CHINA
103
Mr. E. A. Parker, formerly of the British Consular Service, in 1896 published the following estimate of the receipts from the other principal sources:-Land tax Tls. 20,000,000, Salt Tls. 10,000,000, Lekin Tls. 15,000,000, Native Customs Tls. 3,000,000, Miscellaneous Tls. 3,000,000. In addition the grain tribute may also be estimated at Tls. 3,000,000, making a total estimated revenue of Tls. 77,000,000. The amounts given above are those supposed to be accounted for to the Government, but very much larger amounts are raised from the people and absorbed by the officials in the way of speculation.
China had no foreign debt till the end of 1874, when a loan of £627,675, bearing 8 per cent. interest, was contracted through the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, under Imperial authority, and secured by the customs' revenue. Afterwards a number of other loans, of comparatively moderate amount, were contracted, mostly through the agency of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and several of them have been paid off. Up to 1894 the total Foreign debt of China was inconsiderable, but since then extensive borrowings have had to be made to meet the expenses of the war with Japan and the indemnity, which was Tls. 200,000,000 (at exchange of 3s. 3d.), with a further Tls. 20,000,000 for the retrocession of the Liaotung Peninsula. The last instalment was paid in 1898, and the total indebtedness of the country is now estimated at £55,000,000 the principal loans being the Russian of 1895, the Anglo-German of 1896, and the Anglo-German of 1898, each of £16,000,000.
AREA AND POPULATION
China proper, extending over 1,336,841 English square miles, is divided into eighteen provinces, the area and population of which are given below, the figures with an* being from Chinese official data for 1882, those with a † from the data of 1879, and Fohkien being estimated on the basis of the census of 1844:-
Estimated Popultn. per
Province
Provincial Capital
Area English Square Miles
Population square mile
Chihli +
Peking
58,949
17,937,000
304
Shantung
Tsinan
53,762
36,247,835
557
Shansi *
Taiyuen.
56,268
12,211,453
221
Honan *.
Kaifung..
66,913
22,115,827
340
Kiangsu *
Nanking
Anhwei*
Ngankin
92,961 {
20,905,171
470
20,596,288
425
Kiangsi +
Nanchang
72,176
21,534,118
340
Chekiang
*
Hangchow
39,150
11,588,692
296
Fohkien Hupeh * Hunan*
Shensi +
Foochow
38,500
22,190,556
574
Wuchang
Changchau
144,770 {
22,190,556
473
21,002,604
282
Sigan
Kansuh +
Lanchow
192,850 {
8,432,193
126
9,285,377
74
Szechuon *
Chingtu.
166,800
67,712,897
406
Kwangtung *
Canton
79,456
29,706,249
377
Kwangsi +
Kwelin
78,250
5,151,327
65
Kweichau +
Kweiyang
64,554
7,669,181
118
Yunnan t
Yunnan
107,969
11,721,576
108
1,312,328
383,253,029
292
The total number of foreigners in China in 1897 was 11,667, of whom 4,929 were subjects of Great Britain, 1,561 of the United States, 698 of France, 950 of Germany, 439 of Sweden and Norway, 120 of Italy, 362 of Spain, 147 of Denmark, 1,106 of Japan, and 975 Portuguese, almost entirely natives of Macao, all other nationalities being represented by very few members. Of 636 mercantile firms doing business at the treaty ports, 374 were British, 104 German, 32 American, and 29 French.
The principal dependencies of China are Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,035 square miles, and some 2,000,000 people; and Manchuria, with an area of 362,313 square miles, and an estimated population of 15,000,000. The latter is being steadily and rapidly colonised by Chinese, who greatly outnumber the Manchus in their own land. Thibet, which is also practically a dependency of China, has an area of 643,734 square miles and a population of 6,000,000 souls. It is ruled by the Dalai Lama, but subject to the Government of Peking, who maintain a Resident at Lhassa.
ARMY AND NAVY
The standing military force of China consists of two great divisions, the first formed by the more immediate subjects of the ruling dynasty, the Manchus, and the second by
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