430
willing. but in many cases demand. that this latter be reduced to the minimum compatible with what is in tradal lauguage known as as distinguished from "refined."
raw
Hence in North China South Formosa sugar that has been considerably drained of its molasses by means of the rough method known as claying finds a ready market; while in Japan there is no demand whatever for it. The Japanese, on the other hand, advancing towards but not reaching the Chinese standard, ask for a "brown" sugar, as light in colour certainly as in compatible with that description. but absolutely refuse to touch any that has been drained even to the extent of bringing it up to the class known as " Taiwanfoo white."
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
=
Customs returns refer entirely to sugar shipped in foreign bottoms, a certain and not incon siderable amount is also carried away by native craft to places all along the coast line indicated. It is extremely difficult to get at eren an approximate estimate of what quantity does go away in juuks, sailing as these vessels do from several small ports on the west coast of Formosa not open to foreign trade.
The native-borne cargoes from Takow are comparatively small, no doubt because of the very much greater demand for this sugar in Japan, to which place it is carried entirely in foreigu ships.
Owing to the determined action of the various sugar guilds in China. and the per- Takow sugar, containing the greatest pro- tinacity which they show in boycotting any portion of crystallizable matter. in coujune- foreign vendors who venture to engage in the tion with the demanded amount of molasses, trade, the latter have for several years, and after commends itself. even to the rejection of the losing considerably by the attempt to overcome brown varieties produced in the Taiwanfoo dis- the opposition, completely refrained from fur- trict, to the Japanese. because the instincther efforts: bence it comes about that the only tively, though perhaps unconsciously, recognize chance they have of touching sugar in Formosa and from the its superiority over the qualities less possessed is for the Japanese market of this substantialmerit. To supply the Japanese Takow districts. Even here their connection demand the whole of the crop at present with the trade, besides being somewhat produced in the Takow district is inadequate precarious is completely limited by, and
00. the good-will of and in consequence of this ready outlet, together dependent with the causes previously detailed, prices at the source of production are kept at a figure pro- hibitive of export to foreign countries for the purposes of refinement."
This will also explain why no local refinery in the European sense of the term, could be profitably worked in Formosa ; and even if the foreign markets to which its outturn would be practically confined were sufliciently attractive. competition elsewhere must in the end prove ico; strong.
Again, supposing it were worth while to treat the raw material on the spot, instead of selling it for refinement abroad, the whole crop in South Formosa is, at least under present con- ditions, so small that this fact alone would probably be deemed sufficient bar to any such enterprise.
:
1
No doubt in China there may be a cca- paratively small and well-te-do eles to whom the attractive appearance of reigned SHIQU proves effective as an indieeinent for purchase, but their patronage mast be very limited when, compared with that of the mass of consumers, But with the already large and increasing in- portation of refined sugar to Japan. it may warrant refineries being started solely to supply this market, although considerable improvement would be necessary in the preparation of the raw sugar before it could he refined on an equal basis with the raw material as supplied to the Eastern refineries already in existence.
As our object. however, at this time is merely to show what opportunities for trade Formosa sugar offers. and to discover, if possible. from the investigation whether open ings exist sufficiently profitable to tempt for eigners to engage in it. confined as they must be by the limits that we have attempted to defiue, we will go on to describe such particulars of this trade as may afford necessary data for forming the desired conclusions.
white
one
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[May 21, 1896.
and thus this difficulty of supply does not arise. Therefore those who can by rapidity of improved outturn command a supply of the latter at its source would create a state of matters which. would, in face of the demand abroad that has to be met, render foreigners nearly independent of
uny coalitions against them by rival main- land vendors.
The allusion here made is chiefly to the grades of so-called “ Taiwanfoo white
sugar from "lao-tsai," and it must be understood that the process suggested does in no way affect compli- ance with the aforesaid requirements of the consumers, or render the produce liable to be ranked as other than a drained variety of raw sugar, exactly similar in all details, save in superiority of quality, to what is at present im- perfectly, and very slowly, got by "claying."
In Takow, however, though there would have been under the old regime necessarily more local difficulty in commanding the sup ply of original material for improved treat- ment. now. apart from the great demand for improved "Takow brown in Japan, and as
obstructionist the principal local is so far aware of this as to have himself
་་
attempted a partial, though rough, compliance with the demand, by making laborious and pre-limited selections which have already established a name for their mark ( H.H."), there is good reason to believe that, under this pressure, he would be more ready to co-operate further with foreigners in this direction than he would have dreamt of doing in the semi-competitive line he lately permitted them to take up. The sole reason, of course; for this complaisance would be that by it a greater profit might be anti- cipated than that which the most successful limitation, or even suppression, of foreign com- petition could under present conditions vonch- safe. Seeing that now his influence and control over the producers has been completely overcome, and thus any power remaining to him, for good or evil. must simply depend on his standing as a capitalist, it would seem that by means of the above alternative, of which the space at com- mand only permits its being hinted at in outline, participation in the Taiwanfoo sugar trade, and also connection with that of the Takow district, may be obtained, and this without any radical revolutiou, either în the original methods of growing and producing sugar, or by setting up advanced establishments for producing sugars which would have to be placed on the markets in opposition to the sugars produced by the refineries which are in the position to secure the raw product elsewhere inore advantage. ously.
two native capitalists, who. for reasons viously detailed. may be said to possess full In command of the whole Takow crop. this latter district one rich Chinese hong last that they hold in their hands at least half of this year's produce, and that, by reason of their wealth and position, they can, to a con. "ziderable extent, control the disposal of the other moiety. Making every allowance for must be admitted that native vanity. it the assertion is not very far of the truth for, as a fact, there is but one other native
who can. or at un rehant
any rate does, make any show of acting independently of the firm alluded to.
