434
Z
The total reported Import Trade of the Port for 1904 amounted to 26,588 vessels of 11,205,516 tons, carrying 7,889,978 tons of cargo, of which 4,738,052 tons were discharged at Hongkong. This does not include the number, tonnage, or cargo of Junks or Steam Launches employed in Local Trade.
Similarly, the Export Trade from the Port was represented by 26,639 vessels of 11,199,850 tons, carrying.3,436,726 tons of cargo, and shipping 670,811 tons of bunker coal.
Seventy-six thousand three hundred and four (76,301) Emigrants left Hong- kong for various places during the year; of these, 52,496, were carried by British Ships and 23,808 by Foreign Ships; 149,195 were reported as having been brought to Hongkong from places to which they had emigrate 1, and of these, 121,735 were brought in British Ships and 27,460 by Foreign Ships.
The total Revenue collected by the Harbour Department during the year was ' $300,933.95, being an increase of $15,645.53 on the previous year :---
1. Light Dues, .
2. Licences and Internal Revenue,
3. Fees of Court and Office,
$ 72.330.16
62.418.00 166,185.79
Total...................
.$300,933.95
(b.) INDUSTRIES.
For the first ten months of 1904 the Cotton Spinning industry suffered severely from the abnormally high price of Raw Cotton, and during the whole of that period short-time was resorted to. From November onwards a good demand was experienced for Yarn and full-time again adopted, but it was not until the middle of December that, as a result of large crops of Cotton in the chief producing countries, the cost of the raw material declined to a figure that permitted of spin- ning being carried on at a profit. At the end of 1904 the outlook for the industry was encouraging, and, provided the price of Cotton keeps at a reasonable level, the result of the working for 1905 is expected to be highly satisfactory.
The Sugar industry in the Colony during 1904 resulted in large profits to the two local refineries. Owing to the scarcity of supplies in consequence of the large deficiency in the European Beet Crop, prices gradually advanced throughout the year, without checking demand; the quantity of refined Sugar consumed in China largely exceeding that of any previous year, while there was also a good demand from other markets.
41 Steam-launches and other vessels with an aggregate tonnage of 7,290 were built during the year.
The other large industries in the Colony connected with repairing and docking ships and the manufacture of cement and rope, are in a prosperous condition.
(c.) FISHERIES.
A considerable proportion of the boat-population of Hongkong supports itself by deep-sea fishing, in which pursuit a large number of junks are engaged. The villages of Aberdeen, Stanley, Shaukiwan, and many others in the New Territory are largely dependent upon this industry for their prosperity. Fresh-water fish is imported from Canton and the West River.
Rules for the regulation, control, and licensing of Oyster Fisheries in the New Territories were made during the year.
(d.) FORESTRY, BOTANICAL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE,
111,198 trees were planted in Hongkong during the year including 105.645 pine and 1,978 camphor trees. It was proprosed at the commencement of the year to introduce a scheme for felling and re-planting pine forests on the block system with a twenty-five years rotation. But as the scheme was looked upon