During the late extraordinary session of the British Parliament, 
Lord Derby declared in the House of Lords that, for the last three 
years the value of British imports had exceeded that of British 
exports to the amount of £160,000,000.* This statement gave rise 
to a controversy, out of doors, some private individuals applying 
to Lord Stanley of Alderley, President of the Board of Trade, for 
information as to the correctness of Lord Derby’s statement. The 
President of the Board of Trade, in a letter addressed to his 
interrogators, replied: 

“The assertion made by Lord Derby in the House of Lords, that the value of 
our imports during the last three years had exceeded that of our exports by 
£160,000,000, is incorrect, and arises from Lord Derby having taken the total value 
of our imports, including our imports from the Colonies and foreign countries, 
while he has excluded the re-export of merchandize which has been received from 
the Colonies and foreign countries. Thus Lord Derby’s calculation shows: 

TA BOLCAGIONS sie sia: ayntesies apne pttrntauca enter met eeiays £468,000,000 
BX POTS seiaei sc tasascuis gd wigpcueit anid oretat beats hanes eas 308,000,000 
Difference .............cccceeececceeeeeeeees £160,000,000 

“Whereas it should be: 
TIM POLLAN ONS} csvic ch dvwegie sects ye dbdslevcetsandtonenszetedavaxan £468,000,000 
EX DOVES shia eee ere 371,000,000, 
Difference ........ccccececeecceeceeeeeseeees £97,000,000” © 

No. 22855, December 4, 1857.— Ed. 

Trade were published in The Free Press, No. 26, December 23, 1857.— Ed. 

The President of the Board of Trade substantiates this assertion 
by adding to it a comparative statement of the value of the exports 
and imports of the United Kingdom during the years 1855, 1856 
and 1857. This highly interesting document, which is not to be 
found in the London newspapers, we reprint below.* First it will 
be seen that the case might be put in a shape confirmatory of 
Lord Derby’s assertion, viz.: 

"Ota MmpOres esssote cat ieesileccas os esas hasteeintes £468,000,000 
By itisly EX POIs oy. sce o5 secex se shedevtes das naceies stages tgotaess ‘ 308,000,000 
Excess of imports over British exports ........... £160,000,000 
Re-exports of foreign produce .............::cecee 63,000,000 
Balance of trade against Great Britain ....... £97,000,000 

Thus, there is actually an excess of foreign imports over British 
exports of 160,000,000, and after the re-export of 63,000,000 of 
foreign productions, there remains a balance of trade against 
Great Britain, as stated by the President of the Board of Trade 
himself, of 97,000,000, or more than 32,000,000 for the average of 
the three years, 1855, 1856, and 1857. Hence, the recent 
complaint of The London Times: 

“The actual losses sustained by the nation have been going on for the last five 
or six years, and it is only now that we have found them out.”> 

These losses, however, arise not from the excess of imports over 
exports, but from the specific character of a great part of the 
exports. 

The fact is, one-half the re-exports consists of foreign raw 
materials used in manufactures serving to increase foreign rivalry 
against the British industrial interests, and, to some extent, 
returned to the Britishers in manufactured goods for their home 
consumption. The decisive point, however, to be kept in view, is 
this, that the large re-exports of raw materials, resulting from the 
competition of Continental manufactures, enhanced the price of 
the raw material so much as almost to absorb the profit left to the 
British manufacturer. On a former occasion, we made some 
statements in this sense with respect to the British Cotton industry. 

b The Times, No. 22869, December 21, 1857 “Money-Market and City 

As at the present moment the industrial crisis rages most violently 
in the British Woolen districts, where failure follows upon failure, 
anxiously concealed from the general public by the London press, 
it may be opportune to give at this place some figures showing 
into what effective competition for raw wool the manufacturers of 
the European Continent were entering with the British ones—a 
competition which led to the unparalleled enhancement in the 
price of that raw material, ruinous to the manufacturer, and 
fostering the now blown-up speculations in that article. The 
following statement comprises the first nine months of each of the 

last five years": 

Imports. 
Year. Foreign. Colonial. 
LSDS Soccer aaa £37,586,199 £46,277 ,276 
1854 sarc Sets eetisepeieets 27,006,173 50,187.692 
VS 5 Dc tisiseeddiececeece 17,293,842 53,896,173 
L856 vive. heieeedieedates 22,377,714 62,148,467 
VBS iE os cuciactnas ccotepesacne 27,604,364 63,053,100 
Exports. 
Year. Foreign. Colonial. 
B53 eacinieteevsice £2,480,410 £5,243, 166 
PS D4 oe ocsases eect toeeceetasl 5,993,366 13,117,102 
jis le 1a Sees an teeta rere 8,860,904 12,948,561 
W856 icccssedeecsieeecttes 5,523,345 14,433,958 
TBST cssccssesvbecesctavansaeed 4,561,000 25,068,787 

Total. 

