September 7, 1903.]
Sir HENRY BLAKE's successor, and in Hong- kong, at this difficult period in its history, much anxiety will be felt until we hear the name of our thirteenth Governor. Such candidates as have been suggested hitherto may be dismissed, for obviously the sug- gestions were based upon no more than a lively imagination. We most earnestly hope that the hojne Government will not forget that Hongkong is In over more rapidly growing place, the administration of which yearly grows more laborious, mentally and physically, to him who has to bear its burden. We believe that the next appointment will have a most im portant effect on this Colony's future. It is unnecessary to well up a the difficulties which will confront the ne v Governor. In the housing question alone he will have before him a task of enormous magnitude. Un ler Sir HENRY BLAKE's rule Hongkong has begun to tackle that question seriously, but that there is a very long way to go before it can be settled satisfactorily who will deny ?
THE OPENING OF COREA.
(Daily Press, 3rd September.) The North China Daily News publishes a special telegram from Tokyo, dated the 28th August, which says that a semi-official denial has been given (presumably by Corea) to the statement that the Russo-Coreau agreement as to Yong-ampho has been signed, and that it is understood that Japan threatens that in the event of the conclusion of the agreement she will regard the whole of Curea as open to foreign trade.
This telegram does not make the situation less puzzling. It was reported in Japan recently that the Russian Minister at Seoul regarded the origina lease of load at Yong-ampho as of no advantage to his country, while it, might cause trouble with other Powers, and consented to its cancellation. But it was further reported that he had lodged a new demand, more detailed than the previous agreement and claiming a larger area, to which he was pressing the Corean Foreign Minister to assent. According to the Mainichi's Seoul correspondent the Coreau Emperor instructed the Foreign Minister to grant a lease of a small area of ground to the Russians, and the Minister intended to coinply with the Russian demands relative to Yong-ampho and then open the Yalu to the world's trade, to sa'isfy Great Britain and Japan. It is plain that Japan, at least, will not ba satisfied with the mere opening of the Yala i return for an exclusive Russian concession at Yong-ampho, and this is not to be wondered at. Japan very naturally considers that an advantage to Russia in Corea should be counterbalanced by one to her, and not only by an opening up of part of the country to the trade of the world in general. The Asahi is of opinion that the difficulty will shortly be settled by the opening of Wiju and a compromise of the Yong-ampho lease affair, Corean officials being increasingly in favour of such a termination to the trouble. But will this be a settlemout? There seems to us little ground for supposing so. It will be open for Russia immediately to raise the question of a grant in some other part of Corea, pursuing her policy of the past few years, and once more the Russo-Japanese see-saw at Seoul will be set going. Other Powers, may be argue may have little interest in Corea. But all are deeply interestel in the peace of North-east Asia, which is per petually menaced by intrigues of Russia in Northern Corea and at the court of Seoul. No settlement of the Manchurian question
it
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
which does not at the same time take into consideration Corean affairs will bring relief to the strained situation. The British Minister at Seoul seems to be to a certain extent acting in harmony with his Japanese colleague, but the decision of the inatter will not be made at Seoul.
?
FOOCHOW'S TRADE IN 1902.
Country.
British
Other foreign Chinese ports
Totil
Imports.
1901. £
1962. £
It
Exports. 19.)1. 19 12.
£
£
33 1,867
766,808 661,844 447,453 228,831
50,767 89,256 120,874 G1,8.5 543,333 478,038 512,36 1,419,380 1,294, 43 : 1,046,365 1.070,057 It is to be noted that these values being in sterling, no attention is paid to the fall in exchange. This is to be regretted, as it is impossible to arrive at a just estimate of the situation without considering the price of silver. As a matter of fact, the tael fell from an average of 23. 11 d. in 1901 to one of 23. 74d. in 1902, a drop which makes a very considerable difference in comparing the two years. Nevertheless, as far as British trade is concerned, such a fact does not make the state of affairs better. British imports and exports both fell off lamentably compared with other imports and exports, and China ports exports made an enormous gain compared with the drop in British exports.
苦满
175
teas of China on the pinnacle they once
occupied, would be too much of the nature of a miracle to be safely looked for." | Still the demand in America increased, so that the export of tea in 1902 was greater that that in 1901.
The future of Foochow certainly does not look promising. The exploitation of mines in Fohkien might bring benefit to the port, where there is already & Mining Board authorities, who evidently anticipate a established by the provincial
steady demand for concessions. But there appears little other hope on the horizon.
