FINANCE, DEFENCE, COMMERCE
201
Finance, Defence, Commerce.
The revenue and expenditure of the colony for five years were
Revenue . Expenditure
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
Rupees 8,103,922 7,872,096
Rupees 8,534,427 8,587,039
Rupees 8,273,622 8,488,736
Rupees 8,849,181 8,544,736
Rupees 7,996,705 8,626,798
The principal sources of revenue in 1897 were: customs dues, 2,769,889 rupees; licences and permits, 2,377,961 rupees; railway traffic, 1,712,322 rupees.
The whole debenture debt of the colony on December 31, 1897, was : — Government Debenture Inscribed Stock Debt, 1,236,489Z. Poor Law Com- mission, 1,000/.
The municipal dcl)t of Port Louis was 132,300^. sterling and 277,049 rupees.
The harbour of Port Louis is defended by Fort Adelaide and Fort George. The troops in the colony at the beginning of 1898 numl)ered 1,078. The total military expenditure for 1897 was 78,558/., of which 22,805/. was paid by the colony.
The declared value ^ of the total imports and exports of the colony (ex - elusive of specie and bullion) was as follows in each of the last five years : —
Year
Total Imports
Total Exports
Rupees
Rupees
1893
18,899,939
22,176,486
1894
21,096,011
31,228,619
1895
20,125,402
27,247,635
1896
22,980,586
33,544,174
1897
18,948,233
28,192,675
1 The values of imports and exports are declared by importers and exporters, both being exclusive of charges and of exchange. They are given in rupees at the value of 2». per rupee. The countries where the goods are shipped are taken as the countries of origin, un- less the goods themselves or the bills of lading and invoices show a ditferent origin, in which case the country so disclosed is declared in the V)ill of entry.
Imports from United Kingdom, 3,750,780 rupees ; exports to United Kingdom, 452,595 rupees.
The exports from the colony comprise, as staple article, unrefined sugar, 22,327,650 rupees in 1897 ; rum, 67,370 rupees; vanilla, 136,620 rupees; aloe fibre, 242,507 rupees ; oil, coco-nut, 33,760 rupees. A large portion of the trade is with the British colonies of South Africa, Australia, and India.
The commercial intercourse of Mauritius with the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined table, according to the Board of Trade Returns, for each of the last five years : —
—
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
Imports from Mauritius into U. K.
Exjtorts of British Produce to
Mauritius
£ 250,497
305,610
£ 224,:i50
273,603
£ 97,795
235,835
£ 67,502
306,031
£ 94,548
284,862
