Drugs and 36 



The total production in and the total exportation from Formosa and Japan during 

 the years from 1900 to 1901, inclusive, are shown in the table below : — 









Manufactured at 



Total 



Total 





Formosa. 



Japan. 



Kobe from oil. 



Production. 



Exports. 



Year. 



Pounds- 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



1900 .. 



4,511,184 .. 



. 2,190,175 





6,701,359 ... 



6,469,220 



1901 .. 



4,725,348 .. 



. 2,669,292 



... 1,635,257 ... 



9,029,897 ... 



6,717,319 



1902 ., 



3,676,060 .. 



.. 3,396,908 



... 1,513,795 ... 



8,586,763 ... 



9,328,399 



1903 . 



4,071,628 .. 



. 2,948,585 



... 1,613,851 ... 



9,354,064 ... 



8,965,568 



1904 . 



4,519,923 ., 



. 900,000 



... 1,979,137 ... 



7,399,060 ... 



7,392,343 



" Privileges fob Private Refineries.— At the time of the enforcement of 

 the camphor monopoly in Japan a number of private refineries were in operation 

 there. Instead of taking over their properties and granting compensations, the 

 Government permitted them to continue operation, and arranged to allow them 

 a certain amount of crude camphor, for refining, the product of which they are 

 allowed to dispose of either at home or abroad. I am informed that the amount 

 allowed them is 8,000 piculs, or about 1,067,000 pounds, a year. This is manufactured 

 chiefly into tablets for export. The price at which the crude camphor is turned 

 over to these refineries is not given out, but from figures furnished in the customs 

 returns of Formosa I am led to believe it about 90 yen per picul. At any rate, it is 

 considerably less than the price of crude camphor delivered at New York, minus 

 freight and other charges, and they are enabled to export their products to the 

 United States in competition with the refineries in America. At the expiration of 

 the contract on March 31, 1903, with Messrs. Samuel Samuel & Co., a private agree- 

 ment was made with the same firm for another period of three years, the terms of 

 Avhich have not been disclosed, but the principal changes made appear to be tnat 

 the prices were to be regulated according to supply and demand. Base prices were 

 to be fixed by the Government, but the selling agent was to be allowed to reduce 

 these prices by not more than 2 shillings per picul. The old arrangement of main- 

 taining the same prices for delivering at London, Berlin, and New York was 

 abolished, so that buyers in New York were allowed the advantage of the lower 

 freight rates to New York than to Europe. After the monopoly was enforced 

 in Japan the selling agent also undertook the disposal of the product there. The 

 present contract will expire on March 31, 1906, but it will probably be renewed with 

 the same firm. 



" Grades and Distribution.— The Government at present puts up three 

 grades of camphor, the ' A ' grade which is practically a refined camphor ; the 

 ' BB which is about 97 per cent, pure, and the ' B ', which is about 95 per 

 cent. pure. The ' A ' constitutes only about 6 per cent, of the total export- 

 ation. The proportion of the 'BB' is somewhat larger than that of the 'B.' 

 The American market is supplied almost wholly by the ' B.' In order that 

 camphor might be distributed to the different markets without partiality, the 

 Formosan Government endeavours to apportion the exports to the different 

 countries according to the proportion that each received at the time the monopoly 

 was enforced, which was somewhat as follows : Germany, 37 per cent. ; America, 

 83 per cent. ; France, 15 per cent. ; Great Britain, 10 per cent. ; and India, 

 5 per cent. Recent investigations as to the supply of camphor trees in Formosa 

 have shown that with the present system of afforestation there is no prob- 

 ability that the material will ever become exhausted, even though the demand 

 for camphor should continue to increase. Vast forests in the south yet remain 

 untouched, and it is now known that the supply in the savage districts of the 

 north is much larger than was at first estimated. 



