63,746 £69,382 £63,973 £64,901 .£58,557 Total of woolen and worsted.. £25,110 £23,933 £22,571 £20,143 PRINCIPAL ARTICLES OF BRITISH EXPORT, HOME PRODUCE (IN THOUSANDS OF £'s). Linen manufactures... £5,351 £5,075 Iron, bar, angle, bolt, and rod. Iron, railroad, of all sorts.. Iron, hoops, sheets, and plates.. 3,014 Iron, cast and wrought, of all sorts. 3,728 Iron, old, for re-manufacture.. Steel, wrought and unwrought.. Total of iron and steel.... 19,681 28.09 Coal, cinders, fuel, etc. 15,434 23,101 THE PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF CHIEF ARTICLES OF Food. 1890. 1893. 1894. 1895, 1896. 1897. 1899. 1899. lbs. 17.95 19.00 20.16 5.83 6.59 7.27 77.92 8.46 8.85 8.77 9.22 6.22 7.17 6.36 6.43 No. 32.91 34.39 36.68 38.97 40.25 42.23 43.04 47.78 Wheat and flour. lbs. 226.38 247.65 256.19 285.09 257.30 227.84 237.98 244.10 73.21 78.85 80.06 88.13 85.29 80.89 85.18 84.31 * Does not include yarn. + The total of raw and refined sugars, 9.38 Countries. £22,275 2,526 Russia.... DISTRIBUTION OF BRITISH FOREIGN TRADE. -Exports To In Thousands of £'s. 1898. 1897. 1896. 1899. 1898. 1897. £18,690 £19,490 £22,642 £11,754 £9,228 £7,543 5,308 4,986 4,989 4,322 3,202 2,441 2,251 24,605 2,227 19,255 9,887 8,802 8,231 3,177 3,448 2,646 2,604 2,107 1,530 1,417 5,609 4,419 4,435 5,142 7,928 4,913 5,808 593 1,968 1,752 1,605 645 845 1,966 2,230 316 1,301 1,304 795 1896. £7,230 3,163 1,995 2,858 22, 478 8,350 7,824 14,258 1,541 3,466 5,150 1,508 850 5,044 3,780 6,734 20,436 1,519 1,269 2,551 6,706 1,434 6,678 COMMERCE WITH THE UNITED STATES. Foreign Movement of Precious Metals. (Ireland Included.) SILVER COIN AND BULLION. Year. Imports. Exports. $134,590,674 $76,208,306 1894. $65,431,903 $60,979,318 176, 197,803 104,094,683 1895. 60,428,333 52,209, 705 119,664,232 146,628,706 1896. 76,043,209 74,182,191 150,648,060 149,970,951 1897 94,711,400 91,816,411 230,260,646 178,101,062 1898, 77,006,055 76,984,253 158,161,250 104,629,750 1899.. 61,804,550 68,131,000 1894. 1895 1896. 1897 1898, 1899 1891. 1898. 1899 Men. 25,107 35,682 47,893 1891 1898 1899. Shipping and Navigation. Steam Men. Number. Tons. 36,714 354,714 407.626 26,989 3,102 458,382 312 286 166,813 320 265,144 960 308,898 2,127 2,250,285 42,679 3,632 4,795,513 1,236 1,700,548 27,773 3,665 6,343,312 Number of Men. Year. Vessels. Tons. 18,791 7,209,163 198,781 1896. 15,793 8,933,340 17,425 7,915,336 236, 108 1897 15,423 8,925,813 16,547 8,716,285 240,458 1898 15,207 9,080,728 16,105 8,861,848 240,486 1899. 15,197 9,246,634 5,169 6,722 7,834 1891 1898, 1899. 129,015 140,982 144,075 Year. 1885. 1890. 1894. 1895. Men. 242,039 240,931 242,553 244,135 Railways, Telegraphs, Coins, Monetary System, Weights and Measures. (See Index, under Great Britain.") Canals and Other Navigable Waters. At the latest date available-1898-the length, traffic, revenue, and expenditure of the canals and navigations in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, which do not, and of those which do, belong to railway companies were as follows: Length. Expend- iture. Canals not belonging to railwaysEngland and Wales 2,208 £1,322,201 Scotland.. 70 14,640 13,316 Ireland... 490 84,517 United Kingdom... 2,768 £2,018,294 £1,420,034 Canals belonging to railways England and Wales, 939 £331.305 £309, (225 Scotland.. 84 52,3ti9 28,830 Ireland.. 96 6,566 6,148 United Kingdom 1,139 £390,240 £344,003 Total............ 3,907 £2, 408,534 £1,764,037 The paid-up capital of these waterways not belonging to railway companies was, in 1898, in England and Wales, £35,091.403 ; in Scotland, £1,254,047; in Ireland, £1,583,829; rotai £37,929,279. The Manchester Ship Canal, opened in 1894, is 354 miles in length, 26 feet in depth, and (except for 24 miles near Latchford) not less than 120 feet in bottom width. The minimum width of the locks is 65 feet. The large docks at Manchester are 28 feet deep, and the smaller 20 feet. The canal is in direct communication with all the large canals of the district. The capital of the company is $15,412,000. The traffic is exhibited as follows: In Vessels. In Barges. Total. Gross Tons. Revenue. 1894. 686,158 £87,470 1895 1,087,443 136,769 1897 1,700,479 365,336 204,414 1808. 2,218,005 377,580 235,278 1899. NOTE.-Does not include old Bridgewater Barge Canal, now the property of the Manchester Ship Canal. 20 Post-Office. Book-Packets, ending Letters Post Newspapers, March 31. Letters. Per Capita. Cards. Parcels. England and Wales... 1890 184,000,000 502,000,000 59 342,600,000 720,300,000 Scotland... 1890 35 58,750,000 46 94,300,000 Ireland... 1890 9,750,000 37,500,000 31 51,600,000 United Kingdom.... 1890 44 216,750,000 598,250.000 1900 2,246,800,000 55 400,300,000 866,200,000 MONEY AND POSTAL ORDERS IN UNITED KINGDOM. Money Orders. 1880. 1899. Home issues-Number... 16,704,118 8,961,068 9,272,794 9.672,658 1,041,216 do -Amount, £'s.. 24,515,395 23,925,921 25,317,302 28,395,202 29.765,356 Poreign issues-Number* 602,971 1,381,406 1,551,301 1,734,516 1,781.318 do -Amount, £'s. 1,780,873 3,940,521 4,025,682 4,637,013 4,704,692 Postal orders-Number.... 3,645,543 47,870,798 62,946,171 75,278,730 80,439,193 do -Amount, £'s... 1,662,090 18,814.276 23,521, 415 26.844,901 28.072,119 Money and Banking. MONEY.-For gold and silver coins, see Index. The standard of value is gold, Silver is legal tender up to 40 shillings; bronze up to 12d., but fartbinge only up to 6d. Bank of England notes are legal tender. The following table shows the amount of gold, silver, and bronze moneys issued from the Royal Mint, London, and of light gold coin and worn silver coin sent in for re-coinage: --Gold Silver Worn Coin Bronze, New Issues. Returned. New Issues. Returned. Xew Issues. 1806 £4,808, 860 21.167 £12.90 1897 1,778,437 902.00 107.30 1898 5,780,446 $4.31 1809. 8,520,311 1,015,830) 139.65 * Includes orders received into the United Kingdom from colonies and foreign countries as well as orders sent out to same, |