In is only the other day that, referring to the difficulties attaching to the establishment of the Sugar Company, in South China, we incidentally alluded to the subject of silk filaturein the north, The report of the Lyons Silk Association, addressed to the Shanghai Chamber, on the subject of the deterioration in quality of China silk, makes the present a convenient opportunity to again discuss the matter. The Chinese seem to be fitted by their nature to attain to a certain excellence in the mechanical arts, but that falls very far short of what western civilisation demands. One by one, the Chinese have been outstripped in those and it seems as if the few in which they arts, by nations less favoured by nature;
still excel, must, unless active measures be taken, follow the same course. Why is Assam tea every year becoming more and more a competitor with Chinese, but that the Chinese manipulater, having brought his work te a certain degree of excellence, mutters to. himself the talismanic words " can do;" and no amount of persuasion or pressure, short of actual force, can com-1 him to move one step forward.
by are our houses full of leaks, our doors of cracks; why do our susiies admit all the elements; why cannot we sit in Chinese made chairs, without imminent fear of a collapse? Why, with the finest materials in the world, is the porcelain of China so crude that, except as a curio, no one cares to possess it? Why do Chinese of the XIXth century spin and weave with the same rade implements as th ancestors did, two thousand - years ago; but that having once, however imperfectly, obtained an article to suit their immediate requirements, they have sat down with the muttered "can do" on their lips, and refused future gress. Wo have always looked upon the closure'of the filature on the Soochow Creek, as an event to be regretted in the general interest.
4 well aware of the difficulties with which that institution had to contend, in the ill-will and foolish prejudice of both rulers and People The giving up of the right of inland residence was attended, this particular instance, with more than ordinary evils. Messrs. Jardine, Matheson's struggles to get a fooling in the silk districts met with the active opposition of the silk dealers, of the mandarins, and, under their influence, of the people to whom that footing cent Lave. been productive of nothing but good, namely the silk growers. Had not this hostility been supplemented by what might at best be called luke-warmness on the part of British representatives, it is probable that, in the long ran, the scheme might have proved an economic success. Other reasons, it is trae, inter-yened to render the idea{inoperative, merchant is a bad manufacturer, the instincts of the two are apt to be antagonistic. Altogether the filature never had a fair chance. Despite the difficulty of supplying it from a distance with cocoons, which rendered its working somewhat spasmodic, that working might have been.less intermittent than it proved in practice, had the out-turn been a matter of more moment to the proprietors than it really was. The institution was kept up for many years, however; and we believe was not ineffectual in affording a standard of comparison for the native reelers. In any case, since its closure, the preparation of the native silk has not improved. The Lyons Association declares that it has degenerated, and a better authority it would be vain to seck. Chinese reeled silk has, besides, to enter into a keener competition, since the disease amongst the silkworms in Europe is dying out. All this points to the advisability of the re-establishment of foreign filature in Shanghai. It is of little use pointing out to the Chinese dealers the folly of their present course; with them, the immediate profit of the moment will always outweigh their more permanent interests, Closer inspection will doubtless remove the more glaring defects complained of, but to raise the standard of silk filature so as to compete successfully with European work, will require the introduction of European energy Rud intelligence. No one will reap thd advantage quicker than the Chinese'themselves. Still, experience shows that every obstacle they can raise will be thrown in the way. Tue exuiiple of the loss suffered in Japan may go some way towards convincing them of this fact; but on the other hand, the experience of the Sugar Company shows how little native assist is to be depended on, even when fair dealing is the most consonant with their interests.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.