One can hardly appreciate the magnitude of the business between the United States and foreign countries which, directly or indirectly, is transacted through the medium of the system we term "foreign exchange," without resorting to actual data in the shape of figures, and we find these figures so large as to be almost incomprehensible.

For the twelve months ending June 30,1908, the value of the goods or commodities exported from this country to other countries amounted to $1,860,773,346, and during the same period the United States imported from other countries goods to the value of $1,191,341,792, making a total of exports and imports during the fiscal year 1908 of $3,055,115,138 - a sum which, if the $1 bills were fastened together at their ends, would make a band nearly 350,000 miles long.

The value of the goods we exported exceeded the value of those imported by $666,431,554, which amount of credit in our favor would, had there been no other transactions to offset it, have to be remitted to us from the various foreign countries. But against this credit in our favor foreign countries charged up to us the amount paid out on letters of credit used by our people to meet expenses in travel abroad - balance due on loans made by our capitalists to float large enterprises, such as railroad consolidations, etc., so that, notwithstanding there was a large balance due us in the difference between the value of the goods we sold to, and those we purchased from foreign countries, it was partially offset by other transactions, so that in fact, during the year 1908 we imported only $75,904,397 more gold than we exported. Sometimes we export more gold than we import during the fiscal year. But whether the balance be in our favor or against us, the total amount of the business transacted is practically all handled through the medium of the system we call "foreign exchange," and the importance of a thorough knowledge of the system in its various details is becoming greater each year.