'The following articles of export ate handled almost exclusively by foreign merchants 'Aniaoed, Cassia Lignea, Bristles, Curios, Fans, Feathers, Fire-crackers and Fireworks, Rush Hats, Hemp, Hides, Straw Hats,' Straw Mats, and Matting, Musk, Nutgalls, Essential Oils, Rhubarb, Sesamum Seed, Raw Silk, Waste, and Cocoons, Silk Piece' Goods and Pongees, Silk products unclassed, Skins, Rugs, and Furs, Straw Braids, Animal Tallow," Vegetable Tallow, Toa, Camel's Wool, Camphor, Human Hair, Horns, Wool, We believe that the above division may be considered fairly correct. We have credited sesamum seed to foreign mer-hants though over 60 pr con is handed by Tupanese, The same is the case with hem (China grass), but this may be compensa for by other articles put down to Japanese avd Chinese merchants, in which foreigners occasionally do some small business, such as cotton. After deducting the value of the sundries inthe hands of Chinese and Japanese merchants there remain for export of sundries handled by foreign merchants in 1892 only H. Tls. 14,400,000 or at tres. 5.05 per Shanghai tael, tres. 81,000,000: say 38 por cent of the total export of sundries; for 84 firms this makes per firm H. is. 171,400 and in_ tres. 964,000. In 1898 the foreign merchants' share was Tls. 28,000,000, or at tres. 3.27 per Shanghai tael, fros. 102,000,000 which equals again only 38 per cent of the total cuport of sundries, This makes per frm, for 146 firms, in 1898, H. Tls. 192,000, orinfres.
3.27 per Shanghai tael, res. 699,000. Compared with 1892 there is, therefore, per firm, an increase in the value in silver of Tis, 20,600 or 12 per cent, whilst in gold value there is actually a decrease per firm of tres. 265,000 or over. 27 per cent. The share of Japanese and Chinese merchants in the total export of sundries in 1892 was LIH. Tis, 23,900,000 or 62 per cent of total sundry. export, and in 1898 it was H. Tis: 46,000,000 (also 62 per cent of the total sundry export), so that the share of foreigners as well as Chinese and Japanese merchants in the export of sundries in 1998 as compared with 1892 has remained proportionately the same; the lion's share: of this export was and is done by Japanese and Chinese merchants. Whilst competi tion amongst foreigners since 1892 has i creased 75 per cent, we find, ona gold basis, that the foreign merchants' collective share in the sundry export shows an increase of only 26 per cent, and a decrease on the individual share of over 27 per cent If we recapitulate these figures we come to the following result: taking the total export from China to foreign countries, the foreign merchants' share in this trade was in 1892:—
Silk and Silk Product or at tres. 5.05 per Shanghai tael, tres. 442,743,000, which is 77 per cent of the total export, against Japanese and Chinese merchants' share H. Tls. 23,900,000, which Silk and Silk Products Tea Sundries Total H. Tis, 113,000,000 which at tres, 3.27 per Shanghai tael, equals tres. 411,634,000, or 71 per cent of the total, against exported by Japanese and Chinese merchants H. Tls. 46,000,000, or 29 per cent of the total.
his shows a total increase in all articles of exports from China handled by foreigners of 44 per cent in the value of silver, but a decrease in gold of 7 per cent since 1892. In 1892 there were about 164 foreign firms doing general export business, which makes per firm Tls. 480,000 or tres. 2,700,000. In 1898 there were 233 general foreign export firms, making per firm Tls. 485,000 and in tres. 1,766,000, or a decrease of 35 per cent in the share of the total export trade of each firm, "So that even if we take the value of the total export dono by foreign merchants in taels, we are not better off than we were seven years ago, since, as against an increase of 44 per cent in the silver value, we have an increase in competition of 42'per cent; but we must, from our foreign merchant point of view, take the values on a gold basis, and then we see that we are at present considerably worse off than in 1892, and if we take into account the increase in expenses since 1892 the result whether considered on a silver or a gold basis is still worse.
principal articles foreign fe will Fest turn et te the portant article of all is silk, the export of which was in 1892 as follows White Silk 73,000 pels. value Yellow Silk 9,000 Wild Silk 16,400
400 pels, or at tres, 5.05 per S. tael, tres. 153,460,000 fan average value per picul of H. Tle. 272.
