274
CHINA'S TRADE IN 1903.
(Daily Press, 5th April.) The Foreign Trade of China during 1903 is described by the Statistical Secretary of the Imperial Maritimes Customs in his annual review of the financial results of the year as having been disappointing to most of the interests concerned, notwithstanding ap- parent prosperity indicated by inflated The Reports from the
values.". Commissioners,"
show
"all
LL
"
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
i
f
was
falling off in rice and flour, and a decrease is shown in kerosine oil and sugar; but coal, machinery and railway plant continue to be imported in ever increasing quantities. The war precludes the hope that this year will show any better returns than last so far as trade in the North is concerned, but there is no apparent reason why a more flourishing business should not be expected in the South.
GERMAN AND BRITISH RAILWAYS IN CHINA.
or,
[April 9, 1904. and the conditions prevailing in 1903 have | have anticipated this date by nearly three "driven the peasant to take less of the months, for the first through train to woven fabric and to substitute for it Tsinan-fu was run on the 15th ultimo. The "the yarn with which he and his family may whole distance, 406 kilometres, or 252 miles, themselves weave the material for their from Tsingtao to Tsinan-fu, is therefore clothing to the extent of 52 per cent. of now open to traffic, within about five years "cotton goods." Manchester, Lowell and of the date of securing the concession. This Atlanta have alike suffered, and only the is much better progress then has been made products of the Japanese mills show a con- by the Belgian-American Syndicate, but trary tendency, "increase in these being how does it compare with that achieved by "manifested all along the line."
the British Syndicate who appeared to be Mr. MORSE observes, No very noticeable change is shown in so eager and so anxious to introduce the
in metals refer
there to woolleus, but รข tendency to
iron horse into the Celestial Empire, and increase 'the year 1899 the last
A8
in year of a substantial
quantity more especially to connect the British prosperous trade. Followed as that was and fifty per cent. in value. Larger colony of Hongkong with the great and
production by the year of maduess and retribution, local
about brought
a busy capital of Kwangtung! Comparisons "by the disastrous floods in the Yangtse
are sometimes odious, we know, but it is Valley in 1901, and by the drought and
frequently both necessary and useful to deficient crops in the South in 1902, the
institute them, however distasteful they may "abundant harvests of 1903 have failed
be to some of the parties interested. In "to produce their natural effect, and have
this case it is not only extremely necessary "done no
more than give a breathing
to make this comparison, but it is also a spell to the millions of the Empire.'
duty we owe to the Colony and to all those Going into particulars, the Report states
interested in British trade with South China, that Tea, favoured by reduced taxation, has
for the matter of that, with any done well, and the trade in Foreign Opium
portion of the Far East. As against has flourished; but the Silk crop was a
252 miles of railway laid in Shan- disastrous failure in Mid-China, while
tung, connecting the capital of the province Cotton Goods, as all traders are aware,
with the German port. of suffered by the increased cost of raw
Tsingtao, what have the British Syadi- material owing to the speculation in the
cate to show? Not one yard of railway, home markets, as well as by unexpected
not a single so cut, not even a proper fluctuations in exchange, and by monetary
survey made! This is the fact, and it stringency in the large consuming districts
reflects most severely not alone on the Syndicate or Corporation but also upon British enterprise generally, and it is naturally calculated to lower British com- mercial prestige in the whole of the Far East. Attention has at last been directed t this apparently inexplicable delay in utilising the concession gained with no little difficulty from the Peking Government, and the circumstances have been widely commented upon in public and by the Press, but still there is no sign of any active movement on the part of the con- cessionaires. The British-Chinese Corpora tion must, however, wake up, and that speedily, or there will soon be an agitation for the cancellation of their privilege and its transfer to some body or company able and willing to proceed at once with the undertaking. Every month of lost time will now be jealously counted, and this colony will do well, unless satisfactory proofs are soon forthcoming of an intention. to proceed with the railway, to memorialise the Colonial Office on the subject.
of the North which had not recovered from the disturbances of 1990. What prospects of an early revival of trade existed early last year were hopelessly blighted towards the close by the uncertainty of the political situation which has since culminated in the war. In the Lower Yangtse Valley the records show good crops of rice and tea, but the volume of imports did not come up to expectations. In the South it is noted that Kwangtung had two excellent rice harvests, and that the Viceroy has energetically taken measures for the repression of the dacoity in Kwangsi which has so much disturbed the province in recent years, and has also done his best to put a stop to piracy ou the waterways. addition to all these transient causes sug- gested for the depression of trade Mr. Rose does not omit to mention the burden of the recurring indemnity payments. Wa Leed not repeat that the amount exacted by the officials from the people for this purpose is probably double, and perhaps treble the sum demanded by the Powers, and the absorbing power of the people must be correspondingly reduced.
