April 29, 1896.]
heritage of our forefathers, which the Minister in his speech at Hongkong said should be upheld, has not been upheld, but that is not the blame of the community of Hongkong or the various British com- munities that are dispersed through China, and, in polite language, Mr. CAMPBELL further enunciated the view that British diplo- macy in China for the last generation has been a failure and that whatever commercial suc- cess had been attained has been by the efforts of British merchants themselves. We hope a new era is dawning and that in the future our diplomacy will assist com- merce by clearing all removable obstacles out of the way. To effect that, however, there must be a mutual confidence and understanding between the Minister and his nationals.
15
THE CHINESE CUSTOMS REVENUE. A suggestive article (communicated) on the Chinese Customs revenue appeared in the China Mail on Thursday evening. When we say suggestive we do not mean instructive, for the article is in many re- spects misleading and displays in parts a want of acquaintance with facts. We are told, for instance, that "Prices in silver "taels mean nowadays only half as much in gold dollars or sovereigns as they did ten years ago, while they mean still what they "used to mean in francs, roubles, marks, "and yen. Conversely, prices of goods bought abroad are twice as high as they "used to be for British and American goods, but just as cheap to the Chinese purchaser as they used to be in French, German, Belgian, Russian, and Japanese markets." Everyone ought to know that francs and marks have altered in their tael value in drecisely the same proportion as sovereigns, and roubles in nearly the same proportion. The writer in our contemporary, being in ignorance of this fundamental fact, cannot be taken as a safe guide in matters of interna-
tional trade.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT,
service presided over by Sir ROBERT HART being happily elevated above all the corrupting influences which pervade the purely native fiscal system. Even the efforts made by the native Customs at Can: ton to divert trade from foreign steamers to junks has only an infinitesimal effect upon the total, and as such diversion can only be brought about by offering lower duties there are some who think the system not an un- diluted evil for foreign trade. We do not agree with that view, but the issue is a side one, upon which we do not, propose to enter
The suggestiveness of the article lies in its opening paragraphs, in which atten- tion is drawn to what is justly termed an exceedingly curious and interesting fact, namely, that while the annual value of the trade of China under the Customs has steadily increased since 1888, the revenue "collected thercon is actually less. The figures are:-Value of trade, 1889, 207 million taels; 1890, 214 mil.; '91, 234 mil.; '92, 237 mil; '93, 267 mil.; '94, 290 "mil.; '95, 314 million taels, or over 50 per cent. increase. Customs Revenue, 1889, 21 million tacls; '90, 21; '91, 23; '92, 22; "'93, 21; '94, 22; '95, 21. The full figures are, for 1889, the year when the ports of Lungchow and Mengtse were opened, 21,823,762 taels, and for 1895, 21,385,389. "When these figures are reduced to gold currency, at the respective rates of each year, they amount to an approximate equality in the trade and a decline of "about fifty per cent. in the Customs Re- venue, that is to say, in the value of the security on which China borrows. How 'it comes about would take a great deal of " tedious explanation, but there is no deception in the evidence that Chinese "Government Bondholders have some rea- son to feel dissatisfied." Instead of giving the explanation, which need not be at all tedious, the writer launches off into a tirade against Chinese corruption and stagnation, which, as we all know, are as bad as bad can be, but they have nothing whatever to do with the phenomenon presented by the want of agreement between the Customs revenue and the value of trade, the
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alone is a comparatively small item and the increase shown in the duty paid on it is a long way from making up for the decrease in that paid on black and green tea. The export of silk (all descriptions) in- creased in value from Tls. 31,958,230 in 1889 to Tls. 34,696,172 in 1895, or eight and a half per cent., while the duty increased only from, say, Tls_926,500 to Tls. 960,500, or 3.6 per cent. Raw cotton, again, the export of which has been growing rapidly, shows an increase in value from Tls. 5,044,806 'in 1889 to Tls. 11,202,661 in 1895, or 122 per cent., but the increase in value exceeds that in quantity and the duty consequently shows an increase of 77 per cent. only. So we find it all through the list, values progressing more rapidly than quantities and the duty-being reckoned not on the values but the quantities-lagging behind in sympathy with the latter. We find, therefore, that while the total exports of China to foreign countries have increased from Tls. 96,947,832 in 1889 to Tls. 143,293,211 in 1895, or 47 per cent., the export duty has increased only from Tls. 8,214,808 to Tls. 9,025,557, or rather less then 10 per cent. When we come to coast trade duty, where the question of ex- change has no influence, we find an increase from Tls. 912,881 to Tis. 1,216,361, or 33 per cent., and tonnage dues show a still larger increase, but the net result is that the total collection shows a decrease of rather less than half a million taels, but as the opium likin shows a decrease of over two millions, in addition to the falling off in the import duty already noted, there is, excluding this article, an actual increase, though a small one.
