72095 COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, ETC. VOL. LV. Nos. 204, 205, 206, AND 207. SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, AND DECEMBER, 1897. THE BUREAU OF FOREIGN COMMERCE. From and after July 1, 1897, the Bureau of Statistics, Department of State, will be known as the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, in accordance with the following order of the Secretary of State: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 1, 1897. Under the authority conferred upon me by chapter 268, United States Statutes at Large, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session, under the heading "Publication of Diplomatic, Consular, and other commercial reports," the name of the Bureau of Statistics of this Department is hereby changed to the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, and the title of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics shall hereafter be Chief of the Bureau of Foreign Commerce. JOHN SHERMAN, The reasons for the change are set forth in the following report from the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics to the Secretary of State: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 30, 1897. Honorable JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary of State. SIR: I have the honor to call your attention to the clause in the diplomatic and consular appropriation bill for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, approved February 20, 1897, which provides for the publication of diplomatic, consular, and other commercial reports. (See page 590, United States Statutes at Large, Fifty-fourth Congress, second session.) The paragraph reads as follows: Preparation, printing, publication, and distrib tion, by the Department of State, of the diplomatic, consular, and other commerc al reports, twenty-five thousand dollars; and of this sum the Secretary of State is authorized to use not exceeding three thousand one hundred and twenty dollars for services of employees in the Bureau of Statistics, Department of State, in the. ork of compiling and distributing such reports, and not exceeding two hundred nd fifty dollars in the purchase of such books, maps, and periodicals as may be aecessary to the editing of diplomatic, consular, and other commercial reports: Provided, That all terms of measure, weight, and money shall be reduced to, and expressed in, terms of the measure, weight, and coin of the United States, as well as in the foreign terms; that each issue of consular reports shall not exceed seven thousand copies: And provided further, That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby, authorized to change the name of the Bureau of Statistics to the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, and that the foregoing provision shall apply with the same force and effect to the Bureau of Foreign Commerce as to the Bureau of Statistics. You will perceive that the Secretary of State is authorized by the foregoing to change the name of the Bureau of Statistics of this Department to the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, and that the provision for the maintenance of the Bureau of Statistics is made to apply with the same force and effect to the Bureau of Foreign ComAs the appropriation becomes available on the 1st of July, I respectfully ask authority from you to carry the legislation specified into effect. The reasons for making the change, as stated to Congress and approved by that body, are: merce. (1) The confusion arising from the fact that there are three bureaus of statistics in the Executive Departments, viz: Bureau of Statistics, Department of State; Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department; Division of Statistics, Department of Agriculture. Shortly after taking charge of this Bureau, I became impressed with the fact that the general public was unable to discriminate between the various bureaus of the same name, and that unnecessary labor and delay resulted. (2) The name Bureau of Statistics does not properly denote the functions of this Bureau, which is exclusively commercial in its character, its work being that of collecting, compiling, and distributing the commercial reports of our diplomatic and consular officers. There is a wide range of statistics with which the Bureau has nothing to do, and its designation as a Bureau of Statistics is, therefore, misleading. The use of the words Bureau of Foreign Commerce, on the other hand, besides correctly indicating the character of the work, is likely, in my judgment, to impress upon the public mind the importance of the commercial functions of this Department. In view of these considerations, I submit the draft of an order for your signature. Respectfully yours, FREDERIC EMORY, Chief, Bureau of Statistics. CONTENTS. I.-PAPER TRADE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.... (New South Wales, 1-New Zealand, 4-Tasmania, 5-Victoria, 5-New Caledonia, 7-Honduras, 7-Nicaragua, 9—Argen- tine Republic, 16-Brazil, 27-British Guiana, 30—Chile, 32— Colombia, 33-Ecuador, 38-Paraguay, 38-Peru, 39--Uru- |