Timber Trade of Chinese Empire. 665 



It is of special interest to note the rapid increase in price, with 

 size, of these native poles ; and that there are practically no 

 large sized native woods. 



As to the handling of the import business, one again encounters 

 the complex organization of Chinese business methods. In the 

 past, manufacturers abroad almost never sold direct to native 

 merchants. There would be some large European business house 

 in China to whom they would sell. This house would very seldom 

 sell direct to the user in China, but generally to other native mer- 

 chants, the foreign house figuring more as a commission house 

 or merchant, depending for his business on his knowledge of the 

 native merchant and the distrust of native merchants by the for- 

 eign manufacturers, who did not know them. In dealing with the 

 native merchant, the foreign house generally depended on its 

 compradore, who is always a Chinese of good standing and who 

 would make all the deals for the house. It was really quite sur- 

 prising to see how completely these compradores were trusted by 

 their employers, and it is a surprising tribute to the honesty of 

 the Chinese that the houses are not cheated more by the compra- 

 dores than is the case. Many seem to think that this is the only 

 satisfactory way to deal with the Chinese, even to-day ; but that, I 

 think, is hardly correct. There are now arising in every line of 

 business in China Chinese merchants whose credit is good, whose 

 name is well established for honesty, and who are importing 

 directly from abroad. So that undoubtedly as time goes on 

 more and more of the foreign house commission will be elimi- 

 nated and about the only representative a manufacturer would 

 need in China would be simply an agent to look after his general 

 interests — much as our commercial travelers at home. 



In general, no very large stocks are kept in the yards, as the 

 dealers try to keep just as little ahead of the orders as possible. 

 The only large yards are at Shanghai, Tientsin, Hankow, and 

 Hongkong; and even these are hardly to be called large yards. 

 Most of the wood is imported in the form of square or round logs, 

 and sawn up according to order, by hand. There is some import- 

 ing of manufactured stuff, especially tongue-and-groove Oregon 

 pine, flooring, and Japanese railroad ties ; but compared to the 

 total amount of wood, the amount sawn in advance is very limited. 



The sawmills which are at all worthy of the name are but two 

 in number — the Kow kee Timber and Sawmill Company, of 

 Shanghai, and the China-Borneo Company of Hongkong — and 

 both of these are small and are used only for rush orders, as the 

 Chinese claim that they can saw the logs by hand cheaper than 

 can be done by machinery and that there is less waste. The cost 

 of sawing by hand is small due to the very low wages paid. The 

 sawyers are paid at a rate per superficial foot sawed. It would 

 seem that there would be quite an advantage in shipping stuff at 



