922
CANTON
and the fine ancestral temple of the Chan family are among other show places. The French Mission have a large and handsome Gothic cathedral, with two fofty towers surmounted by spires, in the city. The structure is entirely built of dressed granite A Mint, constructed by the late Viceroy Chang Chih-tung, near the East Gate, and furnished with a very complete plant, commenced work in 1889, and now issues silver dollars and subsidiary coins, as well as copper cents, Tac buildings cover a large area. On the opposite side of the river the Honam Temple and Monastery form the principal attractions, and in the same neighbourhood the firing, sorting and sift- ing of tea, the preserving of ginger, and the packing of rattans, cassia, etc., may be seen. The founding of bells and the dyeing of paper and cotton fabrics are two of the chief industries of Fatshan, some 10 miles from Canton. There are large glass-works at Fatei, and paper-mills-these with up-to-date European machinery-near the village of Impo. At Shekwan, seven miles from Fatshan, are extensive potteries. Much has been done during the past year or two to develop home industries. New factories have sprung up like mushrooms. At Honam an up-to-date cotton-spinning factory, equipped with modern machinery, has been erected by a local company with a capital of $5,000,000, and is expected to produce sufficient yarn to meet local requirements. Canton has now five large factories and several hundred workshops for producing hosiery and underwear, the trade in which is flourishing owing to the high cost of the foreign-made article. A rubber vulcanising factory, founded by some returned Singapore Chinese in 1921, turns out rubber tyres, shoe soles and rain coats, which meet with a ready sale. The production of leather is another fairly successful local enterprise. A foundry for the manufacture of copper sheathing from ore mined in the province is working with satisfactory results. Locally-made matches are exported as far as the Straits Settlements. The Canton Coment works are reported to have made a profit of $300,000 in 1921, and the Chukong Motorboat Company is building some 50 excellent launches a year fitted with American motors. The population of Canton has been estimated at 2,500,000 by the Customs authorities.
When the foreign merchants returned to Canton to establish trade after the capture of the city by the English at the close of 1857, they found the factory and the buildings along the river in ruins. Recourse for accommodation was consequently had to warehouses on the Honam side of the river. Considerable discussion subsequently took place as to the selection of a site for a permanent British settlement, and it was eventually determined that an extensive mud flat known as Shameen should be filled in and appropriated. In 1859 an artificial island was created there, a canal constructed between the northern side of the site and the city, and solid and extensive embankments of masonry built. It took about two years to complete this undertaking, and cost no less than $325,000. Of this sum four-fifths were defrayed by the British, and one-fifth by the French Government, to whom a portion of the reclaimed land was given. Up to 1889 most of the French concession remained unutilised, but in that year a number of lots were sold and are now built upon. The French also received a grant of the old site of the Viceroy's Yamên, on which the Catholic Cathedral now stands. Shameen is pleasingly laid out with gardens and tennis courts, and the roads are shaded with well-grown trees. Christ Church (Church of England) stands at the western end, and close to it are situated the Masonic Hall, Boat House and Club. Handsome new premises, costing half-a-million dollars, for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation were opened in Central Avenue on October 29th, 1921. There is a Roman Catholic church on the French Concession. The Settlement contains good hotel accommodation. During an anti-foreign riot on the 10th September, 1883, sixteen houses and the Concordia Theatre on the Settlement were burned by the mob.
In consequence of the decline in the importance of Canton as a place of trade, caused principally by the opening of some of the northern ports, many of the merchants by whom lots were purchased there in 1861, at enormous prices, withdrew from Canton altogether. For many years the trade transacted there by foreigners was limited, but since 1900 an appreciable increase has been noticeable. Though trade has been interfered with by acute political disturbances and the bad effect of the European war, the net value of the trade of the port coming under the cognisance of the Foreign Customs during the past ten years has shown a steady increase, as will be seen from the following figures:-Hk. Tls. 165,232,378 in 1921; Hk. Tls. 140,814,317 in 1920; Hk. Tls. 147,953,136 in 1919; Hk. Tls. 103,226,078 in 1918; Hk. Tls. 102,844,910 in 1917; IIk. Tls. 109,081,638 in 1916; Hk. Tls. 103,817,195 in 1915; Hk. Tls. 105,296,323 in 1914; Ik. Tls. 112,285,888 in 1913; and Hk. Tls. 96,170,631 in 1912.
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