Angust 2, 1902.]
!
estimates on prices paid to the agents of manu- facturers last season and unable, or unwilling, to consider any other form of money, could not see why all gords quoted at no advance on the gold price of last year, should now require in payment more silver dollars than goods of that class did before. Apparently some of them did not wish to understand the reason, and those who said that they did understand it declined to close contrac's on the ground that however enlightened they themselves might have become on the subject, their customers had so much trouble to pay the prices demanded last year, that they could not afford the advance and that it would be quite us less to lay in stocks for them, since if everyone of them should become con- versaut with the philosophy of exchange and quotations, that understanding would add no cash to their slender stores, and the goods would remain unsold. Clothing must of course be had at some time, and the gold price must be paid, no matter what the quotation for silver may do. This prospect would turn to the credit of foreign houses, to be expressed in accounts later on, were it not that native opportunity arises from it, and native capital and com- mercial skill have joined to relieve the situation and supply and anticipate demands on terms of which foreign houses have not dreamed, and which possibly none of them could be induced to favour. Foreign organisation could hardly be devised-certainly not at short notice to deal efficiently with the mass of native credits. The syndicates of native capital'sts who have undertaken to try to capture trade find the field in readiness for them as soon as they enter it, and instead of having a struggle, tr.de actually awaits them.
This place promises to be the scene of some of their work. They have gone deep into their treasure-boxes to provide the wherewithal for what they have to do. So far as now appears, they must carry stocks and credits for inland merchants not only on easier terms than the
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
respect. It has not been definitely disclosed who compose the native syndicates which are entering the field. It is said that syndicate operations will cover not culy Chihli, Manchuria, and at let the borders of Mongolia, but that they have been enlisted to try also the territory sweeping southwestward from Chefoo, and that capital and credits behind them represent 50,000,000 faels. Since American goods alone worth one-third of that sum enter the ter itory in which the enterprise will pursue its activities, it may be generally calculated that in establishing credits in America and in Europe, whereby manufacturers in those lands would be offered cash for goods, at least at the beginning, in the conduct of a banking business in the North, which would permit native merchants to carry-nor mal stocks, and let payments for them run from six months to a year; in encouraging consumption and widening the market by enabling merchants to give consumers as easy terms as they think will be safe; and in the infinite detail attendant upon spirited competition and in impressing natives with the des.rability of confiding native trade to native agencies, a capital as large as that of the foreign commission houses in the North would not be excessive. Those who speak for this enterprise say that if patriotism and business do not go hand in hand, sentiment here may fairly be expected to look favourably upon a project which seeks to turn to home channels benefits that have heretofore accrued to outsiders. A plan so ambitious cannot be expected to acquire full momentum for some time, and foreign influences may contrive means to sidetrack it. Effort in that direction must be applied quickly, for a movement which commands admiration for its daring can at no time be checked with as little difficulty as at the beginning. Those whe have interested to mselves in it. while actuated by commercial motives, feel stimulated by a racial pride, in great danger of being crushed in the
CANTON,
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Canton, 26th July.
THE CANTON-HANKOW LINE, The question of the Canton-Hankow Rail- way has been in abeyance for months, but it is only waiting for the American superinten- dent of the Railway Company to come to Canton here that the superintendent is a man of great to settle certain ar angements. It is reported experience, formerly assisting the Railway Commissioner in the North. He has come with a Taotai named Wong Chan Sing to Canton begin in Wongsha, north of as his assistant. The Cant n railway will Shameen, thence across an and so westward.
4
iron bridge to Fatsban, Another branch is from the South and East gates to. In Tong. lines are to meet in the upper region_of Samsui, and Chingyün, further north. Both
Wuchow and the West River. The supply of labour is undertaken by a Lai Yak Tong, who has been to America before, but has now come back to China for that purpose, and the iron and machinery are to b supplied by the Railway Company.
REBELLION8.
man
The rebellion in Kwangsi is not yet entirely suppressed, the districts from Yam Chow to Lim Chow being still occupied by the rebels, who keep up the struggle against the troops under the command of General (han Ping Chik. The latter has again applied to the Viceroy for reinforcements. The rebels in Kwangi Jare destroyed the telegraph wires and poles that connected Nam Ning prefecture with other places.
The officials of the Ka Hing Chow district have sent petitions to the Viceroy requesting reinforcements of soldiers, as the disturbance in the district of Hing Ning is getting worse
old rative banks would extend, but with lighter | foreigu scramble for gain in this region unless day by day and the banditti there are very.
|
impositions than the compradores of foreign houses could possibly arrange.
