The character of exports changed somewhat during the war period. Since 1910 exports have been distributed as follows:

Proportion of total exports of bags of vegetable fiber destined for specified countries,

During the period 1914-1919 there was a marked increase in the number of burlap bags and a decided falling off in the quantity of cotton bags shipped from the United States. Reports from the leading domestic manufacturers of bags, and from 24 firms that make the collecting and selling of secondhand bags either the main or an important part of their business, and from 4 exporting houses, show that their combined export shipments of jute bags in the calendar year 1914 amounted to 500 new and to 1,334,775 secondhand bags; and in 1919, 2,945,300 new and 4,607,811 secondhand bags. The general term "jute" is used rather than "burlap" in connection with exports of bags, because there are no data at hand showing whether any of these bags were manufactured from sacking and exported with the benefit of drawback, or were secondhand bags of like material, originally sent into this country as containers for foreign products. The total for cotton bags in the same years was 642,000 new and no secondhand bags in 1914, and 284,400 new and 22,000 secondhand bags in 1919. These figures do not represent the total quantities of bags exported in these years, as they do not include shipments of new bags made by several manufacturers who considered them negligible and so did not record them.

Previous to 1914 the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Argentina received from one-half to two-thirds of the total value of all bags exported from the United States. Germany and Belgium, after the United Kingdom, were the best markets in Europe. Export trade to Argentina is subject to marked fluctuations. Shipments previous to 1914 consisted, for the most part, of cotton flour bags, a line in which the United States dominated the Argentine market. In Argentina American cotton bags had to compete with those imported · from the United Kingdom; practically all of Argentina's imports of cotton bags were supplied by the United Kingdom and the United States. Before the war the United Kingdom found its best market for burlap bags in Argentina.

After 1915, Canada, Cuba, and Mexico became the principal markets for American bags of vegetable fiber; during the 5-year period 19151919 (fiscal years) they took 40 per cent of all bags exported, while in 1920 and 1921 (calendar years) they took 34 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively. The bulk of shipments to Cuba consists of secondhand Cuban sugar bags which are reexported after having been used as containers for raw sugar sent to this country.

The American exporter may find increased difficulty in marketing burlap bags in South America, because of the increased competition from the United Kingdom and India, and possibly because of the fact that South American countries may follow the example of Brazil, which has encouraged the importation of raw jute by the establishment of a prohibitive tariff on jute cloth and jute bags, and has consequently become practically self-sufficient in the matter of burlap containers for her principal products. The latest reports are that the Brazilian Government is considering the promotion of jute growing in Bahia and Sao Paulo, where the climate is said to be similar to that of India.

There is every likelihood that cotton bags, upon a decline in high prices, will again form the bulk of bag exports from this country. In spite of the tariff on jute bags by a number of South American countries (in a number of cases prohibitive), in the main the quantity of cotton bags is not affected to any extent by customs duties.

DRAWBACKS.

The American manufacturers of burlap bags have taken advantage of the drawback law which provides for a refund of 99 per cent of the duty on all imported burlap when manufactured into bags and exported.

The following table shows the extent to which the trade is affected by the drawback:

1 Number of bags exported with benefit of drawback not recorded before 1903.

The quantity and value of burlap contained in bags so exported are not available before 1911, nor since

1920.

Calendar year.

23353-23-J-9——3

In addition to the export of bags of domestic manufacture there has been some reexport of bags of foreign origin, and this trade has made a substantial increase since 1914.

FOREIGN PRODUCTION.

INDIA.

India is by far the largest manufacturer of jute products in the world. The causes contributing to this are a monopoly of the raw material and an abundance of cheap labor.

India is also the world's leading exporter of jute goods. Her exports represent about 60 per cent of her production. This production constitutes about 521 per cent of the world's output of jute goods. The total value of manufactured jute shipped abroad in 1918 amounted to $170,823,883, constituting in that year 22 per cent of her combined exports of all commodities as against 9 per cent for the five-year period preceding the war. Her consumption of raw jute, in bales of 400 pounds each, advanced from 460,000 in 1874, or from less than one-fifth of all the raw jute grown, to approximately 5,000,000 in 1914, or to about one-half of the world's production. In the same time the consumption at Dundee, the chief manufacturing jute center after Calcutta, increased from 1,200,000 bales to 1,295,000 bales, declining from approximately two-fifths of the world's crop to one-eighth; while the Continent of Europe increased its consumption from 300,000 bales in 1874 to 2,610,000 bales in 1914, or from less than one-eighth of the world's production to more than one-fourth.

The Indian jute mills are usually of an up-to-date type. Many are driven by electricity generated from coal. Since the war the jute industry in India has become more and more independent of Great Britain in the matter of machinery.

In point of quantity India's average yearly exports of jute bags during the years 1907-1914 were equal to about 80 per cent of the American production. During the same period she shipped 15.25 per cent of her total exports of gunny bags to Australia, 13.71 per cent to the United States, 10.22 per cent to Chile, and 3.78 per cent to Egypt.

Exports during the first year of the war were about 397,000,000 bags. In the year 1915-16, largely because of the tremendous demand of the United Kingdom for burlap bags for military purposes, shipments of bags were over 794,000,000. This increase was maintained during the following two years. With the cessation of war Indian exports fell to the level established in the years preceding 1914. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 1919, foreign shipments totaled 583,095,999 bags. For 1920 they showed a further decline to 342,729,000. In 1921 shipments amounted to 533,908,109 bags. Normally the bulk of India's exports consists of bags made from sacking.

