British energy and enterprise had now given the country a firm hold in a wide field; but as the chances against its maintaining its own with free competition increased, it was realized that the old trade restrictions of the navigation laws hampered rather than stimulated traffic. Ac cordingly, commercial treaties tending toward free trade were concluded with various powers, and finally (1846) an out-and-out free-trade pol icy was adopted. (For a discussion of present tariff duties, see FINANCE below.) The protective laws of other countries now militate in a degree against England's commercial interests, and even the colonies, after being granted home rule, have passed protective tariffs which have not been to the best commercial advantage of the mother country, although in the case of Canada Great Britain has been favored to some extent by prefer ential tariffs. Nevertheless, in the commerce with its colonies and dependencies, Great Britain always has had, and still has, the lion's share. Some idea of its value to the mother country is indicated by the fact that British exports to them are now worth annually about twice the total of British exports for 1840. In 1897, 34.8 per cent. of the total imports of the colonies came from Great Britain, while for the rest of the world the British imports amounted to only 13.04 per cent. British imports from British possessions for the years 1855-59 averaged 23.5 per cent. of the total, while the average for the years 1895-98 was 22 per cent. The British ex ports to British possessions averaged for the same periods 3L5 and 29.3 per cent. respectively. From 1870 to 1900 the value of colonial imports from the United Kingdom increased from $269, 561,917 to $496,500,059, and the imports to the United Kingdom from the colonies increased from $315,506,938 to $533,030,835. During the period 1892-96 the average annual per cent. of the total exports from the possessions into the United Kingdom was 49. For the self-governing colonies the per cent. was 70.3. The proportion of the imports from the colonies to the total imports was almost the same in 1870 as in 1900, while the proportion of the colonial imports from the Unit ed Kingdom to the total imports was much great er in the latter year than in the former. The development of British -commerce for the last four decades of the nineteenth century is indicat ed in the following table: From this it will be seen that the imports are increasing faster than the exports. Great Brit ain's imports are about twice those of any other country, and the United States alone is a close rival in value of exports. The per capita exports of the United Kingdom are about twice those of France, Germany, or the United States; but it must be remembered that the two last countries are growing in population more rapid ly, and the absolute values of their exports are gaining on those of Great Britain. From a Gov ernment investigation it was found that, during the period 1884 to 1895, though the value of the products of the United Kingdom imported into other countries increased enormously, yet their relative importance diminished in every instance, as will be seen from the following table: decades of the nineteenth century. At first cotton was obtained from Brazil and the West Indies, but during the last century the bulk of it has been supplied by the United States, although Egypt now shares largely in the supply. The importation of cotton from India, which became prominent during the Civil War in the United States, is now of quite minor importance. (See
INDIA. j At the beginning of the nineteenth cen tury the exports of metal products were still small, but they rapidly increased, the iron and steel exports attaining the highest figures (£37, 731,000) in 1873. During the last decade of the nineteenth century the average annual export was near £25,000,000. As the British iron-mines be come more difficult to work, and superior ores are found in other countries, the imports of iron ore The following table shows the relative impor tance and the tendencies in the trade of the Unit ed Kingdom and the United States with other countries. The point of greatest significance re vealed is the relative gain to the United States and the loss to the United Kingdom in the trade with European countries: may be expected to increase. These imports in 1900 were valued at £5,639,000. Other metals, copper, tin, and lead, are almost equal to iron in value as imports, but of much less value as exports. No other article of export has increased in value so rapidly in recent years as coal. The value of the exported product doubled during the Prior to the reign of Elizabeth, wool constitut• ed the bulk of English exports, while manufac tures of wool and other manufactured products constituted most of the imports. But the great increase in the manufacture of wool at home soon made England a shipper of the _manufactured product, and this instead of the raw wool became the leading export. With the great development in sheep-raising in the British colonies, wool came to be extensively imported, and the manufactures and exports greatly increased. The exports of woolen and worsted manufactures, however, reached their maximum (£21,300,000) in 1889, and have since declined materially (fl5,682,000 in 1900). Cotton manufactures did not figure among exported products prior to the industrial revolutions But in 1802 they exceeded the exports of woolen goods, and rapidly increased until they were three times the value of the latter, and made up the largest single item of exportation. Raw cotton likewise became the greatest item of importation. The value of exports of cotton goods has remained about stationary for the last decade of 1891-1900, being £38,619,000 in the latter year, and ranking next to cotton manu factures in importance.
Prominent among the causes of the prepon derating increase of British imports over ,ex ports are the increasing demands of a growing population for food products, and the failure of the domestic production to meet the demand. The imports of grain increased in value from 134,169,000 in 1870 to £58,942,000 in 1900, and the relative increase in meats and animal prod ucts was decidedly greater. Of the grain articles, wheat and flour constituted over half the total, over two-thirds of which was from the United States. Corn is next in importance, a similar proportion having been supplied by the United States, Sugar originally came almost wholly from England's West India possessions. but the bounty-produced beet-sugar of the Continent has recently taken its place. Tea has long been the principal import from the British East India possessions, and lumber from Canada. Until the Boer War gold bullion had for a few years been the leading export from the English South African possessions, and it is also extensively im ported from Australia.