£83,863,475 
77,193,865 
71,190,015 
84,526,181 
90,657,464 

Total. 
£7,723,576 
19,110,468 
21,809,465 
19,957,303 
29,629,787 

The quantities of foreign and colonial wools returned for British 
home consumption appear, therefore, to have been, in the years: 

Year Wool. Pounds 

T8539 Gok ci ee ie es ee 76,139,899 
VB BA ccess oc ath ebsites hee owes aadnda ete 58,083,397 
L859. sno assis chedeeeeh Oa Beret ee SE Se 49,380,550 
VS 5G cee liebai deed eventews Saasecies Woseteetiven ss 64,568,878 
PSB iss ccoisescesisk ce ces deck tes edy cuties tase ce aveveete 61,027,677 

The Economist, No. 741, November 7, 1857.— Ed. 

On the other hand, the quantities of British home-grown wool 
exported were: | 

BIS odscccapaiehieisicacinaideteeetyedevcnsnvnaaeaeasts Ib 4,755,443 
ESOS ekicysircithenntsedimctionaciahie tied akee 9,477,396 
RGD wisca see Sect cssasaanedsaveceeeauipaeas bogiveivreasee 13,592,756 
LS5G. \amvaudecetn iawn iain Alar 11,539,201 
SOF siasud Sines su aneactapi aes teeveue doe ae tare 13,492,386 

By deducting from the quantity of foreign wools imported into 
the United Kingdom, first the quantity re-exported and next the 
quantities of English wools exported, we find the following real 
quantities of foreign wool available for British home consumption: 

PBS: 35 zi sicansrndnusletaynnkow stindealsecgusenencidouanenhs Ib 71,384,456 
MO jcchtensassicduaceiitvee ca aseaneesstsbtaltaaled ck 48,606,001 
D5 nda Sixpspecesveivelpsateetesneratess cisieecuy eee} 35,787,794 
PSD hs capac eaareapinereu ta trad sletabeeares teadusaes 53,029,677 
DDE acest ccdeccte rane ta Mente etcnagel nia, 47,535,291 

While, therefore, the import into the United Kingdom of 
colonial wool increased from 46,277,276 lbs. in the first nine 
months of 1853 to 63,053,100 Ibs. in the same period of 1857, and 
the total imports of all kinds from 83,863,475 lbs. to 
90,657,464 Ibs. during the same respective periods, such, in the 
mean time, had been the increase in the demand for the 
European Continent, that, in regard to the foreign and colonial 
wools, the quantities returned for British consumption diminished 
in the five years from 76,139,899 Ibs. in 1853 to 61,027,677 Ibs. in 
1857; and taking into account the quantities of English wools 
exported, there took place an aggregate reduction from 
71,384,456 Ibs. in 1853 to 47,535,291 Ibs. in 1857. The signifi- 
cance of these statements will be better understood when attention 
is called to the fact avowed by The London Times, in a money 
article, that, simultaneously with this increase in the export of wool 
from the United Kingdom, the import of Continental woolen 
manufactures, especially French ones, was increasing. 

From the figures furnished by Lord Stanley of Alderley we have 
abstracted the following tabular statement, showing the degree in 
which the balance of trade with Great Britain was favorable or 
unfavorable to different countries: 

Balance of Trade against England 
for 1855, 1856, 1857. 
1. United States ........ecccccceeececeneeeeeeees £28,571,764 
ee MSRINIA dinate tac gch crete ariimaenidlnphnsse es 22,675,433 
3. East Indies ................ccccccccesscsseceneces 19,605,742 

