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Show GROWING IMPORTS. We have been so accustomed to gloat, over tho export figures submitted to us from time to time by the Department of ( 'onunerrc nt Washington that we have nlmo.it forgotten that there are such tilings aa imports. It is cheering to henr that American exports for November Novem-ber wero the largest on record, tho total to-tal being $r17,f)00,000. It is no less cheering to learn that the total for the eleven months ending with November was $l,9ul,eoo,JOO as against $2,250,- 800,000 for tho corresponding period of fH3. But wo must not lose sight of tho fact that our imports far surpass those in the years just preceding tho war. The eleven months' imports were valued val-ued at $2,1SG,SOO,000, as against $1,-fi7-i,b'00,0UU, in 1014 for the corresponding correspond-ing period. These figures have a significance sig-nificance not only for us but for the nations at war. There is no apparent reason why our imports should decrease after the war, but everyone espects a slump in our export business. The Kuropean significance lies in the fact that the entente countries continue to send us their manufactured goods in amounts that compare very favorably with the amounts sent before the war, whereas trade with the central empires, save for an occasional merchant submarine sub-marine 's cargo, has ceased. The entente en-tente powers arc still selling billions of dollars worth of goods to foreign countries coun-tries each year while their adversaries are limited to commerce with conquered countries whose entire commercial lite has been disarranged and, in some instances, in-stances, almost 1 est royed. It will be seen that Great Britain, France, Hussia and even Italy, although they are spending spend-ing more than their incomes, are. able to recoup their losses to a remarkable degree. The debts are the debts of the government; the profits on foreign commerce com-merce arc the profits of the individual and corporation. Of course, the individuals individ-uals must pay the government debt, but it will be the individuals of other generations genera-tions who will do most of tho paying. |