utter to Great Britain is $32,000,000 while ours
is not more than a fourteenth of that sum. Our competitors in the
markets of Britain for cattle are Canada and Argentina, but their
exports together, however, are less than a third of ours. Our
competitors in the British markets for the sale of meats are
principally the Australasian colonies and Argentina, but their
principal exportation so far is chilled mutton, which they send to
Britain to the amount of many million dollars annually (Argentina
alone $5,000,000 a year, New Zealand alone $10,000,000 a year), while
our exportation of mutton is practically nil. We do, however, export
$1,000,000 worth of sheep a year, but in this item we are frequently
far exceeded by Canada. CHICAGO is, of course, the great commercial
centre of the continent for "provisions" and "live stock," and NEW
YORK the great shipping port. Of the entire export trade of the whole
country New York does two fifths. BALTIMORE comes next with about one
ninth. Then (in order) come PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON, and NEW ORLEANS. The
chief centres of our great provision and live-stock trade, other than
Chicago, are CINCINNATI, KANSAS CITY, INDIANAPOLIS, BUFFALO, and
OMAHA.

OUR FOREIGN CARRYING TRADE

One aspect of our foreign trade is not so well understood as it ought
to be. Our foreign commerce is carried on largely in foreign ships.
The reason is that no vessel is allowed to be registered as belonging
to a United States owner unless she is built in the United States, and
it therefore seems as if our ship-builders could not compete (in
price) in the building of steel and iron ships with those of Great
Britain and Germany. Formerly, when wooden ships were used, our
foreign trade was carried on in our own vessels, and our "clipper"
sailing vessels beat the world. In 1859 seventy per cent. in value of
our foreign trade was carried in American vessels. Since that date the
proportion has decreased steadily until in 1896-97 it was only eleven
per cent., and for 1897-98 it was even less than this. During the five
years 1881-85 it averaged barely twenty per cent. Taking into
consideration tonnage only the proportion at present varies from
twenty five to thirty per cent., showing that the American vessels are
used for carrying the cheaper sorts of goods. The aggregate tonnage
burden of vessels belonging to the United States registered as engaged
in the foreign trade 1896 was for 792,870 tons. For the same year the
aggr