Aes RUSSia 26h ooccts cerns Shae es een ae 16,642,167 
5. Prussia cea seiessccieei fsccs ocecteedecioecos evens 12,842,488 
Ge ERY Pt welaie cies tardetcnensen tee 8,214,941 
Be SPAM bie iin Bia sees teeta eos acid eatest 7,146,917 
8. Br. West Indies ................cccccceeeeeees 6,906,314 
QS PON ciel ieee 6,282,382 
LO: Swed en iin ic.605 Sc esk anced ea a aceiec 5,027,934 
LL. Cuba & Porto Rico wc 4,853,484 
V2.) Mea Ft ooo opcesscdacis teens Hexdecscateaaadses 4,672,090 
13. New-Brunswick ............0ccccccseeeeeeeees 3,431,303 
14. Denmark icc. 3,391,144 
lb Ceylon acicvciusmiand an dotaaanau — 3,134,575 
16s France: i565cbe ck Bh est ee neene ek 2,696,291 
Pl CANA a asectesesenesavenseerienceeniets 1,808,454 
US: NORWAY sins.sscesntavcivateet cactstcatieenae 1,686,962 
19. Africa (Western) sc..iesccsiscivasscecssiases 1,432,195 
20... Portugal aids ciccshitesWosattessvncasaverusatva 1,283,075 
21s “Two: Sicih€s oa acetal elec 1,030,139 
DQ. AGM iacausensensastnsina Secsduvace vents geacwientenen 693,155 
23. Buenos Ayre ............ccscsceccsseeteenees 107,676 

Balance of Trade in favor of England 
for 1855, 1856, 1857. 

1. Hanse Towns ................ccccceesceeeceeeees 18,883,428 
Zo PAISTV OA 2Hcs esting sie eas ieee 17,761,889 
Ses TUC KGW! ctotsh aaigosy laala aan 6,947,220 
ABB EAZAD  p6s ses sascsshcns ade donds ees ees 7,131,160 
La 1) 10 be | Reve ner teeny Cr ey eee 2,214,207 
6. Holland: 82i65e55ccscceigeeessiicideticinckessaseeess 1,600,904 
dy. Cape: of Gr THO Deca: siisegssseieanieaerns 59,661 

The simple fact of the excess of British imports over exports, 
amounting in three years to £97,000,000 would by no means 
warrant the cry now raised by the Britishers “of carrying on their 
trade at a yearly sacrifice of £33,000,000,” and benefiting by that 
trade foreign countries only. The enormous and _ increasing 
amount of British capital invested in all parts of the world must be 
paid for in interest, dividends and profits, all of which are to be 
remitted to a great extent in the form of foreign produce, and 
consequently go to swell the list of British imports. Beyond the 
imports corresponding to their exports, there must be a surplus of 
imports, remitted not in payment for commodities, but as revenue 
of capital. Generally speaking, the so-called balance of trade must, 

therefore, always be in favor of the world against England, 
because the world has yearly to pay to England not only for the 
commodities it purchases from her, but also the interest of the 
debt it owes her. The really disquieting feature for England of the 
statements above made is this, that she is apparently at a loss to 
find at home a sufficient field of employment for her unwieldy 
capital; that she must consequently lend on an increasing scale, 
and similar, in this point, to Holland, Venice and Genoa, at the 
epoch of their decline, forge herself the weapons for her 
competitors. She is forced, by giving large credits, to foster 
speculation in other countries in order to find a field of 
employment for her surplus capital, and thus to hazard her 
acquired wealth in order to augment and conserve it. By being 
obliged to give large credits to foreign manufacturing countries, 
such as the Continent of Europe, she forwards herself the means 
to her industrial rivals to compete with her for the raw produce, 
and thus is herself instrumental in enhancing the raw material of 
her own fabrics. The small margin of profit thus left to the British 
manufacturer, still reduced by the constant necessity for a country 
the very existence of which is bound up with the monopoly of 
forming the workshop of the world, constantly to undersell the 
rest of the world, is then compensated for by curtailing the wages 
of the laboring classes and creating home misery on a rapidly- 
enlarging scale. Such is the natural price paid by England for her 
commercial and industrial supremacy. 

A Comparative Statement 
of the Value of the Imports and Exports of the United Kingdom 
from and to the Principal Foreign Countries 
and British Possessions in 1854, 1855, and 1856.4 

IMPORTS. VALUE OF EXPORTS. 
Computed Declared Computed Total. 7 
real value Value of Real Value 
Countries. Years. of Produce of Foreign 
[mports. of the & Colonial 
United Produce, 
Kingdom. 
L £L £ £L 
Foreign. 
1854 4,252,288 54,301 19,738 74,039 
Russia 1855 478,169 + os oo 
1856 =11,561,924 1,595,237 1,775,617 3,370,854 

December 23, 1857.— Ed. 

