CO885-(25-26) — Page 589

*Not including £74,190 value of Post Parcels imported from May 1st to December 31st unclassified as to Countries.

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32. From this Table it will be seen that the total value of the imports into the Gold Coast from all sources but exclusive of specie rose from £2,005,195 in 1909 to £3,510,402 in 1913,-an increase of 75.06%. The following figures will show the relative values and increases of the British and German imports at the beginning and at the end of the quinquenniad :-

United Kingdom Germany

..

1909.

£1,519,111 245,043

1913.

£2,468,604 386,670

Percentage of Increase.

62.5% 57.79%.

33. Having regard to the very great expansion which had occurred in the import trade of the Colony during these five years, the United Kingdom must, I think, be regarded as having held her own against other competitors with considerable success. At the end of that period she still had in her hands over 70% of the total import trade of the Gold Coast; and her percentage of increase exceeded that of Germany, though calculated upon an initial figure more than six times as great.

34. Meanwhile, though Germany had largely expanded her import trade into this Colony, the propor- tionate increase which she had achieved was not so large as that secured by the United Kingdom; and it cannot, therefore, be maintained that she had manifested any ability to "capture our markets, or even to compete in them with British merchants with any startling effect. As I shall presently have occasion to show, however, she has succeeded in supplying the local public with certain articles, of which they stood in need, which could not be furnished at the same price, or of the precise quality required, by the United Kingdom or by any other country with which the Gold Coast carries on trade relations.

35. Meanwhile, the value of our imports from the United States of America which, in 1909, had only amounted to £886, had risen by 1913 to £251,742. Since the outbreak of war,the value of our importa from the United States has risen successively to £270,176 in 1914, to £349,106 in 1915, and to £751,225 in 1916. The figure last quoted exceeds the value of the heaviest imports from Germany into the Gold Coast ever recorded in a single year by £364,555,—a sum which exceeds the total value of German imports in

the year 1909.

36. The value of our imports from the United Kingdom rose from £2,468,604 in 1913 to £2,660,682 in 1914, to £2,734,991 in 1915, and to the unprecedented figure of £3,860,765 in 1916. The relative increase of the import trade of the United Kingdom and of the United States of America respectively, since the outbreak of the war, can best be indicated in the following manner :-

United Kingdom

United States of America

1913

£2,468,604 251,742

1916

£3,860,765 751,225

Percentage

of Increase.

56.39% 198.4 %

From these figures it may, I think, be deduced, after making all due allowance for American goods which may previously have reached us via Great Britain, that the United States have shown, since the outbreak of war, a greater ability to "capture" an important share in the import trade of this Colony than was ever displayed by Germany. After the conclusion of hostilities, if matters be left to them. selves, this state of things will tend to readjust itself; though it is probable that we shall continue to receive large supplies of rum, tobacco, mineral oil, petrol and light motor cars from the United States. If on the other hand, goods of Germany origin be excluded from the ports of the Gold Coast, the resulting advantage will in a large measure, it is probable, be reaped by the merchants of America, rather than by those of the United Kingdom.

37. Some anyalsis of our import trade, and of the share which Germany had in it before the War is attempted in paragraphs 18 to 23 of the Report by the Assistant Comptroller of Customs (Mr. Mitchell) which forms Enclosure I to this Despatch. He considers that " practically all enemy goods that we have "been accustomed to receive are being, or have been, replaced by others of British, Allied or Neutral origin." He admits, however, that "in some cases the substitutes are dearer than the original enemy articles, even when we allow for the generally increased prices of commodities", though he considers "that this does not impose an undue burden upon the consumer."

38. The Assistant Comptroller of Customs concludes that the following articles, considerable quan- tities of which have in the past been imported into the Gold Coast from Enemy countries, mainly, of course, from Germany, could be replaced by similar articles obtained from the United Kingdom :-

540

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

PELC885/25

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