Vol. VIII. No. 90. 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
[Jdne, 1902.] 165 
Germany (Munich). — Trade. Depression. — In his annual 
.report on Bavaria, His Majesty’s Charge d’ Affaires at Munich, 
says that, after a long period of commercial prosperity, a reaction 
began towards the end of 1900 and increased during 1901. A 
crisis, starting with the Spielhagen Banks in Berlin, the bank at 
Leipzig, and other prominent banks, spread over the whole 
Empire. Commercial enterprise had been developing too 
quickly, and the war in South Africa and the complications in 
China have affected trade. The Elektrizitiits-Aktiengesellschaft, 
formerly Schuckert and Co., of Niirnberg, one of the largest 
electric works in Germany, have employed about 1,000 men less 
than in 1900. Their shares, quoted twelve months ago at 245, 
dropped to 95, and are now at 120, and they have paid no dividend 
in 1900-01, having paid 15 per cent, in 1898-99 and 1899 1900. 
On the Berlin Exchange between January 1, 1899, and October 19, 
1901, electric shares have fallen 61 per cent., there having been 
a loss of ,£13, 540, 500 among 21 companies having a capital of 
^22,177,500, owing principally to too rapid enlargement of their 
works and over-production. 
The strike in Bohemia occasioned a rise in the price of coal, 
and Bavarian industries have been affected by the increased 
foreign Customs tariffs. The depression was less felt in the 
Palatinate than in Bavaria proper. The Bavarian Factory 
Inspector's report for 1900, states that there were 102,182 
industrial enterprises under inspection in 1899, employing 
54C357 workmen ; in 1900, 101,195 which employed 562,948 
workmen. The report shows an increase of child labour, 
especially in the china and stone industries. In 1899, 77 per 
cent, of children being employed, and in 1901, 7 ”8 per cent. 
The number of factories as well as of mill hands has decreased 
in 1901, Factories and mills are under closer inspection in 
Bavaria than in any other German State. Females over 16 years 
generally work under 11 hours a day, and in 1901 even less 
owing to the trade depression ; 10 hours is the general limit, 
and night work is avoided as much as possible. 
Guatemala. — Agricultural Machinery. — A report 
has been drawn up by H.M. Consul at Guatemala on machinery 
made in and imported into Guatemala for agricultural purposes, 
from which the following extracts have been made : — 
“ It may first be broadly stated that the large majority of 
the machinery employed in Guatemala is that used in * the 
coffee- and sugar-raising industries, and that while most of 
the coffee-cleaning plant is brought from England, that 
which is used on sugar plantations comes from the United 
States of America. The smaller implements come in about 
equal quantities from both countries. There are only one 
or two houses in Guatemala which manufacture machinery 
and agricultural implements. I have ascertained from 
them that the following are the articles which are made 
by them for use here : — Coffee-drying machines worked 
with hot air, live steam or exhaust steam, and of 20, 30, 60 or 
90 quintal capacity. Coffee- pul per s, coffee-washing machinery, 
coffee-sorters or separators, coftee-peelers, elevators for coffee. 
Sugar-cane mills for steam and water power, iron sugar pans, 
sugar evaporating pans, Felton wheels of all sizes, iron water 
wheels under and over shot, iron work for water wheels, turbine 
wheels, steam boilers (Heine’s patent), tubular, up to 60 h.-p, , 
Couliss engine up to 50 h.-p., lift and force pumps, couplings 
and bearings and cast iron pulleys, single and double circular 
sawmills, and all kinds of casting of brass and iron. 
‘ ' Although these local works no longer do the business 
they did in former years, they are still in a flourishing condition, 
and are largely employed for works of repair and in making 
smaller pieces of machinery. ” 
As the result of enquiries made on a visit to one of the 
largest coffee and sugar plantations in the country, the Consul 
writes: — “The coffee-pul pers are made by and got from a 
London firm ; the coffee-washers and the boilers are made by 
the same firm. The Felton driving wheels have been brought 
from the United States, while the dynamo used for the electric 
lighting is of German manufacture. The coffee-dryers, of which 
there are two of 75 quintal capacity, are worked by the 
Guardeola hot-air system, and are made by the same London 
firm alluded to above. The machine known as the Trilla, for 
breaking and partially cleaning the coffee, is one of Anderson’s 
patent, and was manufactured by a German firm. The 
separator (15 revolutions per minute) is by the same London 
firm. The sugar plant, which is very large, was got entirely 
from a Liverpool firm. The weighing apparatus has been 
supplied from the United States. 
