Page:Cambridge Modern History Volume 7.djvu/749

-1902] Relation of exports to imports. 717 years ; since 1874 the exports have been in excess except in four years. The early period, then, was one of extensive borrowing in Europe. The excess of exports from 1874 to 1896 was probably not more than sufficient for the payment of interest, freights, remittances by immigrants, and the like. But in the live years from 1898 to 1902 the total excess of exports has been over $2,650,000,000. This would seem to indicate a rapid payment of the foreign indebtedness, a conclusion sup- ported by the facts known regarding the sale of foreign-held securities in the New York market. Furthermore, despite the large amount of foreign capital still invested in America, the United States is already becoming in some degree a creditor nation. The investment of American capital in foreign enterprises and the bonds of foreign governments has already begun to arouse comment. This long array of figures shows briefly the extent to which the United States has approached the goal of self-sufficiency so ardently desired by the protectionist statesman. In the matter of raw material the country has ample supplies of the chief food-products for its own needs : of coal, iron, copper, and lumber for building and manufactures ; of cotton, and (in less measure) of wool, for its clothing. In the matter of manufactures it still imports large quantities, but these are chiefly of the finer and more luxurious kinds. It imports less than 5 per cent, of its consumption of iron and steel, less than 10 per cent, of its cottons and woollens, and less than 20 per cent, of its silk goods. Its chief depend- ence on foreign countries for single important commodities is on the non-European countries for its coffee, tea, and sugar, its hides and furs, its silk, fibres, and rubber, its tin, and to some extent its wool. On the other hand, it has a market at home for its own manufactures, which absorb 90 per cent, of the total production. Its farmers are still dependent on the foreign market for the disposal of their surplus wheat and cotton, of which one-third and two-thirds of the crops respectively are exported, and for which the foreign demand fixes the price. In the case of Indian corn, however, less than 10 per cent, is exported ; and, taking the country as a whole, the prosperity of the farmer depends more on the feed-crops, Indian corn, oats, and hay, than on wheat. The influence of the foreign market in fixing prices through its absorption of certain surplus products of agriculture and manufacture easily obscures the importance of the home market, and even the real factors of wealth. A vast amount of the commodities produced annually does not enter into commerce at all, but is consumed at the place of production. The money value of the dairy products annually produced in this country is greater than that of the total wheat crop; and the value of the poultry and eggs is greater than that of the production of gold, silver, and copper combined. It may be said in general, that the foreign trade of the United States, great as it is, is less important compared with the internal business of the country CH. XXII.