26th October.
Tue report to the Foreign Office by Mr. Uubbins, British Charge d'Affaires at Seoul, on the Trade of Corea in 1900 is of considerable length, is fu: l of readable facts and remarks thereon by the compiler, and contains a number of tables and diagrams. No one who takes even a cursory interest in the little buffer State whose independence is only secured by the jealousy of its neigh-hours, should neglect to read it. He will acquire in the pleasantest way a valuable amount of fresh information about Corea. The opening sentences of the report arrest attention at once:—A
In his report on the trade of Corea for the year 1894, His Majesty's Consul-General" remarked that the unfavourable anticipation formed as to the future of trade in that year owing to the. progress of the China- had, fortunately. not been larly, with regard to the trade of 1800, it is satisfactory to he able to note that in spite of the troubles it othe value of the total trade of year under review has not ed, byt has exceeded that previous year.
This result is explained to a largo extent by the fact that although the export of Corean produce to China, which is in Chinese hands, decreased, and importa-sot foreign goods by Chinese merchants like wi these disad-n to the export of interruption of the export trade of Newchwang, and by the demand for food supplies for the Foreign val in military operations in table follows in which it is shown that the trade of Corea has more than doub'ed itself since 1895, and that the increase in value of the trade of 1900 over that of 1899 was £694, The figures are: 1899 £2,207,467; 1900, £2,901,623, Afer stating that the largest increase among the five chief Corean exports—rice, beans, hides, ginseng, snd gobi—was iv rice, Mr. Gubbins quotes an extract from the " Monitenr Officiel clu Commerce," which says that "the principal factor which regula'es the general movement of Gorean trade is rice, the amounts of all importations rising er falling in naw hile the a an important. hear-hi ing on the. trade of Corea, it has ceased to serve correct index to the total volume of Corean imports. In other exports, ginseng, wheat, copper, and dried fish to Japan all show an improvement; bu: the me crease in the import trade is very small as compared with that in been in favour of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.