From 1805 to 1813, the value of domestic and foreign articles exported to Russia, was as follows : The principal article of domestic produce exported to this country in 1809, 1810, and 1811, was cotton; very little, if any, of which was, prior to this period, ever exported to that country. In 1809, six hundred twenty-five thousand one hundred and twelve pounds, in 1810, three million seven hundred sixty-nine thousand one hundred and thirty-seven pounds, and in 1811, no less than nine millions, three hundred sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine pounds of cotton, were shipped to Russia. In 1810, there were also shipped to Russia, from the United States, five thousand two hundred and seventy pounds of rice, one thousand four hundred and sixty-two hogsheads of tobacco, four thousand five hundred and thirty-six gallons of spirits from grain, and one hundred twenty-four thousand one hundred and forty-eight gallons of spirits from molasses. The principal articles of foreign produce exported to Russia have been sugar and coffee, with some pepper, tea, and cocoa. The following is the quantity of those articles, shipped in the years 1809, 1810, and 1811. 40,216 1809 -1,283,100 - 1,271,180 - 922,077 - 138,333 1810 - 4,048,909 - 6,139,529 - 5,257,366 - 1,252,085 - 80,005 - 17,011 The articles usually imported from Russia are iron, hemp, cordage, duck, and various kinds of cloth made of hemp and flax, such as drillings, diapers, broad and narrow tickings, sheetings, &c. Table No. XI. taken from Russian accounts,* contains the quantity of the various articles exported from St. Petersburgh, to the United States, from the year 1783 to 1805, together with the number of American ships employed in the trade with that port in each year, and shews the progressive increase of the American trade with that country during that period. The average amount of goods, paying duties according to their value, and which included iron, and all goods made of hemp, or flax, during the years 1802, 1803, and 1804, was $1,302,217. In 1807, 1810, and 1811, the amount of goods paying the same duties, was as follows: 1807 Dolls. 1,804,860 1,587,784 3,049,033 The average quantity of hemp exported from Russia, in the years 1802, 1803, and 1804, was eighty-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty hundred weight, the average value of which was $779,473. The quantity of hemp, cordage tarred and untarred, and cables, imported during the years 1807, 1810, and 1811, was as follows, viz. : Our trade with Russia, in the year 1811, was much greater than in any preceding year; the ships which carried out large quantities * See Oddy's European Commerce, page 125, vol. 1. of cotton and colonial produce, during that and the preceding year, returned largely freighted with iron, hemp, and cordage. In the articles of iron and hemp, particularly the latter, the United States may soon be independent of Russia, and all other countries. The culture of hemp has succeeded in many parts of the United States, and particularly in the state of Kentucky. In 1810, that state alone produced one hundred fifteen thousand and one hundred hundred weight of hemp, valued at $690,600, and made also, in the same year, thirty-nine thousand eight hundred and seventy hundred weight of cordage, valued at $398,400, making more than a million of dollars for those two articles. SWEDEN. With Sweden, the ordinary trade of the United States has been inconsiderable. The average amount of exports to that country, from 1795 to 1801, was about sixty thousand dollars, and the average value of the imports, during the same period, did not exceed eighty thousand. Tobacco, and some other articles of domestic and foreign produce, are shipped to Sweden, for which iron is the principal article received in return. While all intercourse with Great-Britain and France was prohibited, the nominal trade with that country was far from being inconsiderable. In 1809, the value of domestic produce, principally cotton and tobacco, shipped or rather cleared for Swedish ports, was $4,030,395, and the value of foreign produce, $1,409,303; and in 1810, the value of the former, cleared for the same ports, was $1,563,336, and the value of the latter, $4,294,397. The cotton was probably destined to Great-Britain, and the colonial produce, principally to the northern parts of Europe. SWEDISH WEST-INDIES. With the Swedish West-Indies, our trade has been considerable. From 1795 to 1801, the annual amount of our exports to these islands was about $685,000, and the value of the imports, during the same period, was about $500,000. Some proportion of the exports was probably destined to the other West-India islands. In 1807, domestic produce shipped to the Swedish West-Indies amounted to $416,509, and foreign produce, to $911,155; and the same year, there were imported from these islands into the United States, ninetytwo thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight gallons of rum, thirty thousand seven hundred and sixty-four gallons of molasses, two millions seven hundred and fifty-two thousand four hundred and twelve pounds of sugar, and one million seven hundred and five thousand six hundred and seventy pounds of coffee. In 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812, the exports to these islands, was was The quantity of rum, molasses, sugar, and coffee, imported from the same, according to our custom-house books, in 1810 and 1811, as follows: The greatest part of the rum and molasses, no doubt, came from the British West-India islands during these years, through these Swedish neutral ports. DENMARK AND NORWAY. With Denmark and Norway, the American trade has been greater than with Sweden. The average value of exports to those countries, from 1795 to 1801, was about $600,000, and the average value of imports, for the same period, about $400,000. During the years 1805, 1806, and 1807, the exports were In the years 1809 and 1810, in consequence of commercial restrictions with England and France, and the possession of Hamburgh by the French, great quantities of cotton and tobacco, and of colonial produce, were cleared from the United States for the ports of Denmark and Norway, though destined to other places. Indeed our customhouse books furnish but little evidence of the amount of our trade with particular countries, during these two years, as the following account of our exports to Denmark and Norway, taken from the clearances of the vessels, will shew The following quantities of cotton, tobacco, sugar, and coffee, were cleared for these countries, in these two years. The extent of American trade with the Danish West-India Islands has been much greater, than with Denmark itself. |