:
!
(Daily Press 6th April.)
In our issue of yesterday we published some interesting statistics of the progress of the German colony of Kiaochau, which shows a satisfactory rate of development generally. It is true that Germany is spending money very freely on this possession, and that it is not at present paying any interest on that expenditure; but the German Government look confidently to the time when the capital now being laid out will yield good results, if not directly then indirectly by feeding German trade and shipping. Already the trade of Kiaochau has increased enormous. ly, the returns for 1903 showing that it had doubled as compared with the trade of the preceding
the
year. Meantime six factory buildings and a silk spinning mill have been built, a concession acquired for a steam corn mill, numerous houses and godowns Inhave arisen, a brewery is being established, and a fourth nickfield has been opened. Muning syndicates are also busily engaged in exploring the hinterland of the Colony, and the results of their labours (Shantung being fairly rich in minerals) will no doubt soon be apparent. The work of afforesta- tion is being systematically carried on, as our German frien is believe very strongly in the
THE TIBETAN QUESTION. ameliatory influences of forests on climate, and it is asserted that the young
(Daily Press, 8th April.) plantations already established have had a beneficial effect on the rainfall and have The advance of the British Mission into
Alto-Tibet is being watched with the greatest increased the fruitfulness of the soil.
interest all over the world. The "Roof gether the German Government have reason to believe that the money so freely lavish- of the World," as the country of the ed on their Far Eastern dependency has Dalai Lama has been not inaptly termed, not been wasted, and that an object lesson is still the theme of general speculation curiosity, all European travel- for the Chinese in North China has been | and created by their efforts.
lers having been s jealously excluded that the progress of It is, however, when we come to regard from its capital the work done on the Shantung Railway Colonel YOUNGHUSBAND's force is natur- that we in Hongkong find our object lesson.ally followed very closely. The determined The concession for making the railway was acquired in 1899, the same year in which the British-Chinese Corporation obtained their concession to construct a railway from Kowloon to Canton, to join the liue to be built by the Belgian-American Syndicate from Wuchang to Canton. Early in 1903, the first section of the Shantung Railway, namely from Tsingtao to Chon-tsun, a was opened distance of 303 kilometres,
traffic. It was expected to regular that the remaining portion, to Tsinan-fu, the capital of Shantung, would be completed by the 1st June, 1904, but the contractors
The statistics themselves form an interest. ing study. The apparent total value of the trade in 1903 was 540 million taels, which the Statistical Secretary points out is almost exactly double the figures of ten years ago, and two per cent. better than in 1902. But this is not so satisfactory as it seems, for value is not a safe guide to determining the volume, which shrunk, and to no small degree. This discrepancy between the stan dards of quantity and value is most clearly shown in cotton. Plain fabrics showed a loss of 29 per cent in quantity last year, but in value the loss was 271 per cent. Cotton yarn showed a rise of 12 per cent. in quantity, but an increase of 23 per cut. in value. Mr MORSE in some interesting remarks 011 the trade in cotton manufactures mentions that in 1872 the semi-finished product, yarn, contributed 6 per cent. to the total value of all cotton products imported; in 1882 it was 20 per cent.; in 1892 it h.d risen to 42 per cent.; in 1902, with local mills turning out large quantities of yarn, the foreign import was still 43 per cent, of the whole,
|
hostility shown to the British Government by the Tibetans for years past, which quite recently assumed an open form, has also contributed to the attention now bestowed upon developments in this remote region. The recent unveiling of a Muscovite plot to secure present predominance and future mastery of Tibet by entering into a secret treaty with the Dalai Lama, the supply of arms to Tihetan troops by the same agency, and the knowledge that Russia has been for years intriguing to acquire complete ascen- dency over the whole of the Mongolian races of Asia, of course rendered it imperative
: