In 1881, the quantity of goods imported from countries other than England was so insignificant as not to be worth including in the official returns, and so far as the United States was concerned absolutely no trade with South Africa was done at all, and but very little with the European Continent. In 1892, however, Germany and America began to pay greater attention to the possibilities of what then showed signs of becoming an exceedingly promising market, the share of the former country in that year being only £231,172, while that of the latter was £418,126. How successful they were in their efforts is seen by the fact that with each succeeding year the value of the goods entering South Africa from those countries grew by leaps and bounds, until in 1901 the German share had increased to £1,118,010, and that of the United States to £2,640,193. Neither of these amounts was, however, the highest point reached by either Germany or America, their record years being 1896 and 1898 respectively. It is unquestionable that had British manufacturers paid sufficient attention to the possibilities of the South African trade in the period from 1881-91, and had realised how rapidly the country was developing, thereby quickening them to action, the foreigner would not have got the hold upon its commerce which he now has, the combined share of all the countries competing with Great Britain amounting in 1901 to £4,590,681, or 14.9 per cent. of the total imports. Although the purely British share was as much as 65.6 per cent., the balance being made up by the shares of our Colonies and non-competing countries (i.e. goods imported from countries that Great Britain cannot supply), much remains to be done to retain even that percental share; but it is satisfactory to note that the lessons of the past have not been lost upon us, and that with the general awakening to the foreign menace there is every likelihood that we shall more than hold our own in the future, provided our manufacturers are not handicapped by the exactions of labour, the excessive cost of which, and the general disinclination of the Trades Unions to adopt modern labour-saving machinery, being the two principal factors in determining whether competition with other countries shall be effective or not. [Illustration: CHURCH STREET EAST, PRETORIA Photo by Barnett & Co., Johannesburg] It may not be without interest to put on record the values of the principal articles imported into South Africa in 1901 from all sources. They were as follow:--