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Port of Boston (Continued from Page 20) The loss in foreign exports in re- cent years due largely to differential rate handicaps, has been more than made up by increases in foreign im- ports, domestic coastwise traffic, and the development of trade intercourse between New England and the Paci- fic coast through the Panama canal. The value of imports and exports in 1907 was only $123,414,168 and $104,610,908 respectively. From 1905 to 1920, the total waterborne business of the port aver- aged 9,500,000 net tons, From 1921 to 1925, the yearly average was 13,- 500,000 tons, In 1925 and 1926, the yearly average increased to 15,000,- 000 tons, The annual report of the chief of engineers, war department, shows that the waterborne business of the port for the calendar year 1929 had reached the unprecedented total of 19,065,050 tons, valued at nearly $1,000,000,000, the greatest in the history of the port with the ex- ception of 1925 and 1927 when the value was slightly more and the tonnage considerably less. Due to the world-wide depression in _ recent years, the commerce of the _ port dropped to an average of 15,420,437 tons, valued at $607,575,717 dur- ing the three year period, 1930-1932 inclusive. Great Variety of Imports Boston’s imports are_ probably more diversified than those of any other port in the United States with the exception of New York. Com- modities are received from every part of.the navigable globe. Some of the principal imports consist of gunnies, tea and shellac from India; rattans, spices and rubber from Straits Settlements; hemp and sugar from the Philippines; cotton and onions from Egypt; wool and hides from Australia and South America; coffee and cocoa from Brazil; bauxite from British Quiana, nitrate from Chile; iron ore from Algeria; wood- pulp from Scandinavian ports; paper, earthenware and toys from Germany; pig iron, steel and cement from Belgium and Holland; hides and skins from Argentine; china clay and chalk from England; fruits, nuts and olive oil from Mediterranean ports; mahogany and palm oil from Africa; cocoanut oil and peanut oil from the Orient; raw sugar from Cuba; coal from Wales and Russia; bananas from Honduras and Ja- maica; crude oil from Venezuela and Mexico; salt from Turks Island; molasses from Argentine and Cuba; pulpwood from Russia; and other commodities too numerous to specify, from all parts of the world. Palm oil in bulk from the West Coast of Africa; cocoanut oil in bulk from the Far East: molasses 36 from Argentine; peanut oil in bulk from the Far East; iron ore from Newfoundland and Mediterranean ports; and bauxite from British Guiana, are among the import com- modities now received in substantial volume which did not appear in the port receipts of former years, Increase in Foreign Imports The upward trend of foreign im- ports is indicated by the increases in some of the principal commodities, a few of which are: Per Cent In- 1920 1932 crease (Net Tons) OGalia en ia ans 6,357 452,358 7031 Cocoa, Coffee, Tea .. 8,713 51,257 488 Petroleum Products.. 268,258 380,673 A2 Rubber sviGciwnrnnes 1,307 29,650 2169 Sugar 137,488 248,915 17 Woodpulp 40,687 139,615 243 Boston exports are shipped to Great Britain, Continental Europe, the Far Hast, South America, Africa, West Indies and other parts of the world, and they include bread stuffs, cotton waste, fruits and vegetables, lard and tallow, provisions and meat, finished leather, shoes, cotton piece goods, paper, refined sugar, lumber, hardware, grain and flour, druggists’ sundries, machinery, pianos, auto- mobiles and confectionery. The commerce and facilities of the port of Boston are of peculiar value to the industries and business inter- ests of this section. The great indus- trial activity in the immediate vicin- ity of the harbor makes possible the handling of the raw materials for the industries and the forwarding of their manufactured products’ by water at great savings in transporta- tion costs. Whereas at some of the other great seaports, only a small percentage of the waterborne traffic is for local industries, the bulk of the business being through traffic which benefits comparatively few in- terests, It is doubtful if any seaport in this country is of greater value to its local manufacturers than Boston. New England industries depend in a large degree upon foreign imports for their raw materials. There is scarcely a foreign country that does not supply raw materials for our New England industries through the port of Boston. This is a real ad- vantage, because it affords them a substantial saving in transportation and rehandling costs compared with transportation costs to competitors in the interior. In fact, cheap water transportation has always been an important factor in the development of New England’s industries. The domestic water commerce be- tween Boston and the entire seacoast of the country furnishes New Eng- land with a cheap and excellent form of transportation that is denied to its inland competitors, On the one hand, it is available for the purpose of bringing to our community the raw MARINE REVIEW—May, 1934 materials required by our productive enterprises, and on the other hand, it serves greatly to broaden the market of our local manufacturers by virtue of the low carrying rate of this type of transportation. The principal industries being lo- cated so near to the seaboard, it is possible for them to deliver their ex- ports at the overseas piers and to receive their imports the same day the steamers depart or arrive, Motor trucks over excellent highways, and adequate rail service facilitate the handling of both inward and outward shipments from and to the piers. Large Population Served A report made several years ago on New England railroad consolida- tion said ‘‘more than 70 per cent of the New England population still live, and the major part of our in- dustrial activity is carried on, within 50 miles of the seaboard. Within this 50-mile zone lives 97 per cent of the population of Connecticut, all of Rhode Island, 61 per cent of the people of Massachusetts, 57 per cent of New Hampshire, and 77 per cent of Maine.” The ability of industries located along the New England seaboard to receive such’ a large proportion of their fuel requirements by water is another practical benefit to this sec- tion from water’ transportation. Westbound freight rates differential- ly lower than the standard all-rail basis are in effect from Boston to the central, southern and western parts of the country and via the all rail routes through Canada, rail and lake via Lake Ontario and Lake Erie ports, and ocean and rail via the Merchants & Miners Transporta- tion Co. route through Baltimore and Hampton roads. The steamers in this Merchants & Miners Transporta- tion Co., service leave Boston almost daily and this high character of serv- ice is maintained throughout the year, Other coastwise lines ply to ports north of Boston, to adjacent foreign countries, such as Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and New- foundland, and also to the principal ports of Maine. The daily steamship service oper- ating between Boston and New York through the Cape Cod canal is prob- ably equal to any coastal service in this country. Shipments leaving Bos- ton in the evening on these steam- ers are delivered to consignee in New York the following morning, and the benefit to Boston from similar overnight service on the large quantity of merchandise for- warded daily from the metropolis to New England through Boston is substantial, Passenger traffic of the port is steadily increasing, and gratifying reflects the enlarging services and (Continued on Page 40)