CHINA. 



153 



land iii 1881. All of these vessels are attached 

 to the North China squadron for the defense 

 of the capital, which includes also 12 gunboats, 

 each armed with a 26-, 35-, or 88-ton gun. 

 This squadron has been brought to a high de- 

 gree of efficiency under the instructions of 

 Captain Lang, an English officer, who was ad- 

 miral of the North China fleet, commonly called 

 Li's fleet on account of being under the control 

 of the Viceroy Li-Hung-Chang, when hostili- 

 ties with France began. Not thinking it proper 

 to engage in operations against France, he re- 

 signed his appointment. He was succeeded by 

 Admiral Sebelin, a captain in the German 

 Navy, who engaged many other German offi- 

 cers, introduced Krupp in the place of Arm- 

 strong guns, and made many other changes. 

 The Chinese authorities, who had been greatly 

 pleased with the work of Admiral Lang, who 

 possessed the confidence of Li-Hung-Chang es- 

 pecially, dismissed Admiral Sebelin and the 

 other Germans in this squadron early in 1886 

 and re-engaged the former admiral. 



The Foochow, Shanghai, and Canton fleets 

 include about 50 unarmored cruisers, corvettes, 

 sloops, and gunboats. There have been added 

 to the naval force recently several swift tor- 

 pedo-boats for Whitehead torpedoes. A cruiser 

 of 2,150 tons and 2,400 horse-power has been 

 constructed in China, and several others are 

 building. Besides buying large quantities of 

 arms for the army in foreign countries, the 

 Government has established arsenals which un- 

 der the superintendence of foreigners turn out 

 arms and ammunition at a rapid rate. 



The new naval ministry at Pekin, which has 

 the Prime Minister for its chief, Li-Hung-Chang 

 for vice-president, and the Marquis Tseng, for 

 one of its members, is expected to control the 

 entire fleet and naval defenses of the empire. 

 Formerly the naval affairs of China were, like 

 everything else, decentralized, each viceroy be- 

 ing required to defend his own province, and 

 maintaining for the purpose such a naval es- 

 tablishment as he thought necessary. 



Finances. The total revenue amounts to about 

 $125,000,000, derived from taxes on land, grain, 

 licenses, and the import and export duties, 

 which are collected by foreign inspectors. The 

 land-tax ranges from 75 cents an acre in the 

 north to $3.25 in some parts of the south. The 

 customs duties amounted in 1884 to $18,293,- 

 000. The largest part of the duties is paid on 

 exports. The heaviest expense of the central 

 Government is for the army, which costs about 

 $75,000,000 per annum. China contracted 

 loans in 1874 and 1878 amounting to less than 

 $11,000,000, paying 8 per cent, and secured on 

 the customs receipts. A part of the principal 

 was paid off; but in 1884 a silver loan of 

 $7,500,000 was raised abroad, and in 1885 

 others amounting to $12,500,000, making the 

 total foreign debt about $23,000,000. 



The exhaustion of the imperial hoard and of 

 the provincial treasuries during the war in 

 Tonquin suggested reforms in the financial ad- 



ministration that have replenished the various 

 treasuries. The officials have formerly been 

 allowed to enrich themselves by corrupt prac- 

 tices that have been winked at but not con- 

 doned by the Government. In a national 

 emergency, like the war with France, these 

 private hoards are called into requisition. By 

 strict economy and watchfulness the Govern- 

 ment has been able to replace the depleted 

 treasures and to expend large sums on tele- 

 graphs and military and naval improvements 

 without resorting to heavy public loans. Li- 

 Fungpao, formerly minister to Germany, the 

 Taoutao of Formosa, and other high function- 

 aries, were disgraced and made to give up their 

 irregular accumulations in order to avoid the 

 dangerous expedient of a foreign loan, and 

 officials who were spared are careful to give 

 no offense in the present discharge of their 

 duties. The public revenues are also largely 

 increased by the additional imperial taxes per- 

 mitted in the new opium convention. 



Commerce. The net imports of 1884 amount- 

 ed to 72,760,760 haikwan taels, or about $104,- 

 600,000 ; the total exports to 67,147,680 hai- 

 kwan taels, or $87,300,000. Of the imports, 30,- 

 770,453 haikwan taels came from Hong-Kong, 

 16,945,086 from Great Britain, 14,338,981 from 

 India, 3,655,552 from Japan, 2,418,367 from 

 the United States, and 1,752,222 from the 

 Continent of Europe, not including Russia, 

 whose share was 258,304 haikwan taels. Of 

 the exports 19,465,553 haikwan taels were des- 

 tined for Great Britain, 17,239,750 for Hong- 

 Kong, 10,070,522 for the Continent of Europe, 

 8,279,598 for the United States, 5.488,681 for 

 Russia, 1,795,815 for Japan, and 635,844 for 

 India. The chief imports were opium, valued 

 at 26,150,241 haikwan taels; cotton goods, 

 22,141,222 taels; metals, 4,096,870 taels ; wool- 

 en goods, 3,709,678 taels; raw cotton, 1,784,- 

 451 taels ; coal, 1,492,552 taels. The largest ex- 

 ports were tea, of the value of 29,055,142 taels ; 

 silk, chiefly raw, 23,382,241 taels; sugar, 3,760,- 

 088, taels ; straw braid, 1,953,91 7taels. 



Navigation. During the year 1884 the ton- 

 nage entered and cleared at Chinese ports was 

 18,806,788, of which 12,152,949 tons were 

 British, 2,993,613 Chinese, 2,381,741 American, 

 939,706 German, 215,105 Japanese, and 93,963 

 French. 



Telegraphs. In December, 1884, the imperial 

 telegraph system comprised 3,089 miles of line 

 and 5,482 miles of wire, and it has since been 

 greatly extended. A line between Pekin and 

 Tientsin brings the capital into telegraphic 

 communication with Newchang, Chefoo, Shang- 

 hai, Yangchow, Soochow, the seven treaty ports 

 on the Yangtse, Canton, Fatshan, "Woochow, 

 and Lungchow, and with the southwestern 

 provinces by a line running from Canton into 

 Yunnan, constructed in 1885. Shanghai is con- 

 nected with Foochow, Amoy, Kashing, Shoa- 

 shing, and Ningpo. Lines have also been con- 

 structed between Foochow and Canton and 

 between Taku and Port Arthur. 



