Statistics of Trade 7 



enterprises in the country, which they do not themselves 

 inaugurate and control. If they ultimately succeed in 

 constructing railroads, and working mines on their own system, 

 employing a few foreigners in subordinate positions only, the 

 expected field for foreign enterprise in China will be 

 materially reduced, and the process of centralization which 

 has been steadily going on of late years will lead to an 

 organic change in the government of the Empire, the result 

 of which it is impossible to foresee. If no disturbing 

 revolution intervene, the prosperity of the people must 

 slowly increase as the latent resources of the country, and 

 consequently their consuming powers, are developed. A 

 few figures, extracted from the foreign Customs return, will 

 show what the present consumption is, how stationary our 

 imports remain, and especially how trifling is now the import 

 of European goods into Western China. 



The following table shows the annual value of the foreign 

 trade of all China; the tax upon which, levied by the 

 Imperial Maritime Customs, amounted in 1886 to 15,000,000 

 Haikwan taels (or, at '^s. per tael, ;^3, 750,000), and in 1897 

 to 22,742,000 Haikwan taels (or, taking the rate of exchange 

 at 2S. ^d. per tael, ^^3,032, 000). This is exclusive of the 

 internal taxation, which may be estimated at fully as much 



