Trade and the Flag 35 



prise. In southeastern Tibet silver, copper, lead, iron and mer- 

 cury are all worked. Agate, borax, salt and musk also enter into 

 Tibetan trade, while the vast forests of timber in eastern and 

 southeastern Tibet await exploitation. Tibet, therefore, contains 

 enough of material value to make it a commercial objective. 



When Japan secured control of Formosa she also secured con- 

 trol of the camphor supply of the world, since the production of 

 camphor is practically confined to Japan and Formosa. The 

 camphor trees of Formosa cover, an area of 1,500 square miles, 

 so that although they are being felled at the rate of 10,000 trees 

 a year, the supply at even the present rate of depletion is sufficient 

 for a hundred years. 125 In the meantime the new system of 

 reforestation which has been introduced will have had time to 

 become effective. But unfortunately camphor can only be ob- 

 tained when peace conditions exist. As soon as trouble occurs 

 between the savages and the Formosans the industry is brought 

 to a standstill. And over one half of Formosa is in the hands 

 of savages who occupy the great timber belt containing the val- 

 uable camphor trees. The country can not be developed until 

 these savage districts are opened up. 126 At the present rate of 

 subjugation it will be many years before the savages are under 

 sufficient control to allow their territory to be safely exploited. 

 Other hindrances to the development of the camphor industry are 

 the need of roads through the jungles to render the camphor trees 

 accessible, the unsanitary conditions throughout much of this ter- 

 ritory which greatly reduce the efficiency of the labor employed, 

 and the unwillingness of coolies to engage in the industry owing 

 to the dangers of attack from head-hunting tribes. 



u5 Consul Arnold of Tamsui reports as the result of an interview with 

 the chief of the camphor bureau of the Formosa government that, 

 " Although investigations as to the number of old trees in the island are 

 not as yet completed, the number of trees is far less than investigations 

 a few years ago made it appear. Recent investigations warrant the state- 

 ment that the supply of old trees will at the present rate of cutting, become 

 exhausted in less than fifty years." U. S. Consular Reports, August 1907, 

 p. 154-155. 



126 Takekoshi, Japanese Rule in Formosa, 172-182. 



211 



