Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/612

* INDIA. 530 INDIA. lish East India Company was deprived of its monopoly in 1834 there bej:;an an epoeli of rapid trade development. The abolition of the inland duties, the assumption of conlrol by the En<;li.sh Ciovernment. the constriu-tioii of the Suez Canal, and tile improvement of inland tran>]>ortation liave been most influential factors in a«eleratin{; this trade movement. The ma^itude of the in- ircase since 1834, in which year the total foreign exports by sea were less "than £10.000,000, is shown pro taiito by the following table: former being more prominent in exports and the latter in imports. Adequate harbor facilities have been secured at great expense at Karachi, and it now .serves as a port for the Indus Valley region. A harbor has only recently >vcn com- pleted at Madras and another at Rangoon — the port for the Irrawaddy Valley region. The large increase in commerce during the last eenturj' has been accompanied by a radical change in the quality of the trade, and consid- ered from this standpoint the increase has not Value or Foreign Imports and Exports bt Sea, Excludino GOTBRHMENT STORES AND TrEASCRES Imports Exports Merchandise Treasure Total Merchandise Treasure Total 1869-1870 £32 879.000, £13.954.000 Rx. 66.560.000 1 Rx. 17.459.000 £47,141,000) £13.972.000 £40,833,000 £.12.471.000 £1.025.000 Rx. 1.841.000 £3,300,000 £53,496,000 1889-1890 1899-1900 Rx.S4,O19,0OO ■RX.1O3..396.00O £61,I13,000|I £72 6.W)000 Rx. 105.237 poo £77.950.000 The rate of increase has declined somewhat during the last decade. .Since 1834, with few exceptions, the exports have annually exceeded the imports. A large pro|>ortion of the Indian foreign trade (about fourtifths of the imports and a little less than three-fifths of the exports) passes through the Suez Canal. Of this the greater share is with the United Kingdom. The figures for 1000 are: Imports via Suez Canal, £48.737,000. by other routes £12.37(.OO0: exports via Suez Canal. £44.840.000, bv other routes £33.110.000. The following table showp the amount of trade with other countries since 1869: meant a corresponding growth in the welfare of the country. A large proportion of the trade during the earlier period was in manufactured products, especially manufactures of metals and textiles. Rut the factories of Manchester and other foreign places have in a large measure sup- planted the hand labor of India. Textiles, once an important export, now far exceed all other imports, and amount to over two-fifths of the total imports. The exports have become jiredomi- nantly those of raw materials; the imports have become almost wholly manufactured products. As manufactured cotton leads in the imports, so Value of Piuvate Merchandise and Treasure Transported to and from British India bt Sea Imports Exports 1S69-70 1889-90 1899-1900 1869-70 1889-90 1899-1900 Europe United Kingdom £31.353.100 30.324.900 884.100 •• 4S..W0 105.200 tt 201.400 13,719.800 6.868,800 771,900 Tens of Rupees 67.403..W0 62..ill4.100 2..i75.700 269.000 1.919.400 1.917.800 10.979.1(H3 £48,085.300 40,803,300 2,192.600 419.200 846.500 828.000 7,886,800 £33,123.200 27.798,700 772,100 •• 1.128 1.629.200 tl..ifHi.900 17.919..i00 12,301,400 52,600 Tens of Rupees 64.628.700 39..581.000 6.937.100 3.900 500 4.705.600 3.768.700 27.895.000 13.965.400 1,072,200 £37,774.900 22.473.200 5.774.100 3..589.600 Americv. . . United States.... Asia 6.297. .300 5.079.633 27.037.170 »China Australasia Australin. New | Zealand, Ta»- v mania 1 4,715.600 1,141,500 1,678,100 2,102,200 9,682.000 1,067 150 'Including Hong Koug and Treaty Ports. ••1871-72. tWestern Hemisphere, not including West Indies. ttl875-76. It will be noted in the above table that the preeminejice of the United Kingdom in the trade with India is waning, particularly in the exports. They have l>een reducetl to less than a third of the total exports, while the imports from Great Britain are almost two-thirds of the total import.s. The increase in the exports from India has been largely in the exports to other Oriental countries. The United .States is mak- ing significant gains in exports from India, but the amoimt of American products sent to India is still insignificant. The exports accredited to Egj'pt are probably intended largely for the Mediterranean trade. Among Continental Eu- ropean countries Germany, France, and Belgium are in the lead, the former being first in the amount of imports from India. In Asia the Straits Settlements and Ceylon have a large trade with India. Two cities, Calcutta on the east and Bombay on the west, have the only good, large natural harbors on the coast, and about three-fourths of the entire trade passes through their porta; the raw cotton for a long time held first place among the exports. Cotton exportation received a great impetus during the Civil War in the United States, but it declined materially after the war, and has continued to do so ever since. Three or four other articles have surpassed it. Nearly all the cotton goods are imported from the United Kingdom, but that countrj- receives only a small part of India's exports of raw cotton. The exports of India were formerly distributed among the Eurofiean countries, but during the decade ending with 1900 the demand from .Japan rapidly increased until it amounted to over half the totiil, or £3.730.000. The importation of cotton twist and yarn decreased one-half during the decade ending with 1900. and there was a corresponding increase in the exports of that article. These exports in 1900 amounted to £4.071.000. almost all going to China. The other leading imported commodities, all having about equal rank, are hardware, ma- chinery, iron, steel, and copper, mineral nil. rail- way plant and rolling stock, woolens, and sugar.