IMPORTS In 1926 imported merchandise classified as "Food, drink, and tobacco" accounted for 42 per cent of the total value of imports as detailed in the following table. Wheat and wheat flour represented 11 per cent of the total, coal 6 per cent, bacon and hams 4 per cent, corn 4 per cent, and tea 4 per cent. When there is added to these items the imports of horses, sugar, iron and steel machinery, cotton goods, woolen goods, boots and shoes, and paper-13 items in allabout half of the total imports into the country are included. Coal imports were valued at £4,173,000 in 1924, £3,485,000 in 1925, and £3,422,000 in 1926, but the actual tonnage imported fell off from 2,239,000 to 1,756,000-21 per cent less coal for the same price, and practically the whole reduction was in household coal. High prices of coal led to the substitution of peat and wood for fuel. In this respect the change in bacon imports was similar to that of coal, the quantity imported being reduced about 12 per cent, whereas the total value of imports was almost identical in 1925 with 1926. Tea imports were increased both in quantity and in value, amounting to £2,500,000 in 1926. The value of imports of oilseed cake and meal and other feedstuffs declined from £1,077,000 in 1925 to £764,000 in 1926. Machinery was imported to a total value of £1,175,000 in 1924 and £1,665,000 in 1926, and electrical goods and apparatus were valued at £394,000 in 1924 and £450,000 in 1926. Other important imports are discussed under their various heads elsewhere in this IMPORTS INTO THE IRISH FREE STATE, 1924-1926-Continued 1 Except apparel. 2 Imports of apparel became subject to duty on Apr. 24, 1925, consequently the figures relating to apparel imported by parcel post prior to that date are not included in the 1925 figures shown above, while those relating to similar imports during the corresponding period of 1926 are included. For this reason the figures for the respective periods are not comparable, with the exception of those for boots and shoes, which were dutiable in both periods. IMPORTS INTO THE IRISH FREE STATE, 1924-1926-Continued Total Other articles, raw and manufactured. Parcel post (nondutiable). 2,670 2,732 2,820 35, 519 33, 121 33, 031 3,079 1,958 2,055 Total imports----- 68, 890 62, 950 61, 286 Source: Table supplied by Department of Statistics. EXPORTS Forty-four per cent of the total exports come under the heading "Live animals" and 48 per cent under "Food and drink." Of this latter item 16 per cent is made up of porter, beer, and ale. The movement of Free State live animals and agricultural products has been described in detail in other parts of this study. (See pp. 17 and 24.) It only remains to point out here that the further decline in the shipment of live cattle has been more than offset by the improvement in other branches of livestock-in the shipping of lambs, pigs, and live poultry. Wool, hides, and skins are items of importance in the export trade not referred to elsewhere in this survey. Wool exports were heavier in 1926 but the returns therefrom distinctly less. Shipments of cattle hides were valued at £228,000 in 1926, being about 25 per cent less than the figure for 1925. There were also increases in the quantity of pork, cream, butter, barley, and oats, and decreases in exports of bacon and fresh milk. Details of exports from the Irish Free State are given in the following table. Reexports are almost entirely confined to the reshipment of goods to Great Britain and Northern Ireland, about two-thirds of the total being shipped to Great Britain and the remainder to the six counties of Northern Ireland. EXPORTS OF PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES OF THE IRISH FREE STATE 50, 281 43, 374 41, 185 Total exports.-- 1 Except apparel. Source: Table supplied by the Department of Statistics. BALANCE OF TRADE AND PAYMENTS The only official estimates of the various items on the two sides of the Irish Free State's account with the rest of the world appeared in the Irish Trade Journal (official) of March 31, 1926. Expert opinion holds that there has not been any very material change in the position since 1924-25. The adverse trade balance for the fiscal year 1924-25 amounted to £18,154,000, in 1925-26 to £19,221,000, and in 1926-27 to £18,561,000. The invisible exports which were analyzed in the Irish Trade Journal included income from investments abroad, estimated at £11,000,000; emigrants' remittances, estimated at £2,250,000; war pensions paid by the British Government to persons living in the Irish Free State, £2,347,000; and the export of specie (1924), £231,000. Compensation paid by the British Government in respect of damage to property and personal injury, an adjustment of post-office transactions, and a small item of interest on Irish bank loans to the money market total an additional £2,172,000. On the other side, invisible imports include estimates of profit on investment of foreign capital in the Irish Free State, £3,340,000, while land purchase annuities, pensions paid abroad, local loans fund, and other annuities included in the agreement with Great Britain, account for an additional £5,304,000. Taking these items into account, the adverse balance is reduced from over £18,000,000 to £8,800,000. There are a number of factors which are not considered commission earnings of manufacturers' agents and commercial travelers resident in the Saorstat, expenditures of foreign visitors, and insurance payments to oversea insurance companies the total of which is thought to reach a considerable sum. The starting of a number of new factories in the Free State, as a result of the new import duties and the Shannon development, has caused a large import of machinery and supplies which plays a part in temporarily exaggerating the negative trade balance. Reference should also be made to the large holdings of British Government and Indian government stock held in Ireland. At June 30, 1922, the quantity so held was estimated at well over £100,000,000, most of which was owned by the Free State, but there has been a decline in such holdings in recent years, the figures for all Ireland being £116,257,000 in 1924 and £108,118,000 in 1926. Commenting on the decline in bank deposits held in Ireland, the Irish Trade Journal states: The decline in bank deposits in 1924 and 1925 does not indicate a real balance when all visible and invisible items have been taken into account. But even if bad harvests and low prices of agricultural produce during the past few years have compelled the farmers of this country to realize on their savings, they had a considerable accumulation of past profits upon which to draw. Another evidence that the Irish farmer may have had to draw on his savings in the decline in the number of cattle in the country up to 1927. Prof. John Busteed (in the Irish Statesman, 1926) arrives at the conclusion that in 1925 the Irish Free State was living on its savings to the extent of at least £7,000,000 per annum, including therein some productive expenditure on new plant. The disparity between the prices realized by the farmer for his produce and the price which he has to pay for manufactured goods bears heavily on the agricultural community, and the productivity |
