No. 3455. Annual Series. Coll, Feb. DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR REPORTS. California egional acility nr. TRADE OF SWATOW FOR ^ THE YEAR 1904. FOREIGN OFFICE, July, 1905. [Cd. 2236199.] Pries One Penny. No. 3455 Annual Series. DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR REPORTS f CHINA. REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1904 ON THE TEADE OF SWATOW. REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS REPORT, Annual Series No. 3155. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty, JULY, 1905 LONDON: PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, PRINTERS IN OBDINABY TO HIS MAJESTY. And to be purchased either directly or through any Bookseller, from WYMAN AND SONS, LTD., FETTER LANE, B.C.; and 32, ABINGDON STEEET, WESTMINSTER, S.W. ; or OLIVER AND BO YD, EDINBURGH ; or E. PON8ONBY, 116, QBAFTON STREET, DUBLIW. 1905. [Cd. 2236199.] Price One CONTENTS. PAGE General remarks 3 Gross trade _ 3 Rise in exchange 4 Imports 4 Cotton goods 4 Yarn 4 Opium 4 Native imports 5 Exports ; 5 Emigration 5 Shipping ~> Railway 5 State of district 6 Voluntary police force fi Annexes I. Return of principal articles of import during the years 1903-O4 .... 7 II. export .... is III. Return comparing values of 1904 with average of preceding five years 9 IV. Shipping return 9 V. Emigration return : 10 No. 3455. Annual Series. Reference to previous Report, Annual Series No. 3155. li> port on the Trade of SwcUowfor (kc Year 1904 By MK. ACTING CONSUL WILLIS. (Swatow, May 27, 1905 ; received at Foreign Office, July 3, ]9'.'o.) Although there have been no developments calling for special General comment, the trade of this port has proceeded during the past year remarks - along its normal channels with results that cannot be considered otherwise than satisfactory. The gross trade for the year has exceeded 50,000,000 taels, and Gross trade, estimated either in taels or sterling is the highest on record since the opening of the port. The following figures show the gross trade for the 10 years 1895-1904, and for the last three years divided into imports of foreign and native origin, exports and re-exports : TABLE showing Gross Trade during the Years 1895-1904. Value Average Bate Yeai ". of Exchange. Currency. Sterling. Taels. *. d. 1895 . 27,231,034 4,453,383 3 8-4- 18% . 27,532,036 4,588,672 3 4 1897 28,832,133 4,324,819 3 1898 35,930,384 5,164,995 2 10i 1899 45,696,865 6,854,529 3 1900 44,030,734 6,833,996 3 i; 1901 45,043,136 6,662,630 2 Hi 1902 45,098,116 5,862,755 2 74 1903 44,442,802 5,853,629 2 7| 1904 50,350,864 7,211,713 2 10 (784) 8WATOW. TABLE showing Trade in Imports, Exports and Re-exports during the Years 1902-04. Value. Imports of foreign origin ,, native ,, Exports (local).. Re-exports . . Total 1902. 1903. 1904. 1,875,720 2,398,178 1,522,824 66,033 1,855,928 2,344,892 1,569,718 83,091 2,0-18,185 2,909,826 2,100,436 153,266 5,862,755 5,853,629 7,211,713 Rise in During the year the value of the Mexican dollar, in which all exchange. transactions are carried on in this port, has advanced with some fluctuations from Is. 8^d. to Is. llj^d. Exports to gold-using countries being unimportant, the higher gold value of silver has not had any considerable effect on the price of goods grown or manu- factured -in the neighbourhood, and it is therefore to be hoped that the marked development of the export trade is due to more permanent causes. Imports. The higher exchange may have been of some assistance to Cotton goods, importers of Manchester piece-goods in helping to reduce their co<*fc, which was much enhanced by the very high price of raw cotton during the greatei part of the year ; but Jiis trade was considerably checked by the high prices which obtained tending to reduce consumption, whilst the fluctuations in exchange continued to hamper the transactions of the importers. There has further been a considerable transference of the indigo dyeing industry from Chaochou Fu to Shanghai, and consequently a smaller import of the white and grey cloths which were formerly dyed here for re- export to the northern markets. In view of these considerations the slight increase in the import of cottons is satisfactory. Yarn. Indian yarn practically monopolises the local markets.