There can be ne donht that the great mejority of foreign merchants are compelled to resent in this hong for assistance in buying sugar or a thing steamer freights for the port. At first sight it seems strange that this firm shi aki voue rn themselves at all with foreigners, seeing that they ship largely to Yokohama on tair own account, where they have a As their own working Hanch establishment. expenses are necessarily infinitely less than these of foreigners, to say nothing of the much lower prime cost at which they obtain their cargoes, they must always hold a commanding position in the competition, which, moreover, it would appear they can put an end to at any time they fed so disposed. It will he olivious from this that the openings avail- able to foreign enterprise, even in the Takow
limited districts, have been sugar their tenure is uncertain, and year by year the co-operation of foreigners has been lessening, and there does not seem much reason for hope that, so long as matters remain as they are. foreign merchants can look for a fairer and more reliable share of the business. Although it has been shown that refineries. properly so called, would probably be a mistake, still a practical question remains, which may be stated as fol- lows: Can persons with superior meaus at their disposal accept the crude material, as at present obtainable in this island, and, by certain simple manipulations, produce an article suitable to the procaliar requirments of both the Chinese and Japanese markets, which will, by its higher merits, take procedence of anything the native merchants can offer?
:
:
Four kinds or grades of sugar are produred in the Taiwanfoo district. of which ("lao-tsai") is not exported, but solely used for the production of so-called
sugar, while from the molasses drained therefrom in; this process a fifth variety is got by re-boiling, and kuown as Cha-sod. The other three kinds of brown sugar produced in these dis- tricts are known respectively as “Sheung-tao." "Tiong-tao," and Ka-pan
Shipo." They differ from each other by the care taken in manufacture. so producing better, graining with less amount of invert sugar.
classed in order of price is above given, from the clean. Ene, grained, dry Sheung-tao down the irregularly crystallized Ka-pan." with its superabundance of molasses.
and
are
or
to
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34
JAS. W. DAVIDSON.
THE STRANDING OF THE " MENMUIR.”
MARINE COURT OF INQUIRY.
A Marine Court of Inqu ry was held at the Harbour Master's Office on the 15th May to enquire into the circumstances attending the stranding of the British steamer Menmuir whilst on her voyage from Kobe to Hongkong on the 1st inst. The Court was composed as follows :— Commander R. M. Rumsey, R.N., Harbour Master (President): Commander C. R. H. Robinson, R.N., H.M.S. Victor Emanuel; Mr. George Alfred. Lee, master, Empress of Japan; Mr. Percy Gibson, master, Azamor; and Mr. Robert Barton, master, Afghan.
Hugh Craig, Captain of the Menmuir, was the first witness called and said-I am master of the steamship Menmuir, and hold a master's certificate issued at Glasgow twenty-five years ago. I have been on the Menmuir since 1890, but bave been a commander altogether for
on It thirteen years. The ship was a voyage from Kobe to Hongkong with general cargo. Her draft was 13 ft. 8 in. forward and 18 ft. 6 in. aft. on leaving Kobe. We left Kobe at 2.30 a.m. on 30th April in heavy weather. The weather continued the same till about 10.30 p.m., when it began to clear up. By that time we had passed the Ten Foot Rock and at 11 p.m. the weather was perfectly clear and the moon was rising. I remained on deck till midnight, when the second officer relieved the third The weather being clear, and no officer. junks or sampans in the way, I lay down in the cabin and left instructions to be called at the
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It would seem that without guing to any such very inadmissible extreme as is implied by the term refinery" in its actual or ordinary tech-
• plan of campaign' nical acceptation, such a offers very reasonable prospects of success. merit and
may be urged that the same reasons which at present limit the supply of the raw material for export by foreigners would prove obstruc- tive to its possession for the treatment suggested, but in reply to this, it can be said that in the Taiwanfoo districts (the main products of which offer a tempting field for enterprise, if only meaus could be devised for over oming the artificial barriers set up against foreign participation by native brokers on the ultimate markets) there does not exist that limited native control of original material which was obtained in the Takow division, shown
Practically the sole markets to which the Taiwanfco sugars, both white and brown, go are those supplied by the coast ports, beginuing at or about Foochow, or Wenchow, in the south, and extending up to Tientsin and Newchwang in the North. Shanghai, Chefoo, and Tientsin are the places through which the greatest bulk of the crop appears to be absorbed; but it must be noted that while the figures given in the
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