CHINA. 



155 



There were exported in 1886, 295,639,300 

 pounds of tea, of which 126,604,950 pounds 

 went to Great Britain, 768,856 pounds to 

 Russia, 40,591,750 pounds to the United States, 

 20,733,000 pounds to Hong-Kong, and 17,120,- 

 666 pounds to Australia. 



The reports of the Imperial Maritime Cus- 

 toms for 1887 show an increase of 6,000 piculs 

 in the imports of opium, the total being 73,877 

 piculs (1 picul = 133i pounds). This does not 

 denote an increased consumption of Indian 

 opium, but is probably due to placing the 

 junk-trade between the Continent and the 

 ports of Hong-Kong and Macao, from which 

 smuggling was formerly encouraged, under the 

 control of the Chinese customs authorities by 

 an arrangement with the British and Portu- 

 guese governments. In 1887 the system of 

 paying a fixed duty to the customs authorities 

 in lieu of likin and of admitting opium in bond 

 first went into operation. The sum collected 

 as prepaid likin duties by the customs depart- 

 ment was for the year 4,645,843 taels. In 

 spite of the opium convention, the use of In- 

 dian opium is steadily growing less. Only the 

 wealthy or old people, unaccustomed to the 

 flavor of the native-grown drug, will pay the 

 higher price of Patna opium. The difference 

 of quality is disappearing with the introduc- 

 tion of improved methods of cultivation, and 

 already opium is grown in Honan that is 

 almost as good as that of Patna, and costs $40 

 less per picul. Practically all the prepared 

 opium contains a considerable admixture of the 

 Chinese product 



The Chinese have taken largely to import- 

 ing cotton-yarn instead of the finished goods. 

 The yarn-trade has increased from 108,360 

 piculs in 1878 to 523,114 piculs in 1887, the 

 value being 12,547,653 taels, or more than one 

 third of the entire value of the cotton goods 

 imported. The yarn of Bombay is preferred 

 to that of Manchester. The imports of iron 

 and steel have fallen off, and the import of 

 kerosene-oil shows a remarkable decrease 

 from 23,038.101 gallons in 1886 to 12,015,135 

 gallons in 1887, which is probably due to the 

 discouragement of] its use by the authorities 

 because of the many .fires it has caused. The 

 export of silk in 1887 was 56,000 piculs, or 

 about the same quantity as in the preceding 

 year, with an increase of five per cent, in 

 prices. The exports of silk-cocoons and man- 

 ufactured silks were greater than in 1886. 

 The exports of straw braid, which is the 

 staple of the trade of Tientsin and Chefoo, 



have increased from 25,930 piculs in 1877 to 

 150,952 piculs, valued at about $4,500,000 

 in 1887. The tea-trade has suffered from 

 the competition of the Indian product, which 

 is sold for a third less in the London mar- 

 ket. The Chinese Government in 1887 asked 

 the opinion of the Foochow Chamber of 

 Commerce as to the cause of the decadence 

 of the tea-trade. The report represents that 

 the tea-growers have grown negligent in 

 their methods of cultivation, no longer ditch- 

 ing or manuring or pruning or planting new 

 shrubs, and that they strip the leaves four 

 or five times a year, instead of three tirn- 

 formerly. The leaves are full of dust and 

 stalks, and are too dry to admit of sufficient 

 firing. The sophistication and adulteration 

 practiced by the tea-guilds lowers the quality 

 of the product still further. The dust and 

 stalks have caused the markets of the Conti- 

 nent of Europe to slip away, and now Aus- 

 tralia and Canada prefer the more carefully 

 cultivated teas of Ceylon. The decline of the 

 tea-trade in 1886, which caused the alarm of 

 the Government, became more marked in 1887, 

 the quantity diminishing 5 per cent., while 

 there was a fall in value of 12 per cent. 



Navigation. During 1886, 28,244 vessels, of 

 21,755,460 tons, were entered and cleared at 

 Chinese ports, of which 23,262 were steamers, 

 of 20,619,615 tons. Of the total number, 

 16,193, of 14,006,720 tons, were British; 7,852, 

 of 5,374,821 tons, Chinese ; 2,702, of 1,499,296 

 tons, German; 413, of 143,799 tons, American; 

 380, of 270,002 tons, Japanese ; and 123, of 

 158,400 tons, French. 



The tonnage of 1887 was 22,199,661, the 

 largest ever known. Of this, 14,171,810 tons, 

 or about two thirds, were British; 5,670.123 

 tons, or one fourth, Chinese; 1,480,083 tons, 

 or one sixteenth, German ; 306,169 tons were 

 Japanese; 130,890 tons were French; and 

 66,539 tons were American. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. A small railway 

 from Tongsan, at the Kai-ping mines, to 

 Yung-chong, in the province of Chihli, was 

 originally built for the conveyance of coal. It 

 has obtained a considerable passenger-traffic 

 also, declared a 6-per-cent. dividend on its 

 paid-up capital for 1887, and in 1888 was ex- 

 tended to Tientsin. Another railroad extend- 

 ing from Kai-ping to Petang is in course of 

 construction. In 1884 there were 3,089 miles 

 of telegraph lines and 5,482 miles of wire in 

 operation. 



\avi<ration of the Tpper Yangtse. The English 

 inserted in the treaty relative to the open ports 

 a clause opening Chung-King also to foreign 

 trade as soon as steamers could be made to as- 

 cend so far. The last open port on the Yangtse 

 Kiang at present is Ichang, 1,000 miles from the 

 sea. Chung-King, the commercial emporium 

 of the wealthy province of Szechuen. which has 

 a population of 70,000,000, is 500 miles higher, 

 while between them is a series of rapids, where 

 the river passes through a narrow, rocky chasm. 



