197. Lozenges, of common mallow, gum, mint, vichy, and other classes, per pound... 198. Same, of lavender 199. Sulphate of copper. 200. Stone, ponce.... 201. Fish of Burgundy 202. Nitrate of silver 203. Sugar of lead 204. Iodide of lead 205. Mercurial ointment 206. Potassium of cianuro 207. Potassium, iodide of 208. Potash, bicarbonato.. 209. Same, bicromato .. 210. Same, bitartrato. 211. Same, carbonate (salt of Tartary) 212. Potash, chloride 213. Same, sulphate 90 15 40 70 20 ..do... 15 ..do... 30 4. Logwood, lignum-vitæ, mulberry, brazeletto, and analogous kinds, ..per M.. 2.00 ..per cwt.. - per barrel.. 1.00 50 - per pound.. 25 per cwt.. 1.50 1.00 5.00 1.00 50 067 25 2.00 each.. per dozen.. 15. Extract of wood coloring, pay for each ton of wood used in proportion. 16. Honey 17. Molasses. 18. Rosin of lignum-vitæ and other analogous kinds. - per gallon.. 19. Tobacco, in leaves 20. Coffee 21. Cocoa per cwt.. ...do.... ....do.... ..do.... - of article 12 of NOTE.—The articles not specified will pay as provided in section the law. They are the same as adopted by the commerce of the place. Capital of San Domingo, the 20th day of February, 1875. H. C. C. ASTWOOD, Consul. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, San Domingo. CONTINENT OF ASIA. ASIA MINOR. Report by Consul Stevens on the trade and navigation of Smyrna for the year 1882. An earlier compliance with instructions contained in paragraph 555; Consular Regulations, could not be made, owing to the difficulties encountered in the efforts to procure definite and accurate information respecting the trade and navigation of this consular district. As I have had occasion heretofore to remark, no official trade, commercial, or industrial statistics are made public-and none that are trustworthy are believed to exist in any form-and there are no boards of trade or other mercantile organizations to collect such statistics and present them in an intelligible form. Hence, I have been compelled to gather the statistics contained in the accompanying tables mainly from private sources. For several years past, consuls, merchants, trade societies, &c., have been largely indebted to the annual statements of Mr. G. M. Romano, a painstaking and able local statistician, in making up their reports, but his death in December, 1881, has suspended these statements, and a competent successor has not yet appeared. CROPS. The season of 1882 was a remarkably dry one, and affected somewhat the fruit and grain crops. The best conditions for fruit and cereals in Asia Minor are copious rains during the winter and early spring, with dry weather in May, June, July, and August. The raisin and fig crops are especially dependent, both as to quality and amount, upon these conditions. A dry April is best for cereals, most kinds being harvested early in June. The table of exports herewith submitted shows a falling off in the quantity of agricultural productions shipped to the United States, and a lower average of prices. The prospect for an abundant yield the present year is very good. It is anticipated that the cereal crop will be larger by one-half than that of 1882, and the fig and valonia crops fully one-third larger. The opium, cotton, gum tragacanth, and olive crops will also show a considerable increase. The raisin crop, owing to the unusual rainfall in May, will not much exceed, it is thought, the short crop of last year. Altogether the outlook is very good for a larger yield of these products during the present year than ever before. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. The accompanying tables, Nos. 1 and 2, show a decrease in the value of the imports at Smyrna for the year 1882, compared with those of the previous year, of $6,113,247, and a decrease in the value of its exports of $1,709,542. The considerable difference between the decrease in imports and exports is perhaps the indication of a tendency to restrict operations within legitimate channels, and yet it is largely owing, doubtless, first, to the decreased production following a season of drought (although the fact of an appreciable diminution is disputed in some quarters), and, second, to the unwillingness, natural under the circumstances, of foreign bankers and merchants to continue credits. It may be remarked here that since 1875, when the present unsettled state of Turkish politics began, the credits granted to merchants in the Levant by commercial houses and bankers in Europe have been lessening yearly. At present the number of persons carrying on business with funds advanced upon prospective crops is much less than formerly, and the tendency is to base transactions upon sound business principles. