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“........ ................................................................................................................57
Great increase in imports ........................... ..........................................................................................57
Decrease in exports ................................................................................................................................................................57
Effect of war and military occupation of Manchuria ................................................57
Exchange fluctuations ........................................................................................................................................................58
New copper coins and their depreciation ........................................................................................59
Typhoon at Shanghai.....................................................................................................................”
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“...most
valuable products of Manchuria—beans and bean cake—were
declared contraband by Russia, their direct export to Japan pro-
hibited and their export to other Chinese ports permitted only
under the strictest guarantees. This restriction was, however, to
some extent circumvented by junks which escaped the rigid sur-
veillance exercised in the case of steamers, but it was only when
the Russians lost their hold of Newchwang that the embargo on
steamers was removed by Japan. The Russian evacuation of the
port took place on July 25, but the greater part of the produce
was locked up behind the Russian lines, and, however willing the
Japanese were to allow freedom of export, it could not find an outlet
to the sea. The railways of North China lying outside the Great
Wall and to the west of the Liao River were in a position to facilitate
in some measure the movement of produce from the interior of
Manchuria, but this was only a partial relief; and the blocking of
Manchuria reacted on Southern China...”
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“...CHINA.
11
The imports from Japan (including Formosa) show a decline in
silver value of 134,287 Haikuan taels, which, owing to the magni-
tude of the import trade (50,164,056 Haikuan taels) and the difference
in exchange, is converted into a gold increase of 557,106?. Russian
Manchuria naturally shows a decrease in both imports and exports ;
imports from Corea fell off and exports to the Philippines and the
Dutch East Indies are slightly under the figures for 1903. The
exports to French Indo-China have more than doubled, and the
imports from the Dutch Bast Indies have risen more than 50 per cent,
in value. After Hong-Kong (32,648,089?.), which, however, is
only a distributing centre for the import and export trade of China,
Japan (including Formosa) takes the second place in the direct total
trade with 12,625,782?., followed by the United Kingdom with
10,382,814?., the Continent of .'Europe ((Russia excepted) with
9,743,232?., the United States with 8,059,350?. and India with
4,956,659...”
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“...export of silver was
1,949,3092. and the net import of gold 1,209,7722., leaving on
balance a net export in these two metals of 739,5372. Gold,
however, is not a trade circulating medium whereas silver is, and
the temporary loss of the latter for gold was by no means a gain
to the markets of China. Much of the silver sent to Japan doubtless
found its way to Manchuria—a transfer from one part of China to
another—and will in time return to replenish the depleted markets
of the three eastern provinces whose trade avenues were so long
partially closed by the war. As regards the Russian rouble and
Japanese war notes, the inhabitants of Manchuria may not be
able to realise the full value of the paper money which has been
lavished by the belligerents, but it is certain that enormous sums
will be available for future investments.
In connection with the import and export of specie it will be...”
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“...remained
stationary. They are articles of luxury, used not so much for
comfort as for adornment. It is true that woollens are in constant
wear as clothing by the Thibetans and tribesmen in the far west
of China, but the material is rough, cheap and of home manufacture.
When in the Ta-chien-lu in 1904, I noticed a much finer material on
the market; it was of French make, but the dyer had failed to give
it the orthodox red colour, and the experiment had not proved
satisfactory. In Northern China and Manchuria skins, furs and
wadded cotton clothing are preferred to woollens, and those who
have had experience of the rigorous winters of the far north will
agree that furs or thick-wadded garments are essential to warmth
and are in the long run cheaper than woollens, which are too hot
for summer wear, while furs and cotton clothing can be peeled off
to suit the temperature.
Of miscellaneous piece-goods, gunny cloth, linen goods and
mixtures, plushes and silk piece-goods and mixtures were all ahead
of...”
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“...5I2i534 2o'l"600 30,132.001
Philippine Islands ...... 29,466 4,000 33,466
Central and South America ... 172,800 ... 172,800
Continent of Europe (Russia
excepted)—
Mediterranean ports...... 1,479,667 1,241,333 170,666 1,066 2,891,732
, North Sea ports ...... 24,242,267 225,866 678,800 207,407 25,354,400
Ilussia viil Odessa 1,989,333 7,108,267 3,403,867 87,866 4,260 12,503,509
Russia and Siberia via Kiakhta 5,298,800 37,597,067 507,600 221,067 43,624,534 330,000
Russian Manchuria' 336,000
Japan and Corea ...... 17*9^867 82
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“... and the year 1904 closed with unsatisfactory results
to the native producer. European and American buyers, however,
were able to gauge the conditions of the market, and, while not
making large profits, escaped any heavy losses." As Canton silk
competes with Japanese and cheap Itahan silks, the increased
output of the Japanese article, on which greater care is bestowed,
must eventually have far-reaching effects on the trade of Southern
China.
