FOOTNOTES:
[1] Figures are averages for the decade 1900-1909, not 1901-1910.
[2] The figures of the table, quoted from Lloyd’s Register in Report U.S. Department of Commerce, 1920, p. 170, differ slightly from U.S. official figures. It should be noted that the gross tonnage of American vessels employed in foreign trade was very much less: 1.0 million in 1914, 9.9 million in 1920, according to official figures.
[3] I do not pretend to recognize technical distinctions in this elementary exposition.
[4] Figures of gold movement for 1917 and 1918 are unofficial; figure for 1919 is lacking.
[5] In July, 1917, and thereafter the accounts included merchandise imported and exported in public as well as private ownership, except exports for the use of British troops in the field. Before July, 1917, the figures of exports included property of the allied governments, but omitted a large part of that of the British government; figures of imports omitted property both of the British and of allied governments, except that they included all articles of food. Some idea of the divergence of the figures from the facts may be got by comparing the American statistics of exports from the United States to the United Kingdom with British statistics for the same calendar year of imports from the United States.
| American figures $ millions | British figures £ millions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1913 | 591 | 142 |
| 1914 | 600 | 139 |
| 1915 | 1,198 | 238 |
| 1916 | 1,887 | 292 |
| 1917 | 2,009 | 376 |
| 1918 | 2,061 | 515 |
| 1919 | 2,279 | 542 |
Normally the British figures of imports, c.i.f., would exceed the American figures of exports, f.o.b., as they did in 1913. The divergence in the opposite direction of the two sets of figures in following years is sufficiently striking even if the pound sterling is rated at $5.
[6] War loans on the books of the British government stood as follows, 1920, (figures in million pounds sterling):
| To dominions and colonies | 120 |
| To France | 515 |
| To Russia | 568 |
| To Italy | 457 |
| To Belgium | 99 |
| To other allied governments | 85 |
| 1,844 |