^. In spite of the increased price a quantity in excess of that of the'preceding year was imported. Opium. It is somewhat curious that the import of foreign opium, which is generally taken as an index to the prosperity of a district, has considerably declined in value in a year in which almost every other article of import shows an increase. The falling-ofi was almost entirely in Malwa, of which only 86,216 Ibs., value 59,367Z., were imported against 330,341 Ibs., value 265,498?., in the preceding year. Patna and Benares opium both show a considerable advance, whilst the import of the native drug has increased from 79,599 Ibs. in 1903 to 196,518 Ibs., thus more than compensating for the total decrease in the import of the various kinds of the foreign article. The manufacture of prepared opium by mixing the foreign with the native drug is a large and flourishing industry in this SWATOW. 5 district, and it would se< m that the boiling shops are attempting to dispense with the more expensive Malwa opium in favour of the cheaper varieties. The other piincipal articles of foreign import, with the exception Other articles of raw cotton and ginseng, all show an advance, due mainly, however. of im i*>rt. to the higher exchange value of silver, the quantities imported being much the same as in the previous year. Of native imports bean cake, rice and opium have all increased Native in value. The price of bean cake was considerably enhanced im ports. owing to the difficulty of procuring supplies from Newehwang, whilst the increased import of rice was due to the fact that the local ciops, which in 1903 had been exceptionally good in both quality and quantity, were of only an average standard. Exports which are destined almost entirely for other ports in Exporti. China or tor the use of Chinese resident in the British and Dutch East Indian colonies and Siam, show a very satisfactory advance in every direction, the increase being in quantity as well as value. Emigrants both to Bangkok and the Straits have departed in Emigration, considerably less numbers than in 1903 ; but, as I pointed out in my report for that year, the competition then existing between rival shipping lines offered exceptional facilities to the Swatow coolie for obtaining cheap passages. Now that the Rickmers* steamers are incorporated in the Nord-Deutscher Lloyd fleet, and the British India Line have withdrawn from the traffic, freight and passenger rates have approximated to their old level, and the number of emigrants has fallen off to the normal quantity of about 100,000 annually. No emigrants have as yet proceeded to South Africa from this district, the port so far not having been declared a port of shipment under the Anglo-Chinese Convention of May, 1904. The decrease in British shipping is due mainly to the withdrawal skipping, of the British India Line from the emigration traffic, already mentioned, and the sale to foreigners of two or three steamers of the Douglas Steamship Company of Hong-Kong, which formerly plied regularly between that port and Foochow or Formosan ports, via Swatow and Amoy. The gain to German and Norwegian shipping is at the expense of the Japanese, four Japanese steamers of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Company running on the same line as the Douglas boats having been withdrawn on the outbreak of hostilities, and German and Norwegian vessels having been chartered by the company to replace them. The concession for the long-mooted railway between this port Railway to and Chaochou Fu has been, as mentioned in my preceding report, Cha granted to one Chang Yiinan, a Chinese merchant who has for many years been resident in the Dutch Indies. The contract for building the line, which is to be 32 miles in length, with