Directory_and_Chronicle_1915 — Page 858

SHANGHAI

855-

vehicles there were licensed in 1913, 5,156 rickshas, 753 carriages, 342 motor-cars, and 874 ponies. No fewer than 47,686,648 passengers used the tramcars in 1913. The water conveyances licensed numbered 66 foreign cargo boats, 1,432 native cargo boats, 60 ferry and passenger boats, 1,874 other boats, 252 sampans, and 109 steam launches. There are 18 foreign and 23 native theatres, 262 pawn, 465 opium and 908 wine shops registered within the Anglo-American Settlement.

The currency of Shanghai is the tael weight of silver-equal to 579'84 grains troy, of fineness 0.916, but reckoned at 98. That is to say, that an actual weight of 98 taels is counted as 100. The Shanghai tael thus contains, or should contain, 520.43 gr. troy of pure silver, but varies owing to the crude methods of assay. This is, however, the mean. The silver known as "sycee" is cast into "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, or equivalent dollars from the various provincial mints, smaller subsidiary provincial silver coins and copper cash. There are eight foreign and numerous native banks in the settlement. În 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 was, however, a rapid recovery up to 1905; the total trade import and export, for the last seven years, as given by the Customs Statistical Department, being :--

1907... Hk. Tls. 392,731,600 at Ex. 1.51 Mex. $593,024,716 at Ex. 3s, 3d., £63,818,885 1908...

17

19

397,106,850

1.48

11

**

1909...

11

449,242,406

1.48

"}

""

1910...

"

471,071,623

1.48

31

""

1911... 1912...

11

484,202,222

1.48

"1

11

**

491,485,487

1.52

11

""

1913...

**

533,534,878

1.51

19

$587,718,138 $664,678,760 $701,896,718 $716,619,288 $747,057,940 $805,637,665

"}

11

"}

"

3s. 8d., £52,947,580 2s. 7 d., £58,378,114 2s. 8d., £94,317,071 2s. 81d., £96,295,716 3s. 08d., £114,004,154 3s. Ofd., £121,684,855

The following tables show the export of Tea and Silk for eight years:-

Tea- Black

Silk Wild Waste

Brick

Green

Cocoons

1906...piculs 175,803

269,485

223,837

1906...50,520

18,865 49,708 8,443

1907...

"

197,824 311,138

279,031

1907...54,031

16,952

71,438

8,850.

1908... 1909.. 1910...

་་

168,835 214,297

295,862

1908...58,875

26,593

51,492

9,308

11

140,121 247,067

297,860

1909...60,301

26,996

52,487

15,083 ·

J1

173,100

308,528

264,752

1910...66,116 23,379 75,360

13,948

1911...

177,294

37,688 307,917

81,064

16,313

1912...

""

220,190 364,420

314,396

76,301 18,792

1913...

141,711 It

76,480

19,530

Hk. Tls. 244,452,421

2,097,060

...

...

1911...59,224 27,679 1912...86,554 14,899 502,460 290,985 1913...73,446 23,762

The Import trade in Foreign Goods for 1913 was as follows:-

From Foreign Countries and Hongkong

From Chinese Ports

Hk. Tls. 246,549,481

The following were the values of the principal classes of Foreign Goods imported during that year:-

Cotton Goods. Tls. 71,446,260 | Misc. PieceGoodsTls.1,742,739 | Birds' Nests

Sundries

Cotton Yarn

Opiuan...

>

Sugar

Metals..

Coal

...Tls. 498,110 1,639,226 Lamps & Lampware 485,576 1,610,081 Needles 30,142,791 Electrical M'tal.,&c. 1,343,340 Sharks' Fins

33,474,280 Soap

31,859,064 Machinery

Dyes and Colours 12,854,992 Gunny & C'ton Bgs. 1,313,568 Haberdashery, &c.

477,988

353,126

308,472

...

11,695,521 Cotton Socks

...

1,071,335 Sandalwood

303,431

+++

8,542,007 Spirits, Wine & Beer 1,031,564 Rattans

...

251,731

+

...

Kerosene Oil, &c. 4,858,732 Fish, Salted, &c....

Paper

Timber

Cotton, Raw

Woollen Goods... 2,631,903 Umbrellas

2,550,614 Glass

Wollen&ton Mix. 2,371,299 Soda

Tobacco,Cigars, &c. 2,252,423 Beche de Mer

5,391,026 Medicines

927,716 Candles

245,379

905,428. Condensed Milk

207,388

4,491,768 Seaweed

...

896,961 Railway Materials

143,683

2,758,887 Matches

893,202 Cement

90,620

762,707 | Household Stores

56,391

608,510

552,271

507,371

Total Hk. Tls. 246,549,481