Cfatttell Httiucrattg Eibtarg 
 
 Jltlfata. Jftai lark 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CHINA AND THE CHINESE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 CLASS OF 1876 
 
 1918 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DS 762.N86 
 
 A retrospect of political and commercial 
 
 3 1924 023 144 565 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis bool< is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023144565 
 
A RETROSPECT 
 
 POLITICAL MD COMMERCIAL AFFAIES 
 
 CHINA 
 
 DURING THE FIVE YEARS 1868 to 1872. 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE "NORTH-CHINA HERALD." 
 
 SHANGHAI: "NOKTH-CHINA HERALD" OrFICE. 
 
 1873. 
 G. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Among the books that have been lately written about China, 
 no history has been attempted of the course of political or 
 commercial affairs since the last war. 
 
 It has been suggested that, pending the appearance of 
 such a work, a reprint of the Retrospects which are written 
 every year in the " North-China Herald " would form a 
 useful and interesting book of reference. 
 
 The present volume comprises retrospects of the last 
 five years— 1868, '69, '70, '71 and '72, and the work will be 
 carried back, in another volume, to 1863, if the project is 
 encouraged. 
 
 The book is compiled in two parts — Political and Com- 
 mercial — for the sake of more convenient reference. It results 
 from the original form of the articles which are reprinted, 
 that we have five yearly records, instead of a sequent history 
 of five years. It would have been difficult to alter this form, 
 which moreover has its advantages for purposes of record 
 and reference. With the exception therefore of a few 
 emendations which suggested themselves on revision, the 
 articles are exactly reproduced. Footnotes have been added 
 in the poKtical chapters, connecting some of the incidents 
 with other records upon the same subject ; reference is also 
 given to various important papers bearing on the topics 
 discussed. 
 
The scope of the Commercial Eetrospect has expanded 
 yearly, since it was first undertaken, and it now forms an 
 elaborate and valuable record of each year's transactions in 
 the staple articles of foreign trade, written in each case by 
 experts. The statistics have been revised, and are believed 
 to be accurate. This portion of the book wiU have especial 
 value for local readers. 
 
RETROSPECT 
 
 OP POLITICAL EVENTS IN 
 
 CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 DTJKING FIVE YEAES a868 TO 1872.) 
 
 1 s e s 
 
 Political. TfVE are glad to begin our sketch of events during 1868 with a less 
 gloomy picture than we have had to draw in previous years. 
 We are able to chronicle the suppression of the insurgent hordes who had 
 been so long devastating Northern China, and the restoration of comparative 
 tranquillity throughout the country, More than one report came down in 
 the early part of the year, of briUiant success which afterwards proved to be 
 utter failure. A statement that Li and Tso had succeeded in hemming in and 
 exterminating the Nienfei in Shantung, was followed by information of a 
 combined inroad, by the latter and the Mahomedan insurgents of the North- 
 West, into the Metropolitan province ; and for some months the treaty port 
 of Tientsin, and even the capital itself, was thought to be in danger. 
 Eventually, however, the insurgent force retired as it had advanced, pretty 
 nearly unmolested ; and new rumours came of strategical movements by 
 the. various Imperial Commanders, having for their object to surround 
 and utterly crush their opponents. Nature eventually came to their aid ; 
 a flood effected what they had been unable to accomplish. Hemmed in 
 between the waters on one side and the Imperialist forces on the other, the 
 Nienfei bands were brought to bay, attacked and routed with fearful 
 slaughter. The rapid movements which had thus far defeated the exertions 
 of their pursuers could no longer avail them, and the superior organisation 
 and armament of the latter told their true tale. The Nienfei rebellion was 
 extinguished ; and the Generals who effected this result, restored to the 
 favour which their delay had shaken, were ordered back to their respective 
 
seats of Government — Li-hung-ohang to the Vioeroyalty of the two Hoc ; 
 Tso to that of Shensi and Kansuh. 
 
