Conservative. 9
i
1 ' pany will not bo held responsible and
parents or guardians sign for minors.
No mill children look healthy.
Any one that does by chance , you are
sure to find out has but recently be
gun work. They are characterized
by extreme pallor and an aged , worn
expression infinitely pitiful and in
congruous iu a child's face. The
dull eyes raised by the little ones
inured to toil before they over
learned to play , shut out by this
damnable system of child slavery
from liberty and the pursuit of hap
piness , often to bo early robbed of
life itself , are not those of a child
but of an imprisoned soul , and are
filled , it always seems to me , with
speechless reproach. There is un
fortunately no question as to the
physical debasement of the mill
child.
In the finest mill iu Columbia , S.
0. , a magnificent example of splendid
enterprise , I found a tiny girl of five
years old in the spinning room. Her
little sunbonuet had fallen back onto
her nock and her fair hair was cov
ered with the threads that had fallen
back on her head from the frame as
she worked. She was helper to her
sister. Neither child knew her age ,
but a girl of eight , standing u ear ,
told me they were seven and five and
worked there all day long. A beau
tiful little girl of eight , with hectic
flush and great gray eyes told me she
"hadn't worked but a year. "
INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
The United States maintains its
position at the head of the world's
exporting nations , despite the tem
porary reduction in the value of ex
ports due to the shortage in corn
available for exportation. The export
figures for the nine mouths ending
with March , as shown hy the report
of the Treasury Bureau of Statistics ,
indicate a drop of $58,681,957 iu the
total value of exports. When it is
considered , however , that the value
of corn exported fell , owing to the
shortage in the corn supply , 52 mil
lion dollars below that for the corresponding
spending period of last year , and that
cotton , owing solely to a decrease
in price , fell 12 million dollars below
the exports of the same period of last
year , the entire decrease is more than
accounted for. Corn exports fell
from 146 million bushels in the nine
months of the fiscal year 1901 to 24
million bushels in the nine months of
1902. Cotton exports increased 844
million pounds , but owing to reduced
prices , fell 12 million dollars iu the
to'tal value exported. These two
items due in the case of corn to the
shortage at home caused by the
drouth of last year , and in cotton to
the reduced prices in the markets of
the world more than account for
; ho reduction of 59 millions in the
otal exports.
Notwithstanding the reduction of
59 millions in exports the grand total
of domestic exports from the United
States exceeds that of any other
country. The figures of domestic experts -
ports for the nine months ending
with March are : from the United
States , $1,062,482,158 ; United King
dom , $1,019,466,487. The fact that
; he commercial and fiscal years of
the various countries differ iu dates
of termination renders a comparison
by parallel years difficult , but the
Bureau of Statistics in its statement
of exports of various countries gives
; he monthly average of each during
the year or the portion of the year
which its latest figures cover. By
this process it is practicable to show
the relation of the various countries
in the supply which they furnish to
ihe markets of the world. This
analysis shows that the average
monthly exportation of domestic
merchandise from the United States
exceeds that o uy other nation ,
that the United Kingdom stands
second , Germany third , Franco
fourth , Netherlands fifth and British
India sixth iu the list of exporting
nations. On the other hand , the list
of importing nations shows that the
United Kingdom stands first , Ger
many second , France third , the
United States fourth , Netherlands
fifth , and Belgium sixth iu the rela
tive demands upon the markets of the
world.
One especially marked characteristic -
tic of the commerce of the United
States , iu comparison with that ol
other countries is its large excess of
exports over imports Of the 80
countries whose average monthly im
ports and exports are shown by the
Bureau of Statistics , only 12 show an
excess of exports over imports.
These 12 countries are Argentiua ,
Brazil , Bulgaria , Canada , Chile ,
Egypt , British India , Mexico , Russia ,
Uruguay , and the United States.
The average monthly excess of ex
ports over imports in the case of
India amounts to about 9 million
dollars and Russia also about 9 mil
lions ; while that of the entire list oi
conutries which , show an excess of
exports over imports ( exclusive of
the United States ) amounts to but 8 {
millions per mouth , while from the
United States alone the excess of experts -
ports over imports is | 42,687,127 per
month.
MATERIALS IMPORTED.
Practically ono half of the im
portations of the United States are
now manufacturers' materials. O
the importations of March , whoso de
tails have just been announced by4h
Treasury Bureau ] of Statistics , 49.1
oer'cent consisted manufacturers'
materials , and amounted to $41,881 , -
55 out of a total importation of $84 , -
80,559 during the month. For the
line months of the fiscal year ending
vith March , manufacturers' mater-
als formed about 46 per cent of the
grand total , being $810,792,429 out of
a total of $678,698,016.
Importations of manufacturers' ma-
erials will in the fiscal year which
ends next mouth by far exceed those
of any preceding year iu the history
of our industries ; the highest figure
over reached in any preceding year
vas that of the fiscal year 1900 , when
ho grand total was , in round terms ,
390 millions. In the present year it
seems likely to attain the enormous
sum of 425 millions. In 1890 manu
facturers' materials formed but 84 per
cent , or practically one third of the
mportations ; in 1895 , they formed 87
per c < nit , aud iu March of this year ,
as already indicated , they formed
19.18 per cent , or practically one-half
of the grand total of importations.
Ton great articles form the bulk
' materials im
of the manufacturers'
ported. Those are fibers , hides and
sfiins , iudia rubber , raw silk , tin ,
unmanufactured wood , wool , copper ,
raw cotton ( chiefly Egyptian , ) and a
Large proportion of the articles
classed under the general head of
"chemicals. " The table which fol
lows shows the total importations , iu
value , of these ten great classes ,
forming the bulk of the manufactur
ers' materials imported. It willlbe
observed that in all cases except
India rubber and tin there is a
marked incrcafco iu the nine mouths
of the present fiscal year com
pared with the corresponding months
of last year. In the case of tin , iu
which a slight decrease in value is
shown , the figures of quantity exceed
those of the corresponding mouths of
the preceding year , while in India
rubber the slight reduction in total
value is also duo , in part , to a reduc
tion in price.
Importations of Manufacturers' Ma
terials.
Nine mouths ending March 81
1901 1902
Dollars Dollars
Total manufac-
turers' materials -
ials . . . . . .247,788,462 810,792,429
Principal articles :
Hides and skins. . . 88,165,417 44,187,774
Chemicals etc 89,281,786 43,889,560
Raw silk 19,581,819 88,188,528
Fibers 16,128,152 22,955,194
Copper 14,016,009 19,762,870
India rubber 20,083,924 18,855,769
Wood , unmf'd. . . .11,132,727 13,959,782
, Tiu in pigs , etc. . . .14,486,228 18,414,046
( Wool , raw 8,748,610 12,615,874
, Gotten , raw 5,168,487 9,145,388