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“...Miscellaneous —
Heavy rains in the interior . .. .. .. .. .. .. 8
Prospects for 1897 not so bright .. .. .. ,, .. .. 8
Taxation increased in the interior .. .. .. .. .. .. 8
Permission granted to exploit for minerals . .. .. .. .. 9
Imperial hunting ground opened up to agriculture .. .. .. 9
Mints at Kirin and Moukden .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
New foreign bean mill established at the port .. . ■ .. .. 9
The wild silk industry .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
Tidal wave..................9
Railways in Manchuria .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
Tables-
Return of principal imports .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11
„ „ exports .. .. ............ .. 12
„ trade with foreign countries .. .. .. .. ..13
„ shipping................13
Total trade.
Highest oa
record.
Comparison
of last 10
years.
The gross value of the trade of the port of Newchwang con-
ducted in vessels of foreign type during the year 1896, amounted
to 22,829,712 Haikwan taels (3,804,952/.), exclusive of treasure
imported and exported of the value of 2,457...”
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“...were brought into the port by steamer. 20 years ago
(1876), 307,043 lbs. of foreign opium, of the value of 1,056,066
Haikwan taels, were imported, and it is safe to predict that in a
few years this drug will disappear altogether from the import
returns of the Imperial Maritime Customs, or continue only in
such insignificant quantities as are necessary to satisfy the
luxurious few.
Manchuria alone produces opium enough to supply the wants
of the population of its three provinces, and to admit of a con-
siderable export by cart and by junk to the northern provinces of
China. Shantung and Chihli supply Manchuria annually with
many thousands of labourers, who return to their homes after
harvest, and these men, instead of carrying back their earnings in
cash or silver, invest them in the valuable and portable drug,
which they frequently succeed in smuggling by steamer. During
the year under review a number of petty seizures were made, and
this induced the reporting at the custom-house of 20...”
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“...16,418 tons, valued at 69,440 Coal.
Haikwan taels (11,573/.), were imported liC.n Tientsin, is carried
into the interior, and consumed by the local blacksmiths.
The province of Feng-t'ien is )i-vi in carboniferous deposits, Permission
and only awaits proper development, and during 1896 an impetus mfne'coaUn
in this direction was given by the issue of licenses to prospectors Southern
for minerals generally. There are certain restrictions in the Manchuria,
matter of royalties, but so far as coal is concerned they are
exceedingly light. Manchuria continues to absorb sugar in large
quantities. The following table gives the quantities of foreign
(i.e., Hong Kong) and native sugar consumed during the last five
years:—
Quantity.
189?. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1890.
Brown 6ugar...... Whie „ ...... Candy „ ..... Lbs. 10,23-1,358 Is,200,075 1,049,578 Lbs. 15,801.706 4,438,310 811,s63 Lbs. 18,801,616 6,013,327 1,412,014 Lbs. 5,384,921 3,627,232 1,059,936 Lbs. 16,730.400 l\i>25 2l)0 l,5U!',0o6
Totai...”
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“...were also 1 American sailing vessel, 1
Danish, 2 French, and 2 Russian steamers.
Freights were low during the year, cargoes being carried to Freights low.
Japan and southern ports of China for as little as 7 and 8
Mexican dollar cents per picul.
There is a large passenger traffic between this port and Chefoo Large
and Tientsin; 15,471 natives departed for, and 31,221 arrived pasaeuger
from the former, and 2,322 shipped for, and 2,457 came from traffic-
the latter. As I have already stated, Manchuria depends greatly
on labour imported from Shantung and Chihli.
Early in the morning of September 26, a collision took place Collision
outside the bar of the Liao River between the German steamer the
" Falkenburg " and the British pilot schooner " Jeannette." The
latter sank in about 20 minutes after the collision and was totally
lost, all lives were saved.
The following table gives the percentage of the tonnage and
trade of the various flags engaged in the carrying trade of the
port:—...”