“ I may add, merely to show the scale on which work is 
carried on upon this plantation (Concepcion), that it extends 
over 3,000 acres and produces annually from to, 000 to 12,000 
quintals of coffee ; 30,000 quintals of sugar ; 100,000 litres of 
milk ; 300,000 bottles of aguardiente, with some 2,000 head of 
cattle; while from 900 to 1,300 labourers are employed. All 
the machinery is of the newest and most improved kind, and no 
expense has been spared with regard to this branch. The 
plantation may be regarded as a sample of the large foreign- 
owned plantations of the country, of which there are many ; 
and it may be taken for granted that most of the machinery used 
in these other plantations comes from the same sources.” 
After giving a long list of foreign machinery, and makers 
thereof, imported by German houses, the Consul remarks that 
the German houses are the largest importers of agricultural 
machinery in the country, owing, probably, to the fact that the 
large majority of foreign planters are Germans, who prefer to 
patronise their countrymen. As to what machinery may best 
be imported into Guatemala, it is extremely difficult to offer 
any opinion. The industry of the country consisting almost 
wholly in the raising of coffee and sugar crops, machinery 
employed in these industries seems to be that most certain of 
a sale, and the demand for such machines is very fixed in 
amount, as most of the plantations have already got all their 
plant and only require new pieces from time to time as the old 
machinery becomes worn, or when some new patent is dis- 
covered and issued which materially lessens the labour required 
or improves or increases the product. There is a constant 
demand for smaller agricultural implements, such as 
“machetes,” knives, hoes, spades, etc. 
The Consul concludes his report as follows “ I may add 
that I have just been informed that there is a considerable 
demand for some improved form of plough. It appears that 
the ordinary plough imported from the United States or Europe 
is not very satisfactory. The soil here becomes baked to a 
hardness of steel, and the share or knife of the plough generally 
in use glances and slips on the earth’s surface. What is wanted 
is a plough so shaped as to point its share deeper into the 
ground, so as to turn over a good furrow and not to slip on the 
top of the hard earth. From what I am told, I believe a con- 
siderable business might be done if ploughs were imported 
which realised these requirements.” 
Kussia (Batoum) — In a report on the trade of Batoum 
and district for last year, H.M. Consul gives a comprehen- 
sive account of the mineral oil industry. He says During 
the year 1901 a very marked decline in the prices of mineral oil 
in this country took place, and the depressed condition of the 
market, which was thereby brought about, especially at the 
places of its origin, was sorely felt by both producers and 
refiners ; it eventually took effect in the shape of a crisis, which 
lasted practically throughout the whole of the second half ot the 
year, and which has almost ruined a good many of those firms 
engaged in the petroleum industry of the Trans-Caucasus that 
were not financially prepared to meet it. The larger and more 
wealthy firms also suffered very severely, but, as capital was at 
their backs, the crisis did not, apparently, render their position 
so precarious as was the ease with their weaker and less 
fortunate colleagues in trade. The deplorable state of affairs 
that prevailed during the year in the oil trade of the Caucasus 
is attributable to over-production, which naturally resulted in 
the excessive accumulation of petroleum products at the sources 
of supply of the oil and the points of its shipment and export ; 
some say, in a measure, also, to the insufficiency of the necessary 
rolling-stock on the Trans-Caucasian railway. On this head, 
however, 1 am inclined to differ, seeing that the tank-storage 
accommodation at Batoum was greatly in demand, and heavy 
stocks of oil were well maintained at this port throughout the 
year, every available, space being fully occupied. This being 
so, it is clear that the Trans-Caucasian railway was quite able 
to meet the demand which was made on it for rolling-stock 
adapted for the transport of oil; besides which, the pipe-line 
between Mihailova and Batoum did not al any time during the 
year work up to its full capacity. 
