CCHINA FINANCES.
1.6
CONFIDENTIAL.
Co
xref.
16093
[August 22
SECTION REO 19 AUG 17,
(No. 75.) My Lord,
No. 1.
Sir C. MacDonald to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received August 2.)
359
Peking, June 14, 1897. IN continuation of my despatch No. 69 of the 3rd June last, I have the honour to inclose herewith to your Lordship copy of a despatch which I have received from Mr. E. H. Fraser, giving an account of his return journey from Wuchow to Canton in Her Majesty's ship "Tweed."
I have, &c.
(Signed) CLAUDE M. MACDONALD.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Consul Fraser to Sir C. MacDonald.
(Separate.) Sir,
Canton, May 31, 1897. IN continuation of my separate despatch of the 14th instant, I have the honour to report on my voyage in Her Majesty's ship "Tweed" from Wuchow to Canton.
Having surveyed the Wuchow reach, we left on the morning of the 16th instant, and, after stopping three hours off Feng-Ch'uan, where we were disappointed of an expected supply of local coal, anchored at 5 P.M. at Tê-ch'ing. A walk through this city and its suburbs gave no reason for altering my opinion as to its want of trade. The district produces rice and some tea and silk, but not enough for export. Brush-wood was the only article that we noticed being loaded on boats. A certain amount of yarn and cotton is imported from Canton, Fatshan, or Sainan, but foreign piecegoods cannot compete with the native cloth. There is no Li-kin Office here, nor any local duties on merchandize. The surrounding country is very hilly, rice being grown in every valley, sweet potatoes and sorghum on the higher slopes, and mulberry on the sandy patches. In spite of this careful cultivation the people looked poor and ill-fed.
No cassia is produced or dealt in at Tê-ch'ing, the only two centres of this trade being Lo-ting and the thriving village of Luk-po, where we anchored on the evening of the 18th May amidst a great number of salutes from the gun-boats lying at this the head-quarters of Upper West River Patrol Division. Liu Pao-ch'an, a Hunan military official with the rank of Brigadier, is in charge of this division, which extends from Chao-ch'ing to the frontier of Kuangtung. He has thirty-two vessels and some 300 men under him, a force quite insufficient to keep down piracy, here very rife. Mr. Liu called on us, and was kind enough to escort us through the village, which contains some 3,000 inhabitants. The shops seemed thriving, and I noticed kerosene, Japanese matches, and printed cloth, together with some yarn and a few piecegoods, for sale therein. Occasionally jewellers' shops showed that the people could afford luxuries, as did several good temples and a well-built college. The chief export is cassia bark and twigs. The good quality of bark pays a loti of 5 mace per 100 catties, and is then free to Canton, where it is sold to foreign firms. The annual trade in bark is said to be of at least 30,000 taels value. The other products exported are silk and incense sticks. There is no import li-kin or duty of any kind.
Here we
Chao-ch'ing Fu was reached on the afternoon of the 19th May. exchanged calls with the Taotai, Colonel, and Magistrate, who were very polite. city showed signs of former grandeur, but the only trade now is in coarse mats made by the women. The men are either hangers-on of the officials or employed on junks. Trade, so far as I could ascertain, there is none. The Magistrate declared that 20,000 taels would buy up the whole place, a state of things which he ascribed to the bad feng shui, to counteract which many pagodas have been built on the surrounding hills, where are no local duties, the Ch'ien-ch'ang and Hou-lik stations above and below levying the taxes on merchandize.
[1552 -1]
CCHINA FINANCES.
1.6
CONFIDENTIAL.
Co
xref.
16093
[August 22
SECTION REO 19 AUG 17,
(No. 75.) My Lord,
No. 1.
Sir C. MacDonald to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received August 2.)
359
Peking, June 14, 1897. IN continuation of my despatch No. 69 of the 3rd June last, I have the honour to inclose herewith to your Lordship copy of a despatch which I have received from Mr. E. H. Fraser, giving an account of his return journey from Wuchow to Canton in Her Majesty's ship "Tweed."
I have, &c.
(Signed) CLAUDE M. MACDONALD.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Consul Fraser to Sir C. MacDonald.
(Separate.) Sir,
Canton, May 31, 1897. IN continuation of my separate despatch of the 14th instant, I have the honour to report on my voyage in Her Majesty's ship "Tweed" from Wuchow to Canton.
Having surveyed the Wuchow reach, we left on the morning of the 16th instant, and, after stopping three hours off Feng-Ch'uan, where we were disappointed of an expected supply of local coal, anchored at 5 P.M. at Tê-ch'ing. A walk through this city and its suburbs gave no reason for altering my opinion as to its want of trade. The district produces rice and some tea and silk, but not enough for export. Brush- wood was the only article that we noticed being loaded on boats. A certain amount of yarn and cotton is imported from Canton, Fatshan, or Sainan, but foreign piecegoods cannot compete with the native cloth. There is no Li-kin Office here, nor any local duties on merchandize. The surrounding country is very hilly, rice being grown in every valley, sweet potatoes and sorghum on the higher slopes, and mulberry on the sandy patches. In spite of this careful cultivation the people looked poor and ill-fed.
No cassia is produced or dealt in at Tê-ch'ing, the only two centres of this trade being Lo-ting and the thriving village of Luk-po, where we anchored on the evening of the 18th May amidst a great number of salutes from the gun-boats lying at this the head-quarters of Upper West River Patrol Division. Liu Pao-ch'an, a Hunan military official with the rank of Brigadier, is in charge of this division, which extends from Chao-ch'ing to the frontier of Kuangtung. He has thirty-two vessels and some 300 men under him, a force quite insufficient to keep down piracy, here very rife. Mr. Liu called on us, and was kind enough to escort us through the village, which contains some 3,000 inhabitants. The shops seemed thriving, and I noticed kerosene, Japanese matches, and printed cloth, together with some yarn and a few piecegoods, for sale therein. Occasionally jewellers' shops showed that the people could afford luxuries, as did several good temples and a well-built college. The chief export is cassia bark and twigs. The good quality of bark pays a loti of 5 mace per 100 catties, and is then free to Canton, where it is sold to foreign firms. The annual trade in bark is said to be of at least 30,000 taels value. The other products exported are silk and incense sticks. There is no import li-kin or duty of any kind.
Here we The
Chao-ch'ing Fu was reached on the afternoon of the 19th May. exchanged calls with the Taotai, Colonel, and Magistrate, who were very polite. city showed signs of former grandeur, but the only trade now is in coarse mats made by the women. The men are either hangers-on of the officials or employed on junks. Trade, so far as I could ascertain, there is none. The Magistrate declared that 20,000 taels would buy up the whole place, a state of things which he ascribed to the bad feng shui, to counteract which many pagodas have been built on the surrounding hills, where are no local duties, the Ch'ien-ch'ang and Hou-lik stations above and below levying the taxes on merchandize.
[1552 -1]
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