CHINA. 



93 



Army of the North, stationed ordinarily at Tien- 

 tsin, Taku, and other places convenient for the 

 defense of the capital province against invasion. 

 These troops are taught by European instructors 

 and have the best of modern arms. In 1899 they 

 numbered 50,000, and afterward 20,000 more were 

 incorporated. In emergencies, mercenary troops 

 are raised which display varied efficiency and 

 discipline, according to the nature o.f the popu- 

 lation among which they are recruited, the ability 

 of their commanders, and the kind of service they 

 are called upon to perform and the experience 

 they acquire. There is also an irregular cavalry, 

 mostly Mongolian, nominally 200,000 strong, but 

 really not more than a fifth or a tenth as many, 

 and of slight military value. The total of the 

 armed forces is estimated at 1,752,000, but there 

 is no effective central authority, no common or- 

 ganization, little discipline except among the 

 picked corps, and outside of these only obsolete 

 training and armament, worthless against modern 

 arms and tactics. Large numbers of European 

 arms have been acquired by the Government 

 within the last two years, and the proportion of 

 soldiers who have these and are able to use them 

 with more or less skill . has been more than 

 doubled. About 900,000 Mauser rifles have been 

 imported since 1897. The field army in active 

 service in north China is 205,000 strong, composed 

 of 50,000 Manchurian regulars, 20,000 irregular 

 troops, 10,000 disciplined troops in the capital, and 

 125,000 other active troops in the capital and 

 neighboring provinces, including the foreign- 

 drilled detachments of Gen. Nieh and Gen. Yuan- 

 Shih-Kai, intended for the defense of the coast 

 of the Gulf of Pechili. The reserves are composed 

 of 13,000 Pekin field troops, 75,000 of the Eight 

 Flags in the metropolitan province, 95,000 of the 

 Eight Flags in the other provinces, and 506,000' 

 of the Green Flags. Miscellaneous troops, in- 

 cluding river and canal guards, transport convoys, 

 103,000 Manchurian militia, and bodies formed of 

 men of different alien races, number 858,000. 

 The Chinese official statement of the effective 

 troops on the peace footing is 850,000 infantry 

 and artillery and 60,000 cavalry. Many of the 

 cavalry have no horses, and only a few detach- 

 ments are armed with carbines or rifles. A very 

 small part of the artillery has received special 

 training. Most of the Green Flags are entirely 

 without training, and the same is generally true 

 of the reserves. 



Commerce and Production. Land in China 

 is held in fee simple on payment of an annual tax. 

 Every property is registei-ed, and when it is sold 

 a fee of 6 per cent, of the price is paid for the 

 conveyance. No farm or dwelling can be sold to 

 a stranger until all near relatives have declined 

 to buy. Farms are generally small, and are 

 kept in a high state of cultivation by the aid 

 of irrigation and careful use of fertilizing mate- 

 rials. Oxen and buffaloes are the common farm 

 animals, but tillage is often done by hand with 

 primitive tools. Wheat, barley, corn, milfet, 

 beans, and peas are grown in the north, and in 

 the south rice, sugar, cotton, and indigo are com- 

 mon crops. In the west and other elevated sec- 

 tions where the land is suitable the poppy is grown 

 extensively for opium. Tea is cultivated only in 

 the western and southern provinces of Fu-Kien, 

 Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsif Chehkiang, Anhui, 

 Kwangtung, and Szechuen. Silk culture is not 

 less important and is carried on in all parts of 

 China, but the best silk, and the main supply, 

 comes from Szechuen, Kwangtung, Chehkiang, 

 and Kiangsu. Filatures with modern machinery 

 have been started in Shanghai and Canton, capa- 



ble of winding 1,600,000 pounds of silk a year, 

 and in Canton Chinese and foreign capitalists have 

 large cotton mills in operation, with 313,000 spin- 

 dles running in 1898. 



Coal beds exist in all the provinces. The 

 Kaiping mines, northeast of Pekin, have been op- 

 erated under European superintendence. Anthra- 

 cite is mined for the supply of Pekin at Fang-Shan 

 Hsien. Coal is mined also at Poshan, in Shantung, 

 and other fields in that province promise an abun- 

 dant supply. Shansi has a field of anthracite coal 

 in its eastern section and one of bituminous in the 

 west, each estimated to cover 13,500 square miles, 

 and a British syndicate has been formed to open 

 mines there, while German capitalists expect to 

 develop the Shantung mines. In southeastern 

 Hunan the beds, part anthracite and part bitu- 

 minous, have an extent of 21,700 square miles, and 

 in some places considerable coal is dug also in 

 the central and northern parts of Szechuen. 

 French syndicates have obtained concessions here. 

 Coal and iron are found together in Manchuria, 

 where a smelting industry has sprung up. 



Adjacent to the coal deposits of Hunan are iron 

 mines which have been worked from ancient times. 

 The copper mines of Yunnan have been productive 

 for centuries, and in the same province silver and 

 lead are found. 



The imports of foreign merchandise, according 

 to the returns of the Imperial Maritime Customs 

 in 1898, were 209,579,334 haikwan taels in value; 

 exports, 159,037,149 taels. Corrected by deduct- 

 ing the expenses of landing, storing and selling, 

 and duties paid, the value of imports was 184,- 

 486,528 taels; and that of exports, when commis- 

 sions and export duties and the cost of storing, 

 packing, and shipping have been added, was 177,- 

 165,384 taels. The values of the principal imports 

 were 39,295,000 taels for cotton yarns; cotton 

 cloth, 38,324,000 taels; opium, 29,255,903 taels; 

 kerosene oil, 11,914,699 taels; rice, 10,449,000 

 taels; metals, 9,787,077 taels; sugar, 9,019,000 

 taels; fishery products, 5,430,842 taels; coal, 

 5,280,620 taels; woolen goods, 3,190,169 taels; raw 

 cotton, 2,839,730 taels; matches, 2,597,000 taels; 

 ginseng, 2,545,000 taels; tin, 2,179,000 taels. The 

 principal exports were raw silk, of the value of 

 45,413,000 taels; tea, 28,879,482 taels; silk manu- 

 factures, 10,691,000 taels; beans and bean cakes, 

 7,829,000 taels; skins, 6,820,000 taels; tobacco, 

 3,839,000 taels; matting, 3,683,000 taels; raw cot- 

 ton, 3,151,000 taels; coal, 2,462,000 taels; straw 

 braid, 3,131,791 taels; sugar, 2,445,891 taels; shoes 

 and clothing, 1,982,672 taels; paper, 1,741,707 

 taels; china ware and pottery, 1,504,307 taels. 



The direct commerce with various foreign ports 

 and countries in 1898 was valued in haikwan taels 

 as follows: 



Among the imports are included re-exported 

 merchandise of the value of 9.166,000 taels. The 

 figures for Japan include 4,794,000 taels of imports 

 from and 925,000 taels of exports to Formosa. 



