Sessional_Paper_1893 — Page 177

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GENERAL.

14. 4.396 steamers, 103 sailing vessels and 31,971 junks arrived during the year, giving an average of 99 vessels arriving daily in the waters of the Colony as against 90 the year before; of the steamers 71 per cent. were British, an increase of 5 per cent. from 1891; of these, 51 per cent. were "Ocean-going as against 52 the year before, and of the Foreigners, 2 per cent. were river craft, a decrease of 9 per cent. on the previous year.

15. From the foregoing it will be seen that, Hongkong in 1892 still held its place in the shipping world, a comparison showing once more an increase of shipping frequenting the Port.

16. The extent of the trade of the Colony, unfortunately, cannot be analysed by Import and Export Returns, and the only practical way of making a comparison, year by year, is by means of the amount of tonnage entering and clearing, and no erroneous deduction need be drawn from such a comparison, for, in no shipping Return, the wide world over, could any sane person conclude that, the figures show- ing the tonnage of shipping frequenting the Port, professed to represent also the number of tons of merchandize landed and shipped at that port.

17. But in the absence of actual figures to tell us exactly how our import and export trade pro- gresses we may, I think, with the materials at hand draw a fair inference from the experience of other

countries.

Of the United Kingdom as well as of 21 British Possessions, large and small, in various parts of the world, from the Dominion of Canada down to Fiji, I find, on reference to statistics for the 10 years 1881-1890, that in each case increased tonnage entering and clearing carried with it increased value of imports and exports.

I am also fortunately able to carry my investigations beyond the United Kingdom and British Possessions, and from the statistics published by the Imperial Maritime Customs of China to obtain a result similar to the above in a comparison of the trade of China for the 5 years 1888-1892.

In 1888 the total tonnage entered and cleared under the cognizance of the Imperial Maritime Customs was 22,307,859 with a total trade value of 546,581,188 Haikwan Taels.

In 1892 when the tonnage had increased to 29,440,575, this increase had been accompanied by an increase in the value of the trade to 654,391,478 Haikwan Taels.

The inference which I draw from this is that, tonnage can in a great measure be reasonably construed as an indication of trade, and that, if an increase in tonnage means elsewhere an increase in trade, it probably has the same meaning in Hongkong also.

The inference is materially strengthened by the following figures for which I am also indebted to. the published Reports of the Imperial Maritime Customs and which exhibit the growth of the Hong- kong share in the distribution of the trade with China during the last four years :----

Year.

Total Imports of China.

Total Exported Exports from of China. Hongkong.

Imported

to

Hongkong.

Total of Hongkong trade with China.

1888,

1889,

1890,

Hailowan Taels. Haikwan Taels. 124,782,893 92,401,067

110,884,355 | 96,947,832 74,598,236 | 43,448,145 |118,046,381

127,093,481 87,144,480 84,324,395 | 41,520,506 125,844,901

134,003,863 | 100,947,849 | 81,204,029 | 45,142,707126,346,736

Haikwan Taels. | Haikwan Tuels. Haikwan Taels. 81,092,295 | 41,266,212 | 122,358,507

135,101,198 | 102,583,525| 80,700,034 | 48,273,785 |128,973,819

1891,

1892,

:

Here then we have undeniable proof of the gratifying circumstance that so far as regards our most important market, China, our trade has considerably increased during the last four years.

18. It is true also that a great number of the vessels calling at Hongkong do not make any long stay, but the period of their stay cannot be considered as a standard to judge of the trade of the Colony. It is nothing new to learn that Hongkong is merely a "distributing centre"; it always has been such, and it is not more so now than it was ten or even twenty years ago (except in so far as the amount to be distributed has increased) so that the raison d'être of a large proportion of the tonnage of the port must of necessity be, as it always has been, "transhipment and branch line requirements," and there has been no suggestion to the contrary in the Returns annually issued by this Departinent. But, secing that our communication with the outside world can only be carried on by means of ships, it is somewhat remarkable to find this fact of Hongkong being a "distributing centre" being used as an argument to prove that the tonnage of the port is no indication of the amount of trade.