(Translated from the Shénpao of 7th December, 1892.)
While taking our tea and chatting, we heard a knock at our door and a friend came in. Having complimented one another and taken seats, we asked our friend what he thought so far with regard to this year's trade. In reply to our question our friend said: It has been more or less uneventful as fxr xs outward appearances go, but it is not always wise to judge by outward appearances; ther are currents under the surface which are very much more powerful than the inexperienced would credit, and the fact that they are under the euriace does not detract from their strength. You that publish newspaper ought to point out what ie right and what is wrong, and how important it is for the people to be wealthy so that the country may not experience the hardship of poverty, Que of the most marked features of the trade this year, is the fact that there is a Jnrge and increasing b in the import, of Indian yarn, which is shipped to all part of the Empire, and cuucurrently with this there is a large export of China cotton to Japan, for the use of the Japanese mills, We think the explanation of this apparent phenomenon must be wrong, but we have good authority for stating that it is official interference with the ordinary channels of reade which lins brought about this absurd state of things. Here are we Chinese growing the best cotton of its kind in the world for the benefit of Japanese, while we are importing inferior Indian cotton yarn to make into clothes for our population, Any man in his senses would naturally ask why we do not pin our own cotton for our own uso? The answer is that the Japanese mills can afford to pay a better price for it, after paying our export and their import duty, than our people can afford to pay for it, to spin it into yarn, 'Their steam mills' can work so "much more cheaply than our hand labour, and Indian steam mill-spun yarn is also so much cheaper than our native hand-span Why does all the money which goo the pockets of the Japan steamers which curry away the cotton, the insurance companies who insure it, the Japanese government who impose duty on it and the Japanese spinners who spin it, why does all this profit not remain in Chinat Why does all the profit of Indian mills the freight for bringing Indian yarn to Chi the insurance, the merchants' profits, why do Chinese not save all these by spinning yarn themselves? These questions are in every mouth, and strange as it may seem there is only one avswer—that the manda-ring will not allow mills to be built and worked by the people. One naturally aske what have the mandarins to do with trade it is their duty to look after the interests of the people and the country 5 understand the details of busi selves, which require special training and supervision—why should they interfere? Probably we shall not be believed in saying that certain mandarins, knowing that large profits are to be made by Chinese using their own produce, treated by foreign methods, have resolved to create a monopoly of this industry, and that they have started mills from which they hope to reap large profits, by keopii it their own hands; that they are so short. sighted that they cannot see that by this policy they sre preventing the trading classes from developing trade, and forcing them to pay immense sums yearly to foreigners. We have asked on all sides for an explanation of this reputed explo: tion of the state of affairs, and the only thi we can hear which supports the mandarin posi ion is that they object to foreigners building mills here; they have started one mill themselves and have allowed Chinese
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.