Wild silk, principally from Northern China and Manchuria,
showed an increase of over 50 per cent, in 1904 as compared with
1903, and a still higher percentage over the average of the previous
five years. Over 10 per cent, of the total export (4,470,266 lbs.)
appears as an import of foreign goods, coming as it did from Man-
churia through Dalny and Port Arthur then in the occupation of
Russia. Cocoons, refuse cocoons and refuse all fell off in 1904
as compared with the previous year, the decline in waste or refuse
being attributed to the unsatisfactory...”
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“...reports on China, the customs
returns, so far as fibres are concerned, are exceedingly unreliable.
The Chinese word " ma " is a generic term for many fibre plants, and
the customs, as a rule, class all the fibres derived from these plants
as hemp. I say as a rule, for attempts have occasionally been
made to draw some distinction between and adopt a classification
for them, not always with success. fui
True hemp (Cannabis sativa, L.) is extensively cultivated in
Northern and Western China and in Manchuria ; true jute is grown
in Central, Southern and Western China, while Boehmeria nivea,
Hook, et Arn., rhea, or ramie, whose fibre furnishes grass-cloth, is
produced in large quantities in Central, Western and Southern
China, especially in the valley of the Yangtsze. These are the four
principal fibre-yielding plants of China in addition, of course, to
cotton ; but there are several others, and I hope to be able to deal
with the whole subject of Chinese fibre-yielding plants on some
future occasion...”
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“...picul of 133-J- lbs., while the Tientsin cleaned article, as
shipped to foreign countries, appears in the customs returns as of the
average value of 18 Haikuan taels per picul. Tientsin also ex-
ported 2,748,000 lbs. of camels' wool, of which 2,381,200 lbs. were
sent abroad. It is valued at the same price as sheep's wool.
The above remarks apply equally to the export of skins and Skins, furs
furs. The great bulk of them come from the northern and western l,air-
provinces of China and from Manchuria, Mongolia and Thibet.
The value of this export in 1904 was 1,049,517?., against 732,702?.
in 1903 and an average of 572,376?. for the previous five years.
Hair of all kinds increased in value from 54,489?. in 1903 to 65,554?.
in 1904. :...”
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“...£ 137,075 230,570 138,581 255,722 278,836 300,800 £ + 24,135 - 26,854 + 7,081 + 37,592 + 29,200 - 94,170 Per cent. + 27 -40 - 13'DO - 13 '53 + 30-80 + 21 -04 - 17 '32
Total ......... 1,333,230 1,371,000 1,348,586 — 22,414 + 1 -14
I have already explained that the shortage in the export of Beans and
beans and bean calce to Japan was due to the war being waged bcan 0illie-
in Manchuria. In the total export from China, beans decreased by
823,412 cwts. as compared with 1903, and bean cake dropped from
4,052,026 to 1,370,178 cwts. In these products the Yangtsze
Valley is beginning to compete with Manchuria : in 1904 Hankow
sent away 3,173,224 cwts. of beans of all lands, and Chinkiang bad
an export of 580,989 cwts. of bean cake and 355,670 cwts. of beans
and peas.
The export of raw cotton jumped from 904,190 cwts. in 1903 to Raw cotton.
1,462,604 cwts. of the value of 3,553,7442. in 1904, and, according
to Japanese returns, the Island Empire imported from China to
the value of 3,170...”
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“...necessary to draw a distinction between
importation and consumption. The fall in the price of cotton in
.1904 led to heavy orders being placed for, it is said, 12 months
or more ahead to replenish stocks which had been allowed to
dwindle owing to the inflated price of the raw material during the two
previous years, as well as to anticipate heavy demands from places
like Manchuria, whose supplies had been cut off by the war. But the Effect of the
war dragged on, the Japanese pushed northwards as far as Ch'ang-t'u war 011 trade'
Fu in April, transport by river and road was requisitioned by the
victors at Newchwang and in Southern Manchuria generally, the
country to the north was impassable and trade could find neither
inlet or outlet until hostilities ceased. In September trade began
to move, but early in October some cases of plague were discovered
at Newchwang; steps were at once taken to prevent its spread to
the Japanese armies in the interior by cart or by junk, and the pro-
hibitory measures...”
