The British Government Should Insist On Its Treaty Rights,
Especially The Enforcement, Successfully Accomplished By The French
Government, Of The Transit-Pass System.
It is, finally, the conviction of
all competent students of the subject that it is from Burmah, on the
One
hand, and from Shanghai and Hongkong on the other, that England must, by
the aid of steam applied overland and by water, practically occupy the
upper Yangtse region, which will be found to be the key to a dominant
position in China.
In some comments on China's prospective commercial development Mr.
Colquhoun, the latest first-hand observer, sets forth some statistics
which are of interest not only to Englishmen but to Americans. He shows
that in 1896 the total net value of imports and of exports was
55,768,500 pounds, and the total gross value 57,274,000 pounds, of which
the British dominions contributed 39,271,000 pounds, leaving for all other
nations 18,003,000 pounds. Of this aggregate Russia contributed 2,856,000
pounds, the rest of Europe 4,585,000 pounds, Japan 4,705,000 pounds, and
other countries, including the United States, 5,767,000 pounds. The
percentage of the carrying trade of the Middle Kingdom under foreign flags
was: British, 82.04; German, 7.49; French, 2.00; Japanese, 1.34; Russian,
0.59; other countries, 5.54. The percentage of dues and duties paid under
foreign flags was as follows: British, 76.04; German, 10.12; French, 2.95;
Japanese, 2.28; Russian, 1.90; all other nations, 6.71. It appears, then,
that Great Britain not only carries eighty-two per cent of the total
foreign trade with China, but pays seventy-two per cent of the revenue
resulting from that trade. Until recently, British subjects were at
liberty to carry on business at but eighteen ports in China. They were
Newchwang, Tientsin, Chifui, on the northern coast; Chungking, Ichang,
Hankow, Kiukiang, Wehu, Chinkiang and Shanghai, on the Yangtse River;
Ningpo, Wenchow, Foochow, Amoy, Swatow, Canton, Hoihow (Kiungchow) and
Pakhoy, on the coast south of the Yangtse. To these must be now added
Shansi on the Yangtse, between Ichang and Hankow; Hangchow and Souchow,
two inland cities near Shanghai; Woochow and Sanshui on the West River and
Ssumao and Lungchow, in the south. It is also reported that three other
ports have been very recently opened; viz., Yochow, on the Tungting Lake;
Chungwang, on the Gulf of Pechihli, and Funing in Fuhkien.
Let us now proceed to demonstrate how deeply the United States are
concerned in the China question from the industrial point of view.
Inasmuch as, owing to the fact that Americans now manufacture more than
they consume, they are compelled to embark on a foreign policy and to look
increasingly to foreign markets, they cannot but feel that the future of
the Middle Kingdom is a matter of vital importance to themselves. It is
manifest that the Pacific slope, though at present playing but a small
part, is destined to be more profoundly affected by the development of
China than is any other section of the American republic.
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