TIENTSIN
A37
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I
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.
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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 betting 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
TRADE IN 1935.
During the year Tientsin, the second largest trade centre in China and in recent years the focus of political activity in North China, enjoyed compara- tive prosperity in the sense that no major political disturbance arose to dislocate trade entirely. A general feeling of uncertainty, nevertheless, prevailed during the latter part of the year, causing banks to tighten their grip on finance and to restrict loans for commercial purposes. Free from civi! strife in the surrounding provinces and in a large measure unaffected by the serious floods which inundated Shantung, the port and its hinterland may be deemed, on the whole, to have been fortunate. The natural trading area, has, however, become sadly reduced, Manchuria being virtually closed to trade, traffic to Mongolia via Kalgan being non-existent, the provinces of Shansi and Suiyuan being more or less an economic bloc, and the provinces of Honan and Shensi continuing to be supplied in greater degrees by the successive extensions to the Lung-Hai Railway. The value statistics for the port in so far as they are recorded by the Customs were as follows: direct foreign imports, 85.2 million dollars as against 96.7 million in the preceding year: coastwise importations of Chinese merchandise, 114.2 million dollars as against 123.4 million; direct exportations to foreign countries, 91.2 million dollars as against 81.1 million; and coastwise exportations of Chinese product, 46.4 million dollars as compared with 56.7 million. The decline in the value of direct foreign imports is largely attributable to a decline in the import of cotton and woollen textiles, while the import of raw cotton fell from 20,000 to 600 quintals. Importations of gasolene, naphtha, and, benzine, improved from 11 million to 13.7 million litres, Netherlands India supplying 8.3 million litres and the United States of America 4.4 million litres. Russian interest provided only slightly over 7 per cent. of the total. There was an increase of 18.7 million litres of kerosene oil over the previous year's total of 70.9 million litres, the United States of America 'supplying 35.6 million litres, Netherlands India 33.3 million litres. Soviet Russia 10.5 million litres, and Japan 7.2 million litres. With a rise in the price of domestic groundnut oil, kerosene oil enjoyed a better sale in the interior. Common printing and newsprinting
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