There is little doubt that the reason set forth above, 
namely, excessive production, contributed, in a great measure, 
towards bringing about the crisis in question, seeing that, as 
far as my information goes, during the whole of the period 
under review the petroleum trade of the United States of 
America, where there was no over-production, does not appear 
to have suffered in the least. In the United States prices were 
maintained throughout the year, and, in several instances, both 
crude and illuminating oils were sold at almost double the figures 
that were paid in the Caucasus for the same kind of oils. This 
over-production was principally brought about by the vast extent 
of new oil-bearing territory which the Russian Government, 
encouraged by the high prices of crude oils during the years 
1898-99 and 1900, opened up. At the sales that followed for 
the lease of a considerable number of plots of oil lands, first at 
Bibi-Eibat, and subsequently in the oil-bearing territory adjacent 
to the Balakani fields, the bidding was very animated, and the 
then excited state of the markets accounts for the high prices 
that were offered and accepted for these lands. 
As things now stand, the price of crude oil at the wells is 
about id. to i|d. per 36 lb. avoirdupois weight, whereas some of 
the producers — and I am told that their number is by no means 
small — are compelled to pay the Government as much as from 
i£d. to ijd. for 36 British lb., in addition to working expenses, 
amortisation, interest, and capital. A fairly accurate idea can 
be formed from the above of the heavy losses that are being 
sustained by those producers who are unable to, or have not, 
reduced their production. I am told, however, that a good 
many of them have found it more profitable to cease work com- 
pletely. From the foregoing, it is evident that if this condition 
of affairs continues much longer, business at Baku, and all 
other oil-producing centres of the Caucasus, is not in a satis- 
factory state. It is, therefore, with a view to improving this 
disastrous state of affairs that the group of persons who leased 
lands at the aforementioned high rates of royalty in June last 
again had recourse to the assistance and protection of the 
Government, which was approached with a request that the 
regulations now existing for levying royalties, in cash, might be 
modified in favour of the introduction of payment in kind, i.e,, 
a percentage of the oil produced. 

FOREIGN CONSULAR REPORTS. 
Cement in Paraguay. — The American Consul at Asuncion 
reports that there is a steady demand for Portland cement, a 
single house selling 48,000 barrels per year. Most of the build- 
ings are of brick, owing to climate and danger of insects in 
wooden structures. The price of the cement imported is from 
$1.50 to $1.70 gold, laid down at Buenos Ayres, whence it is 
shipped to Asuncion by river steamer. Some of the New York 
lines are understood to have arrangements for shipping to 
Asuncion at a rate as low as though a through bill of lading 
were obtained from New York. It is usually necessary, in 
dealing with traders in Paraguay, to extend six months’ credit, 
as such terms are made by the various European houses at 
present engaged in this trade. 
Demand for Lumber in China. — In a report to the State 
Department, Henry B. Miller, United States Consul at 
Niuchwang, China, declares that the future demand in China 
for Pacific coast lumber will be both extensive and permanent. 
For more than 1,000 miles up the valley of the Yangtze there 
is practically no timber in sight. In China more wood is used 
for coffins than for any other purpose. According to Consul 
Miller, from 8,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000 feet of lumber are 
annually thus utilized. Very little lumber is used for house 
building. Mud and bricks, or mud and straw or millet stalks, 
are the materials mostly used. The roofs are made of either 
tiles or straw and nnid. Next to coffins, the greatest use 
for lumber in China is for boats. Again, enormous quantities 
of wooden buckets and small wooden tubs are used in every 
district in China. Mr. Miller ventures the opinion that the 
material for the manufacture of such articles could be secured 
from the slabs that are now wasted in Oregon and Washington 
saw mills. Consul Miller says he has only been able to locate 
two saw mills in al! China, one near Fuchau, of small capacity, 
and another at Niuchwang. The mill at the latter place was 
imported from Michigan, and though it is but a small single 
circular saw mill, capable of cutting about 2,000 feet of lumber 
a day, it seems to meet the requirements. Such mills could be 
used to advantage at Tientsin, Shanghai, Hankow, and other 
places. 