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“...neutral zone between the two armies through which
passes the great high road into the north of Manchuria. The
country was unsafe for traffic, and it was only at the end of the year
that the large carts laden with produce began to come into the
port and, with slight assistance afforded by the railway, to ease
by their return journey the congestion at Newchwang. The bulk of
the legitimate trade which Newchwang should have done with the
interior in 1905 has to be done in 1906. B\it as soon as peace was
declared thousands of Japanese civilians flocked into Manchuria
through Dalny with the permission of their Government, scattered
themselves all over the country, and settled in the towns as petty
traders. In the port of Newchwang alone there were at one time
as many as 7,000 Japanese civilians of both sexes, and this is
only one instance of what has occurred in the chief cities of
Southern Manchuria. Nor did they come empty-handed. 1 They
brought with them wares of divers kinds, rented houses...”
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“...opium, supplemented by an
increase of 55 piculs in Szechuan opium, replaced the Manchurian
product in the case of the well-to-do smokers, while the lower
classes had to satisfy themselves with opium of local growth. This
local drug comes from Chin-hsiang Hsien, in Ts'ao-chou Fu, and
is usually despatched to the westward; but in 1905 it has been
brought to fill the demand in the eastern part of this province, and
268 piculs were even shipped to Ta-lien-wan and Newchwang to
supply the want in Manchuria." In 1867 Newchwang, Tientsin
and Chefoo took respectively 2,585, 7,898 and 2,735 piculs of
foreign opium—a total of 13,218 piculs, whereas their import in
1905 was 690 piculs, which was an increased import due to the
failure of Manchurian supplies. In other words, the market for
foreign opium in Northern China has practically ceased.
As regards Central China, we find that in the same year (1867)
Hankow, Kiukiang and Chinkiang—the only three ports then
opened to trade on the Yangtsze—took ...”
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“...Zealand ...1 261,200 55,067 758,934 261,200
Mauritius ......... 161,933 British America........1 078.933 United States of America ...1 8,356,400 Philippine Islands ...... 18,000 Central and South America ... 102,667 Continent of Europe (Russia 004,267 15,584,533 1,067 342,133 104,933 1,283,200 24,283,006 ID,067 102,667
excepted)— Mediterranean porta...... 1,979,333 North Sea ports ...... 4,911,467 Russia vii Odessa ...... 218,267 Russia and Odessa viil Kiakhta 8,988,000 Russian Manchuria ...... 2,123^600 Japan and Corea ...... 430,133 786,800 123,733 7,930,267 13^733 680,000 256 205,007 11,837,167 42,690,667 4,927,733 15,733 ::: 312,933 176,933 1,333 2,000 844,800 9,467 4,000 2,707,732 6,242,267 20,298,934 02,706,400 7,074,533 1,135,800
Annarn............ 709,467 Slam ............ 454,207 Java, Sumatra and Borneo ... 178,000 133 9,007 1,200 709,600 463,334 179,200
and Aden ......... 3,372,400 Other places ......... 1,119,733 525,866 16,000 30,800 3,898,260 1,106,533...”
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“...must the
many cattle sent into Manchuria during the year for Russian con-
sumption be lost sight of. The 232 piculs of hides exported from
Newcliwang in 1905 would represent about 1,400 oxen, a very small
fraction of the number of animals which entered Manchuria by
the Imperial Railway of North China. In the absence of statistics
it is impossible to give even an approximate estimate, but in one day
in March, 1906.1 counted over 200 head of cattle between Hsin-min
T'ing and Tientsin, bound for Harbin and the Russian troops. The
hides of these oxen have not yet appeared in the customs returns as
an export from Manchuria.
Beans and Owing to the block in Manchuria the trade in beans and bean
bean cake. cake has not yet resumed its normal channel. Beans, with a total
of 3,173,241 cwts., exceeded the export of 1904 by 883,097 cwts.
and were 35 per cent, above the average of the previous five
years, but the Yangtsze Valley was the chief contributor, Manchuria
supplying only about one-third of...”