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“... .. Japanese Chinese .. .. 63-89 •11 15 -98 •46 •13 12-37 •55 8-62 7 '89 29-68 24-90 •19 •08 28-01 •88 15-68 •58 75-29 •10 8-18 •32 •08 8'03 •16 •60 7'24 64-44 •07 12 -15 •29 •08 12-78 •33 4-19 5-67
Total .. 100 100 100 100
Miscel-
laneous.
Heavy rains
in the
interior.
Increased
taxation.
Feng-t'ien
In my report for 1895 I predicted that the trade figures for
1896 would be very high if no disaster occurred, for the leeway
caused by the war and the Japanese occupation of Southern
Manchuria had to be made good, and the crops of 1895, on which
the trade of 1896 depended, were excellent. I regret to say that
in 1896 heavy rains were experienced in the Kirin and Hei-lung-
cliiang provinces, whence the great bulk of the export trade of
Newcliwang is derived, and caused so much damage to the stand-
ing crops that the fear of dearth compelled the Kirin authorities
to prohibit the export by cart from that province. The result is
that fewer carts have arrived at the port from the far interior...”
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“...mills will be started.
The increasing importance of Southern Manchuria as a wild Paw wild silk
silk district is being recognised, and a German firm has ail expert in(lvst,y
o o ' l awaits
superintending the reeling of this silk at a place some 30 miles to development,
the east of the port. It may well be asked, would it not pay to
establish a silk filature in this port? This wild silk has a lustre,
strength and elasticity unsurpassed by mulberry silk; but the
native method of reeling is very defective and highly injurious to
the silk itself.
On July 24 a tidal wave flooded this port and the low-lying Damage
lands of the Liaotung Peninsula, doing considerable damage to ca''615'1 by
standing crops, and especially to salt factories which draw 1 a w •
water by channels from the sea. The water rushed up these
channels and carried off and destroyed much of the salt already
stored for market.
The railway from Tientsin into Manchuria by way of Shan-hai- Mnnchurian
Kuan is gradually being pushed...”
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“...chiefly in kerosene oil and seaweed, from Vladivostock to
Kirin, and part of the produce of Hei-lung-Chiang and northern
Kirin has found its way down the Sungari to Eastern Siberia;
but, on the whole, the trade of Manchuria with the Primorsk
province has hitherto been comparatively insignificant. As
regards distance from the commercial centres of the province of
Kirin there is little to choose between Vladivostock and New-
chwang, and both ports are closed by ice in winter. The construc-
tion of the proposed Eailway from Newchwang to Kirin will give
a great impetus to trade, and its extension southwards to Ta-lien-
wan Bay just north of Port Arthur, which is open to navigation
all the year round, would tend still further to develop the
valuable resources of the whole of Manchuria.
In converting the figures on which this report is for the most
part based, and for early access to which I am indebted to the
courtesy of Mr. T. D. Moorhead, Acting-Commissioner of Customs
Exchange at this port...”
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“...newchwang.
13
Annex III.—Table showing Total Value of all Articles Exported
from and Imported to Newchang from and to Foreign
Countries during the Years 1896-95.
Country. Exports. Imports.
1896. 1895. 1896. 1895.
Great Britain Hong Kon? United Statesof America Continent of Europe .. Russian Manchuria Corea Japan Chinese ports £ 240 72,185 1,103 1,738 516,983 1,287,299 £ ■ 55,338 26 158,769 715,869 £ 1,774 269,045 249 339 12,148 6,860 23,416 1,038,291 £ 16,535 8,829 "l5 382,818
Total 1,879,548 930,002 1,352,152 403,196
Annex IV.—Return of all Vessels Foreign Owned, or of Foreign
Type, which have Entered the Port of Newchwang during
the Year 1896.
Nationality. I Sailing. Steam. Total.
Number of Vessels. m„„. ! Number of Tona- | Vessels. Tons. Number of Vessels. Tons.
British ...... German ...... Swedish and Nor- wegian ...... Japanese ...... Russian ...... French ...... Danish ...... American...... Chinese ...... Total ...... ,, for the year preceding 9 7...”
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