Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/420

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THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — UNITED KINGDOM

The declared value ^ of the imports and exports of merchandise of the United Kingdom was as follows during ten years : —

Total Exports of Exports of Total Imports Imports British Produce Colonial Produce and Exports � �  �  � 1889 427,637,595 248,935,195 66,657,484 743,230,274 1890 420,691,997 263,530,585 64,721,533 748,944,115 1891 435,441,264 247,235,150 61,878,568 744,554,982 1892 423,793,882 227,216,399 64,423,767 715,434,048 1893 404,688,178 218,259,718 58,878,552 681,826,448 1894 408,344,810 216,005,637 57,780,230 682,130,677 1895 416,689,658 226,128,246 59,704,161 702,522,065 1896 441.808,904 240,145,551 56,233,663 738,118,118 1897 451,028,960 234,219,708 59,954,410 745,203,078 1898 1 470,604,198 233,390,792 60,619,199 764,614,189

The following table exhibits the average share, per head of population of the United Kingdom, in the imports, the exports of British produce, and the total, during ten years : —

Year Imports Exports of British Produce Total Imports and Exports � s. d. � 8. d. �  �. d. 1888 10 10 3 6 7 2 18 12 2 1889 11 10 1 6 13 11 19 19 10 1890 11 4 6 7 7 19 19 7 1891 11 10 5 6 10 10 19 14 1892 11 2 5 5 19 3 18 15 6 1893 10 10 7 5 13 7 17 14 10 1894 10 10 7 5 11 5 17 11 10 1895 10 13 1 5 15 8 17 19 3 1896 11 3 11 6 18 18 14 1 1897 11 6 6 5 17 7 18 14 3

1 In the United Kingdom the valuation of both imports and exports is made according to the bills of entry and the shipping bills, false declarations being punishable by fine. In case of imi)orts, the control of the Customs administration, at least in so far as regards those articles which are subject to duty, is a guarantee of accuracy in the returns, but, as regards the exports, merchants are only required to furnish their declarations within a period of six days after the sailing of the vessel, and the only proof of their accuc racy, if proof be needed, lies in an inspection of the bills of lading, the production of which the authorities have the right to demand. The valuation of imports and exports is checked in the Statistical Office of the Customs (to which a copy of the entry is sent), where the officials possess a knowledge of current values and where market reports and lists of prices current are readily available to detect any departures from substantial accuracy. It should be noted that the important difference between the system of the United Kingdom and other sy.stems is that the former shows the values at the time of import and export, whilst in most other countries the values are computed at the prices of a year or more before. For goods imported the practice adopted is generally to take the value at the port of entry, including all incidental expenses up to the landing on the quay. For goods con- signed to the English market for sale, the market value in England is required and recorded in the returns. This is ascertained from the declaration made by the importers, and is checked by the expert knowledge available in the Statistical Office, and by the price- lists and market reports of the day. For exports the value at the port of shipment is taken. Imports are generally entered as from the country whence the goods were last shipjjed. Thus, countries with no seaboard (Switzerland, Bolivia, S.A. Republic, and