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“...............................................................................................21
Cotton goods ......................................................................................................................................................................................27
» yarn..............................................................................................................................................................................................30
„ mills in China ........................................................................................................................................................30
Berlinette...........................................................................................................................32
Thread...............................................................................................................................................................................32
Table of woollen...”
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“...filatures ............................................................................................ 69
Table of silk distribution 60
Tea ............................................................................................................ 01
Table of tea distribution ........................................................................ <33
Tables of principal exports................................................................ 04 & 66
Raw cotton, cotton seed and oil 68
Oil mills .................................................................................................... 68
Skins, hides and furs ................................................................................ 69
Straw braid................................................................................................ 70
Beans and bean cake ................................................................................ 71
Oils, vegetable and essential .........................................”
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“... was 7,074,853
taels which, added to the value of the finer cottons (20,329,755 taels)
given above, make a total of 27,404,608 taels against 27,320,865 taels
in 1905.
Cotton yam. The net import of cotton yarn into China in 1906 amounted to
338,829,600 lbs., or a drop of 1,676,665 lbs. as compared with the
previous year. The consignments of the British mills totalled
4,093,467 lbs. against 2,911,600 lbs. in 1905 and were nearly 61 per
cent, ahead of the previous five years' average ; the product of
the Hong-Kong mill rose 98 per cent. ; the Indian and Japanese
mills sent respectively 881,466 and 3,609,466 lbs. less ; and the
Tonkin mills increased their shipments from 57,733 lbs. in 1905 to
1,268,933 lbs. in 1906. The percentages of supply were :—India
72 per cent., Japan 26 per cent., the United Kingdom 1-2 per cent,
and the balance of 0-8 per cent, to Tonkin and Hong-Kong. These
are the Chinese customs figures, but the Japanese returns show
that 4,962,236 catties or 6,616,315 lbs. of...”
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“...china.
power mills in China, now 27 in number, to which may be added
the mill in Hong-Kong also engaged in turning out yarn for the
China market. The mills originally started in Shanghai, which
at present boasts of 12, had many obstacles to contend with at the
start and for several years after, such as labour difficulties, cotton
cornering and cotton watering ; losses were sustained, and in several
cases capital had to be written down. The years 1903 and 1904
were the worst since 1900, but 1905 and 1906 were good average
years, cotton was cheaper and the mills were kept running night
and day. Chinese cotton is whiter than Indian, and the product
of the Shanghai mill is superior in colour and cleanness to either
Japanese or Indian yarn, but being shorter in staple it is not so
strong nor is it so well reeled owing to the low class of labour
employed in this department, and I have been informed by a mill
manager that no amount of supervision can obtain what may be
considered high-class work...”
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“...produce over 700 tons of sugar per
day of 24 hours. This refinery, which I recently visited, is
fully equipped with the best up-to-date plant, labour-saving
apparatus and machinery of every description, and is connected
with its wharf by a double-track railway, enabling coal and
raw sugar to be conveyed from lighter to mill and refined sugar from
mill to lighter with the greatest promptitude and despatch. The
J apanese refineries are endeavouring to obtain a share of this trade,
but the Hong-Kong mills are holding their own against all com-
petitors.
Kerosene oil The decrease in the import of kerosene oil from 153,471,831
gallons in 1905 to 128,687,690 gallons in 1906 is due not to decreased
consumption but to heavy stocks held over at the end of 1905.
American oil fell off by 17,135,147 gallons, Sumatran by 9,655,165
gallons and Burmese by 1,112,446 gallons. Burma's contribution
was only 42,460 gallons and, by agreement, will soon disappear
altogether. In the case of Russian oil there was...”
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“...other. The red sulphide is then pounded in mortars
and ground with water in stone mills, the vermilion thus deposited
being collected and dried on trays arranged in specially heated
rooms. The presence of gypsum steeped in tubs of water in the
establishment which I visited proved that adulteration was not
unknown to the manufacturers. The value of paints and paint oil
rose from 85,289?. to 90,261?. and was slightly ahead of the average
import of the previous five years.
Excluding Manchuria, regarding which accurate information Flour,
is not available, but including the Hong-Kong mill, there are now
19 flour (roller) mills at work in China capable of turning out
1,400,000 lbs. of flour every 24 hours. In spite of this, however,
the import of foreign flour shows no signs of decreasing, but the
mills in China have difficulties to contend with. Started with the
idea of grinding native wheat, the Shanghai mills, seven in number,
find it difficult to obtain the necessary supplies of grain and...”
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“...lies the possi-
bility of competition with the wheat of the country. It is under-
stood, however, that Manchurian wheat is much superior, and
should it find its way to these mills the results may be different.
■Four of the Shanghai mills are of British make, the others are
American, and three are fitted with electric bleachers. Three
grades of flour are milled and the bags are made of Japanese cloth.
