Russian Development of Manchuria 



I2 5 



oil, it appears to me that Russian oil 

 will have an absolute monopoly of the 

 trade if full control of the country is 

 secured to Russia. 



hi our and Lumber. — Concerning these 

 products I have recently issued detailed 

 reports, the summary of which indicates 

 that the Russians have it in their power 

 not o\Ay to capture our trade in Man- 

 churia, but to become our most severe 

 competitors in all the oriental markets. 



Green and Dried Fruits and Canned 

 F) nils and Vegetables. — In all of these 

 lines I find United States trade expand- 

 ing considerably, and from every point 

 of view within my observation I am in- 

 duced to believe that the trade will have 

 a large and permanent growth without 

 danger of disastrous competition. 



Beer. — Our trade in this article meets 

 with the competition of Japanese and 

 German beer, but it has been growing 

 continually and is now greater than ever 

 before. When the several breweries in 

 course of construction at Harbin are in 

 operation our trade in this line is most 

 likely to suffer, and in time may give 

 way entirely to the Russian product. 



Condensed Milk and Butter. — In but- 

 ter, the Siberian article is already cap- 

 turing the Manchurian market, as it is 

 being handled by the commercial de- 

 partment of the Chinese Eastern Rail- 

 way. It may become a very aggressive 

 competitor for the entire market of the 

 Orient. In condensed milk we have a 

 large and growing market, not only in 

 Manchuria, but throughout the Orient. 

 Should the Russian government elect to 

 engage in this business also, it has the 

 advantage of very cheap milk in Siberia 

 and one of the finest countries in the 

 world in the valley of the Liao, together 

 with cheap labor to establish the indus- 

 try on a basis that would make it a 

 great rival for our condensed-milk trade 

 with Japan and China. 



Cigarettes. — Russian cigarettes are al- 

 ready securing much of the trade and 

 are now in greater evidence throughout 

 the country than any other. 



Sundries. — At Harbin an agent of a 

 New York firm informed me that Amer- 

 ican trade there was confined now to 

 canned goods, including fruits, vegeta- 

 bles, milk, etc., beer, sole leather, carts, 

 and a few lines of hardware. 



People informed me that they had 

 succeeded in substituting Russian en- 

 gines and railway material for American, 

 and that the railway regulations now 

 provided for the purchase of everything 

 Russian when possible, and that had 

 cut off much American trade. They 

 also said that they were succeeding in 

 driving out American kerosene, flour, 

 lumber, cotton goods, and other things, 

 and that they hoped soon to provide 

 Manchuria with all the things that now 

 come from the United States. 



United States trade in Manchuria with 

 the Chinese amounted to several millions 

 of dollars per year and was almost en- 

 tirely imports. It had grown very fast, 

 and would have had an extended and 

 most substantial increase without the 

 Russian development, for the country 

 was being improved and extensively de- 

 veloped, with a continual immigration 

 from other provinces in China, before 

 the railway construction began. 



RUSSIA'S COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES 



A study of conditions in Vladivostock, 

 Harbin, and other districts is not par- 

 ticularly encouraging to the idea of ex- 

 tension of American trade in Manchuria 

 in any line that Russia is prepared to 

 supply. A knowledge of the earnest 

 intention of the Russo-Chinese Bank to 

 press the sale of Russian goods, a slight 

 insight into the methods and determi- 

 nation of Russian railways to find a 

 market for the products of Russia, and 

 the interest displayed in developing re- 

 sources along their lines for Russians 

 and Chinese only, taken in connection 

 with the natural wealth and resources 

 of the country, do not favor the hope 

 that under a Russian regime our trade 

 in Manchuria will be as large as it was 

 before. 



