TRA DE. The port of New York includes all the numicipalities on New York Harbor and the Hudson liver. In 191)1 64 per cent. of the total imports and 35.60 per cent. of the total exports, or 45.73 per cent. of the total foreign trade of the United States, passed through New York. its commerce being five times that of the next largest American port. The imports for that year were valued at $527,259.906 and the exports at $529,592.978. While the trade is rapidly increasing. there has been in recent years a relative decrease, the port in 1882 having had nearly 57 per cent. of the total trade of the country. New Yo•k has practically a monopoly in the trade between the European countries and the Great Lake and Northwest region. On the other hand, its location places it at a disadvan tage with the more southern Atlantic Coast ports in the trade with the Lower Mississippi and the Ohio Valley regions. Some of the leading im ports of the country, such as rubber and elastic goods, silk goods and furs, are received almost wholly through New York. It also imports the hulk of manufactured goods generally, including manufactures of cotton. linen, and jute goods, jewelry and precious stones, chemicals. coffee, cocoa, and tobacco. It leads in imports of sugar. The relative rank of the city is much lower in respect to the principal exports of the country. It exports less than one-half of the animal prod ucts, less than one-fourth of the breadstults, corn, llour. etc., the shipments of the latter (lass having decreased in recent. years. and only about one-tenth of the cotton. It exports a large part of the copper and most of the machinery. In 1901 S78 sail and 2945 steam vessels engaged in the foreign trade cleared the port of New York. Their aggregate tonnage was 8.118,427. The volume of the coastwise trade greatly transcends that of the foreign trade. The transfer of freight at the port of New York is done almost wholly through the use of barges, lighters. etc., as there are no railrinol tracks the docks.
5I. N1 The value of the tured products of New York is eonsiderably more than 30 per cent. greater than that of any other American city. Manhattan and Bronx alone
rank first, Brooklyn alone ranks fourth. Of fif teen industries selected by the census of 1900 for comparison between the great manufacturing centres, NeW York City held first rank in eight. The total capital invested in manufactures in that year was and the value of productS aggregated $1.371.358.000. The indus trial prominenee of the city is not due to large iron and steel. textile or meatpacking interests—the industries which have been re sponsible for the growth of many American cities —but rather to a large group of manufactures peculiar to city life and mainly of local interest. The city's most important industry is the manu facture of clothing. In the census year 1900 the value of women's clothing (factory product) was $102,711,604, and of mcn's clothing. $103.220, 201, besides a great amount of custom work and repairing, and dressmaking. The aggregate out put of all industries in but two other cities ex ceeded the value of the clothing product of New York. The abundance of cheap, unskilled labor, in consequence of the large immigrant popula tion, partially explains the growth of this in dustry. Much of the work is done in tenement houses and small workshops, and comparatively little in large factories. Sugar and molasses re fining ranks second in value of the product, which in 1900 was $88.398.113. In the printing and publishing business, the value of which in 1900 was $78,736,069, New York ranks far above other American cities. Among other industries are the manufacture of foundry and machine-shot) products, malt liquors, tobacco. cigars and ciga rettes; the roasting and grinding of coffee and spices; the manufacture of millinery and lace goods, men's furnishing goods, fin• goods, shirts, furniture, musical instruments, paints, and elec trical apparatus and supplies. New York has hardly a rival in the variety of its highly finished manufactured articles. The sugar and molasses refining industry is confined mainly to Brooklyn. There are also in Brooklyn extensive foundries and machine shops, and establishments for the roasting and grinding of coffee and spices.