The import of foreign flour rose from 124,234,800 to 237,957,466 lbs.,
and its value from 557,4682. to 1,036,1762. in 1906. How much
of this import was Australian flour it is impossible to say as it is
shipped to Hong-Kong and after leaving the colony its nationality
is not easily traceable, but a considerable quantity was sent up
the West River. As the export of flour from China is prohibited;
the product of the roller mills in Chinese territory has to be con-
sumed in the country, and the bran mixed with the wheat waste
is disposed of for about 2 dol. per picul and used for feeding pig3.
There...”
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“...There are several foreign saw
mills in China hard at work on the imported timber.
The decrease of 5,000,000 gross in the import of matches in 1906 Matches,
is not a sign that the many native match factories scattered through-
out China are successfully competing with the foreign supply. On
the contrary, several of these factories have biscn shut down during
the year, and the excess of over 5,000.000 gross in 1905 as compared
with 1904, which was 4,500,000 gross ahead of 1903, clearly indicated
the cause of the decline. The import in 1906 amounted to
22,998,830 gross of the value of 845,927?., and was principally
Japanese. Match-making materials increased in value from
40,946/. in 1905 to 51,403?. in 1906 and were nearly 10 per cent,
ahead of the average of the previous five years.
The value of the import of paper in 1905 was 449,068?. and in Paj-er.
1906 it rose to 668,770?. In 1905 nearly 40 per cent, of the import
came from Japan. There are several paper mills with foreign plant
in China...”
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“...181
china.
and others with British machinery. There is a considerable demand
for paper mills in China.
Leather. Leather advanced from 47,592 cwts. in 1905 to 56,009 cwts.
in 1906, with a much enhanced value, and the value of manu-
factures of leather, although less when expressed in silver, rose
from 32,953?. to 35,968?. There are at present two tanneries
and leather factories with British machinery at work in China,
one, Chinese owned, at Tientsin and the other at Shanghai. The
latter commenced work early in the present year. A third, with
German plant, is about to start at Hankow.
Medieiue?. China is a medicine-loving country and the import rose in value
from 287,081?. to 351,736?., and was nearly 80 per cent, ahead of
the average import of the previous five years. Hong-Kong always
appears as the chief exporter of medicines to China and it is im-
possible to say how much of these is native and how much foreign,
for the mere fact of coming from Hong-Kong gives them a foreign
status...”
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“...not stocks held
over at the close of 1905—itself a bad year—supplied a consider-
able proportion of the export. Another contributing cause was the
increased consumption of the Shanghai and other cotton mills,
which were very busy during the best part of the year.
Although there are several ginning mills in Shanghai and some
of the cotton mills have their own ginning plant, most of the cotton
is ginned in the interior with inexpensive Japanese cotton gins or
Chinese gins made after the Japanese pattern. The seed finds its
way to Japan. Of the whole export of cotton seed in 1905, amounting
to 785,363 cwts., all but 1 cwfc. went to the Island Empire. In
1906 the export was 733,114 cwts. of the value of 85,9662.
When I was in Shanghai at the end of 1906 there were three
cotton-seed oil mills at work, two of them fitted with American and
one with mixed American and British machinery. Another was
almost completed and two others were in course of construction.
Another mill fitted to extract oil...”
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“...factories, but it is also used for
cooking purposes and as an adulterant in bean oil, which is more
expensive, the adulteration taking place in the retail shops. It
is very difficult to get true prices in a country where fixed prices
are the exception, and I can only give the prices of the oil quoted
at the two mills which I visited. One gave 8 dol. the other 8-50
taels per picul, and I have already mentioned the price, 7 taels,
which the proprietor of a soap factory assured me was the price he
paid locally for the oil. But there is nothing certain in China, not
even the prices given in the customs returns. The husk and refuse
are burned in the furnaces, and the owner of one of the mills told me
that only about 5 per cent, of the cake was consumed as manure
locally, and that he found difficulty in getting rid of it even as a
gift. Certainly there were stocks of antiquated-looking cake in the
mill go-downs.
The customs abstract of statistics for 1906 lumps all vegetable
oils together and does...”
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“...excess of the average
of the previous five years. The bulk of the export goes to Hong-
Kong, whence it is distributed in Southern China.
Varnish advanced from 7,897 cwts. of the value of 51,727?. to
9,213 cwts. valued at 55,014?. Nearly the whole of the export
goes to Japan, which in 1905 took 7,324 of the 7,897 cwts.
The sugar industry of Southern China is being rapidly killed by Su^ar.
the cheaper Japanese product, which is imported raw, but more
especially after refinement at the Hong-Kong mills, to which I have
already made reference, and in Japan. The export of brown sugar
fell from 562,194 cwts. in 1905 to 197,506 cwts. in 1906 and was
65 -78 per cent, under the average export of the previous five years,
while white sugar dropped from 55,476 to 8,373 cwts. There was
a slight drop in sugar candy and an advance in sugar cane, but the
whole export can hardly be called an export in the true sense of the
word, for most of it is sent to Hong-Kong for re-entry into China.
The export of ...”
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