Apr.
The Chinese Maritime Customs, have just issued their usual quarterly returns of trade in the different ports of China, the figures covering the Octo-' ber-December quarter of last year and of 1929, while comparative figures are given for the full years 1928, 1929 and 1930. There are no fewer than forty-five of these reports, which published at the nominal sum of ten cents each, and actually the number of " ports covered is more than the focty" five pamphlets. It is a rear pity that these could not have f|been in the hands of the British Economic "Atission before tha members left China, for although! all the information, statiggcat and otherwise that is ay was freely placed at their posal, it would have been of the utmost value to have the date now published by the Customs in its present compact form, For instance it would have been very impressive to the experts in question to see how steadily local exports of cotton goods have maintained their position in recent years, here and there showing a substantial advance, As has been pointed out before shire in the Near East and Africa and, are already finding fa market in certain parts Europe, and in contrast with this the decline ju imported fabrics stands out in an oven more serious light, Tt is not only. in cotton goods that Shanghai is steadily" emphasizing its position as an industrial centre ith the promise of sooner or later being a great exporter of manufactures, but from the report in question the idea of great electrical manufacturing industry can be visualized, for in lamps and other electrical material the report shows con= iderable progress during the ast three years.
Unless considered very carefully, however, the figuroa which have just'been issued are apt to be entirely misleading, and the old adage that statistics can be made to prove anything has never been better exemplified. One entry may be taken which gives a8 good and simple an illustration of the position can be found. In the last quarter of 1929'the importation of champagne amounted 5,955 dozen quarts, while in the corresponding period of 1930 the total import had fallen to 296 dozen quarts. It would only be natural to hear the ery of increased economy necossitatet by the low rate of exchange and bad trade, to account for this, and up toa point this is tru The real reason, however, for this extraordinary drop in ort is to be found fiscally.
here were great apprehensions towards the end of 1929 og what the new duties then w negotiation would be, and al natural sequence ' importa rushed in goods to the utm: limit, undertaking to hold infinitely larger stocks than they would normally do. The difference in imports between the last quarter of 1920 and its corresponding period of 1929 must, therefore be considered largely artificial, Tu certain 8 of cotton loods a similar of affairs is shown, for ing these months of 1929 Japanese grey. shirtings "and sheetings went into consumption a rate which exceeded arrivals from Osaka. This haste was again due to the apprehensions regarding the mew tariff, and whatever has happened the 1930 quarter has to this extent to be discounted, In comparing the last quarter of 1930 with that of the preceding year further allowance must be made for several factors in addition to those mentioned, While there is an ever-iner ing shortage of metal dealers on the other hi are believed to be overstocked, the usual demand from the interior having failed materialize owing to a. lack -of confidence still prevailing, notwithstanding the cessation of civil war. Apart from other factors, accordingly, this would be sufficient to &ccount for certain very heavy drops in imports. These are seen in suck Hines as bar croppings and bar ends, cobbles and wire shorts, yet curiously enough the import of bars was almost, double in the last quarter of 1980 as compared with the 1929 quarter, When it comes to 2 question of cotton goods, the purchasing power of the Chinese consumer when expi in gold, stands out all too plainly, anda scrutiny of the yearly figures shows that not only has the English trade been hit but the Japanese equally so. Generally speaking there is. the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.