A history of commerce

by Clive Day

698. Question of producing these foods in the United States. Sugar.—The chief items among the imported foods were the products of tropical or semi-tropical agriculture, their values in millions of dollars being as follows in 1913: coffee 119, sugar 104, fruits and nuts 43, tea 17, cacao 17. Some of these articles could be produced in this country, and would undoubtedly be grown at home if they could not be procured so cheaply abroad. In general it has paid the American farmer better to cultivate crops like cotton and wheat, which are peculiarly adapted to the conditions of soil, climate, and labor in the United States, rather than those crops which can be grown as well or better abroad.

There has been a determined effort, lasting for more than a century, to raise the necessary supplies of sugar at home. The growing of sugar cane was an established industry in Louisiana by 1800, and has been continued ever since in that State. During most of the time the industry has received the help of protective duties or of bounties, but it suffers in this country from the danger of early frosts, and it has never grown strong enough to relieve the United States from dependence on foreign sources of supply.

Better prospects seem to favor the beet-sugar industry. Sugar-beets were first grown successfully on a commercial scale in California about 1890. Since that time the culture of sugar-beets spread to the prairie and mountain States, and after 1907 beets furnished more sugar than American cane. Including all sources of supply, however, the sugar product of the continental United States was still less than one quarter of the amount required by the people.

699. Increase in raw materials imported.—Turning now to other classes of imports we are faced by the great increase in articles, both crude and manufactured, used to supply the needs not of consumers but of producers. Articles of this character had always formed a part of our imports, but the growing use of them in this period is clear testimony to the internal development of the country. American industries, which previously had attained strength only when they were supported by a generous supply of raw materials close at hand, were prepared now to reach out to all parts of the world for the supplies which they required.

It is significant, also, that the great increase in these supplies took the form of raw materials. Articles wholly or partially manufactured were imported still for use in American industries. These articles were of many different kinds; to name one very important class, that of chemicals and dyes, will suggest their general character. These articles increased greatly both in absolute value and in relative importance, but in neither respect did they keep pace with the increase of crude materials imported.

700. The chief raw materials among imports.—Of the raw materials imported for domestic industries in 1913 nearly five sixths in value were comprised in the wares enumerated in this section. Values are stated in round millions of dollars.

The revolution in the metal trade of the country since 1860 is shown by the fact that tin was the only metal which was imported in the crude state in considerable quantities (53 millions); the country could now supply itself with most of the necessary mineral substances. An exception must, however, be made in the case of precious stones, 50. Of the products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms the raw materials for the textile industry were most prominent. The first place was taken by raw silk, 85; then follow the vegetable fibers, 49 (sisal grass, Manila hemp, jute, flax); wool, 36, cotton, 23. The single item of greatest value in the whole list was that of hides, 117; while India rubber, 101, represented the importance of an industry that was still comparatively new, but that was rapidly growing to a place of prominence.

701. Decline in importance of finished manufactures imported.—While the imports of raw materials increased greatly in value, the imports of finished manufactures, ready for the consumer, showed a great relative decline. Taking first the textiles, the most important group among the finished manufactures imported, we find that the total value in 1913 was indeed greater than the value in 1860, but the increase was only about two-thirds while the increase in the import trade as a whole was over four-fold. In round millions the value of the manufactures imported was as follows in 1913: cotton 60, vegetable fibers and grasses 77, silk 31, wool 16. Between the two dates there had been a great growth of population and of wealth in the country, but the increase in consumption was met mainly by the development of home manufactures. The list of textile raw materials imported for manufacture in America, given in the preceding section, shows a great gain in every staple. The growth of domestic manufactures had caused in the case of two important textiles, wool and silk, an absolute decline in the value of the manufactured imports; while the only case of a great increase is to be noted in the manufactures of the vegetable fibers, jute, etc., which had not come into extensive use until after the middle of the century.

702. Variety of imported manufactures.—If we seek to explore the imports of manufactures, outside the single group of the textiles, we are confronted by the same bewildering variety of articles as in previous periods. We find earthenware, china, and glass; jewelry, clocks, works of art, and books; paper and leather wares; matting, manufactured furs, and various manufactures of metal. Roughly, a round dozen of articles like those named above can be found, of which each showed imports ranging in value from two or three to ten or more millions of dollars.

It is probable that the United States will always continue to import manufactured wares like those named above, in great variety and amounting in the total to considerable value. We cannot afford to refuse the contributions of peoples who have specialized in various lines, and by reason of inherited taste and skill, or with the aid of exceptional natural resources, can offer us what we cannot readily produce ourselves. Since 1860, however, we have come to depend less and less on our foreign trade for the manufactures which serve the simpler household needs, and the home product of many of the wares named greatly exceeds the amount imported from abroad.