FOREIGN COMMERCE OF AUSTRALASIA. The total commerce of Australasia during the year 1880 was as follows, gold and intercolonial trade included: According to the report of Consul-General Spencer, of Melbourne, the foregoing statement shows, as compared with the trade of the year 1879, a decrease in the imports of more than $11,000,000, and an increase in the exports of nearly $37,000,000. The decrease in the imports here noted must have occurred in the intercolonial trade, for the imports from foreign countries were at least $10,000,000 in excess of those of the preceding year. In a very interesting tabular statement compiled by Consul-General Spencer, of Melbourne, showing the total trade of Australasia during the year 1879, the intercolonial imports were given as amounting to $89,000,000, and the intercolonial exports to $83,000,000. This intercolonial trade has heretofore been included in the foreign commerce of Australasia, where it had no more right to appear than our inter-State trade in our foreign commerce. Thus the foreign commerce of the colonies has, previous to the valuable analytical table of Consul General Spencer, appeared much larger than it really was, by the addition of the home trade thereto. Following out the analytical line of reasoning, applied to the commerce of other countries, viz, computing its value and volume from the returns of the principal countries trading therewith, the foreign commerce of Australasia-the intercolonial trade and gold excluded-during the year 1880 may be set down as follows: Imports, $110,600,000; exports, $135,000,000. Of this trade the exports from Great Britain to the colonies amounted to over $91,000,000, and the imports into Great Britain from the colonies amounted to about $125,000,000. The following tabular statements show the principal articles which euter into the trade of Great Britain with each of the colonies. As this trade may be said to virtually represent the total trade of Australasia, these statements will afford a very clear insight into the nature and extent of Australasian foreign commerce. |