IMPORTATION, the act of bringing goods into a country from foreign parts. It has generally been considered, that for any country to carry on a profitable trade, it is necessary that the value of the goods sent out of it should be greater than that of the articles imported: this, however, is a very erroneous axiom, unless it is un derstood with great limitations. All arti cles of merchandize, imported merely for re-exportation, and also such as are used or worked up in British manufac tures, are far from being hurtful to their commerce, and may even, in many re spects, be deemed of equal profit with their own native commodities. It is there fore an excess of such importations alone, as are either for mere luxury, or mere ne cessity, or for both together, which is disadvantageous to the country, and not such importations as, like many of theirs, consist of raw silk, Spanish wool, cotton, wool and yarn, mohair, flax and hemp, oils, potash, dyeing stuffs, naval stores, &c. either used in their ship-building, or worked up in their manufactures, a prin cipal part of which .are for exportation: neither can their importations of East In dia goods and colonial produce, which are chiefly designed to be afterwards ex ported, be deemed unprofitable, but are, on the contrary, some of the most lucra tive branches of their foreign trade. The following statement of the total value of the imports of England, in the year 1354, furnishes a good comparison with their present magnitude.
At this period, and for a long time af ter, foreigners were the principal import ers of goods in that country ; and as it was thought that many of them, after dis posing of their merchandize there, re turned with the value in money to their own country, which was deemed a se rious injury, many laws were made against carrying mat of the realm any gold or silver, either in coin, plate, or but.
lion ; and merchant strangers were com pelled to give security, that they would lay out all the money they received for the wares they imported in English mer chandize, to be exported. These injudi cious restrictions have been long since done away, and, excepting the prohibi tion of some foreign manufactures, the import trade of that country is probably as free as the regulations necessary to se cure the payment of heavy duties on al most every article of trade will admit. Total official value of the imports of Great Britain in the year 1800.
L. a. d.
Port of London . 18,843,172 2 10 The Out Ports 9,514,642 11 20 England 28,357,814 14 8 Scotland . . . • 2,212,790 11 8 30,570,605 6 4 In 1801 L 32,795,556 1802 31,441,318 1803 27,992,464 1804 . 92,201,490 1805 30,344,628 1806 28,835,907 1807 29,556,330 These sums are the official value of goods imported, which is very different from the real value ; as an instance, which may serve for every case, the official va lue of the imports for 1807, 29,556,3301. ; but the real value, according to the ave rage of the last three years, is 53,500,9901.