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TRADE OF FRENCH INDO-CHINA,
Daily Press, 19th October.i
!
[October 20, 1906,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
administration. Even allowing seven per Southern Yunnan,' and generally consigned cent as expenses of State insurance, he to Hongkong. During 1995 there thus calculates a saving of more than thirteen came 4,578 tons, valuel at £558,915, millious sterling. The way to effect the including a small contribution of native ore. change would be easy, in his opinion. | Fish products were valued at £534,828, Calculating on a thirty years' purchase Singapore and Hongkong being the chief of the net earnings of the present system consumers. We note further that the (but arbitrators would scarcely be as ready Colony also manufactured £20,446 worth with their decision as he) the price of all of cotton yarn for Yunnan, besides re- the Life companies would be about thirty exporting £401,000 worth of Indian yarn and a half millions sterling, and of the that had passe 1 through Hongkoug dealers' Fire companies another twenty millions, hands. Of the large coal export, 222,651 He prefers to leave the treatment of mutual tons, 199,888 tons were mined in the coun- offices, and of accumulated profits and try. For the cultivation of raw cotton, now rezerves, the tribunal of arbitration.Teing encouraged with some show of success, He is vague as to, compensation for the there is a sourcity of lah ur.
At present enormous army of employees, suggesting Cambodian cotton costs from ten to twenty that one million per annum "for a series per cent more than Indian aud is mainly of years" would be a safe estimate. So bought for Japan, by Hongkong. It is it would, in one way, but meanwhile the longer stapled and better quality, but not remendous savings might have to be so good as American. Toe Tonkin mills waited for till the end of that series of prefer to buy the cheaper Indian cotton. years. Many of the officials would be Rabler, as everywhere just now, is receiving employed by the State Insurance Co., special attention, Indo-China producing Unlimited, so he ventures to quote ten last year 367! tons worth £97,150. At millions as the utmost amount required present the wasteful methods of savage for compensa on, or about sixty and a half collectors are still followed, but the Guvern- millions as the total cost of expropriation. ment is trying to introduce the proper way. As we remarked, we do not expect that These, only a few selections froin the long any government party will care to tackle list of valuable productions, help to show the question seriously at present; but it the wonderful resources of the country. certainly offers a fine ground for debate. We may now turn to the way in which the natural wealth is expended. Of imports from neighbouring cou tries, which neither France nor any other western nation can supply, may be noted £271,000 worth of opium, £137,600 The trade of French Indo-China iu 1905 ¦ worth of fruits and seed from C. ina, £52,400 is the subject of one of the more interesting worth of meat, hides, raw silk, bird, -nest‹, of the large number of blue books that & from Hongkong, China, and Siam, usually reach us about this time. Mr. £13.700 worth of live sheep and pigs from Consul CARLISLE is very thorough in his China, besides betel nut, fresh veg-tables, and other luxuries. China also sends medicines, pottery, paper, shoes, fireworks, and son. Of the demand in which European countries may take interest, France or her colonies supplies 14.19 per cent, thanks 10 a protectionist tariff. In spite of the severe import duties levied ou foreign goods other than French, Hongkong gets in £2,479,818 worth, and the United Kingdom (which with India appears to contribute most largely to Hongkong's quota) £141,382 worth, or say fully 25 per cent of British imports. Couverning the much talked of railway to Yunnan, and the cotton yarn trade, Mr. CARLISLE says the Tonkin mills are boping to increase their share, but that freight on their Indian raw cotton an the high price of labour handicap them.
Indian yarn following the usual route to Yuunau, from Hongkong to Haiphong, must pay for manipulation and warehouse charges, as well as French transit dues amounting to about five per cent of the value. Hongkong Chinese take tin generally in exchange for their yarn, and Yunnan's purchases are largely paid for in opium. The French authorities are gradually substituting Yunnan opium for the Indian drug, and making a good thing out of the monopoly, Dozens of other interesting facts, such as that the Aunamites regard an utubrella as an emblem of respectability, and bought 312,039 fro France aud 24,935 from Hougkʊug, are t› be found in this very interesting book, which costs only two-peuce.
