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1902.] MAR INE -- ------------ IMPORTS LARGELY MANUFACTURERS' MATERIALS. Practically one-half of the importations of the United States are now manufacturers' materials. Of the importations of March, whose details have just been announced by the treasury bureau of statistics, 49.13 per cent. consisted of manufacturers' materials, and amounted to $41,381,755 out of a total importation of $84,230,559 during the month. For the nine months of the fiscal year ending with March, manufacturers' materials formed about 46 per cent. of the grand total, being $310,792,429 out of a total of $678,698,016. Importations of manufacturers' materials will in the fiscal year which ends with next month by far exceed those of any preceding year in the history of our industries; the highest figure ever reached in any preceding year was that of the fiscal year 1900, when the grand total was, in round terms, $390,000,000. In the present year it seems likely to attain the enormous sum of $425,000,000. In 1890 manufacturers' materials formed but 84 per cent., or practically one-third of the importations; in 1895 they formed 37 per cent., and in March of this year, as already indicated. ne formed 49.13 per cent., or practically one-half of the grand total of impor- tations. : Ten great articles form the bulk of the manufacturers' materials im- ported. These are fibers, hides and skins, india rubber, raw silk, tin, unh-: manufactured wood, wool, copper, raw cotton (chiefly Egyptian), and a large proportion of the articles classed under the general head of "chemi- cals." The table which follows shows the total importations, in value, of these ten great classes, forming the bulk of the manufacturers' materials imported. It will be observed that in all cases except india rubber and tin there is a marked increase in the nine months of the present fiscal year compared with the corresponding months of last year. In the case of tin, REVIEW." | . Ht STATUS OF ISTHMIAN CANAL MATTER. Propositions of the (Colombian and Nicaraguan governments in con- nection with the proposed isthmian canal are expected by congress from the president almost any day now. The president is exceedingly anxious that, whatever determination congress may come to as to the relative merits of the two routes, some decision may be reached at this session. A comparison of the outlines of the agreements or treaties made by the state department with Colombia, in relation to the Panama canal, and with Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as to the Nicaragua canal, shows a general re- semblance in the scope of the arrangements, but important differences in details. One point of resemblance is the amount of money to be paid down at once by the United States government to the country making the concession. In cach case this is $7,000,000. If the Panama route is chosen Colombia gets all of this money. If the choice falls on the Nicaragua route, Nicaragua will receive $6,000,000 and Costa Rica $1,000,000. A good deal of the delay that has occurred in consummating the arrange- ments was owing to the difficulty in reaching a basis of division as between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and this is generally fixed upon as about six to one in favor of Nicaragua. : No provision is made in the Colombian protocol for the payment of any annual rent--that matter will be left to future adjustment, though, of course, it is expected that some rent will be charged. The agreements as to the Nicaragua canal, however, specifically state that the rent to be paid is $30,000 per annum, of which Nicaragua will get about $25,000 and Costa Rica $5,000. While this rent is merely nominal, it serves a useful purpose in the estimate of the isthmian republics, namely, to continually assert the nominal sovereignty of Nicaragua and Costa Rica over the territory through which the canal is cut. The original proposition was to pay a RUSSIAN CRUISER VARIAG--A PRODUCT OF THE CRAMP WORKS. in which a slight decrease in value is shown, the figures of quantity, exceed those of the corresponding months of the preceding year, while in india tubber the slight reduction in total value is also due, in part, to a reduction in price. IMPORTATIONS OF MANUFACTURERS' MATERIALS--NINE MONTHS ENDING MARCH 31, 1902. 1901. 1902. Total manufacturers' materials........ $247 ,783,462 $310,792,429 _ Principal articles: Hides ad sleas. ae ore. $86,100,417 $44,187,774 Chemicals, CLOGS ees eee oe ee 39,281,736 43,339,560 may sik. ..... a ee ee es teens 19,531,319 33,188,523 eS, Se eke le 22,955,194 se 14,016,009 19,762,870 Mee ovine - 20,033,924 18,855,769 Wood, unmanufactured ......... ole Lele 13,959,732 ee a 14,486,223 13,414,046 Wool, RAW oss. a Sere 8,743,510 12,615,874 Cotton, TOW 6 Sess eee 5,163,487 9,145,333 Capt. J. G. Keith, vessel owner of Chicago, has been in Toronto again of late trying to secure from the municipal authorities, for a transportation _ company in which he is interested, certain terminal property for railway and steamship connections. The company in which Mr. Keith is interested has a scheme for establishing steamship service from Fort William, Port Arthur, Duluth, on Lake Superior, and from Chicago, on Lake Michigan, to Collingwood, on Georgian bay, where necessary freight sheds and docks would be built. From Collingwood to Toronto, a railway would be uilt, and then from Toronto steamship service would be established to the Atlantic. lump sum representing the capitalization of this rent for 100 years, but the republics prefer to have the money paid yearly in recognition of their sovereignty, and in consideration of the allowance of their wish in this matter they have gone to the length of making the lease in the United States perpetual, as against the 100-year renewable lease of the Colombian agreement. WHAT OUR NAVY IS COSTING US. A navy is a costly institution. Large appropriations are essential for its maintenance. From the fact that the warship contains machines crowded together, and designed to an extreme degree of lightness, de- preciation of a battleship is very rapid. The design, also, soon becomes obsolete; so, altogether, it requires a heavy outlay to secure or maintain naval supremacy. The actual cost of our completed fighting vessels, and the total estimated cost of those building, will probably reach $275,000,000. This represents but a half of the actual expenditure incurred in creating a navy. In addition to the fighting ship, there are required for naval pur- poses numerous auxiliaries, such as dock yards, educational institutions for the training of men and officers, docks, and coaling stations. In the shape of auxiliary vessels we must have many gunboats and tugs. The collier, repair, hospital, supply, and training ship each has a sphere of usefulness. It is the indirect outlay that swells the expenditures in the navy, as well as in the army. As an example of how excessive are the indirect expenses in time of war, it has been estimated that each soldier in the Philippines costs the army $1,500 per annum, although the pay, ration, and clothing of the enlisted man will not average one-third of that amount. It costs us at least 30 per cent. more than it does any European power to build a warship. It costs us 30 per cent. more to keep our service in operation, since the expense of living is greater here than elsewhere. The minimum expense in keeping one battleship in commission cannot be less than $1,000 per day.--Rear-Admiral George W. Melville, in Review of Reviews.