seven intermediate stations, and for the supply of rolling-stock, was given by the concessionnaire to a Japanese syndicate. Work on the line (794) A 2 SWATOW. Disorderly late of district. New police force at Swatow. commenced in September last, but, owing to the marshy nature of the ground in the vicinity of Swatow, proceeded but slowly, until in January, 1905, it was delayed for some three months by an unfortunate outbreak at Anpo, a market town of considerable size about 10 miles distant from Swatow, in which two Japanese workmon were killed and the property of several Chinese in the employ of the railway company, together with some railway material, destroyed. The matter is now settled and work is resumed, the concessionnaire having been required by the Viceroy to provide 200 guards for the railway. The Chaochou Fu prefecture, more especially as regards the Kityang and Lufeng districts, still continues in its state of chronic disorder, and it would appear that the local authorities have not sufficient force at their disposal to maintain order. In Swatow itself a police force of some 300 men has been recently enrolled, the cost of which is paid by voluntary subscriptions. I have to thank the Commissioner of Customs for his courtesy in allowing me access to the returns before publication. SWATOW. Table I. KETUUN of Principal Articles of Import into Swatow during the Years 1903-04. Articles. too: 1. 190 i. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Foreign imports- Opium Malwa ... ... Lbs. 330,341 i 265,498 86,216 59,367 Patna Benares ... 279,139 91,901 192,852 63,825 313,594 209,454 245,914 147,376 Persian ... . . " 84,092 53,475 37,291 22,707 Total 11 785,473 575,650 646,555 475,363 Cotton goods- Shirtings, grey ,, white T-cloths Dyed cottons and drills Miscellaneous cottons ... Pieces 119,722 257,880 33,088 65,083 48,681 140,374 9,976 43,593 28,071 106,570 235,409 28,314 74,443 43,910 131,403 9,040 64,358 38,686 Total cottons 270,695 287,403 Yarn- British Cwts. 3,077 9,254 646 2,994 Indian Woollens 168,940 390,607 17,984 172,314 526,554 1S,4.'!0 Metals 102,205 133,758 Oil- American Suinatran Sundries Beche-de-mer Coal Gallons ... Cwts. Tons 379,990 4,095,940 3,150 62,343 10,059 70,646 7,630 40,123 480,040 4,554,763 2,695 56,715 14,053 91,711 9,833 45,190 Cotton, raw Cuttlefish Fish Cwts. 5,442 12,708 6,553 10,189 22,919 5,459 1,285 16,040 11,717 3,237 33,440 11,394 Flour Cwts. Lbs. 73,234 43,301 33,787 13,479 74,859 24,548 44,685 7,955 3,931 3,247 Matches (Japanese) Gross 831,560 30,276 21,191 904,951 36,612 24,479 Rice Cwts. 6,376 2,103 52,534 17,073 Sugar Unenumerated 36,972 26,101 191,640 39,188 30,174 230,291 Total foreign imports 1,855,928 ... 2,048,185 Native imports Bean cake Cwts. 3,024,043 1,079,680 663,260 337,739 2,612,097 1,046,436 777,882 361,634 Cloth, native 2,813 5,093 16,513 10,332 3,033 13,732 20,174 31,315 9,645 5,559 11,822 7,158 2,684 9,230 1,941 11,888 Groundnuts 119,250 81,182 39,183 97,218 61,855 63,179 20,839 99,729 12,194 17,382 Oil, bean, castor, 30,586 21,443 29,?93 23,602 Medicines ^ ^ f fc 5,852 .. 6,853 Oil. bean, &c. Cwts. . . 11,250 12,249 29,923 41,504 Oranges . . . . v 129,390 28,175 152,439 45.902 Paper . . 159,324 201,692 172,689 250,518 Samshu 22,733 17,425 28,903 25,027 Sugar \ Brown 703,366 299,712 704,731 399,177 White .. 501,220 323,001 563.766 lt)7,3(5 Tea j> 17.333 43,633 17.913 72,987 Tinfoil )> 2,209 16,712 3,695 31,286 Tobacco 39,903 105,043 39.188 1 24,07 !l Vegetables .. 230,840 21,849 252,951 27,995 Vermicelli .. .. 17,305 5,977 17,193 8,331 Unemunerated 203,978 286,614 Total 1,633,356 2,240,55.5 SWATOW. Table III. RETURN comparing Values of 1904 with the Average Values of the Years from 1899-1903 for the Principal Articles of Import and Export. Value. Articles. Average from 1899-1903. 1904. Foreign imports Cottons and yarn 660,628 816,951 Opium . 511,465 475,363 Kerosene . . . 