The "Mainichi" quotes Mr. Sa-kato, Director of the Commercial Bureau in the Foreign Office, who has just returned from a tour of inspection in Tsingtao and North China, as follows on the prospects of Tsingtao The German method of ad stration in Tsingtao was an ideal one, and Japan has much to learn from it in the administration affairs in her own colonies. The foreign trade of Tsingtao before the war amounted in value to Y.60,000,000 " year. To this sum Japan contributed Y.16,000,000 imports and exports. Tsingtao is situated most conveniently for trade between Japan and North China, If Shanghai is the—port of China for trade with the Tsingtao will be the commercial gate of China for Japan.
The work of sweeping up the floating mines still remains—un. completed in the harbour, and the Shantung railway trains take two days for a journey to Tsinan.
The mine-cleaning may be completed by the end of next month, but, as the question of the Shantung Railway is to be settled after the conclusion of peace in Europe, the Government hesitates to spend a large amount of money on the repair of the line. Should the railway fall into the hands of Japan together with the right to construct a line to connect Tsinan with the Peking-Hankow Railway, which had been obtained by Germany, the commercial influence of Japan at Tsingtao would soon spread over the whole Shantung province, south Chihli, north Honan, and east Shansi; Tsingtao in these circumstances would rapidly develop into one of the most important—com. mercial ports of China.
Now Honan and Shansi are wholly outside the Japanese com: mercial sphere of influence. Should the Shantung Railway fall into the hands of Japan, the extensive market in question would soon be brought into the sphere of Japanese influence. Straw braid and peanuts are largely exported from Tsingtao to Europe, and the principal "sot imports are cheap Japanese sundry goods. Thus Tsingtao contains larger potentialities for Japanese trade than Tairen, The Japanese merchants now at Tsingtao, with the exception of the Mitsui, Specie Bank, Yuasa Shoten and a few others, who had offices there in the time of the German occupation, mostly "loafer merchants" empty hands, who have nothing to con. tribute to the commercial development of the port. When facilities for communication with Tsingtao are restored to a normal state, the settlement of Japanese merchants of good standing and ample means must be encouraged.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.