The question is why the revenue of the Foreign Customs has not expanded pari passu with the increase in the value of the trade. The explanation, a very simple one, is to be found in the fact that while prices of commodities have undergone a material alteration the rate of duty has remained a fixture. The duty is levied on the quantity, not on the value. A smaller quantity of goods imported or exported to-day may represent a larger silver value than a greater quantity six years ago, but the duty collected will follow the quantity and consequently be smaller. The net foreign imports in 1889 amounted to Tls. 110,884,355 and in 1895 to Tls. 171,696,715, showing an increase of nearly fifty-five per cent., whereas the import duty has increased only from Tls. 5,868,263 to $6,039,582, or less than three per cent. The most important single article con- tributing to the import revenue is opium, and ou turning to the figures for that article we find that while in 1889 the value of the quantity imported was Tls. 30,441,869, in 1895 it was Tls. 29,164,800, or a decrease of a little over four per cent., while the import A study of the Customs returns shows duty (exclusive of lekin) paid upon it would the non-expansiveness of the foreign trade amount at the tariff rate to Tls. 2,281,320 ïn of China; but what the suggestion thrown 1889 and to Tls. 1,539,180 only in 1895, show-out by the writer in the China Mail leads ing a falling off of thirty-two per cent. The up to is the probability of a revision of the duty collected has diminished in proportion tariff, though that does not seem to have to the diminution in the quantity imported, occurred to him, nor will it be welcome to but the total value has been kept up to the foreign merchant. The tariff was ar nearly its old level by an increase in prices ranged in 1858 on a basis, generally speak- Other articles exhibit similar results. Mring, of five per cent. ad valorem. Owing to Korsch, the Statistical Secretary, in his the change which has taken place in prices report, works out the imports of seven the duties then. fixed no longer represent standard lines of cotton goods for the last that percentage. Either China or England two decades. In 1886-90 the number of may apply for a revision of the tariff pieces imported was 66,613,000, whereas in
at the end of every ten years, and it 1891-95 it was 60,884,000 pieces. The duty is possible China will make such a demand necessarily declined in proportion to the in 1898. If she hesitates to do so it will quantity, but the value was kept up by only be because she fears that it might lead to rise in prices of some 27 per cent. since 1886 counter claims by England with respect to This explains why it is that the increase in the "squeezing system, which is such a the import revenue has not kept pace with hindrance to trade of every description. the increase in value of the import trade. But it is not squeezes, but chiefly the changes in silver values, that account for the exceedingly curious and interesting "fact that while the annual value of the "trade of China under the Customs has steadily increased since 1888 the revenue collected thereon is actually less."
A similar explanation applies to exports It is generally supposed that low exchange stimulates the export trade, but in China the two articles of tea and silk represent from twenty-five to thirty per cent. of the total exports, and these articles have not been sent abroad in largely increased quantities under the influence of cheap silver. The value of black and green tea exported in 1889 was Tls. 25,832,961, and in 1895 Tls. 28,002,237, or an increase of eight per cent., but this increase in value took place in spite of a diminution in quan- tity, and the duty declined from, say, Tls. 3,872,000 to Tls. 3,420,000, showing a fall ing off of thirteen per cent. [These figures are not given in the Customs returns, but have been worked out from the tariff according to the quantities given in the returns; they must consequently be taken as approximate only.] Brick tea shows an increase in value of eighty-three per cent., but the increased duty amounts only to fifty per cent.; this article standing
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THE MILITARY CONTRIBUTION.
The Military Contribution Bill which this colony will shortly be called upon to pass will no doubt follow the same lines as that read a second time in the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements on the 16th April and which has by this time no doubt been duly passed. We have not yet received the Singapore papers containing the debate upon the second reading, but a short paragraph appears in the Singapore Free Press of the 16th stating that the Bill passed its second reading without a division and that only one of the unofficial members spoke upon it. From this it must be inferred that the principle of the measure was not seriously
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