Directory_and_Chronicle_1938 — Page 785

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CHANGSHA

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A383

being placed on the Changsha route and, consequently, an increase of 50,000 tons (or over 10 per cent) being recorded in the port's shipping returns for vessels under General Regulations. In the list of direct foreign imports of Changsha, kerosene oil stands first in respect both of value and duty. The total amount withdrawn from bond and paying duty in 1936 was 20,499,712 litres as against 17,260,374 litres in 1935. Nevertheless, the actual consump- tion in this province is greater than the figures indicate. In order to meet local demands fully, a certain quantity of duty-paid cargo was imported in tins by lighters during the last three months of the year when the level of the": Siang River was low. This sign of prosperity is chiefly accounted for by rich barvests of rice and other agricultural products during the year. The lower price ruling in the market was $9.31 (in the beginning of the year) per → tins of 18.93 litres each; while the highest price was $9.70 at the end of the year. Sugar is second on the list of imports, with an aggregate amount of 78,812 quintals, representing a decrease of 17,202 quintals from total of 96,014 quintals in 1935. This slump may be partly explained by excessive imports in 1935, when a rumour prevailed that the import tariff rate would be increased, and partly by a certain quantity which was smuggled in by native junks at the beginning of the year, when the Customs preventive stations were not yet established on the railways conneeting Hankow with the North. With the completion of more highways, coupled with military requirements, direct imports of gasolene jumped from nil to 2,094,949 litres, which placed this commodtty theird in the list of imports, In previous years this article usually paid duty either at Shanghai or Hankow and was then exported to this port in tins. In 1936 this line of business became so important that the Asiatic Petroleùm Company constructed a tauk for storage purposes and imported their cargo in bulk, paying duty and dues here. As to the port's two principal sources of wealth referred to above, rice and minerals, every endeavour was made by the Provincial Authorities to keep the price of rice constantly above $8 per Shih tan, and as to quantity, over 800,000 quintals of this commodity was exported coastwise on vessels under Customs control as against only 223,000 quintals in 1935; as regards to minerals, prices were higher than In 1935 by, about 10 per cent. in the case of zine ore and manganese ore, by about 20 per cent in the case of tin slabs, crude antimony, and antimony oxide, by about 30 percent in the case of antimony regulus, and by about 60 per cent in the case of wolfram ore (tungsten), while the quantities of these minerals exported through the Customs for 1936. There was a fair demand for tea cil from Japan, exports amounting to 15,687 quintals as compared with 18,275 quintals during 1935. Exports of wood oil totalled 33,151 quintals as against 33,512 quintals during 1935. Production is...reported to have been twice as great as in 1935, through, owing to heavy speculation in the beginning of the year when the price was low, local dealers were unable to profit by the higher prices ruling later on.

Changsha now possesses 12 banks, nearly all of which are according credit facilities to farmers in various ways with the object on increasing the agricultural productions of the province. Since the enforcement of the. Gov- ernment's new monetary policy there has been no fluctuation in the rates of exchange, $1 per thousand being universally charged by all banks as remittance fee from Changsha to Shanghai and vice versa. In the middle of May 1936 the main construction work on the Canton-Hankow Railway was completed. The three bridges over the Lei, Lu and Mei were successfully finished, as was the work on more than 20 tunnels. The first train started to run from Cauton to Hankow on tho 1st September. It takes.44 hours to complete the whole journey, which covers a dis- tance of 1,090 kilometres. At the close of the year there were still some 10,000 workers. on this line employed in the improvement of the road-beds and on the construction of railway stations. On the completion of this work and with the arrival from England of new locomotives and trains, direct communication between Canton and Peiping will

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