PLAGUE TREATMENT AT KENNEDYTOWN,
(Daily Press, 31st August.)
(Daily Press, 4th September.) The future of the old port of Foochow appears to be gloomy in the extremne. is some years now since it became necessary to look upon Foochow as a decaying place, but the drop in prosperity recorded last year was as serious as ever. The trade report for 1902 made for the British Foreign Office by Mr. Consul PLAYFAIR announces a falling off to the value of In the issue of the Government Gazette over £100,000 compared with the figures of which was published on Saturday morning 1901, a fall from £2,465,745 to £2,364,490. is contained a report, addressed to the The drop was entirely ons in British goods. Principal Civil Medical Officer by Dr. J. Trade with China ports remained fairly C. Taoмs N, on the plague-cases treated stationary; non-British foreign trade al- at Kenedy Town Hospital during the vanced from £171,641 to £420,123; but recent epidemic. At the date when Dr. British trade fell from £1,214,257 in THOMSON wrote, the 6th July, the epidemic 1901 to £888,674 in 1902, a decrease of
was not entirely over. 282 case, had been no less than £325,583. A table of exports admitted to the hospital of whon 171 hid and imports during 1901 and 1902 gives died, 87 had been discharged, and 24 were the figures of foreign and China ports still in hospital but convalescent and almost trade thus:-
certain to recover. The important point in Dr. THOMSON's report is its description of the results obtained from the use of carbolic acid in plague treatment. D.. THOMSON says that, fresh curative sorum being un- available and that imported from Europe having last year proved useless, he con- tinued trials made by him in the two previous epidemics of oil of cinnamon. After thirty cases he abandoned it as without value. After treating more than a hundred cases on general principles, Dr. THOMSON Sys, on the 18th May Dr. ATKINSON proposed to him a further trial of carbolic acid, in larger doses than he had previously used at Kennedy Town. He bad, he says in his report, used the drug in over 200 cases in 1901 in 80- grain doses daily and did not think it had produced_much effect. This year, after hearing Dr. ATKINSON's suggestion, he administerel no less than 141 grains of carbolic acid daily, in two hourly doses of twelve grains each, in a mixture flavoured with syrup of orange and chloroform water. With these enormous dos g ---one European patient took over 2,500 grains of pure carbolic acid before plague bacilli left his blood-Dr. THOMSON expected evidence of carbolic acid poisoning, but it was prac tically unknown. As a result of his observations in 143 case Dr. THOMSON considers the administration of carbɔ'ic acid in large doses the mast hopeful means of treating plague thus far at our disposal here. "Carbolic acid," he writes, "is of undoubted value in the treatment of plague when given in such doses as to allow of its sufficient concentration in the blood to exert its antisepti ac ion on the bacilli." He gives tables showing the comparative rates of mortality before ad after the use of carbolic acid, an 1 though it must be remembered that the treatment with the drug was commence late in the ep'demie, when the disease was less virulent, still a decline from 85.6 per cent. to 36.4 per cent. is sufficiently remarkable. And it must be noted that the average mortality__am ng plague patients at Kounely To vu Hospital in 1903 (down to the 6th July) was verį much smaller than in any of the previous plague epidemic years. Nevertheless, Dr. THOMSON is not prepared to admit that carbolic acid is a specific remedy, and he urges on the attention of H.E. the Governor
Turning to shipping we find that British vessels continue to be preeminent as freight-carriers, but nevertheless their figures fell off both in number of vessels and in tonnage, whereas the total numbers of vessels entered and cleared made a notable advance and the total tonnage showed a trifling gain. 30 Japanese vessels, of over 8,000 tons. were chiefly responsible for this. Obviously Britain is gradually losing the tra le of Foochow, which, though declining, is surely worth a struggle. Mr. PLAYFAIR mentions that the importation of rice into Fohkien is tolerably constant, and that its importation from Burma might easily become a thriving industry. But we do not know that any practical steps are being taken in Burna. As for the export trade in tea, Mr. PLAYFAIR says that one British merchant, taking the advice given by him in his report on Foochow in 1901 strove earnestly to give the counsels a concrete form, but not with the success he hoped. He gave the wheel of the "Foochow tes-cart a vigorous heave, but "it has sunk back into the rut and, I am 'afraid, will remain hogged. No single "effort could avail, and cohesion in the Far East tea-trade appears to be a hopeless consummation. I remain of the opinion that in alvertisemaut lies the only real remedy; for a sudden change "in popular taste, which should replace the
64
46
SI
|