Directory_and_Chronicle_1926 — Page 724

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KIAOCHAU (TSINGTAO)

as legal rights, landed properties, land-tax assessment, school and church matters, to be satisfactorily settled. The object of the Administration in dealing with the land question was to secure for every settler the lasting possession of his plot, thereby opposing unhealthy land speculation. Tsingtao, on the 2nd September, 1898, was de- clared a free port. The harbour had all the advantages of a Treaty port, and as a free port especially recommended itself as an emporium, since the merchant could there store, free of duty, his wares from abroad or his raw materials brought from the interior of China. The Chinese import duties were at first levied only on goods brought to Tsingtao by sea, when they were transported beyond the borders of the Protectorate into Chinese territory. The Chinese export duties were at first levied only on goods brought from the interior of China, when they were shipped from the German Protectorate to any other place. But in 1906 a new Convention came into force whereby Tsingtao ceased to be a free port, and the Imperial Maritime Customs began to collect duties there as at all the other Treaty ports of China. But the Conven- tion stipulated that 20% of the money so collected at Tsingtao should be paid to the Imperial German Government. The Commissioner of Customs in his report for 1906 commented on the arrangement as follows:-"The principal object of the arrangement, which, morcover, afforded the opportunity of a political rapprochement and material concessions for mutual benefit on both sides, was the creation and promotion of trade and commerce between the Pachtgebiet and the Chinese hinterland. The results of the first epoch have conclusively proved the wisdom of this novel arrangement. Under it trade developed beyond expectation and rose from a value of Taels 2,000,000 in 1899 to Tls. 22,000,000 in 1905, and Tsingtao, the former dilapidated fishing village, grew into a handsome city with a flourishing mercantile community and a considerable number of manufacturing establishments, giving promise of good profits and further develop- ment. Its success emboldened the merchants, foreign and Chinese, to ask for, and the Government to agree to, going a step further and arranging for the limitation of the free area, which formerly comprised the whole Pachtgebiet, to the harbour, on much the same lines as the German free ports Hamburg and Bremen. The chief advantage of this step lies in the renioval of Customs control from the railway stations to the free area, and the consequent freedom of goods and passengers to pass in and out, from and to the hinterland, without hindrance or control of any kind—a traffic simplification! from which a considerable increase in trade was expected. The new arrangement inspired confidence in the stability and future of the port and attracted artisans, traders, and wealthy Chinese firms, which last, hitherto dealing with Chefoo, had until now kept aloof from the place. The total value of trade increased from Haikwan Taels 30,700,000 in 1906 to Haikwan Taels 39,700,000 in 1909, and reached a total of Hk. Tls. 56,330,321 for the year 1912, or an increase of 20% over the previous year, notwithstanding the disadvantageous conditions for trade caused by the revolutionary troubles in China. The trade of the port for 1924 amounted to Hk. Tls. 132,206,858, as compared with Hk. Tls. 107,460,257 in 1923, Hk. Tls. 97,590,928 in 1922, and Hk. *Tls. 81,962,027 in 1921.

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The Bay of Kiaochau is an extensive inlet two miles north-west of Cape Jaeschke. The entrance is not more than 13 miles across, the east side being a low promontory with rocky shores, with the new town of Tsingtao ("green island," from a small grassy island close to the land) about two miles from the point of the peninsula. On the west side of the entrance is another promontory with hills rising to about 600 feet. The shore here is rocky, and dangerous on the west side, but on the east side is a good stretch of sandy beacli. The bay is so large that the land at the head can only just be seen from the entrance (about 15 to 20 miles away), and the water gradually gets shallower as the north side of the bay is approached. The old Chinese Kiaochau city stands at the north-west corner of the bay about 5 miles from the sea. At Tsingtao there are two anchorages for big ships; the larger and better one is round the point of the east promontory, on the north side, and the other, smaller one, on the south side. A new mole was opened on March 6th, 1904, which accommodates five vessels with berths. A second mole was opened a few months later, and a third for kerosene ships was subsequently constructed. They have direct connection with the railway. About 20 ships can be berthed simultaneously in the harbour.

The hills, in former days merely bare rocks of granite and porphyry, are now clad in fresh green owing to an extensive scheme of afforestation, which was decided upon in the early days of the colony. The soil of the valleys between the ranges and the plain country on the north-east is alluvial and very fertile, and is carefully cultivated. Wheat, barley, beans, millet, maize, and many other grains in smaller quantities are

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