striking one, and it appears the more significant when we remember that all companies, good, bad, and indifferent, which come within the provisions of Section 10 of, The Life Assurance Companies Acts, 1870,' are included in the return. It is probable that no other interest or indus try in the country could show collectively such a handsome yield on its capital. The writer quoted claims that under Government management this return would be greatly increased, as it has been made under the existing competitive system in spite of the extremely costly system of working involved. He figures roughly that · nearly a quarter of the total premium income of the Life Insurance Companies is spent on managerial and office expenses, and on commission. In the case of Fire Offices, he puts the proportion still larger, The best feature of British companies, so far as the public takes interest in the matter, has always appeared to be their very substantial reserves, but the writer considers them overgrown. He would reduce them one half. He suggests that they spell high rates as well as security, and he would allow Government a less reserve, and expect it to insure at lower rates. This, we suppose, will be the weak place in his armour, if the experts consider him worth fighting. He is interesting when giving his opinion of the present system, as the following extract from a summary of his essay may show. "The companies", he declares, "work on a basis theoretically sound, but in practice fallacious. The mortality tables are out of date. As a rule they go back to 1872, since which year sanitary science has made such strides that the death-rate has been materially reduced and the average duration of life prolonged, thods, which cannot be said for all his The calculations of the companies, more consular contemporaries, but he has had over, are not based on the selected lives the advantage of approaching it as a new with which they usually deal, but on those task. This happens to be the first report by of the general population, including, of a Consul for. Indo-China, and there were no course, the notoriously short-lived. Con-data available for making the comparisons sequently, they are constantly paying that are usually so useful in these reports. enormously less in death-claims than they Taking exchange at twenty-five fraucs to expected, or might have expected. Twenty the sovereign, Mr. CARLISLE tells us that years ago oue of the largest companies the total value of Indo-China's foreign trade testified to its deaths ne year being 26 per last year was registered by the Customs as cent below the number expected. Agaiut £17,614,932, of which, excluding treaures, the average duration of a policy in a British exports represented £6,750,306, and imports company is only five years, and lapsed £10,182,411. It is necessary, in order to policies outnumber these on which claims get a correct idea of the importance of are paid by two to one. Yet compauies Indo.China's tra le, to further deduct still calculate on the assumption that every £1,224,645 as the value of goods merely policy will mature". The epidemic
passing through, which leaves us with a argument is used justify these total of about sixteen and a half millions boards; but the writer dues not sterling.
Even then au important growth think it does justify them nowadays. is observable, the net figure for 1904 being He seems to overlook the obvious reflection £15,450,728, or about six per cent less, can never know when surprises Exports look less, but that is because the are in store for the iusurance world. The export of rice in 1904 was abnormal. The current year is au cxample, with San increased imports are attributed to the Francisco, Valparaiso, and our own Hong- much greater prosperity of the people. kong trouble; and no one can promise of the exports, including treasure, quite that there will never again be a vast
£4,880,370 worth were indigenous products, epidemic or series of epidemics. On his and it is interesting to note that Hongkong argument that the proposal is not took the largest share. £1,766,922, the revolutionary one, or altogether without amount destiued to France or French precedent, he is on safer ground, but we colonies being £1,290,516. China and take it in view of recent re-action and Japan took £846,536 worth Re-exporis disclosures that his citations of gas, are, of course, excluded, otherwis these electricity, telephones, etc., are none too figures would be larger still. It is stated happy. New Zealand appears to have that the great bulk of re-exports come to actually adopted his suggestion before he Hongkong, China. and Japan. The chief made it, but that enterprising Colony is the export (more than half) is always rice, despair of all argumentative people. It of which last year the quantity sent out Shanghai Maloo on October 11th. Mr. E. S. seems capable of demonstrating anything, was given by the Customs as 625,750 tons, Germany and Japan are expected to follow most of it grown in the country. New Zealand's example, however, and this exports to the United Kingdom writer would like to see Great Britain in Germany consisted of fifteen thousand tons and the van, substituting one well-equipped of rice Hour and dust. The tin figuring central office for the numerous headquar-with next importance in the list of exports ters existing now, and economising on
is really a re-export, coming originally from
that we
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A serious motor accident occurred in the
Littles motor came into collision with a ricsha, near Houan Road.
The occupant of the ric ha, a woman, was thrown out and severely injured. and thence to a Charitable Institute for native she was taken to the Shantung Road Hospital
women in Burkill Road, where her injuries were found to be very serious and she was detained.
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