'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1914-1915' [‎206r] (81/150)

TRADE. 55
640 thousand lbs. Imports from Calcutta however fell considerably and the figures are the
lowest on record. Imports of cotton manufactures fell by 5-2 crores to 11-31 crores and those
of twist and yarn by Rs. 16-15 Ifikhs to Rs. 1-33 erores, the fall being specially marked in
coloured piece-goods. Imports of raw silk have risen by Rs. 2-8 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to Rs. 99^ lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees
owing to larger arrivals from Japan. But shipments from China and Hong-Kong, which are
still the chief sources of supply, have declined. Imports oi silk manufactures by
Rs. 70 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to Rs. 1-56 crores. Imports of raw wool fell by i-66 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees and of woollen manu
factures by Rs. 84 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Imports of teak from Siam rose by Rs. 2-79 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Java also
supplied teak in larger quantities. Imports of deal andpmewood irom European countries
fell by Rs. 3-31 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .
3. Foreign merchandise re-exported from Bombay fell in value by Rs. it crores to Re-exports.
Rs 2-28 crores. Re-exports of cotton manufactures declined by Rs. 6o| lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Shipments
of refined sugar however advanced by Rs. 14^ lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees owing to the persistent demands of the
United Kingdom.
4. The value of Indian produce and manufactures exported fell by Rs. 19-27 crores to Exports proper.
Rs. 46-82 crores. All the main articles of export show substantial decreases, but the exports
of raw cotton, though falling in total value by Rs. 4! crores by reason of the decline in prices,
increased in quantity by 154,000 cwts., thus exceeding even last year’s record figure. Exports
of cotton seed declined by 69,000 tons. There was a large decrease in the exports of Indian
yarn amounting to 58 million lbs. in quantity and Rs. 3-17 crores in value. Cotton piece-
goods decreased by Rs. 31-78 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Exports of raw wool decreased by Rs. 10 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . The
decrease is due to restrictions placed by Government upon exports. Exports of seeds, which
rank second only to cotton in the export statistics, amounted to 9 million cwts., or 13-71 per
cent, of the total export trade and decreased by Rs. 6-13 crores in value. Shipments of
grain, pulse and flour fell by Rs. 2-6 crores in value. The principal item is wheat, exports
of which declined by 224,000 tons in quantity and Rs. 2-46 crores in value. The larger
demands from Africa and the Red Sea, however, led to an advance in the exports of jowdri
and bdjri by Rs. 24-35 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . Exports of metals and ores declined by Rs. 44-28 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . The
chief item is manganese ore which alone is responsible for a decrease of Rs. 41-16 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . In
pursuance of diplomatic engagements with China, exports of opium have entirely ceased.
Exports of leather, hemp, tea and dyeing substances showed slight increases.
5. The chief features in the movements of treasure have already been touched upon in Treasure,
paragraph 1 of this report. The net imports of gold were valued at Rs. 8 crores only as
against Rs. 2n4 crores in 1913-14. As in the previous years, the United Kingdom supplied
practically all the bar gold for purposes of private trade, and Egypt most of the sovereigns.
As regards silver, the increase in the imports of bar silver has more than made up the fall
noticed last year. The net imports of silver amounted to Rs. 8-28 crores or an increase of
nearly Rs. 2f crores. The total value of treasure imported and exported on Government
account fell from Rs. 3-8 crores to Rs. 1-67 crores. The imports, which consisted of Govern
ment of India rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , amounted to Rs. 2 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees only ; and the value of exports, consisting of
sovereigns'^xuS. Government of India rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. shipped with the expeditionary forces, amount
ed to Rs. 1-64 crores. .
6. The war has, of course, effected some striking changes in the shares of the two main Distribution of trade,
geographical divisions of trade, namely the British Empire and continental Europe. The
share of the former has risen from 45 per cent, to 49 per cent., while that of the latter has
fallen from 28 per cent, to 21 per cent. The share of foreign countries in Asia, which
absorb nearly one-fourth of the total trade, has risen by i| percent, only. Imports from the
/G’«g<7U//2, which amount to 62 per cent, of the total import trade, fell by Rs. 7-6
crores or 21 per cent, owing chiefly to the smaller arrivals of cotton piece-goods, railway
plant and rolling stocks,\\A metals. Exports also fell by Rs. 71 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees owing to smaller ship
ments of wheat and cotton seed. As regards British Possessions \ imports declined by
Rs. 95-73 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees owing mainly to shorter receipts of sugar from Mauritius and oi pearls from
Bahrein Islands. Exports also show a large decrease amounting to Rs. 3-19 crores for which
the cessation of exports of opium and smaller shipments of cotton twist and yarn to
Hong-Kong are responsible. Imports from continental Europe fell by Rs. 6-64 crores and
exports by Rs. 9-7 crores. This abnormal decrease is, of course, explained by the stoppage
of trade with enemy countries and the large falling off in that with neutrals. It is, however,
of some interest to note that shipments to Spain, Sweden and Switzerland expanded, while
Russia and Norway increased both their imports and exports. With regard to the trade
with Asia imports show a decrease of Rs. 1-37 crores, due chiefly to smaller arrivals of sugar
from Java. Exports declined by Rs. 6 crores owing to contracted shipments of cotton yarn
to China and to reduced prices of raw cotton, though the latter commodity was exported in
large quantities to Japan. Among foreign countries in Asia, Japan occupies the predomi
nant position, her share being 4 per cent, in the imports and 26 per cent, in the exports.
Japan’s percentage of the whole trade has risen from 10-78 in 1912-13 and 13-98 in 1913-14
to 15-8 per cent, in the year under review. The trade with Africa is comparatively small.
Imports show a small increase while exports have fallen by Rs. 43 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . America's share
in the total trade has risen from 2 per cent, to 2\ per cent, owing to an expansion in
imports, but exports have dropped by Rs. 27^ lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .
7. Imports on Government account advanced from Rs. 79-67 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees to Rs. 93-15 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees Government
owing to larger receipts of hardware, machinery and telegraph materials. Imports of transactions,
Chapter IV.
PRODUCTION
AND
DISTRIBUTION.