Production and Consumption of Coffee. — The French 
Consul in Brazil, in a report on the state of trade in that 
country, states that there is an over-production of coffee 
throughout the world, and that in Brazil there is a tendency to 
restrict the area of cultivation. He says that in the year from j uly 
1, 1900, to June 30, 1901, the total production of coffee through- 
out the world was 15,460,000 bags of 132 lb. each, and that of 
this quantity 11,500,000 bags were grown in Brazil, 1,150,000 
in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Nicaragua, 1,050,000 
in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru ; 480,000 in the 
Dutch Indies, 450,000 in Hayti, 315,000 in British India and 
Ceylon, 200,000 in Puerto Rico and Jamaica, and 90,000 in 
Padang. He estimates the consumption at 14,117,620 bags, 
leaving an excess of production at 1,342,380 bags. 
Transport in Madagascar. — The United States Consul at 
Tamatave, in a report upon roads and transport systems in 
Madagascar, says that hitherto goods have been transported on 
men’s shoulders, one man carrying from 60 to 80 lb. The first 
tentative departure from the old methods was a convoy of three 
American wagons, each carrying about 12 cwt. {i.e . , about 15 
men’s loads), and drawn by four oxen, the journey occupying 
13 days from Mahatsara to Tananarivo, a distance, as men- 
tioned, of i =,o miles. Several small enterprises have followed, 
such as mule carts, ox carts, and hand trucks, but nothing has 
yet been established on a large scale. Passengers have now 
adopted the two-wheeled hand truck, called a “ pousse-pousse.” 
Three men are employed for one vehicle carrying one person. 
The vehicle of the future, is, probably, the motor wagon. 
CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE REPORTS. 
UNITED KINGDOM. 
Bristol. — The first Council meeting of the Bristol Chamber 
of Commerce since the annual meeting was held on the 30th 
April, at the offices of the Chamber, at which Mr. John Mardon 
was elected president for the current year. The president stated 
that an invitation had been received by the Chamber to take 
part in the Congress to be held at Dusseldorf from 29th June to 
5th July next. The invitation was extended by the city of 
Dusseldorf and approved and seconded by the Imperial 
Chancellor in the name of the German Empire, and the meeting 
is to be under the auspices of the German Crown Prince. 
Attention was called to the fact that Dusseldorf, although 
155 miles distant from Rotterdam, was yet considered a port, 
and this was evidence of the way in which internal navigation 
received attention upon the Continent. The invitation was 
referred to the Railways and Canals Committee. 
Liverpool. — At the annual general meeting of the African 
Section, Sir Alfred L. Jones presided, and, in moving the adop- 
tion of the report, said that the first item dealt with was the 
health and sanitation of West Africa, and the proposed 
commission to that country. Liverpool might well be proud of 
the efforts put forward to improve the health of West Africa. 
The climate was one of the great terrors to the commerce and 
the lives of the people out there, and he thought they ought to 
gratefully acknowledge the help given to them by Mr. Chamber- 
lain and the Colonial Office, and the help which had been 
extended by the West African Governors to the expeditions they 
had sent out. It was a matter for very great gratification that 
the authorities had recognised what Liverpool was trying to do, 
and that they had made Professor Boyce a Fellow of the Roval 
Society. As regarded the commission it was proposed to send 
out, a decision had not yet been coine to as to how they could 
carry that matter forward. They would be obliged to send out 
men of position in trade, and it was not an easy tiling to get men 
to leave their business for three or four months, or perhaps 
longer. He wished to acknowledge the very great assistance 
received from many people. Several leading men had given 
very handsome sums, and the money load been well laid out in 
the endeavour to improve the sanitation of the country. 
As regarded the West African cable rates, they had got 
some arrangement, and they hoped to get some still further 
reduction in the cost of cabling, as this was an important 
item in a man’s business. The affairs of Sierra Leone were going 
on fairly well, and they were promised, owing to the agitation of 
Liverpool merchants, that they were to have a mountain rail- 
way to take people on to the hills to live instead of living in the 
towns. As to Liberia, things there had not been so satisfactory. 
