By Hon. O. P. Austin, Chief of the United States Bureau of Statistics.

The commerce of the United States in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, has been the largest in the history of the country. This is true both of internal and foreign commerce. In the case of foreign commerce it is easily shown from the official figures of the imports and exports of the year. In the case of internal commerce, conclusions can be drawn from certain great facts of production, transportation, and importation for manufacturing purposes.

The total foreign commerce of the year amounted to practically 2 1-2 billions of dollars, and the internal commerce to fully twenty billions of dollars.

As already indicated, the measurement of the internal commerce of the country is not easy, but there are certain great factors of production, transportation, and the activity of the manufacturing industry, which make possible a fair statement of the internal commerce.

The Census states the value of the great products of the country, such as manufactures, agricultural products, the products of the forests, the fisheries, etc.; and by taking these great factors as a basis and calculating for but a single transaction in each of them, we get a grand total of 20 billions of dollars value, a sum practically equal to the international commerce of the world.

The last census showed the gross value of manufactures in 1900 to be 13 billions of dollars; the value of the agricultural products, nearly 4 billions; products of the mines, a billion dollars; and adding to these the products of the forests, fisheries and miscellaneous, and the cost of transportation to the consumer, it becomes apparent that a single transaction in each article would bring the total up to 20 billions of dollars. And all of the records of production and transportation for 1903 show that its activities were even greater than those of the census year. Every factory was busy; the railroads, even though equipped with additional carrying facilities, were working up to the limit of their capacity, and the reports of the Bureau of Statistics from the great lake-carrying trade showed a larger business than in any preceding year.

This record of the freight movement on the Great Lakes is an important index to the activities of the country, both in production and manufacturing. The section of the country fronting on Lake Superior is a great producer of wheat and of iron ore and copper. So the record of movements of freight through the canals connecting Superior with the lower lakes is an important indication of the demand of the great manufacturing section for iron and copper, and of the supply which that great region has of agricultural products for distribution to the world. The records of the Bureau of Statistics for the month of June and the portion of the navigation year ending with June shows a greater movement of freight through these canals than in any preceding year.

That the iron furnaces and works of the country were working up to their highest capacity is shown by the fact that despite the high prices which prevailed, the consumers of the country were compelled to turn to foreign countries to obtain a part of the iron and steel which they required; the imports of iron and steel being greater in 1903 than in many years.

The pig iron produced in the United States in the calendar year 1902 amounted to 17,821,307 gross tons. This makes the pig-iron production of the United States in 1902 larger than that of any two other countries of the world. The pig-iron production of 1902 is double that of 1896. and more than three times that of 1886.

Yet, despite this unparalleled production, the importations of iron and steel were greater in value in the fiscal year 1903 than in any year since 1891, and with that single exception, greater than in any year since 1883. The above facts regarding the production and importation of iron and steel are stated somewhat in detail because of the general belief that, in the United States at least, the consumption of iron and steel is a reliable index of the business activity of the country. If this be true, it may be safely asserted that the business of the year 1903 has exceeded in value that of any of its predecessors.

Labor

Another indication of the general activity was the difficulty reported everywhere in obtaining labor. This was especially noticeable during the harvest season. The crop was abundant, and the demand for labor far in excess of the supply, so much so that reports from the West showed that in some cases farmers flagged railroad trains and after stopping them passed through the trains soliciting the passengers to step off and accept employment in the harvest field. Curiously these incidents were reported especially from the State of Kansas, which a few years ago was the scene of the greatest discontent because of the crop shortage, heavy farm indebtedness, and general conditions of financial depression. But the same general reports of difficulty of obtaining labor, especially in the agricultural districts, came from all parts of the country.