England...... June 30) Banke San Francisco Hongkong... Aug. 6 Tientsin mail advices of 24th June were London on the Ist August, "SHANGHAI, FRIDAY, AUG. 11, 1893.
Luyacuow and Méngtze, the two gates through which the foreign commerce between Tongking and China is carried on, continue to present the greatest possible contrast, Both were opened in 1889, 1890 being for each the first complete year; but while the latter gave a large revenue at once, which shows little or no elasticity. 'I'he following are the amounts of revenue collected at the two ports Lungchow. Méngtze, Ak. Ts. Hk. Ts, 1889 633° 8,290 1890 1,645 43,027 1891 {191 60,947 1892 1782 73,795 Lungchow was open for only seven months in 1889, and Méngtze for five mouths, Mr. ©. C. Clarke, the Commissioner of Customs at Lungchow, mentioned in his Report for 1891 that the trouble there was the absence of easy and cheap communication with the coast. The French railway from Phulangthuong to Langson was progressing very slowly, but the contractors promised to complete it to Langson in the spring of the present year. Another obstacle to trade was the piracy on the rivers leading to Lungchow, robberies of money from the boats being of constant occurrence, and the regular traders only saving their goods from loss by paying a blackmail amounting to 2 per cent. of the value of their cargoes. When we read Mr. Clarke's Report for 1892, we do not wonder at the little progress Tongking makes, and we get an idea that M. de Lanessan, the 7 Governor-General of French Indo-China, might perhaps do better if he worked at developing the resources of the country Franco has already annexed, instead of devoting himself to the acquisition of fresh territory from Siam. The length of the Phulangthuong-Langson railway is, in round numbers, 70 miles, It was begun in 1890, and in his first report, Mr. Carl, the first Commissioner of Customs at Lungchow, said that it was intended to be finished in 1891. On the 12th of January, 1893, Mr. Clarke reports: "The railway is in running order for 20 miles. Some work has been done on the remaining 50 miles; but the part already finished was the least difficult to construct, and no one now is willing to predict when the line will reach Langson. Until that happens the trade of Lungchow which comes under the notice of this office will be only local trade across the frontier and, at least until the trade in native opium is regulated, will be of small amount and of little interest." The reference to the trade in native opium is explained later on; none of it goes through the office, as the Tongking Opium Farmer prohibits its introduction has increased year by year, the revenue {into the French colony, and it is acfrom the former has been trifling, and /cordingly smuggled across the frontier, contributing nothing to the Imperial revenue. 'I'vo or three balls of foreign opium, we are told, would be enough to meet for a year the taste of the half-dozen smokers in Lungchow who have used foreign opium in other places, and can afford to gratify their liking.
The comparative net values of the trade of Lungchow were as follows 1891. Hk. Ts. Net total foreign Imports soso. 26,996 26,349 Net total native Imports ssssssee nil nil Total exports of local origin...... 10,991 "13,312
Total. 37,987 39,660 The net value in 1890 was Hk. is, 33,362. To this we may add that Mr. Clarke estimates the whole trade between Lungchow and Tongking, including the native opium smuggled, to be worth Ts. 300,000 a year, so that only some 12 per cent, of the whole trade comes under the cognisance of the foreign Customs. The imports into Lungchow are mainly cardamoms, dye-stuff, and timber; the only export reaching 'I'ls. 1,000 in value was ground-nut oil. is triumphantly recorded that one transit pass, for Pls. 3.40 of aniseed oil, was issued in 1892, the first in the history of the port. There are no statistics of the movement of treasure.
Mr. A. P. Happer, Jr, Commissioner at Méngtze, writes with satisfaction of the trade of his port, the comparative net values of which were
Hk. Tis, Hk. Tis, 1992, 1991, Net total foreign Net total native imports. 887,606 744,896 imports. 261,459 202,336 Total exports of local origin 736,355 683,275
Total... 1,885,420 1,630,007
The net value in 1890 was Hk. Ils. 1,104,007.
The traffic of Méngtze that passed through the foreign Customs was conducted by 1,882 junks, entered and cleared, of 5,666 tons, and 103,955 maules and ponies, carrying on the average 120 catties per head. While re-grotting the absence from the port of "brigantines, barques, and even four-masted ships;... the 'Blue-Funnel' liners and those distinguished by the red smoke-stack," Mr. Happer paints
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.