181
SHANGHAI
to the natives. The system is, however, found to have its conveniences. No less than 4,308 jinrickshas, 4,379 passenger and cargo wheelbarrows, 701 ponies, and 543 horse carriages ply for hire in the Settlements, besides large numbers outside.
The currency of Shanghai is the tael weight (equal to one and a third ounces. avoirdupois) of silver cast into "shoes" of fifty taels, more or less.
shoes" of fifty taels, more or less. The foreign banks issue notes of the value of one dollar and upwards for both taels and dollars. Smaller transactions are conducted in clean Mexican dollars, smaller subsidary provincial silver coins and copper cash. There are eight foreign and numerous native banks in the Settlement. In 1896 the Imperial Chinese Bank, under Chinese and European management, was opened by Imperial Decree.
TRADE AND COMMERCE
Shanghai is the great emporium for the trade of the Yangtsze and Northern and Corean ports, and to some extent for Japan. The total import and export trade of 1868 amounted to sixty-five million taels. It steadily increased each year until 1881, when it reached Hk. Tls. 141,921,357, but afterwards showed a great decline, the total for 1884 having been twenty per cent. less than that of 1881. There has since, however, been a rapid recovery, the total trade in foreign bottoms, import and export, for the last eight years, as given by the Customs Statistical Depart- ment, being:
1892... Hk. Tls. 166,827,502 at Ex. 1.54 Mex. $256,914,353 at Ex. 4s.
4fdl., £36,319,946 11 d., £34,850,386 2 d., £31,279,202 3s. 3 d., £35,772,006
1893...
177,017,836
1.54
>>
$272,607,467
51
3s.
1894...
"}
195,622,371
1.51
+
"}
>>
1895...
218,733,283
1.53
"1
19
$295,389,780 $334,661,923
""
3s.
51
1896...
226,912,516
1.53
11
$347,176,149
3s.
"
1897...
"
265,678,990
1.50
13
"}
1898... 1899...
"
251,205,837 306,701,390
1.51
"
""
1.53
19
$398,518,485 $379,320,814 $469,253,127
";
51
4d., £37,818,752
2s. 11 d., £39,575,099 2s. 10gd., £36,241,775 3s. Od., £46,164,949
The quantity of foreign Opium imported recently declined much owing to in- creased production of and demand for the native drug, the quality of which is now much superior to formerly and the taxes very much lighter than on that of foreign growth. The import of 1899, 33,069 piculs, shewed however an increase of 2,840 piculs over that of 1898. The import of the native drug in 1895 as shewn by the Foreign Customs returns reached 10,413 piculs or more than four times that of 1893. In 1898 it declined to 7,850 piculs owing to short crops and greater demand inland. But it must be borne in mind that the great bulk of the native-grown opium which enters Shanghai does not come under the Maritime Customs supervision. An export of the native growth to foreign countries has now commenced. Owing to the increased silver cost the import of Cotton Goods and Yarn, which for several years had shown an annual increase in quantity of over 25 per cent., fell greatly in 1893, but subse- quently recovered in the year 1896 shewing the astonishing increase of 52 per cent. in value over its immediate predecessor. From 643 million taels in 1896 it fell to 55 millions in 1898, but in 1899 the import again rose to as high as 75 million taels. Shirtings and Drills from America now largely outnumber those of English make, for the reason, it is alleged,that freight from America is much lower than from England. The quantity of imported Woollens slowly increased till 1896, when the import was over 57 per cent. greater than in 1895. As with Cottons, this could not be maintained, 1897 shewing a decline of 14 per cent. and 1898 of 39 per cent. on that of 1897. There was, however, an improvement in 1899, as the value of import of Woollens for that year showed an increase of about taels 750,000 comparing with that of 1898. Metals imported fluctuated by not more than ten per cent. during each year of the decade, increasing by an average of about five per cent. per annum till, as with most other foreign imports, there was a remarkable rise in 1896, the value in that year being 44 per cent. greater than in 1895; 1897 shewed a decline of 20 per cent, and 1898 a rise of 23 per cent. The import for 1899 as compared with that of the previous year showed again a decline in the value of about 900,000 taels. The import of Kerosene Oil was 67,359,323 gallons in 1897, 69,056,545 in 1898 and 55,295,898 in 1899. American declined in 1895 to less than half of the import in 1894, namely from 36 to 16 million gallons, but has increased each year since, reaching over 43 millions in 1898, while Russian case oil increased from 4 million gal lons in 1894 to 17 in 1897, but fell to 8 millions in 1898, and in 1899 rose again to 163 millions. Russian tank oil increased from 3 in 1894 to 7.41 million gallons in 1897, falling to 5.49 in 1898, and increasing to 6.73 in 1899. The quantity of Sumatra Oil (13) million gallons all in bulk) imported in 1898 was double that of the previous
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