 Whether the latter will still have, in that capacity, to struggle with 
 the Mahomedan rebels who so long held their own against the Imperialists 
 in the North-west, we cannot say. These insurgents have somehow dropped 
 out of sight, since their inroad into Chih-li in the spring. Whether they 
 have been overwhelmed in the Nienfei defeat, or whether they returned to 
 their native districts, laden with spoil gained during their raid, we confess 
 to be ignorant.* The scene of their operations is so remote that foreigners 
 can with great difficulty gather information on the subject. Their 
 co-religionists in Yunan hold their own under the rule of a merchant 
 Emperor, who is variously reported as a rapacious tyrant and as a 
 vigorous sovereign. All we really know, is that he has shown an 
 intelUgent appreciation of commerce, in the reception accorded by his 
 officers to Captain Sladen. The Imperialists still carry on a desultory 
 warfare on his frontiers, but seem not to make any determined effiDrt 
 to regain supremacy over the lost province. This, however, is the only 
 part of China over which the Emperor's rule is at present questioned. 
 That rule may be weak ; in some districts only nominal ; but it is freed 
 from dangerous opposition such as that of the Taeping or even the 
 Nienfei rebels. It is said to be menaced in Thibet by the energetic 
 and able Kuler. of Nepaul, Sir Jung Bahadoor ; who is chafing under an 
 insult lately offered to his Ambassador. The latter was refused permission 
 to visit Peking, ordered to give up his tribute to the Viceroy of Szeohuen, 
 and to return whence he came. The plea of interrupted communications 
 was urged as a reason for this conduct, but it would be untrue even of the 
 land route, and is ridiculous when applied to the Yang-tze. The truth 
 probably is, the Peking Court is disgusted at Sir Jung's negligence to send 
 tribute of late years, and wishes to treat with hauteur his new proffer of 
 submission and amity. 
 
 Internally, then, the Empire is more peaceful. The political sky 
 is not unclouded ; but it is hghter than at the commencement of 1868. 
 And the quarrels which have occurred with foreigners have, perhaps, not 
 damaged its external relations. Though nominally friendly, these had 
 been growing uncertain for many months. There was no fear of war. 
 It was felt that China knew too well her own weakness to risk another 
 deliberate struggle such as those of 1841 and 1858. But it was also 
 felt that a vigorous demonstration of force was needed, to check the 
 growing insolence and encroachment of local mandarins. Yang-chow and 
 Formosa applied the match j in both cases English subjects were maltreated, 
 and in both a British Squadron was employed to redress the wrong. For 
 a full account of the circumstances in each case, we refer our readers to the 
 
 * They had oiily retired, and will re-appear freq.uently in the ensuing pages. 
 
pages of the N.-China Herald. We have only space here to recapitulate 
 the chief incidents. 
 
 In September last we were startled by news of a riot at Yang-chow, 
 instigated and headed by literati and retired officials, and directed against a 
 few English missionaries who had lately taken a house in that city. They 
 were maltreated, their house was set fire to and sacked, and they were 
 expelled the city. Various accusations, more or leaa ridiculous, were 
 alleged against them — the principal being the kidnapping and murder 
 of children for the purpose of eating their heart and liver, and making 
 medicine with their eyes. It was clearly shown that the outbreak was 
 instigated by the oflSoial and literate class ; and H. B. M.'s Consul went to 
 Nanking in the Rinaldo, to ask compensation for the injured and punish- 
 ment of the guilty. The Viceroy appeared well disposed to agree in these 
 demands so long as the guns of the sloop commanded the provincial capital ; 
 but when the Ul-health of Commander Bush led to her temporary with- 
 drawal, and Mr. Medhurst was left unsupported by other force than the 
 justice of his claim, Tsen-kwo-fan abandoned his conciliatory policy for an 
 insolent disregaxd of right or courtesy. The matter was thus at once raised 
 from a local to a national grievance. It became imperative to regain our 
 lost ground, to' exact reparation and to humble the pride of the Viceroy. 
 With the concurrence and support of H. B. M.'s Minister, Mr. Medhurst 
 returned to Nanking with a powerful squadron, took possession of the 
 Chinese gun-boat Tien-hei as a material guarantee ; and at once gained his 
 desired ends. Tsen-kwo-fan was on the point of exchanging his Governor- 
 general-ship of the two Kiangs for that of Chih-li, whither he has since 
 proceeded. But his successor, Ma, although present iu Nanking, naturally 
 preferred that a calmer atmosphere should be restored before assuming 
 office. The Governor of Kiangsu, and the Taotais of Shanghai and Chin- 
 keang had been summoned to consult on the emergency. Before a solemn 
 conclave, accordingly, of these five high dignitaries, Mr. Medhurst pressed 
 his demands ; and insisted on their concession. The Yang-chow Magistrates 
 were to be degraded ; the instigators of the riot punished ; the Missionaries 
 to be reinstated; and compensation for their injuries and losses paid. An 
 Official Notification published in the N.-G. Herald of the 8th December 
 showed that these points were faithfully exacted. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with these occurrences in the Centre, it was 
 found necessary to take equally vigorous action in the South of China, to 
 check outrages on merchants, missionaries and Christian converts, a constant 
 disregard of treaty stipulations, and an insolent bearing on the part of the 
 officials, which had exceeded all possibility of tolerance. A visit to Taiwan 
 by H. B. M. gunboat Janus sufficed to obtain a nominal settlement of 
 difficulties; but no sooner had she left than, as at Nanking, the Chinese 
 authorities became insolent and refractory. H. B. M.'s Consul, Mr. Gibson, 
 found it necessary to call in the aid of the Bustard and Algerine, and to 
 
