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WHAT STOPS TARIFF REVISION,
(Daily Press, 6th. Mar. h.) To a casual observer it might seem strange that the question of the revision of the Tariff in China, which has been a matter for consi- derable discussion in England, should in China itself scarcely occupy a thought. It might, indeed, seem that our residents in China were so busily occupied in their own petty businesses that they failed to find time for the discussion of a topic so universal as the Tariff. It is now several months since
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
H.E. LI HUNG-CHANG was appointed by the Empress Dowager, Minister of Finance, with the express object of revising the Tariff and yet so little notice has been taken of so important a fact that not one meeting has been held nor one suggestion or recommen- dation made to the British or other Minis ters. Surely our critics will say: Such a people are little worth our sympathy or con- sideration, who permit so vital a subject to pass without a moment's consideration. The simple fact is that the residents in China are by this time too well aware of the ordin ary strategy of the Chinese not to perceive that the raising of the Tariff question is only an attempt to draw a red herring across the scent, and divert public opinion from the main facts of the case, which ar far deeper and more important at the moment than any question of Tariff. On this Tariff question, it may be stated that there is nothing new, and the communities have long ago made up their minds. The present rate of duties was fixed some forty years ago, on A schedule intended to represent as nearly The as possible a five per cent. scale. prices of staples have materially changed since then; and it would be simple work for a committee of experts to re-assess the values of commodities forming then the staples of trade, and to place an assessment on those new productions which have since entered to an important extent into the com- merce of the Far East. So far the problem is an easy one and involves no political question whatever. On the next stage there will be few differences of opinion, and those not international. The question is, what- rate should in fairness be fixed so as to press with the least weight on trade? It is generally conceded that the present rate may be increased without detriment, but how much? LI HUNG-CHANG, with his favourite device of introducing strife into the most simple discussion, said, "We want money; let us simply double the present tariff." Russin, the least concerned of the Great Powers, was disposed to con- sent; but Eugland, the most interested, dis- sented. On so simple a ground Li succeeded in producing a breach, which has had the effect of introducing Russia into Peking, and rendering China the shuttlecock of European diplomacy. With this question of Iperensing the Tariff comes in the question of improving its form, Here again the issues are simple, and, if only the various parties be permitted to agree, the result will be still more satisfactory to China than to the Powers. The whole of the present system of const-trade du- ties and transit-pass fees is eminently unsatisfactory to all concerned, and the chiet trading nations would willingly add the two and a half per cent as duty on all Imports, on condition that the present re- strictions should be removed. At present, only a fraction of the import trade pays this extra two and a half per cent; so that the proposal would be a direct and sub. stantial gain to the Imperial revenue. The opposition to this simple and profitable proposal comes, not from without, but from
an
| March 10, 1900.
revenue are the result of the crooked and
dishonest machinations of discredited states- men like Li HUNG-CHANG and his asso- cintes.
TE TELEGRAPH COMPANY'S GREEK GIFT.
(Daily Press, 7th March.) There are cases where liberality ceases to be a virtue and descends to the ordinary level of utility. An instance is shown in the base of the telegraph companies iu the Far East. The companies came forward at a time when the commercial issue was doubt- task of linking the Empire, and--all honour ful, and nobly accepted and carried out the to them--they have succeeded as they deserved, and have won a substantial re ward.
