284 
INTERNATIONAL TRADE 
Britain after the middle of the century, and contributed more and 
more to her excess of imports, they grew smaller for the United 
States during the decade from 1850 to 1860; and they came to a 
sudden end with the Civil War. The fear of capture by Con- 
federate men-of-war caused the sailing vessels of the North to 
register under other flags or lie at anchor. By the time the war 
ceased, the day of sailing vessels had passed. Iron steamers took 
their place; and in building and operating these the British had a 
clear advantage. Ocean transportation to and from the United 
States was carried on in foreign vessels, and the charge for this 
service became a debit item for the country; it was met in the 
form of merchandise exports, and contributed to the recorded 
excess of exports over imports. In its main outlines this series 
of changes is again such as general reasoning would lead us to 
expect. 
When it comes to details, the case 1s not so clear. The events are 
complex; the statistical material for test and verification is 
inadequate; and there are other difficulties, raising troublesome 
questions of principle. 
The events are complex. They are so not least as regards the 
monetary conditions. During the larger part of the period before 
the Civil War, the United States was on a specie basis; after 1834 
on a gold basis. The specie was held chiefly by banks, and was but 
a slender foundation for a large volume of notes and deposits. But 
the banking situation, as is well known to all students of the sub- 
ject, was highly confused. Some approach to system and order was 
achieved during the decade immediately preceding the war (1850- 
60), especially in the seaboard region. But banking legislation and 
practise still varied greatly from one part of the country to another. 
The course of domestic and foreign trade, the extension of bank 
credit, and the changes in prices, were subject to a variety of forces, 
among which — especially in view of the fragmentary nature of the 
available information — it would be almost hopeless to discern 
any specific effects resulting from the course of international trade 
or from the international movement of specie. 
True, for the period just before the Civil War (1850-60), the