CHINESE COMMERCE. 205 



a peculiar manner, say in bine paper, according to the form in which 

 the native merchant had been accustomed to buy them. Was the 

 order filled? Not at all. The company cabled back that their goods 

 were always wrapped in brown paper and that no change could be made. 

 The order then went to Germany. To the American concern an order 

 for $5,000 was of small moment, perhaps; but they overlooked entirely 

 the fact that this was the thin edge of the wedge, opening a trade that 

 could be developed into tremendous proportions. This instance is not 

 isolated, for, unfortunately, the reports of all our consuls are filled with 

 parallel ones. 



A study must also be made of the grade and quality of the article 

 shipped. It is no use to send to China, to be sold in the interior, tools, 

 for instance, of the same high finish and quality that our mechanics 

 exact in their own. A Chinaman's tools are hand-made, of rough 

 finish and low cost. In the interior cities one sees a tool-maker take a 

 piece of steel, draw all the temper, hammer it approximately to the 

 shape of the knife or axe, chisel or razor, or whatever other article he 

 may be about to make; then, with a sort of drawing-knife pare it down 

 to the exact shape required, retemper it, grind it to an edge and fix 

 it in a rough wooden handle. This work is done by a man at a wage 

 of about ten cents a day, and this is the competition that our manu- 

 facturer must meet. In spite of the difference in cost of labor he can 

 do so, because his tools are machine-made and are better; but he must 

 waste no money on unnecessary finish. 



As an example, the case of lamps is directly to the point. The 

 Chinaman fairly revels in illumination; he hates the dark, and every- 

 where, even in the smallest country towns wholly removed from foreign 

 influence, it is possible to buy Standard oil or its competitors in the 

 Chinese market, the Russian and Sumatra brands. The importation of 

 illuminating oils is increasing tremendously. In 1892 it was 17,370,600 

 gallons, and in 1898 it was 44,324,344 gallons. But what of the lamps 

 in which this oil is burned? In 1892 the United States sent to China 

 lamps to the value of $10,813, and in 1898 to the value of $4,690. That 

 is to say, lamps are one of the few articles which show a decrease. 

 While the consumption of oil had increased more than two and one-half 

 times, the importation of American lamps had decreased in almost 

 the same ratio. This was not due to the manufacture of lamps in 

 China, but to the German and Japanese manufacturers making a study 

 of the trade and turning out a special article. These lamps — and I 

 saw them for sale everywhere, even in unexplored Hu-nan — have a 

 metal stand, generally of brass, stamped out from thin sheets, with 

 Chinese characters and decorations; and were it not for a small imprint 

 of the manufacturer's name on the base, they would be considered of 

 Chinese make. They are inexpensive, of the kind desired by the China- 