The United States is India's best customer for burlap cloth and burlap bags. Exports of burlap cloth to the United States amount to about two-thirds of all the burlap cloth shipped yearly. In contrast, shipments to the United States of burlap bags amounted in 1920 to 33,168,000, or 38 per cent of all the hessian bags exported in that year; and to 64,300,400 or 47 per cent in 1921. Australia and the United Kingdom were the next best markets.

DUNDEE.

The city of Dundee, which, up to 1855, was the only center for jute goods produced by machinery, is to-day second to Calcutta as a manufacturer of jute products. Dundee really represents the jute industry of the United Kingdom, for the output of the few jute mills at Aberdeen and other points forms but an insignificant part of the total. It is estimated that Dundee exports 40 per cent of her output of jute goods, which is equivalent to about one-eighth of the world's production. The Dundee mills do not compare in size with those in India. As they are older they are usually inferior in construction and are not equipped with up-to-date machinery.

In point of number of looms and operatives, the jute industry of Dundee has remained practically stationary for the last 30 years. In December, 1919, Dundee was employing about 35,000 operatives, as against an average of 264,373 workers in India for the fiscal year 1920. Owing to the greater efficiency of the Dundee operatives these totals do not indicate the relative productivity of the two countries. Largely because of the rise of the Calcutta jute industry, Dundee has made very little progress since 1881 in the production of jute goods of the coarser varieties.

During the years 1900-1916 the United Kingdom's export trade in bags increased between 9,600,000 and 10,800,000 every five years. For the five years 1905-1909 the average yearly quantity was 39,637,128 bags, valued at $3,731,885, which represents an increase of 35.63 per cent in quantity and 44.16 per cent in value over the shipments for the preceding five years. The years 1910-1914 recorded a further expansion to an average yearly quantity of 50,619,396 bags, valued at $5,096,535. The first two years of the World War, with exports of 50,899,000 and 51,376,000 bags, respectively, showed a further advance in the number of bags exported. For the year 1917, however, the number declined to 37,670,000, and for 1918 it fell to the low figure of 10,731,000. This decline in exports was largely due to the effects of the war. During the year 1918 exports from Dundee, consisting mainly of flax and jute products, were completely under Government control and were generally curtailed, so far as the civilian trade was concerned.

Following the close of the war the United Kingdom's exports of bags have been as follows: 47,204,000 in 1919 and 37,378,092 in 1920. In contrast to India, Dundee's foreign markets for bags are limited to those where she is favored by freight rates and where the demand is for small quantities of a bag of special type.

The United States, exclusive of Porto Rico, was the third best market of the United Kingdom during the years 1900-1914.

Average yearly exports of bags from the United Kingdom to the United States, by 5-year periods, 1900–1920. ·

Dundee has found it more and more difficult to compete in the cheaper grades of jute products, such as cloths and bags, manufactured in India and, to a lesser degree, on the Continent. Consequently, there has been a decided tendency in late years for Dundee to specialize in the higher grades of jute products, such as floor cloths, backings for lineoleums, and fine yarn. Thus the force of India's competition is being felt less and less in Dundee. Another factor tending to lessen competition is that the Calcutta mills are largely managed by Scotchmen and controlled by Scottish interests.

OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES.

As bags are easily made, there is a tendency for all countries to become independent of foreign sources for their requirements. The European markets for jute bags were formerly supplied almost entirely by Dundee. Within the last 40 years, however, such markets, through the erection of tariff walls, have been closed more and more to the foreign merchant. Thus, while the industry as a whole in the United Kingdom has made but little if any progress since 1880, the jute industries of Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Brazil, and other countries have been making considerable headway.

The development of Japan's export trade during the war brought about an increase in her consumption and exportation of jute and cotton bags. Her exports of gunny bags were 864,000 in 1917; 4,066,000 in 1918; 10,967,000 in 1919; and 4,402,000 in 1920. Of the gunny bags exported, slightly more than 10 per cent in 1918, and less than 1 per cent in 1919 and 1920 were destined for the United States. Her exports of cotton bags were 11,151,000 in 1917; 13,754,000 in 1918; 8,044,000 in 1919; and 7,452,000 in 1920. Over 90 per cent in each year were exported to China. During the fiscal year 1917 the United States imported 1,052,332 pounds of burlap bags from Japan, while in the calendar year 1920 imports were 329,948 pounds.

Brazil has made such progress in the manufacture of jute products that she has become independent of foreign sources for the great number of bags necessary to move her crops. This is partly due to the high duty that Brazil levies on bags-so high that even the British, who are able to compete with other textiles of domestic manufacture, do not find it profitable to ship bags to Brazil.

The chief use of bags in Argentina is for sacking grain. It is estimated that over 100,000,000 are used annually for this purpose. Although the greater number of the bags consumed in Argentina are of domestic make, imports of jute and cotton bags are large and form a considerable percentage of the bags exported from the United Kingdom and the United States. In the first six months of 1919 there were imported into Argentina 36,800 metric tons of sacking for use in the manufacture of bags.

IMPORTS.

According to the reports of the Government of India, shipments of gunny bags from that country to Pacific ports of the United States (not including Hawaii) amounted to 44,883,200 for the fiscal year ended