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“...There was an ample supply of good material for the restricted
demand of 1905.
Bristles. Bristles rose from 5,106,533 lbs. in 1904 to 5,278,400 lbs., of a
value of 384,4062. Although.several ports share in this branch of
trade the best bristles come from Northern and Western China, and
are exported through Tientsin, Hankow and Chungking. Man-
churia used to take part, but recent events have greatly shortened
the supplies through Newchwang. I actually saw black pigs being
carried by rail into Manchuria, a striking contrast to former years
when immense droves came down country from the Kirin and
Hei-lung:chiang provinces. Speaking of the export of bristles from
Chungking in 1905 the Commissioner of Customs says :—" Bristles
have been too high in price to encourage business; moreover, the
foreign market is said to be over-stocked. If foreigners would
combine a little more than they do, they might secure more trade ;
but the want of combination enables the natives to outmanoeuvre
them and to...”
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“...1904 receipts.
VIII.—Railways and Mining.
During the progress of hostilities in Manchuria, Japan, as she
advanced northwards, changed the gauge of the Chinese Eastern
Railway, to accommodate rolling-stock brought over from Japan,
and she later built a military line from Antung to Moukden,
which, by Article VII of the Additional Agreement of December 22,
1905,* she is to maintain, work, and improve, so as to make it fit
for the conveyance of commercial and industrial goods of all nations.
This right is conceded to her by China for a term of 15 years from
the date of the completion of the improvements, which, presumably,
include the construction of a permanent line. At the expiration
of the above term the line is to be sold to China. Article VII of
the same agreement provides for the conclusion of a separate
convention for the regulation of connecting services between the
railway lines in South Manchuria and all the other railway lines in
China.
But Japan had already connected the Chinese...”
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“...490,058 Haikuan taels in 1905. This
is only a part of Hunan's trade, for owing to the shallowness of
the Tung-ting Lake in winter, steamers have to cease running for
three months and much of the trade, especially exports, is carried
by junks, which are able to navigate the lake at all seasons, so that
the customs returns give a very imperfect idea of the trade of Hunan
through Changsha.
The war between Russia and Japan prevented the opening
of Moukden and Antung in the southern province of Manchuria
provided for in the United States and Japanese treaties with China
of October 8, 1903. These have now been opened, the latter on
May 1 and the former on June 1, 1906.
The negotiations carried on at Peking from October to December,
1905, between Japan and China, following on the treaty of peace
between Japan and Russia of September 5, 1905, resulted in a treaty
(1082) H...”
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“...114
CHINA.
and additional agreement relating torManchuria dated December 22,
1905. By the treaty the Chinese Government consent to all these
transfers and assignments made by Russia to Japan in Manchuria,
and the additional agreement provides, inter alia, for the opening
by China as soon as possible after the evacuation of Manchuria by
the Japanese and Russian forces of the following cities and towns
in Manchuria as places of international residence and trade :—
Feng-huang-ch'eng (T'ing), Liao-yang (Chou), Hsin-min-t'un (T'ing),
Tung-chiang-tzu (on the Liao River), and Fa-ku-men in the southern
or Feng-t'ien province; Ch'ang-ch'un (Fu) or K'uan-ch'eng-tzu,
Kirin (the capital of the province), Harbin, Ninguta, Hunch'un
and Sansing in the Central or Kirin province; and Tsitsihar or
Pu-k'uei (the capital of the province), Hailar, Aihun and Manchuli,
in the Northern or Hei-lung-chiang province.
On May '17, 1904, the Chinese Government announced its
intention of opening commercial marts for...”
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“... of the United States is a keen follower
of all that is written about China, and sends out its agricultural
explorers to gather and transport to the New World everything of
economic value. The United Kingdom may be collecting valuable
new flowers ; but America is hunting for new fruits, new vegetables,
new grasses, and new plants of commercial and industrial
importance. One such explorer recently informed me that he had
discovered more varieties of beans than I had described as existing
in Manchuria. America is pre-eminently utilitarian, and her time
for new flowers has not yet come. They can wait.
I have one word to say to the British packer and exporter, and
I cannot do better than quote the exact words of a correspondent.
They clearly point a moral. He says :—
" I had an order given in my native city for 301, odd. They
packed it so that it cost 201, odd (221., I think) to land it in Man-
churia, and when opened it was found that the large quantity of
straw used in packing increased...”
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