Tue Statistical Department of the Inmperial Maritime Customs sends out its yellow-covered messengers with aufuiling regularity, and the appearance of the Returns for the second quarter warns us that autumn is near at hand. From Yuensan in the north-eust, to Kiungchow in the south-west, here the conspectus of Lhe foreign trade of China and its dependency, at lost in the Customs point of view, Coren, for three months; and interesting as the book is, it will be still more interest~ ing fifty years Lence, when the trade, now counted by tens of thousands, will be reckoned in millions. For at last there is no question that China has entered definitely on the path of progress, and though the annual increases in her foreign trade may fluctuate from year to year, and her path be marked, as the path of progress everywhere is, by a zig-zng, there is no fear of the reorudes. cence of the old desire for seclusion The table printed at the end of this article shows that the second quarter of 1886 has beau one of the "short tacks" made by the trade; for, if it had not been for the unusually early opening of the Foochow tea season this your, the total collection of dues and duties would have given a deficiency as compared with 1885; bow that deficiouoy has been explain, Sha aa shows the heaviest ent at the table will untod between the differ.
deficiency; and this is due to the falling off in imports and the injury to the opium trade which was detailed in the letter from the opium importers to Sir Join Walsham, which appeared in our calamus not long since. Ranning brie@y through the separate returns from the various ports and arresting our progress only at those which show some remarkable difference, we" find that the three northern paris gave a considerably diminished col. Ivotion this year: the falling-off in Newchwang was in the export duty on the great staples, bean-cake, bean-oil, beans and wild silk. In Tientsin, the great decline (nearly Tls. 80,000) was in the opium daty, bat all the other items show a decline, which is not remarkable when we remember that the second quarter of 1885 saw the virtual re-opening of the port after the French check to trade. In Chefoo there was a fulling-off in everything but the export duty. The increase at Ichang was due to an improvement in the exports, chiefly in medicines and white wax. Hankow shows a slight decline in receipts for whicl the const trade and transit duties are mainly responsible; the export duty, whioh is the mainstay of this great tea port, being almost exactly the same in the two quarters ander comparison, © In Kiukiang, the gain reported is due to the Inrger export of tea this year; and in Wuhu to the enormous shipments of rice which aggregated 720,000 piculs in 1886 against 62,000 in 1885. The import of piece goods into Wahu this year, duo partly no doubt to the de-tuand for rice for export, was non rly double that of any former year, Chine kiang shows also a satisfactory me crease, also due to the enhanced export of rice which rose from 12,000 piculs ast, to 243,000 this, year. There was also a fair inorense in the import pivco goods into this Gate of the Yangtze, We have already alluded to the decline in the import of piece-goods into Shanghai; the total import for the quarter of piece goode, colton and woollen, including dozen of handkerchiefs and piculs of yarn wae 4,305,000 pieces against 4,460,000 la 1885; in which it is to be noticed that the total this year is still much higher than the average of the Inst three years, and that American cottons and yarn show a steady increase. Lead, iron, and kerosene oil give large increases, and the ovllection has also been helped by the export of rice, which amounted to no less than 1} million picule, againat an average of 180,000 pioula for the three previous years. The de. dino in Ningpo is chiefly due to the falling-off in the opiam daty, the import of the drug for the quarter having fallen from 2,825 piculs in 1885 to 2,105 piculs in 1886. Weéuchow continues to progress steadily bat curely. Foochow, as we have already remarked, bae
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.