502
HONG KONG, 1898.
12
COLONIAL REPORTS-ANNUAL.
The opium exports of 1898 represent, in piculs, a total of 43,142,525.
The year 1898 was marked by a considerable increase in the dealings in rice and coal, and by the introduction of the trade in bulk oil from Langkat (Sumatra). The large dealings in rice were due to local famines in the Kwangtung and neighbouring provinces, and those in coal were due partly to the ordinary increase in shipping traffic and the growth of manufacturing industry in the Colony, and partly to the large purchases made by foreign Governments during the period of impending war.
The import trade of the Colony was increased, during 1898, from all parts of the world; and this increase amounted in the aggregate to 659,833 tons of cargo discharged. The cargo in transit was during the same period advanced by 167,860 tons. In exports generally, there was an increase of 1,205 ships and 229,151 tons of cargo.
The junk trade has naturally not increased with the same rapidity as that conducted by European vessels. The circumstances of a free port, added to the difficulty of identifying and distinguishing native craft, and Chinese proficiency in evasion, make it extremely hard to keep an absolutely true return of some 50,000 or 60,000 junks, and it is probable that a number of these junks come and go without leaving any trace on our records. The following extract from the Chinese Imperial Customs Report for 1898 gives the following figures as representing, in Mexican dollars, the value of the Hong Kong junk trade for the year under review, and the number of junks entered and cleared:
Imports from Hong Kong. Exports to Hong Kong. Total. Number of Junks entered. Number of Junks cleared.
33,190,202.13 33,992,383.12 67,182,585.25 30,217 30,212
In addition to these, 3,379 fishing junks were licensed.
1 picul = 1331/3 lbs.
(B.) MINES, MANUFACTURES, AND FISHERIES.
Mines.-The only mining done in the Colony at present is in granite. Some silver and tin have been discovered, but not in paying quantities. In past years, a considerable sum was expended in a silver mine on the Island of Lantao; but the mine was afterwards abandoned.
It is difficult, as yet, to say what impetus to mining in the Colony may be given by mineral discoveries in the new territory; and until mining experts and geological surveyors have made a careful examination of the territory, it will be difficult to speak with certainty on the subject of future prospects.
Manufactures and Industries.
The present prosperous state of the industry and manufactures of the Colony, especially of the City of Victoria, seems likely to continue. A survey of the industrial returns for the last five years shows an increase in the number of workmen employed in most of the colonial industries, and the growth in the number and variety of the manufactures themselves shows that Chinamen are not too conservative to turn their capital and abilities into new directions. The chief industries are sugar refining, the manufacture of cement, paper, bamboo, and rattan ware, carving in wood and ivory, working in copper and iron, gold beating and the production of gold, silver, and sandal wood ware, furniture making, umbrella making, jinricksha making, and large industries connected with kerosene oil, cotton, and matches. But while most of these industries are subject to considerable fluctuations from year to year, chiefly on account of the absence of capital to enable the traders to tide over a period of sluggish business, one of the forms of industrial activity which seems to be uniformly and increasingly prosperous is ship and boat building, and especially the building of steam-launches, together with all the minor industries connected with docks and ship-yards, such as rope and sail-making.
The manufacture of cotton is a new industry, but one which may become one of the most important. The Hong Kong Cotton Spinning, Weaving, and Dyeing Company (Limited) commenced the erection of a large mill in 1898, which will provide for the working of 50,000 spindles. The building has now been completed, and 12,000 spindles are already at work. The engines and machinery have given full satisfaction, and the Chinese have shown much celerity and deftness in acquiring a knowledge of their work.
Some of the industries mentioned are carried on to a greater or less extent all over the Colony; many are confined to the City of Victoria; and there seems to be a tendency towards greater industrial activity in Kowloon. One industry—that of tanning—is practically confined to Kowloon.
Fisheries.
The number of fishing and other boats frequenting the harbour and bays of Hong Kong during the year under review may be roughly estimated at about 5,000. There are no means of ascertaining the proportions in which the different kinds of fish are caught, nor the quantities; and it is therefore impossible to give even an approximate value of the fishing industry.