has been
instrumental in bringing about the agreement for another International
American Congress, which is to meet in the City of Mexico in October,
1901. The Bureau's future for another term of ten years is assured by
the international compact, but the congress will doubtless have much to
do with shaping new lines of work and a general policy. Its usefulness
to the interests of Latin-American trade is widely appreciated and shows
a gratifying development.

The practical utility of the consular service in obtaining a wide range
of information as to the industries and commerce of other countries and
the opportunities thereby afforded for introducing the sale of our goods
have kept steadily in advance of the notable expansion of our foreign
trade, and abundant evidence has been furnished, both at home and
abroad, of the fact that the Consular Reports, including many from our
diplomatic representatives, have to a considerable extent pointed out
ways and means of disposing of a great variety of manufactured goods
which otherwise might not have found sale abroad.

Testimony of foreign observers to the commercial efficiency of the
consular corps seems to be conclusive, and our own manufacturers and
exporters highly appreciate the value of the services rendered not only
in the printed reports but also in the individual efforts of consular
officers to promote American trade. An increasing part of the work of
the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, whose primary duty it is to compile and
print the reports, is to answer inquiries from trade organizations,
business houses, etc., as to conditions in various parts of the world,
and, notwithstanding the smallness of the force employed, the work has
been so systematized that responses are made with such promptitude and
accuracy as to elicit flattering encomiums. The experiment of printing
the Consular Reports daily for immediate use by trade bodies, exporters,
and the press, which was begun in January, 1898, continues to give
general satisfaction.

It is gratifying to be able to state that the surplus revenues for
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, were $79,527,060.18. For the six
preceding years we had only deficits, the aggregate of which from 1894
to 1899, inclusive, amounted to $283,022,991.14. The receipts for the
year from all sources, exclusive of postal revenues, aggregated
$567,240,851.89, and expenditures for all purposes, except for the
administration of the postal departmen