of manufactures in the year just ended amounted to $543,620,297, as against $452,415,921 in the preceding year, $433^51,756 in 1900, and $183,595,743 in 1895. The growth in exports of manufactures far exceeds the growth of population or the growth in com- merce as a whole. This is apparent from an examination of the following table, showing the population, com- merce, and exports of manufactures of the United States in 1800, 1875, and 1905, and the percentage of increase in each since 1800 and 1875, the beginning of the greatest era in American devel- opment : Year. Population. Commerce (imports and exports of merchan- dise). Exports of domestic manufact- ures. 1800 5 308,483 45,^37,ooo 83,145,000 Dollars. 162,224,548 1,001,125,861 2,636,074,349 Dollars. 2,493,755 100,492,055 543,620,297 1876 i9°5 Per cent of increase : 1800-1876.. 1 876- 1 905.. 7S0 84 5i7 63 3.930 441 Iron and steel manufactures supply about one-fourth of the manufactured articles exported from the United States, the total in 1905 having been $134,727,- 921, as against $11 1,948,586 in the pre- ceding year, an increase of nearly 23 million dollars. Steel rails showed an increase of 6 million dollars, chiefly in shipments to Canada, South America, Mexico, the West Indies, Japan, and other oriental countries, in several of which railway development is proceed- ing at a rapid rate. Machinery also showed an increase in 1905 of more than 6 million dollars over 1904. A con- spicuous feature, however, is the large increase in exports of locomotives to Japan, 151 engines having been sent thither in 1905, as against 74 in the pre- vious year. Mexico and Argentina in- creased their purchases of American sewing machines, while Japan increased her purchases of electrical machinery and builders' hardware, each in a substantial degree.
Copper manufactures, consisting large- ly of pigs and bars, form the item of second importance in our exports of manufactures, the total being $86,225,- 291 in 1905, as compared with $57, 142,- 08 1 in the preceding year. This growth of practically 30 million dollars in a single year is accounted for by an in- crease of nearly 10 millions in exports to China, 3 millions to the United King- dom, 1 y<z millions to France, 3 millions to Germany, 4^ millions to Nether- lands, 1 j£ millions to Russia, and nearly 2 millions to other countries. Refined mineral oil ranks third in the exports of manufactures, the total being $71,888,317, as against $71,753,552 in the preceding year. Owing to the fall in price, the value remained practically stationary, despite the fact that the quantity increased from 847 million gal- lons in 1904 to 951 millions in 1905. The countries to which the largest ex- portations were made were United King- dom, 221 million gallons; Germany, 142 millions; Netherlands, 117 millions; China, 90 millions ; Belgium, 46 mil- lions ; British East Indies and Japan, each about 30 millions ; Italy, nearly 29 millions, and France, 27! millions. South America, as a whole, took about 55 million gallons.
Cotton manufactures present one of the striking features of the year's ex- port record, having advanced from $22,403,713 in 1904 to $49,666,080 in the year just ended. The growth oc- curred chiefly in cotton- cloth exports, $14,696,199 being the total in 1904 and $41,320,542 the figure for 1905. To China there was an increase of about 400 million yards over last year's ex- portation of 76.9 millions, and the value of our cotton-cloth exports to that country increased from 4 million dol- lars in 1904 to 27^ millions in 1905. Japan was the only other country to show a considerable increase in takings
