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Problems in the Interpretation of Foreign Trade Statistics before 1914

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

D. C. M. Platt
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Extract

In general, we are all aware of the shortcomings of historical statistics. But this may be the moment, as the cliometricians dust off their computers, to take a closer look at one of the more attractive series, the statistics for foreign trade. Assuming that foreign trade figures exist at all and that they are not distorted beyond average by misrepresentation or fraud, the most difficult problems of interpretation are likely to arise over the origin and destination of the trade, the system of valuation of the products traded, and the classifications employed.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , November 1971 , pp. 119 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

1 Mr Phipps' report on Brazil, 1872: Parliamentary Papers, Great Britain, 1872, 59, 646.

2 Mr Grant Watson's report on Brazil, 1909: P.P. 1910, 96, 554.

3 MrFisher's, G. A. report on the Dominican Republic, 1914: P.P. 1914–1916, 72, 58.Google Scholar

4 Consul-General Nightingale's report on the Dominican Republic, 1911/12: P.P. 1912–1913, 95, 527.

5 Minutes of Evidence, Report of the Departmental Committee on Trade Records: P.P. 1908, 25, QQ. 662, 824.

6 Consul Morgan's report on Bahia, 1860: P.P. 1862, 58, 636.

7 Acting Consul-General Alice's report on Valparaiso, 1910/11: P.P. 1912–1913, 94, 589.

8 Consul Ross's report on Buenos Aires, 1906: P.P. 1907, 88, 52.

9 The Times, Financial and Commercial Supplement, 15 January 1909, 23b.

10 Mr Frederick Harford's report on the financial condition of the Argentine Republic, 1902 & 1903: P.P. 1905, 87, 43–4.

11 Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the Accuracy and Comparability of British and Foreign Statistics of International Trade, Report of the British Association, 1904, 317, 307.

12 Minutes of Evidence, Report of the Royal Commission on the Depression of Trade and Industry, P.P. 1886, 21, Q. 349.

13 Memorandum on Countries of Consignment of Imported Goods, Board of Trade: P.P. 1905, 84, 417.

14 Report of the Departmental Committee on Trade Records, P.P. 1908, 25, 1045.

15 Bourne, Stephen, ‘Progress of the External Trade of the United Kingdom in Recent Years’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 55 (1893), 186.Google Scholar

16 British Association committee, loc. cit., 306.

17 An extreme example of the absurdities to which this gave rise was the Dutch valuation for sugar, corresponding in 1903–4 to 29s. 8d. per cwt. of raw and 33s.IId per cwt. of refined. The declared value of sugar brought into the United Kingdom at about the same time was only 7s. 7d. and 10s. 7d. respectively: quoted in Smith's, H. LlewellynMemorandum explaining the Discrepancies between German and British Figures, Board of Trade, 04 1904, P.P. 1904, 87, 858.Google Scholar

18 Consul Vereker's report on Rio Grande do Sul, 1860: P.P. 1862, 58, 644.

19 MrHerbert's, A. report on the finances of the Argentine Republic, 1891: P.P. 1892, 81, 79.Google Scholar

20 Memorandum addressed to the Minister of Finance, August 1903: quoted in P.P. 1904, 97, 13.

21 P.P. 1898, xciii, 504.

22 P.P. 1897, xcii, 227.

23 Minutes of Evidence, Report of the Royal Commission on the Depression of Trade and Industry, P.P. 1886, 21, Q. 6948.

24 Evidence given by Mr Henry Fountain, Principal of the Commercial Department of the Board of Trade, 15 May 1908: Minutes of Evidence, Report of the Departmental Committee on Trade Records, P.P. 1908, 25, Q. 131.

25 Cole, W. A., ‘Trends in Eighteenth Century Smuggling’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 10 (1958).Google Scholar

26 Minutes of Evidence, Report of the Departmental Committee on Trade Records, P.P. 1908, 25, Q. 534.

27 Don, Yehuda, ‘Comparability of International Trade Statistics. Great Britain and Austria-Hungary before World War I’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 31 (1968), 92.Google Scholar Any researcher proposing to handle Latin American trade statistics could do worse than introduce himself to the problems, which apply equally to Latin America, as discussed in the reports and articles cited in the footnotes above and in the following: Bourne, Stephen, ‘The Official Trade and Navigation Statistics’, J.Stat.Soc., 25 (1872)Google Scholar; Giffen, Robert, ‘The Use of Import and Export Statistics’, J.R.Stat.Soc., 45 (1882)Google Scholar; Bateman, A. E., ‘Comparability of trade statistics of various countries’, J.R.Stat.Soc., 57 (1894)Google Scholar; Flux, A. W., ‘International Statistical Comparisons’, J.R.Stat.Soc., 86 (1923)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Maizels', Alfred chapter on ‘Foreign Trade’ in Kendall, M. G. (ed.), The Sources and Nature of the Statistics of the United Kingdom (London, 1952), vol. 1.Google Scholar

28 Imlah, Albert H., Economic Elements in the Pax Britannica (Cambridge, Mass., 1958).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

29 British Association Committee, loc. cit., 310, 309.