8 
 
 take possession of the citadel of Taiwan, as a material guarantee for the 
 fulfilment of his claims. Lieut. Gurdon, of the Algerine, gallantly carried 
 out the latter object with only twenty-three seamen and marines, and 
 repelled a subsequent attempt at recapture — with a slight loss, on each 
 occasion, to his opponents. The effect, as in the appearance of the British 
 at Nanking, was magical. Finding they had miscalculated the extent of our 
 forbearance, the oflBcials became as conciliatory as they had been previously 
 insolent. It was promised that the Taotai of Taiwan, who had been head 
 and front of the offenders, should be degraded ; that the assailants on 
 foreigners should be punished ; compensation paid, and illegal restrictions 
 withdrawn.'* 
 
 Little remains to be said under the head with which we are at present 
 dealing, except in regard to the Chinese Embassy to Western nations; which 
 had just burst over our astonished heads, when we completed our summary 
 of political events during 1867. We said, then, that we regarded the 
 appointment of this Embassy as a satisfactory abandonment by the Chinese 
 of their old policy of isolation ; as an acknowledgment of the equality of 
 other nations with themselves, and as indicative of a willingness to enter 
 into political and commercial relations with us. And we still hold that the 
 sending the Embassy did imply progressive instincts at Peking. But the 
 conduct of Mr. Burlingame, the head of this mission, has destroyed our 
 pleasing anticipations. His absurd description of China in a public speech 
 at New York, has covered him with ridicule from all who know how widely 
 different is the original from the picture; and an injudicious treaty concluded 
 by him with the United States has encouraged a reactionary spirit on the 
 part of the Peking Cabinet. He has made a mistake into which other theoret- 
 ical legislators have fallen, of disregarding the evidence of practice. He has 
 insisted on China being treated on a perfect footing of equality with 
 Western nations, forgetting that she is not on that footing, as regards 
 enlightenment, civilization, or honesty of purpose. Negociations must be 
 conducted on a give-and-take principle. It is impossible to treat equally 
 when you know your interlocutor will take advantage of all your 
 concessions, but will do his best to escape his own obligations. In 
 such a case it is folly to abandon what vantage ground you may hold. Yet 
 this is what has been done in Art viii of the new U. S. treaty with China. 
 We do not forget that Mr. Burlingame is ambassador for China ; but 
 neither will the Western World forget that he is one of its citizens, 
 and bound to further the cause of progress, while doing his duty 
 conscientiously by his strange employers. By blindly forwarding the 
 foolish wishes of the latter, he wrongs both. 
 
 Foreign Teiations It is a curious anomaly iu our relations with China, that we 
 wit c a. j^^y. qyj^j.j.Q;^ ^jj.^ Qj^Q province and yet be uninterruptedly 
 
 * For a full account of the origin, progress, and result of these' disturbances, see a letter headed 
 '•Formosa" in the i^TorWi-CTiina //tTuWof '28th I)ecemb6r, 18l3S. 
 
friendly even with the Central Government ; indeed, that we even may 
 be at war with a Viceroy and yet on friendly terms with his people. The 
 difficulties we have just settled at Yangchow and in Formosa are cases in 
 point. Our Minister's intercourse with the Peking Government was never 
 disturbed, although our ships of war were riding threateningly off Nanking, 
 and bombarding the chief port of Formosa. Nor were the relations of 
 foreign residents with the inhabitants of Shanghai, one whit less friendly 
 that their provincial capital was in imminent danger of attack. Fortunately 
 this overt act of war was averted by the concession of our just demands, and 
 foreign relations throughout the Empire have been strengthened by the 
 timely firmness displayed by our Authorities. The term " refractory " 
 seems strange as applied to the officials of a great empire j it expresses 
 more generally the misbehaviour of a schoolboy. Yet it is applicable to 
 Chinese Mandai'ins, who try, much as a schoolboy does, to shirk fulfilment 
 of obligations wisely and justly laid upon them. This spirit of refractoriness 
 in regard to treaty stipulations had been gradually increasing, and a lesson 
 such as that given at Nanking and Taiwan was needed to break it. As we 
 said before, a more compliant spirit has been since shown, and our relations 
 with the authorities in every part of China have improved. 
 