88,820 105,764 Flour 52 783 44,685 19,816 18,439 108,812 133,758 Native imports Bean and bean cake 1,089,461 1,139,516 Native opium 61,216 79,861 Rice (including imports from foreign countries) 931,139 1,057,759 Exports Cloth, native 84,130 61,074 Grass -cloth 71,260 113,740 Sugar 824,219 866,545 Tobacco .. * 108,304 124,079 Paper - 200,178 250,508 Table IV. RETURN of all Steamers that Entered and Cleared the Port of Swatow during the Years 1903-04. Nationality. 1903. 1904. Number of Vessels. Tons. Number of Vessels. Tons. Austro-Hungarian British Chinese Dutch French Q-erman Japanese Norwegian . . . . Swedish.. Total .. 4 1,600 79 12 10 449 416 34 4 2,472 1,835,894 82,812 18,590 7,034 481,145 360,010 32,892 3,956 1,520 87 8 12 601 44 138 2 1,718,406 84,644 14,708 12,980 590,599 37,392 116,498 1,396 2,824,855 2,576,623 10 SWATOW. Table V. EMIGRATION lieturn. Arrivals. Departures. Country. 1903. 1904. 1903. 1904. Number. Number. Number. Number. Coast porte . 5,728 5,206 4,767 4,254 Hong-Kong . 76,392 71,419 15,062 13,245 Bangkok 22,635 .. 34,538 25,064 Saigon . . 260 11,490 5,821 Straits . . 14,633 61,293 52,554 Sumatra. . 243 142 6,968 6,459 Apia .. 303 Sandakhan 59 Total 104,998 91,660 134,421 107,456 University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. NEW SERIES OF ANNUAL REPORTS. REPORTS of the Annual Se Diplomatic arid Consular Offic obtained from the sources inc No. 3339. Santa Marta 3340. Venice 3341. Hakodate 3342. Chemnitz and Saxony . . 3343. Austria- Hungary ries ha ers at icated Price. id. lid. lid. Id. 6id. Id ve been issued from His Majesty's the following places, and may be on the title-page : No. Price. 3399. Austria-Hungary .. lid. 3400. Quezaltenango . . . . id. 3401. New Orleans . . . . 3d. 3402. Baden .. .. .. id. 3403. Java 3404. Faroe Islands 3405. North Formosa. . 3400. Friendly Islands 3407. Corea ' 3408. Persian Gulf 3409. Lyons, St. Etienne and Grenoble . . . . 3410. Palestine 3411. Galicia, Asturias and Leon . . . . . . 3412. Stockholm and Eastern Coast of Sweden 3413. Dunkirk 3414. Cadiz 2d. 2d. lid. Id. lid. 4id. Id. lid. lid. 2id. lid. 2d 3345. Coquimbo . . 3346 Calais id. 3347. Buenos Ayres > . 3348. Texas 2d'. 3349. Chicago . . . . Id. 3351. Poland and Lithuania ., 3352. Bilbao 3353. New York 3354. Newchwang . . . . 3d. 2id. 2id. lid. id. 3356. The Azores 3357. Constantinople 3358. Pomerania 3359. Trebizond Vilayet 3360. Arabistan 3361. Thessaly id. 2d. 2id. 3id. Id. lid. Id 3415. Muskat Id 3416. Central Italy 3417. Fiume . . ' lid. Id 3418. North Portugal 3419. Oregon, Washington and Idaho 3420. Kermanshah .. 3421. Pakhoi .. Id. lid! id 3363. Aleppo and Adana 3364 "Wuhxi lid. Id. Id. 3366. Batourn .. 3367. The Cyclades 3368. Havre 3369. TheMorea 3370. Piraeus 3371. Honduras 3372. Kiungchow 3373. Chinkiang 3374 Kerman . . lid. Id. 3id. Id. lid. id. Id. Id. Id 3422. Beira 3423. Barranquilla .. 3424. St. Petersburg,. . 3425. .Norway 3426. Tangier 3427. Brindisi and Lecce .. 3428. Curaooa 3429. Mexico. . 3430. Salonica 3431. New Caledonia 3432. Roumania . . 3433. California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona . . 3434. Argentine Republic . 3435. Foot-how 3436. Para lid. id. 3d. 2d. lid. 2d. 2d. 6d. lid. lid. 2-kl. 2id. lid. Id. Id. 3375. Pemba Id. 3376. Khorassan 3377. Japan 3378. Cochin-China .. 3379. Porto Rico 3380 Samoa 2d. 2id. lid. lid. Id. 3381. Bordeaux 3382. Bussorah 3383. Nice 3d. id. id. 3437. Damascus 3438 Ancona. . lid. Id Id 3439. Louren^o Marques 3440. Cherbourg 3441. Moscow .. .. 3442. Erzeroum 3443. Dnr-al-'Ha; 2id. lid. lid. Id. 3385. Hayti and Santo Do- Id. 3386 Hankow. . . . lid. 3387. Kobe and Osaka 3388. Bolivia, 3bS9. Pondicherry and Karikal 3390. Germany 3391. Rotterdam 3392. Denmark 3393. Hamburg &S94. Ciudad Bolivar 3395. Bulgaria 3396. Sicily 3397. Alexandria 3398. Philadelphia .. 5|d. 2id. Id. 2.]d. 3|d! 4d. Id. Id. 3d. Hd. 2id. 3444. Co-ln Ri ( -,-i 3445. Germain 3446. Genoa .' 3447. Bostov-on-Don 3448. Port Said and Suez .. 3449. Wuchow 3450. Gothenburg 3451. Dantzig.. .. 3452. Kiukiang . . , , 3453. Porto Alegre .. 3454. Lombardy . . . . Id. 6d. 3d. 2d. lid. lid. 2d'. lid. lid. 3d. Univei Sou Li