CO885-(6-7) — Page 6

1.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

6

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

Alues of #ports.

marial

لعملات

+

Mentions

to

parts and

10

out a statement of the quantity, description, and value of the goods, with the port to which they are to be exported. As a matter of fact, vast quantities of goods which are exported are, under this enactment of the law, only entered for export subsequently to the date of the actual sailing of the vessel.

There

is thus no opportunity to exercise the same check as in the case of imports, which may be examined to Bee that they agree with the entry. Nevertheless, in practice it is found that this delay is beneficial to the statistics, for were it not allowed exporters would, as they formerly did, frequently enter their merchandise outwards hapbazard, by fictitious descriptions, and at mere estimated values, in order to comply with the official requirements, which, in the absence of advices from manufacturers and others, they could not otherwise satisfy..

The penalty for omitting to enter goods outwards, or for delaying to do so beyond the six days allowed, or for giving incorrect descriptions or values is 5/. for. each offence, which, however, may be, and in practice generally is, mitigated to nominal fines of 5s. and 10s., except in aggravated cases.

As in the case of imports there is an "Official List" of export denominations by which goods must be entered outwards.

The value which must be stated in the export specification is the value at the port of shipment in the United Kingdom. Invoices or letters of advice may be called for by the Customs officials if they doubt the statements made by the exporters, which in each case are supported by a declaration.

It remains to state in what manner the statistics collected by the foregoing methods are utilised for the public benefit.

At the end of each month the imports and exports of the month are totalled, aggregated, and classified under certain headings, which experience has shown to be useful to Members of Parliament, the mercan- tile community, and to those who would compare British with foreign trade, or mark the rise, fall, or progress of the chief branches of industry. The headings at present in use are :-

For Imports.

I. Animals, living (for food).

II. (a.) Articles of food and drink duty free.

Articles of food and drink dutiable.

III. Metals.

Tobacco dutiable.

IV. Chemicals, dye-stuffs, and tanning sub-

stances.

V. Oils.

VI. Raw materials for textile manufactures.

VII. Haw materials for sundry industries and

manufactures.

VIII. Manufactured articles.

IX. Miscellaneous articles.

For Exports.

(i.) British and Irish Produce.

I. Animals, living.

II. Articles of food and drink.

.III. Raw materials.

{

IV. Articles manufactured and partly manufac

tured, viz. :-

(a.) Yarns and textile fabrics. (6.) Metals and articles manufactured

therefrom (except machinery).

(c.) Machinery and mill-work.

(d) Apparel and articles of personal use. (e.) Chemicals, and chemical and medi-

cinal preparations.

(f) All other articles, either manufac-

tured or partly manufactured. (ii.) Foreign and Colonial Produce.

-

Alphabetically according to the head ings of the Official List of Imports.

*

t

on

These monthly publications, which fill a closely Board of printed book of about 130 pages, are well known as Trade the "Board of Trade Returns," and are issued returns, the 7th day of each month in respect of the trade of the preceding month. It is important to the mer- cantile community that they should be in the hands of the public thus early after the period to which they refer, and consequently they are liable to such corrections and amendments as may prove to be necessary from month to month, but though amend- ments must necessarily take place, owing to duplicate entries, importers' errors, &c., they represent the trade of the country with substantial accuracy. The "Annual Statement of Trade

is a more Annuki complete and detailed compilation, showing, with statement great elaboration, the trade of the United Kingdom for each year in each article of commerce. It also groups together the trade with each Colony and foreign country, so that a complete view of the progress of our commercial relations with every country, separately, may be readily seen. Under any uniform system of statistics as applied to the mother country and the Colonies, the value of this work would be greatly increased, because it would be easy to check and compare the figures therein given with the statistics collected in the Colonies themselves. The book is published annually about the end of April.

TRADE STATISTICS OF INDIA.

We are of opinion that the fact that the systein carried out in British India approximates closely to that which is in force in the United Kingdom is worthy of serious consideration, and is calculated to afford material help in the endeavour to arrive at a solution of our problem, partly because India is the most important of our dependencies, in regard to trade and population, and also in view of the circum- stance that, India being almost free of indirect taxation, the question of revenue hardly arises, the elaborate system of trade returns being thus con- structed for purely statistical purposes. Nor is the labour bestowed upon these compilations regarded by the Indian authorities as expended for merely academic results, but rather as affording an index to the state of general prosperity, besides involving at times considerations of interest in connexion with particular branches, of Indian trade or manufacture.

The Indian system is thus briefly described in an official despatch: "In India the valuations are based

trade.