Directory_and_Chronicle_1929 — Page 974

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CANTON

etc., and in the many curio shops to be found there. The French Mission have a large and handsome Gothic cathedral, with two lofty towers surmounted by spires, in the city. The structure is built entirely of dressed granite. A Mint, constructed by the late Viceroy Chang Chih-tung, near the East Gate, and furnished with a very complete plant, commenced work in 1889, and now issues both silver dollars and subsidiary coins, all bearing a picture of the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen in front and large Chinese characters surrounded by a design of a crop of grain on the back. The buildings cover a large area.

large area. On the opposite side of the river the Honam Temple and Monastery form the principal attractions, and in the same neighbourhood the firing, sorting and sifting of tea, the preserving of ginger, and the packing of rattans, cassia, etc., may be seen. The founding of bells, the manufacture of fire crackers and the dyeing of paper and cotton fabrics are three of the chief industries of Fatshan, some 10 miles from Canton. But because of labour trouble and excessive Government taxation in recent years, these industries have been on the decline. Many factories have moved either to Hongkong or Macao, where conditions are much better. There are large glass-works at Fatei, and paper-mills-these with up-to-date European machinery--near the village of Impo. At Shekwan, seven miles from Fatshan, are extensive potteries. Much has been done during the past few years to develop home industries. New factories have sprung up like mushrooms. At Honam an up-to-date cotton-spinning factory, equipped with modern machinery, has been erected by a local company with a capital of $5,000,000. Canton has now five large factories and several hundred workshops for producing hosiery and underwear. Several rubber vulcanising factories, founded largely by foreign returned Chinese, turn out rubber tyres, rain coats, and shoe soles. Locally-made matches are exported as far as the Straits Settlements, nearly twenty factories being engaged in this industry. The population of Canton has been estimated at 2,500,000 by the Customs authorities. The total number of foreign residents registered at the Canton Consulates exceeds 2,000.

When the foreign merchants returned to Canton to establish trade after the capture of the city by the English at the close of 1857, they found the factory and the buildings along the river in ruins. Recourse for accommodation was consequently had to warehouses on the Honam side of the river. Considerable discussion subsequently took place as to the selection of a site for a permanent British settlement, and it was eventually determined that an extensive mud flat known as Shameen should be filled in and appropriated. In 1859 an artificial island was created there, a canal constructed between the northern side of the site and the city, and solid and extensive embankments of masonry built. It took about two years to complete this undertaking, and cost $325,000. Of this sum four-fifths were defrayed by the British, and one-fifth by the French Government, to whom a portion of the reclaimed land was given. Up to 1889 most of the French concession remained unutilised, but in that year a number of lots were sold and are now built upon. The French also received a grant of the old site of the Viceroy's Yamên, on which the Catholic Cathedral now stands. Shameen is pleasingly laid out with gardens and tennis courts, and the roads are shaded with well-grown trees. Christ Church (Church of England) stands at the western end and close to it are situated the Masonic Hall, Boat House and Club. Handsome new premises, costing half-a-million dollars, for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation were opened in Central Avenue on October 29th, 1921. There is a Roman Catholic church on the French Concession. The Settlement contains good hotel accommodation. During an anti-foreign riot on the 10th September, 1883, 16 houses and the Concordia Theatre on the Settlement were burned by the mob.

In consequence of the decline in the importance of Canton as a place of trade, caused principally by the opening of some of the northern ports, many of the merchants by whom lots were purchased there in 1861, at enormous prices, withdrew from Canton altogether. For many years the trade transacted there by foreigners was, limited, but since 1900 an appreciable increase has been noticeable. The trade of the port coming under the cognisance of the Foreign Customs during the past ten years is shown by the following net figures:-Hk. Tls. 172,482,412 in 1927; Hk. Tls. 261,605,704 in 1926; Hk. Tls. 201,720,711 in 1925; Hk. Tls. 201,566,440 in 1924; Hk. Tls. 219,203,728 in 1923; Hk. Tls. 197,287,935 in 1922 ; Hk. Tls. 165,232,378 in 1921; Hk. Tls. 140,814,317 in 1920; Hk. Tls. 147,953,136 in 1919; and Hk. Tls. 103,226,078 in 1918.

During recent years there have been strikes and boycotts, crushing burdens of taxation and constant political upheavals, but notwithstanding all these drawbacks trade, as the figures show, continues to expand, excepting for 1927 which sank back to about 65% of the previous year.

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