IMPORTS. VALUE OF EXPORTS. 

Computed Declared Computed Total. 

real value Value of Real Value 

Countries. Years. of Produce of Foreign 

Imports. of the & Colonial 

United Produce. 
Kingdom. 
£ £ £ £ 

1854 2,509,539 334,518 249,792 584,310 
Sweden 1855 2,325,171 545,384 279,515 824,899 
1856 2,031,861 629,697 300,795 930,492 
1854 1,369,440 402,290 106,244 508,534 
Norway 1855 1,099,642 487,400 102,551 589,951 
1856 947,934 488,489 143,080 631,569 
1854 2,706,186 758,228 = 230,010 =—-988,238 
Denmark 1855 3,086,979 756,967 260,624 1,017,591 
1856 2,201,831 1,033,142 352,173 1,385,315 
1854 9,055,503 798,434 1,717,285 2,515,719 
Prussia 1855 = 10,242,862 1,100,021 2,016,650 3,116,671 
1856 4,534,815 933,715 624,908 1,558,623 
1854 6,221,524 7,413,715 2,720,274 10,133,989 
Hanse 1855 4,816,298 8,350,228 3,344,416 11,694,644 
Towns 1856 5,302,739 10,134,813 3,260,543 13,395,356 
1854 6,731,141 4,573,034 2,320,877 6,893,911 
Holland 1855 6,460,932 4,558,210 2,611,767 7,169,977 
1856 7,433,442 5,728,253 2,434,278 8,162,531 
1854 3,631,161 1,406,932 1,948,740 3,355,672 
Belgium 1855 2,533,732 1,707,693 2,239,514 3,947,207 
1856 2,936,796 1,689,975 2,323,042 4,013,017 
1854 10,447,774 3,175,290 3,216,175 6,391,465 
France 1855 9,146,418 6,012,658 4,409,223 10,421,881 
1856 = 10,386,522 6,432,650 4,038,427 10,471,077 
1854 3,594,501 1,270,464 165,642 1,436,106 
Spain 1855 4,799,728 1,158,800 135,192 1,293,992 
1856 3,645,083 1,734,483 377,820 2,112,303 
1854 3,369,444 1,073,861 4,727 1,078,588 
Cuba and 1855 2,332,753 1,077,745 22,933 1,100,678 
Porto Rico 1856 2,654,580 1,398,837 25,190 1,424,027 

IMPORTS. VALUE OF EXPORTS. 

Computed Declared Computed Total. 
real value Value of Real Value 
Countries. Years. of Produce of Foreign 
Imports. of the & Colonial 
United Produce. 
Kingdom. 

£ 

1854 2,101,126 ‘1,370,603 148,997. 1,519,600 
Portugal 1855 «1,962,044 _—«i1,350,791 184,580 1,535,371 
1856 2,164,090 ‘1,455,754 433,470 1,889,224 
2 1854 —«-1,411,457 563,033 109,258 672,291 
ee 1855 ‘1,281,940 921,220 175,221 1,096,441 
1856 1,505,582 —«-1, 202,183 197,925 1,400,108 
1854 2,219,298 2,758,605 317,476 3,076,081 
Read! 1855 2,294,571 5,639,898 419,119 6,059,017 
Pe 1856 2,383,029 4,416,029 291,991 4,708,020 
1854 3,355,928 1,253,353 113,895 1,367,248 
Egypt 1855 3,674,682 1,454,371 117,235 1,571,606 
5,753,518 1,587,682 43,151 1,630,833 
United States 29,795,302 21,410,369 923,034 22,333,403 
(including 25,741,752 17,318,086 744,517 18,062,603. 
California) 36,047,773 21,918,105 698,772 22,616,877 
9,083,589 2,891,840 119,982 3,011,822 
Brazil 2,273,819 3,312,728 128,550 3,441,278 
2,229,048 4,084,537 179,979 4,264,516 
1,285,186 1,267,125 32,565 1,299,690 
Buenos 
ne 1,052,033 742,442 26,383 768,825 
981,193 998,329 43,892 1,042,221 
1,380,563 1,421,855 43,589 1,465,444 
Chili 1,925,271 1,330,385 56,688 1,387,073 | 
1,700,776 1,396,446 64,492 = 1,460,938 © 
3,138,527 949,289 22.936 971,525 | 
Peru 3,484,288 1,285,160 60,278 1,345,438 
3,048,694 1,046,010 26,154 1,072,164 | 
China 9,125,040 1,000,716 26,400 1,027,116 | 
(including 8,746,590 1,277,944 26,052 —_‘1,303,996 
Hong Kong) 9,421,648 2,216,123 70,611 2,286,734 

Countries. 