In 1898 the export of silk from China was Ths, White Silk 43,500 pels. value, 17,687,000
Yellow Silk 7,7: " 2,186,0 0 Wild Silk 16,489, 2,805,000 steam Filatures 41,050, 18,102,000
108,785 pels. H. Tls. 40,780,000 or at tres. 3.27 per. tael, tres. 148,020,000. The average value per picul was Tls. 374. Whilst we have thus an increase in the average silver value per picul of 40 per cent we have only an increase of 8 per cent in the quantity and a decrease in value in gold of 3 per cent.
The above average value per picul isa purely statistical "one, the largest quantity. of silk exported from China is white, native-span coarse sized silk which: has risen in price for most qualities 100 per cent, whilst the production of these silks has considerably decreased since 1892, erty, om account of steam latures having yen introduced, partly on account of bad crops in the producing districts. If it were not for Canton silks the production of hich has increased about 100 per cent since 1892, we should have to record a decrease in the bulk. Thus the principal article of export done by foreigners, representing for 1898 36 per cent of the total value of exports done by them from China, shows an actual decrease in value and. only a snail increase in bulk, whilst its price in tative currency hes orissa. enorouly.
As far as silks exported directly from Shanghai are concerned, they are all white native silks spun into course sizes, Their export amounted in 1892 to. a'oout 50,000 piculs of the value of H. Tls. 15,?:00,000 or at fcc, 5.05 per Shanghai tael, fees. 3.27 per Sh. Ti, free. 74,800,000
We have thus for Shanghai a decrease in bulk of 12%, an increase in silver value of 33%, and a' decrease in the gold value of 147, Hero again, there is nothing encouraging for the foreign merchant of Shanghai in this diminution of its principal export article. Let. us briefly before proceeding further examine this situation, described in the Customs Report "ominous sign of decadence."
There is no doubt that the silk industry around Shanghai Inbours under unsatisinc~ tory conditions, nnd that the breeding stock is dis It is well-known that the peasant in these districts hatches three times the amount of silkworm eggs which he expects to rear. As the worms grow, they die off by 30, 40, 50 and 60 per cent, according to the temperature ruling during the breeding season. The influence of the temperature abroad can make a difference in the crop of 5 to 15 cent, whilst here, owing to weakness in the breed of worms, the difference varies from 20 to 40 per cent from one season to the other. Whilst, for instance, the export of silk Inst season from Shanghai was about 50,000 bales of white native silk, it will probably amount this year, on account of very fine weather in May, to nearly 70,000 bales, an increase of 40 per cent. The quality and yield of the cocoons, for the same reason, has also much improved. The condition of the houses in which. the silkworms are reared is very '000 bad, but this has always been the case even when the crops. were much larger than those we have been accustomed to Istely. The poverty and extreme many of the people have also an in-nonce on the crops. We have seen worms thrown away, simply because the peasant did not wish to spend too much money for mulberry leaves, and in most cases the worm is underfed to economise leaves. It. is to be hoped that the present efforts of the Shanghai Commissioner of Customs to stop this very dangerous state of things ill be crowned with success, though from our experience of Chinese ity is extremely difficult to introduce any radical changes, nor can we lay the entire blame, especially as far as filatures are concerned, at the door of the native. We do not think, that the failure of silk filatures established in Shanghai can be principally ascribed to the bad quality of the cocoons. We have on former occasions predicted. the failure of that industry as it was then constituted. The filatures have. made matters worse for themselves by, the, way
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.