were
within, and, as usual, is made, by Chinese own deliberate invention, and the stumbling statesmen of the calibre of Li HuNG-CHANG, | blocks in the way of a vastly increased
opportunity for creating differences between the Powers. Divide et Impera is an old motto but one which requires higher qualities of statesmanship than are possessed by any Chinese statesman of this generation, to put in practise. Divide et Imperare re- presents more closely the form it has taken in actuality. The only hope indeed for China in her present predicament is to bring about such an understanding amongst the Powers as is inflicated by Mr. HAY's Me- morandum. But are statesmen such as Lt HUNG-CHANG, Prince CHING, JUNG-LU, or the utterly unprincipled YUEN SHI-KAI. capable of discerning this truth? Surely Mr. HAY's well-meant scheme. Russia not; and herein lies the great weakness of
might be supposed to grasp the plan and work in harmony and conjunction, but as long AS men like those we have helm, discord will always be found to mentioned remain in charge of the divide the Powers, and afford the means for separate action without contravening the promise given. In the interests of China, has long ago been pointed out how seriously as well as of foreign commercial states, it
the present regulations as to export duties hamper Chiua's powers of production. How speech made by the chairman at the sixth these affect China we may learn from a ordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Lau Kung-mow Cotton Mill at Shanghai In the course of his speech Mr F. ANDER- SON said:"During the year it is calcu- "lated that close upon a million and a quarter of taels have been paid in Shang "hai alone for wages and salaries in the cotton mills. Much of this money would "have been lost to China, but for the est- "ablishment of this industry, and under "these circumstances one would expect that the Government would be disposed to do all in its power to foster it; instead of this being the case, mills in China are handicapped in several ways compared "with Indian, Japanese or Hongkong mills. For instauce, we have to pay duty on “Indian and American cotton, on our stores "and coal, on paper, canvas, and hoops to “make our bales, and in addition have to pay duty on our yarn at the same rate as imported yarn; our competitors elsewhere are exempt from this double duty. Again "if we try to compete with spinners else "where in any market outside of China, we have to pay an export duty from which they are exempt; when we buy cot- ton from Hanków, or any other Treaty port in China, we have to pay coast-trade duty, which is in addition to the duty payable on yarn. It is to be hoped that the native authorities will be brought to see "that it is contrary to the interests of China to retard the development of such an im- portaut addition to the wealth of the country, and that before long they will follow the example of all progressive countries and endeavour to foster native "industry,"
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A few figures from the report will During the first half of 1898, gross earnings show how remarkable has been the advance. of the Eastern Extension lines £277,280; in the corresponding period of 1899 they advanced 17 per ent, to £324,360. Besides this the Company had a reserve of the net income was no less than £180,000. £1,200,000, of which upwards of a million had been invested, there being a further in- The Eastern Extension Company was not terest accruing from this of £25,000 a year. alone in the matter of prosperity. At the showed a gross income for the same half- same time the Braziling Cable Company
year of £119,000, against working expenses £22,000, and this Company likewise had upwards of a million (£1,016,000) of a reserve, £754,000 being actual money in- vested. Cable companies may then be said to have got over the first and most difficult portion of their lives, and may now be looked upon not as speculative bodies but as sound investments, from the magnitude of their operations and the public interests they subserve entering into the region of The Eastern Extension Com- public trusts. pany received in subsilics from the Aus- tralian Colonies during the half-year £18,300, and this of course still more plainly indicates its position with regard to the Empire. The Company, it is satisfactory to find, have, in conjunction with the Eastern Telegraph Company, in addition to their new cable to the Cape, made a proposition to the Australian Colonies to extend that cable to Perth and Adelaide free of any subsidy, and have further engaged to reduce charges to Australin to 4s. per word, with the eventual aim of reducing the tariff to 2s. 6d. on a sliding scale ns the traffic improves. So far we have nothing but congratulations to offer; the Company has again come to the assistance of the Empire at a time when it is sorely needed, and huis taken its theme in the laying of a new line to the Cape. In addi tion to this it has offered to supply an im portant link in the reue of British cables round the world, by duplicating with a deep sen cable, in waters where British naval supremacy has been ever in the ascendant, our communications with our Australasian dependencies. It is not for us, in these circumstances, to pry toʊ narrowly into the reasons that have conduced towards this magnificent offer of the Eastern Extension Company, and we would willingly refrain, but that there are circumstances connected with the affair which seem to point to other Quand less worthy motives as being those which really actuated the Company. It is not many months since this company, which here comes forward not only to lay a cable across the Southern Ocean, but in a fit of magnani- mity offers to take on its own shoulders all
On
Although Mr. ANDERSON's speech re ferred solely to the cotton-spinning industry, the same hampering restrictions are every productive industry in China;—ten, silk, straw-braid, coals, paper, sugar, &c., &c. Here is a burden which it lies in China's own hands to shake off, and in the removal of which she will have the assistance of all the nations, the whole, looked at from a practical point of view, an amended Tariff in China is one in which there is virtual accord amongst the nations having trading interests. Any difficulty has been China's