The labour concessions sold to the Germans seemed to be 
practically like going back to the days of slavery. The labour 
market in West Africa should be absolutely free, so that a man 
could go from one colony to another if he wished. The affairs 
of the Gold Coast had troubled them a good deal during the 
year, particularly in regard to the number of concessions which 
had been granted. However, they hoped with a little pressure 
to enable the Gold Coast companies to get through their 
concessions. 
Considerable progress was being made with the railways. 
It was entirely due to Liverpool that these railways on the west 
coast had been made. The railway from Lagos to Tarkwa had 
been completed, and the Coomassie railway would be finished 
in about twelve or eighteen months. Speaking about Dahomey, 
he said, unfortunately, the French were not so imbued with the 
desire to be free traders as they were, and did not throw the 
country open, in their opinion, in a fair way for the native. All 
Europeans must realise, if Africa was to be any good to them, 
it must first of all be made good to the native. Europeans could 
not work or reside very well in Africa, and therefore he would 
commend it very strongly to their own country, as well as to 
France, Germany, and Portugal, to make the position of the 
native in every way as comfortable and prosperous as they could. 
In Lagos, the Chamber of Commerce had worked for a great 
many years to do away with the transit duties as between Lagos 
and Porto Novo, and he was glad to say they had done away 
with that tax. He referred to the port of Lagos being very 
awkward to deal with, and to deepen the bar it would cost a 
million of money. Speaking of Nigeria, he said a tariff rate 
had been offered, but he did not think that so far much advant- 
age had been taken of it. In alluding to the French Congo, 
he said he was delighted to introduce to them M. Emile 
Bailland (Director of the Agricultural and Industrial Society of 
French Guinea), who had arrived that day from West Africa. 
In conclusion, he said, personally, he was distinctly opposed to 
any kind of monopoly being given for any tracts of land in 
West Africa, either by charter or by combine. He felt the 
deepest sympathy with the old firms who had settled in the 
country, and who were now harassed by the authorities, and 
practically driven out. 
M. Entile Bailland said that the French Government 
granted concessions to the people of West Africa because the 
British Government had supported three chartered companies 
there. He thought it was a very bad tiling for any nation to 
make concessions in West Africa. He spoke in favour of low' 
tariffs, and argued that these should be controlled by the 
Government, and not by private persons. Railways also in 
West Africa must be managed by the Government, and the 
freights must be made as low as possible. 
Sir A. L. Jones said that he would like to place before all 
Frenchmen, Germans, and Americans the fact that in West 
Africa they had equal rights with Englishmen, where England 
could prevent that equality if they wished. They could share 
in the trade facilities that England had to pay for. He was not 
going to complain of that, but he thought that these countries 
ought to keep the fact in mind, for if they intended to maintain 
protection with regard to their own colonies and commodities 
it might be worse for them. If Africa, especially West Africa, 
was to make progress the native must be made prosperous and 
to feel happy at home. He wanted to see West Africa develop 
in every possible direction. He thought that cotton could be 
produced there as good and as cheap as in America. Experi- 
ments had already been made in cotton-growing, and assistance 
had been given to the venture by the Government. The 
experimenters had also had the sympathy of merchants in 
Oldham and Manchester. A most encouraging meeting had 
been held at the latter place, and a society had been formed for 
the purpose called the British Cotton Growing Association. 
West African shipowners had promised to carry over to this 
country the first batches of West African cotton free of charge. 
Sir Alfred said they were exceedingly anxious to w r ork agree- 
ably with Bishop Tugwell and his friends. They hoped the 
missionaries would do something to teach the native every 
possible kind of industry, to enable him to make a living on this 
earth as well as help him with regard to the next world. 
Presiding on the gth ult. at the annual general meeting of 
the iron and general metal trades section of the Liverpool 
Chamber of Commerce, Mr. C. R. Anderson drew attention to 
the news in that morning’s papers in regard to the shipping 
combination, and said that the rapid transition through which 
British trade in general, and the iron andmetal trade in particular, 
was passing, caused much uneasiness. With crude iron and 
steel crossing the Atlantic from west to east one year and from 
