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FOREIGN COMMERCE OF BRITISH GUIANA.

The latest official returns give the imports and exports of this colony as follows: Imports, $10,450,000; exports, $13,200,000.

The principal imports into British Guiana are as follows: Flour, from 125,000 to 135,000 barrels annually, chiefly from the United States; machinery, $400,000 to $600,000 annually, principally from Great Britain; manure, about $500,000 annually, principally from Great Britain; rice, from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 annually, principally from British colonies; coal, dried fish, oils, pork, staves, butter, bread, beef, hams, lard, opium, potatoes, soaps, brandy, gin, tobacco (manufactured), wine, bricks, cheese, wood hoops, lime, lumber, paints, shooks, matches, &c.

Of the exports, raw sugar amounts to nearly three-fourths of the whole, rum coming next, amounting to $1,200,000, the remainder being composed of molasses, cacao, &c., and foreign articles re-exported.

The trade of Great Britain with Guiana is as follows: Imports from Guiana, $10,300,000; exports thereto, $4,200,000.

Imports into the United States from British Guiana, $2,424,000; exports thereto, $1,723,000.

The principal import from Guiana into Great Britain and the United States is sugar; to the former about 149,000,000 pounds, and to the latter 47,822,000 pounds, leaving less than $50,000 worth of all other imports hither.

As the greater portion of the imports of British Guiana, with the exception of rice, are received from Great Britain and the United States, the following statement will show the relative values of the principal manufactures of both countries exported thither:

Exports from Great Britain and the United States to British Guiana,

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Omitting flour and meal from the foregoing statement, the comparative meagerness of American manufactures is painfully evident. It is true that the list shows the principal British manufactures, and that in

the articles of woolens and linens we can hardly claim to be exporters; yet when all these allowances are granted, our showing is still almost unaccountably small. In cotton manufactures this is especially the case. The annual imports of British Honduras are only about one-ninth of the value of the imports of British Guiana, and yet our exports of cotton goods thereto amount to over four times our exports to Guiana.

In addition to cotton manufactures, there would seem to be no reason why our exports to British Guiana of wearing apparel, machinery, iron and steel (wrought and unwrought), ale and beer, drugs and medicines, earthen and china wares, hardware and cutlery, glassware, hats and bonnets, leather and manufactures of, soap, and various other manufactures could not be increased to respectable proportions. Our exports of breadstuffs and provisions are probably as large as the market demands, for British Guiana relies upon the United States for the greater portion of her supplies in this regard, but our manufacturers should take more direct interest in properly presenting their wares to the attention of the colony.

FOREIGN COMMERCE OF DUTCH GUIANA.

The foreign commerce of Dutch Guiana may be estimated as follows: Imports, $1,500,000; exports, $1,300,000.

The principal exports of the colony are sugar, molasses, rum, cacao, cotton-seed, and cocoanuts.

The principal imports consist of breadstuffs, provisions, and petroleum; and limited amounts of manufactures, such as cotton goods, cloth ing, ironware, machinery, &c.

The principal portion of the foreign trade of Dutch Guiana is carried on with Holland, the United States, England, and British Guiana and West Indies.

The following statement shows the trade of Dutch Guiana with the principal countries during the year 1880-'81 :

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It will be noted that the exports from the United States to Dutch Guiana exceed those from Great Britain by $29,000. In the articles comprised under the heading of "breadstuffs and provisions," the United

States has a leading position. In the matter of a few of the leading manufactures, the following shows the relative trade in British and American goods: British cottons exported to the colony, $92,000; American cottons exported thither, $1,733; British iron, and manufactures of, $25,000; American iron, and manufactures of, $2,101; British apparel and haberdashery, $25,000; American, $46.

It may be asserted in a general way that while our trade, in bulk, with Dutch Guiana is comparatively satisfactory, there is room for an enlargement thereof in almost every article of manufacture consumed in the colony, and the assurance of a fixed trade in breadstuffs, provisions, kerosene, &c., should act as a subsidiary medium for the introduction of our finer products.

FOREIGN COMMERCE OF FRENCH GUIANA.

In the absence of any direct statistics from French Guiana, the following estimate of the trade of the colony is based upon the recent returns of the several countries trading therewith: Imports into French Guiana, $1,500,000; exports therefrom, $1,100,000, of which native gold constitutes the greater part, it being doubtful whether the exports of all other articles amount to $200,000.

The following shows the value of the exports from the principal countries to French Guiana during the year 1880-'81: From France, $1,332,000; from the United States, $107,000; from Great Britain, $22,000.

Of the exports from French Guiana, France and its dependencies receive more than nine-tenths; Great Britain receives nothing therefrom, and the United States only a little over $3,000.

The principal imports into French Guiana are as follows: Beverages, groceries, cotton goods, ready-made clothing, confectionery, dried provisions, salted meats, preserved meats, hardware, carriages, harness, matches, drugs, chairs, silks, shawls, handkerchiefs, &c., oats, hay, bran, &c.

Any effort for an increase in our trade with French Guiana must be only taken into consideration in connection with our trade with the entire northeast coast of South America, for a well-directed commerce takes the smallest port or colony into account in its consideration of a perfect whole.

As the three Guianas-British, Dutch, and French-may be considered a unit in our commercial relations therewith, the following statement of their total trade and the trade of England, France, and the United States therewith, will enable our merchants to appreciate the value of the same in connection with the trade of all South America.

The total trade of the Guianas is as follows: Imports, $13,550,000, of which Great Britain supplies $4,482,000; France, $1,332,000; and the United States, $2,119,000. Exports, $15,600,000, of which Great Britain receives $10,791,000; the United States, $2,826,000; and France, $1,332,000.

THE FOREIGN COMMERCE OF BRAZIL.

The many interesting reports received from our consular representatives in Brazil fail, owing to the difficulties in procuring the necessary data, to give statistics covering the total trade of the country.

The latest trade returns for the empire are for the year 1878, viz, imports, $77,316,000; exports, $87,426,000. The foreign trade of Brazil at

present, especially the export trade, shows a large advance upon these figures, for the imports therefrom into Great Britain, France, and the United States alone, during the year 1880-'81, amounted to $94,106,000, while the exports from these three countries thereto, during the same period, amounted to $61,450,000.

The closest analysis which can be made, from available statistics, of the trade of Brazil gives the following results:

Statement showing the (estimated) foreign commerce of Brazil during the year 1880-'81.

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These amounts represent the "general" imports and exports. The "special" imports amounted to $14,713,000, and the "special" exports to $10,119,000, leaving nearly $4,000,000 in the imports and $5,642,000 in the exports to be divided among other countries.

While the exports from the United States, as above given, show an increase on those of the preceding year of about $700,000, they are certainly very unsatisfactory when compared with those from England, . France, and Germany. On the other hand, our purchases from Brazil amount to almost as much as the combined purchases of the three countries just named.

The following statements show the principal articles which enter into the French and British trade with Brazil:

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