A 44
TIENTSIN
:
تھے
British subjects and five shall be Chinese. Candidates must be nominated by two electors and all electors are eligible to serve on the Council. The mini mum qualification for any voter, irrespective of nationality, is the payment of Tls. 200 per annum in respect of land-tax or rental assessment tax or the occupation of premises of an assessed annual rental value of Tls. 600.
i
"
A feature of Tientsin which arrests the attention of visitors is the open-air storage of cargo on the British and French Bunds, which have thus become in effect a "general godown. A great deal of confusion and congestion formerly existed from this practice, but the British Municipality has since elaborated an excellent; scheme whereby the Bund is divided into numbered steamer-sec- tions and storage-spaces, and the roadway is now kept clear of cargo, The result has more than justified expectations, and the orderly storage of goods in marked-off spaces not only allows a proper control to be kept over all such cargo but has facilitated communications by keeping the carriage-way clear of obstructions.
The Racecourse is situated about 3 miles to the west of the Gordon Hall and comprises a very valuable property of about 1,227 mow of land. New batting buildings of reinforced concrete, which surpass anything of the description in the Far East, were constructed in 1921.
In spite of the general trade depression, the Chinese Government Tele- phone Administration registered an increase both in activity and in revenue for the year 1930. An extension of lines was made in the west end of the na- tive city in May, and another was made in the Hopei district in December. There was a partial change to automatic machines, which are greatly appre ciated by the subscribers. At present there are 11 long-distance lines operat ing between Tientsin and places as far afield as Peiping and Shenyang, while a relay service was established between Tientsin and Antung, Dairen, Port Arthur, and Japan.
I
}
TRADE IN 1934
"
After the alarming events of the previous year, it was only to be expected that a certain amount of anxiety, should prevail as to the outcome of the discussions regarding the Sino-Japanese situation in North China, but it may be said at once that, apart from the uneasiness that is prone to disturb trading circles in such circumstances. Tientsin had nothing to complain of regarding political conditions in its neighbourhood during the year under review. The no thern crops gave nearly à normal yield, and the only noticeable adverse features of the period were the floods which occurred where the Yellow River traverses the southern part of the province, and some disturbance of the money market owing to the unusual exodus of silver (amounting to 23.3 million dollars' worth) to foreign countries. The value statistics for the trade of the port, in so far as they are recorded by the Customs, were as follows: direct foreign imports, 96.7 million dollars as against 120.8 million in the preceding year (a 20 per cent. decrease) coast wise importations of Chinese produce, 123.4 million dollars as against 111.4 million (à 10 per cent, increase): direct exportations to foreign countries, 81.1 million dollars as against 88.5 million (an 8 per cent. decrease); and, coastwise exportations of Chinese produce, 56.7 million dollars as against 67.9 million (a 16 per cent. decrease). The considerable decline in the value of direct foreign imports could be ascribed almost entirely to the lesser arrivals of cereals and flour from abroad, since a decrease in value of almost 20 million dollars was registered for this group of commodities alone, but, of course, important variations occurred in the statistics for many other items. Noticeable decreases were recorded for instance, under most of the headings for cotton piece goods, petroleum products, and sugar; while increases were recorded for woollen gobds, artificial silk floss and yarn, metals and orės, machinery and tools, vehicles land vessels, timber (the four, latter headings being helped by rails, rolling stock, and other materials for the Tatung Puchow
::
**
i
I
い
+