W. C. of Africa 
(exclusive of 

Br. & Fr. Pos.) {iss 
Total 1854 
Foreign 1855 
Countries 1856 
British 
Possessions ; 

1854 
| Canada 1855 
1856 
1854 

ee nas. fuse 
runswic 1856 
et 1854 
ae eas 18S? 
a 1856 
pce 1854 
ee 1855 
mene 1856 
British Settle- 1854 
ments in Aus- 1855 
tralia 1856 
sete tes 1854 
Puce ast 1855 
Indies 1856 
1854 
Ceylon 1855 
1856 

Years. 

Computed 
real value 

Declare? 
Value ot 
Produce 
of the 
United 
Kingdom. 

Computed 
Real Value 
of Foreign 
& Colonial 
Produce. 

1,528,896 
1,516,729 
1,657,375 

118,239,554 
109,959,539 
129,517,568 

4,007,052 
2,296,277 
3,779,741 
2,079,674 
4,379,041 
1,891,707 

3,977,271 
3,978,278 
4,157,098 

1,636,267 
1,491,935 
1,418,264 

4,301,868 
4,500,200 
5,736,043 

10,672,862 
12,668,732 
17,262,851 
1,506,646 
1,474,251 
1,304,174 

* Including British Guiana. 
** Included with West Indies. 

£ 

646,868 
839,831 
666,374 

63,800,605 
69,524,475 
83,327,154 

3,957,085 
1,515,823 
2,418,250 
863,704 
370,560 
572,542 
1,870,674 * 
1,389,992 
1,462,156 

421,398 
411,241 

11,931,352 

6,278,966 
9,912,575 
9,127,556 
9,949,154 

10,546,190 

382,276 
305,576 
388,435 

174,073 
219,827 
223,842 

15,645,612 
18,710,749 
20,035,442 

180,569 
90,298 
123,591 
40,273 
27,718 
34,322 

166,690 
136,022 
180,799 

31,779 
35,189 
41,248 

1,474,634 
942,659 
1,759,814 
493,154 
404,321 
478,328 
31,228 

20,321 
22,660 

IMPORTS. VALUE OF EXPORTS. 

Total. 

820,941 
1,059,658 
890,216 

79,446,217 
88,235,224 
103,362,596 

4,137,654 

1,606,121 
2,541,841 
- 903,977 

398,278 

606,864 
2,037,364 
1,526,014 
1,642,955 

31,779 
456,587 
452,489 

13,405,986 
7,221,625 
11,672,389 
9,620,710 
10,358,475 
11,024,518 
413,504 
325,897 
411,095 

; nea ETL NL 
ee A OT 

IMPORTS. VALUE OF EXPORTS. 
Computed Declared Computed Total. 
real value Value of Real Value 
Countries. of Produce of Foreign 
Imports. of the & Colonial 
United Produce. 
Kingdom. 
£ 
1854 —-1,677,533 383,210 17,936 401,146 
Mauritius 1855 —-:1,723,807 303,173 14,772 317,945 
1856 2,427,007 420,180 —-:16,977 437,157 
ue . of 1854 691,352 921,957 63,309 985,266 
00 ope ; 
& Brit. Pos. 1855 949,640 791,313 45,437 836,750 
in S. Afr’a 1856 1,502,828 1,344,338 . 73,127 1,417,465 
Total of Brit- 1854 34,149,499 33,384,121 2,990,754 36,374,875 
ish _ Posses- (1855 33,583,311 26,163,610 2,292,466, 28,456,076 
eee 1856 43,026,586 32,499,794 3,357,963 35,857,757 
ie Foreign 1854 152,389,053 97,184,726 18,636,366 115,821,092 
aad Br Boe: 1855 143,542,850 95,688,085 21,003,215 116,691,300 
gedua. 1856 172,544,154 115,826,948 23,393,405 139,220,353 
Written on about January 7, 1858 Reproduced from the newspape