No one who takes any interest in the foreign trade of China should neglect to read the lucid report by the present Statistical Secretary of the Customs, prefixed to the Abstract of Statistics which forms the first section of the Annual Returns. Mr. Taylor has not contented himself,.as some of his col= leagues have done from time to time, with a perfunctory review of the- statistics, showing that there has been a decline in Italian cloths, and. an. improvement in nutgalls, ete., but has put together a number of really interesting notes on the trade, has gone into the causes of the variations recorded, and has added from his own special knowledge of the article some very valuable -information on the subject of tea; particularly valuable now, when efforts are being made at Hankow as well as Foochow to revolutionize the preparation of tea by the introduction of machinery. We should have liked some farther information on the trade of the: northern ports, now that our participation in it is being so seriously threatened by the aggression of Russia, but for this we must wait until the anuusl reports of the Commissioners at the northern ports make their appearance.
Mr. Taylor begins by showing why it would have been not unreasonable to expect 1896 to show badly in comparison with 1897. The year opened with large stocks, there was a disastrous full in exchange, and there were very unsettling political complications in the North. Bat against all expectation, the foreign trade in 1897 was larger than ever, "a most satisfactory proof of the sound basis upon which the foreign commerce of China rests, and striking evidence of the expansion which will follow improved means of communication." It cannot be too strongly impressed upon all interested in the trade with China, that is not to the likin or other internal taxation—though these have their effect—that the restriction of the demand for foreign goods is due, but to the difficulties of communication and that every improvement in these facilities will mean a rapid expansion of consumption. 'I'he Chinese have no prejudices against foreign goods; they will gladly buy them wherever they can sell their own produce to pay for them. It is the excessive cost and difficulty of carriage beyond a certain distance from the treaty ports that stops the penetration of foreign goods into the interior of China.
After noting that Szemao (Esmok) and the new stations on the West River are added to the ports from which statistics are received, and noting some indications of the evidence that an era of industrial enterprise has commenced in China which will have far-reaching effects on the trade of the country, Mr. Teylor: takes up: the subject of the revenue, which was the third best on record, the years with higher. totals. -being 1888 and 1891. It may strike some wito look, at the statistics as curio ous'that the: value-of the foreign trade of China should nearly have doubled in ten years—it was is. 188,123,877 in 1887 and Ts. 316,329,983 in 1897°—while the revenue in the same period only increased about ten pet cent—it was 'T's, 20,541,399 in 1887 and 'I's. 22,742,104.in 1897. 'I'he explanation is, that while the Chinese tariff is based on a rater of 5 per cent ad valorem, most of the duties are specific, and actually vary between less. than one per cent and over twenty-five per cent. There his been a great falling-off in the export of tea, which pays an excessively high duty, while the "muck and truck" in whose export there has been such ati increase pays low duties; there has been a great decline in the quantity of opium imported, though not in the value; and the fall in silver has caused 'a great increase in the value, in silver, of cotton goods and other staples, while the duties have remained' unchanged. Mr. Taylor votes a great increase in the duties on native opium, and an advance in transit dues which is-attributed to the extension of the use of transit passes in the South, where this provision of the treaty was for many years a dead lor begins his third section by reminding his readers that 1896—which was in its turn exceeded by 1897—showed the highest value of imports and exports on record. The improvement in 1897 was principally due to exports, the figures being Imports, Exports. Total.
Hk. Tis. Hk. Tis, Hk, Tis, 1997...202,828,625 163,501,358 360,320,983 1896.7.202,589,99% 131,081,421 333,671,415, {Che basis of trade being barter, imports must keep up as long as China can sell her spare produce abroad; and Mr. 'Taylor draws attention to the' continued advance made by Japan, and he adds: "Whether the adoption by Japan of a gold standard' will assist this growing trade may be open to question, but the rapid strides which have marked the year under review are a significant fact-when viewed in connection with the difficulties the depreciation of silver has placed in the way of imports from Western nations." We may note in passing that notwithstanding the depreciation of silver, the raw material, of cotton goods for instance, is just as cheap in the West the East: In Messrs. Noel, Murray Cos latest Report it was stated that "Raw cotton has also been bought for some of the local mills at a price that lays it down on a par with the present cost of the native staple."
Imports in 1896 showed a much higher value than in any previous year, was satisfactory. as well as sur-that there was: another small gain in. 1897, Opium. is. still. an important factor in the foreign trade. of cee TES AEN
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.