It is gratifying to find that the bulk of the sugar hitherto exported has been loaded here first because it must become a great seat of stapler of the exports from China to the West; secondly, because the usual exchange of the article here is Opium which jails us. Exactly;
thirdly because if a demand springs up it will induce the Coast grown Duge ars to be brought down to tw and repacked here for export, to the great benefit of the Colony. Fokien arc sugars are 10 to 12% cheaper than those of this province, and could readily be brought down by coasting junks, or such as especially by the foreign vessels coming in ballast.
I accordingly look upon the following as the more prominent advantages which Hongkong will derive from the new trade with the West: first, a great influx of the shipping of all nations; secondly, that some of the staple exports, such as sugar, bartered for ... will be brought to Hong Kong and that it will become a dépôt of constantly growing sugars for the Californian markets; thirdly, that the manufacture of some of the articles required for the Western Markets, hitherto confined to Canton, will spring up here; such as hongersilk, lacquered ware, and coarse porcelain manufacture.
Looking forward to some twenty years hence, I think Hongkong will be the chief Port of supply for the considerable Chinese population about to spring up on the Western shores of the Pacific. A steady and considerable emigration from China to the West coast of North and South America has already set in, and a great dearth of labor is felt all along the West coast from Valparaiso to Sima and the Mexican sea-board, owing to such numbers of the working population.
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