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS BETWEEN SMYRNA AND THE UNITED STATES. Statement No. 4 shows a decrease in the value of the exports to the United States during the year 1882 over the previous year of $943,211, the aggregate of 1881 being $2,871,013, against $1,927,802 for 1882. The imports from the United States for the year 1882 are also less by $191,854 than they were the previous year, the imports for 1881 being $606,528, against $414,674 for 1882. These figures represent direct shipments only. But no inconsiderable quantity of American provisions, such as cheese, butter, canned goods, &c., find their way here through English and French houses. This is also probably true to some extent of American manufactured cotton goods, machinery, &c. The falling off in exports to the United States may be explained in this way: a short fruit crop, poor quality, and low prices in the American markets. It is found not to be profitable to ship second quality raisins or figs to the United States, and even first quality, if damaged by shipment or other cause, is not always disposed of at satisfactory rates. Inasmuch as importa tions in Asia Minor are largely contingent upon the profits derived from exportations, it will readily be understood that any diminution of the latter will affect the former unfavorably. A TEN YEARS' RECORD. Table No. 5, herewith submitted, showing the quantity and value of the declared exports from this consular district to the United States for the ten years ending December 31, 1882, has been prepared with great care and labor from the invoices on file in this office covering the same period, and will, it is believed, prove of no inconsiderable value to American merchants having business connections with Smyrna, and to all others interested in Asiatic productions, for which there is a ready market in the United States. It will be seen that these productions fluctuate more or less from year to year, both in quantity and price. As an illustration, I append the following table, giving the minimum and maximum of the quantities and average prices of the principal articles exported to the United States: To what extent these variations are the result of demand and supply, and how far in turn these are affected by the quantity and quality, by indirect shipments, by the vicious practices of some shippers, and by competition elsewhere, I cannot presume to say. But, at the risk of repetition, I may affirm my profound conviction that without direct communication in American bottoms, and without American agents at every point of commercial importance, we cannot reap a tithe of the advantages which will be ours when these conditions have been complied with. If, therefore, a careful study of this table shall prove serviceable to our enterprising home merchants and capitalists, if it gives them a hint by which they may improve the already very great possibilities of extending our trade with this fertile country-possibilities to be largely increased in the not distant future-the labor expended in its preparation will not have been wasted. It should be stated here that nearly all the licorice paste shipped to the United States is transferred in bond to Canada, where it is used in the manufacture of tobacco. COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. Statement No. 3 shows the navigation at the port of Smyrna for the year ending December 31, 1882. The flags of thirteen nations shared in it, but the American ensign is not among them. Formerly American clipper ships crowded this port. Now all shipments to the United States, not made by steamer via England, are placed in Italian or Austrian bottoms. The low wages paid Italian and Austrian seamen, and the rigid economy practiced by the owners and captains, have gradually driven American ships out of the trade. That this change has put a check upon the development and extension of American trade in the Levant is too evident to need demonstration. And, as I have already remarked, before American products and manufactures can find a market commensurate with the possibilities, direct communication must be established. A line of fast-sailing American steamers plying between Smyrna and New York, Boston, Baltimore, or Philadelphia, touching at intermediate Mediterranean ports, would largely extend the market for our goods and manufactures, especially labor-saving machinery, inventions, &c., and prove also a fair investment. The people of Asia Minor are awakening from "the spell of years "; they are beginning to comprehend that they live in a country of almost limitless resources, agricultural and mineral; that all they need in order to avail themselves of these advantages is a stable government and closer relations, commercially, with western nations; and their attention is already turned toward our own country as one with which they can safely and profitably ally themselves. BRIGANDAGE. At present a serious obstacle to the development of trade and commerce beyond the limits of large towns on the seaboard is the insecurity of property and life resulting from brigaudage. But the Government is putting forth efforts for the suppression of this evil, and if really in earnest it must soon disappear. A state of affairs so anomalous can not be permitted to continue. FAILURES. Several failures (ten to twelve) have taken place during the year, caused by heavy losses sustained in foreign markets by fruit exporters. 14708 C R, PT 2—34 |