An inland merchant with whom they think it safe to deal will be favoured with goods and credits to almost ny extent that he may ask, under conditions that will not bear heavily upon him and which will yet enable him to give his customers the lowest prices and the long st credits that the market will warrant. In time the customer must bow to the apparent advance in prices, but while reconciling themselves to that blow at their calculations, they neid not go without clothing of which most of them stand in need, household as well as store stocks having run tow in the last year. Since the syndicates cannot expect indulgences from the manufac- turers of the goods sent to the market, but must be prompt in payments, in order to in- gratiate themselves with the manufacturers, now for the first time dealing directly with native buyers, the capital required for the operation may well be enormous. To the extent that this enterprise may succeed, foreign commission houses must lose trade that might have been theirs, and they may feel more immediate effects of the movement by losing also much trade which they felt they had secure. The territory to be fed from this point will overlap foreign connection obtained at Tientsin, on one side, and Newchwang on the other, extending through a belt of country that is pop ulons and profitable. Should the port become a favoured one, there is no reason in sight why it should not import cottens, flour, timber, and tobacco well over the Manchurian border and out toward the plains, and gather in return for export the wool, hides, and straw-braid staples which the natives over that territory usually exchange for the supplies they need. The port could not expect to enjoy more than a share of such trade; but the greater the need of inland merchants and consumers for long credits the more busines will this or any other stronghold of native capital and energy be able to secure; and if patience and money hold out, it is difficult to see Low foreign commission houses can avoid feeling that there is a determined effort to make them work hard to stay in this section, or to crowd them out altogether. This is a good place for a test of commercial strength. It requires bold, ness to make it, as well as money, for the foreign hold has always been strong, and an effort to loosen it must be ambitious enough to command
some drastic means be adopted to protect it. They are convinced that battles in politics must be uneven, with the advantage on the other side. The territorial absorption which they have witnessed, they can ot hope to control, and they have no thought, from any indications that they can see, of any reversion of land practically alienated from the empire. Aware of their strength as traders, they regard its use as the only chance of saving for the Chinese the prizes which an industrial China holds out.
his spot appeals to some of them as suited to that sort of effort Its accessibility at all seasons, its convenience for inland transporta tion and a present control of it largely native, combine, in their view, to give it advantages. The coal projects of the company indicate a fresh awakening on Chinese behalf. There are coal-hills in great tracts, and when the output shall reach 3,000 tons per day, as is expected by the time the port improvements are completed, the company hopes to exclude the monopoly which foreign coal has at China ports. Just now in this region native capital seems alive to opportunities that may scon prove elusive and it seems earnestly disposed to make the best port
on the North coast the centre of its activities.
Several Japanese provinces are showing a keen interest in the Hanoi Fxhibition, which opens on the 2nd November this year, and already 500 intending exhibitors have sent in their names; specimens of the agricultural, industrial, and artistic products of Kobe, Osaka, Kioto, and other places will form one feature of the pro
In addition, three important posed exhibits. porcelain and
Satsuma-ware factories have decided to send workmen to Hanoi to fit up workshops and kilns for the manufacture of these goods, and Chinese potters skilled in the fashioning of the well-known cloisonné ware are also to be rent to the Exhibition. There is in Japan a strong movement in favour of the Exhibition, and not only is the Chamber of Commerce vieing with the Commercial and Indus trial Society of Japan in promoting its interests, but the Minister for Agriculture and Commerce has appointed a committee to receive app lien- tions from intending exhibitors and generally to organise the local programme in connection with the Exposition; this committee has been granted credit by the Minister to the amount of 10,000 yen.
fierce. The one battalion of Kwang I Kwan
soldiers sent to fight with the robbers was not
enongh.
The Tried Society rebels in Sew Hing, Lo Ting. Yeong Kong, and other places have started a fresh rebellion, and Worg Fung, the late Magist ate of Sun Tak, is ordered to take command of tl ree batallions of coldiers to fight them.
SWATOW.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Swatow, 24th July.
CHINESE TELEGRAPH ADMINISTRATION. It would be mere correct to name the above a maladministration as far as the local branch office is concerned. It is now close on two mentbs that the lines have been interrupted, and the cfficials here view this neglect d state of affairs in their characteristic inert manner, I am told that 20 soldiers are supposed to guard and look after the telegraph lines of the Swatow
are
district. The public will, however, be amazed to learn that this task is performed by four soldiers only! It is therefore not surprising that the state and condition of the telegraph poles here and in the interior baffle description. This also appears to be the primary cause why telegrams arrive here so frequently mutilated- naturally a constant source of embarrassment to the receivers. Complaints are heard on all sides, but no redress 18 ever obtained. It is every where a recognised usage to inform the public when the telegraph lines broken down and inoperative. The office ere, for obvious reasons, makes an exceptionțto that rule and keeps such matters secret, with the consequence that the mercantile community is in total ignorance. Telegrams for the North are sent by this office by post to Hongkong and thence wired to their destination. This is done withcut the sender's knowledge. That such a course means a great loss to business people need not be pointed out. The : nomalies existing here in this office are various and affect prin- cipally the Chinese. What I particularly wish to emphasise is the utter disregard of privacy which the cffice displays about telegraphic messages. Almost anybody can have access to telegrams transmitted through it. sericus breach of rules ought to be ɛcon remedied. It would be interesting to know if
Such a