THE TOWN OF KHARBIN. 307 



being built at an outlay of £42,000. No one but 

 Russians or Chinese are permitted to own land, con- 

 struct buildings, or engage in any permanent enter- 

 prise, and the land for many miles round has been 

 secured, so as to make it impossible for any foreign 

 influence to obtain a foothold close to the city. The 

 Kusso- Chinese Bank and the commercial department of 

 the Russo- Chinese railway are the commercial powers 

 in Manchuria. They buy and sell produce, and leave 

 little room apparently for the individual or private 

 trader to compete with any profit. Amongst the in- 

 dustries, Mr Miller, U.S. consul at Niuchwang, men- 

 tions flour-mills, brick manufacturing, breweries, meat- 

 packing establishments, bean - oil, confectionery, and 

 saw-mills. At the time of my visit two large steam 

 flour-mills were in operation, and three more were being 

 laid down. It is possible that these may pay, but they 

 were all built or building on credit, and on conditions of 

 full mortgage to the firms supplying the machinery ; 

 and it must be borne in mind that millet is the staple 

 food of the native population, and they do not want 

 it milled for them.^ The commercial and residential 

 quarters are meanwhile left to individual enterprise, 

 and, as my travelling companion remarked, " following 

 usual Russian precedent, no doubt a very long time will 

 elapse before that part of Kharbin emerges from the 

 chrysalis state of wooden or sun-dried brick shanties, 

 impassable roads, and interior and exterior filth." On 

 the whole, "artificial" and "subsidised" are the words 

 which suggest themselves in connection with Kharbin, 

 and when Mr Miller wrote that "it is in this city more 



1 Mr Davidson, however, already quoted, says : " The production of 

 wheat in Manchuria is increasing to a phenomenal degree, and its manu- 

 facture into flour is veiy profitable. The city of Kharbin alone will from 

 the beginning of 1904 produce 800,000 lb. of flour daily." 



