'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1907-1908' [‎42v] (83/137)

[1907.
Chap. IV.
PRODUCTION
ATMD
DISTRIBUTION.
General.
44
BOMBAY ADMINISTRATION REPORT.
Number of boilers
and inspections.
6 Electricity was introduced as a motive power in 3 factories m Bombay. The Factory An East India Company trading post.
Labour Commission be 3 an work in Bombay on November 1st, 1907, and remained m the
Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. till the end of the year.
The Steam Boiler Inspection Act.
1 Including Sind and Aden the number of boilers on the register was 3,073, an increase
of 182 The number offered for inspection was 1,950, an increase of 36. One thousand niu e
hundred and eighty-ei^ht regular inspections and 899 casual visits were made by inspectors. The
percentage of boilers not offered for inspection was 36 6 against o3‘8 last year.
. . p There were lour meetings of the Bombay Boiler Commission to consider references
from the Collector o£ Bombay on various points. I here was no meeting or the Smd
Commission.
3 . Ten irregularities were detected. In one case a prosecution was instituted and the
owner* fined Rs.'l 5 . In the other case the owners were warned. The certificates of three
engineers were suspended as the result of inquiries under Section 24 of the Act.
4. Receipts amounted to Rs. 73,157, and expenditure to Rs. 58,911 compared with
Rs. 69,196 and Rs. 57,308, respectively, last year. The rise in income is due to an increase i u
the amount of inspection fees and in the number of candidates for the Engineer's Examination.
Increase in establishment accounts for the higher expenditure. Proposals for the reorganisation
of the inspecting staff have been submitted to Government.
Offences.
Finance.
7- Trade-
For details see the Annual Trade Report of the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , Sind and Aden for 1907-1908, and
tables under Foreign Trade and Shipping, printed in Part II of the Statistics of British India.
(1) PRESIDENCY The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. PROPER.
Sea-borne Trade,
General. 1. In spite of a drop of 5*24 crores in Government transactions, the aggregate sea-borne
trade of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. proper amounted to Rs. 1,67,53,10,197, an increase of 17'13 crores or
11*39 per cent. From a commercial point of view 1907-1908 was a record year.
A.—Chief Port—Bombay.
General. 1. The trade of the Port of Bombay (exclusive of Government transactions) amounted fo
151*51 crores, an increase of 1*88 crores or over 16 per cent. Inclusive of Government
transactions the value was 161-22 crores, an increase of 11*6 per cent. Imports of merchandise
expanded by 17*7 per cent, to z '4*80 crores, the improvement being most marked under Articles
Manufactured and Partly Manufactured and Metals and Manufactures thereof show
increases of 3 and 2*75 crores respectively. Exports of Indian merchandise rose by 7*3 per cent, to
45*89 crores, the most notable increases being under Raw Materials and Unmanufactured Articles,
especially Cotton and Seeds. The movements in recorded values do not, however, necessarily
represent corresponding variations m the volume of trade, owing to the great alteration in prices
during the last 30 years. Under imports, all items except Aniline Ryes and Cotton Grey Piece-
goods show an advance in price over last year. Under exports, the prices of Wheat, Opium,
Castor Seeds, Cotton Twist and Yarn and Cotton White Piece-goods have declined, while on the
other hand the important items of Cot on and Seeds (other than Caster) have advanced in price.
If the average prices bad been the same in 1907-1908 as in 1906-1907 the value of the import
trade would have been 43*16 crores instead of 44*80 crores, and of exports of Indian merchandise
44*86 instead of 45-89 cron s That is, the actual increase in volume is 13*43 per cent, in the
case of imports and 5 per cent in the case of exports, not 17’7 per cent, and 7*3 per cent, as
shown above.
(i) Foreign Trade.
Imports. 1. The most important items under imports are Cotton Manufactures (26*34 per cent.),
Metals ( 8*46 per cent), Sugar (6^7 per cent.), Machinery (6*57 per cent.), Railway PU^
(b'bh |ercent.) and Silk Manufactures (3*19 percent.). There is a drop of 85 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees under
living Animals, horses imp reo being 790 less than last year. This was largely due to the
disturbed stut of Persia. ArticJ s of Food and Drink total 5*62 erores, the largest figure in
th^ decade The imports of buoar are less by 4 per cent, in quantity, though the value is
nearly the same as last year. he outstanding feature of the trade is the increase in Cane and
dec lease in Bed Sugar 1m m-ts of foreign Yen: have advanced by 5*84 Ukhs. Metals and
Manufactures of hi eta s show an increase of 2f crores. The United Kingdom claims 55 , 58'3,
93*8 and 94 per cent respective! under the sub-heads Hardware, Metals, Machinery and
hallway Plant. . There is a break in the contraction of imports under Oils, which advanced
20 per cent. Since the Mus t-Japanese War the main source of supply for Kerosins &