 A noteworthy feature of the past year has been the conclusion of 
 a new treaty with China by the United States. It has been caustically 
 said that this document was a mere advertisement for Mr. Burlingame, 
 to show European Courts that he was not a mere ambassadorial shadow, but 
 a real plenipotential envoy. At any rate it is an unfortunate document, 
 for its purport is decidedly retrogressive as regards foreigners, thoiigh 
 it raises Cliina to a footing of mere perfect equality, and relieves Chinese 
 from disadvantages under which they had previously suffered in California. 
 It was quite competent to the United States to moderate its pressure 
 on the Peking Cabinet in the matter of railways and steamers, without 
 distinctly renouncing on paper all right to promote those features of 
 civilization and progress. It was singularly unwise to expressly abandon 
 this pressure, at a time when it was being usefully exerted to induce 
 the Chinese authorities to open up the mineral resources of their country. 
 The prospect of developing these has attracted marked attention during the 
 year, and important discoveries of coal and ore, in easy proximity to 
 the Coast, have been made. It is sufficient to refer to the gold which has 
 attracted many foreign diggers to Chefoo, where lead, galena, and antimony 
 have also claimed their notice. Coal has been found there in abundance, as 
 well as in the neighbourhood of Cliinkeang, whose hills also contain deposits 
 of graphite. Mr. Durlingame's successor in the post of U. S. Minister 
 at Peking, is a man who has directed special attention to mining ; and it 
 is hoped that, notwithstanding the unfortunate treaty lately concluded by liis 
 country, he will add his influence to that of his colleagues, in persuading 
 the Chinese Government to withdraw restrictions from its practice. 1'he 
 
10 
 
 benefit to the country would be incalculable, and we have a right to call on 
 China, to contribute her quota to the mineral riches of the world. The 
 absurdity of a few selfish and narrow-minded officials presuming to say that 
 neither their own people nor foreigners shall touch the mineral wealth 
 of the country, is too glaring to pass long unchallenged in this age of 
 enlightened political economy. Can the absurdity last, of sending to 
 Japan, Labuan and Australia for a mineral which lies undisturbed within 
 150 miles of our doors ? It is important to note that one of the most 
 powerful men in China, Tsen-kwo-fan, late Viceroy of Nanking, and 
 now Governor of Chih-li, has taken an enlightened view of this important 
 subject. In a remarkable state paper, reviewing the position and 
 prospects of foreign relations, he expresses himself, to the Emperor, in 
 favour of permitting foreigners to work mines. 
 
 While blaming the Chinese for the timid and exclusive policy iu which 
 they persist, we must not omit to chronicle the removal of a gross stain on 
 the history of foreign relations with their country. We allude to the 
 coolie trade, which had long disgraced the Portuguese name, but which the 
 new Governor of Macao has shown so honourable a. determination to clear 
 from the abuses that surround it. Labourers over-persuaded, bought, 
 or kidnapped in China, placed forcibly under contract in Macao, and sold in 
 South America to masters who detained them as long there as they 
 were capable of working, and turned them adrift to beg or die when 
 health or streiigth failed them, — were slaves in every sense of the term. We 
 are glad to know that the iniquitous system under which such things were 
 possible, has been ended.* 
 
 In other respects, little of importance has occurred to change the 
 aspect of our relations with China. In Formosa a restriction has been removed 
 which had acted most prejudicially on the trade with that island, in one of 
 its staple products. The officials had persisted in treating camphor as a 
 monopoly, and we had to compel a withdrawal of this restriction. The 
 camphor trade is now free. The hopes which had been entertained of 
 establishing commercial relations with Corea have not advanced ; an 
 admirable opportunity offered of beginning intercourse with its Government, 
 under the plea of enquiring after the fate of various Europeans who were 
 reported to have been murdered by its order. But it was neglected ; and 
 the result of the enquiries made by the Commissioner of Customs at New- 
 chwang, does not suggest a hope that Corea will seek our intercourse. The 
 advance must come from us. A wonderful effort to this end was made in 
 the early months of the year by a private party, who chartered a steamer 
 with the professed object of making a treaty with Corea on their own 
 
 * At tlie time this was "written, the thdn Governor of Macao had taken steps which promised to stop 
 the flagrant abuses connected with this trade ; but the local interests were too strong for him, and 
 matters drifted back to their former disgraceful condition. Determined action by the Lisbon Government 
 is necessary, to overawe the large number (many thousands) of brokers and others interested in the trade. 
 
11 
 
 account ; but who really went into the interior with a party of coolies and 
 an armed escort, and tried to open a tomb containing, it was reported, the 
 bodies of some of the ancient Oorean monarchs. Tliey failed in the object, 
 whatever that was, and an attempt to inculpate one of their number in the 
 U. S. Consular Court, on a charge of piracy, fell through. The Consuls of 
 France and Hamburgh did not see fit to bring to book their subjects, who were 
 also leaders of the expedition. Turning to the West, though we have made no 
 actual progress towards establishing a trade with the inner provinces that 
 adjoin the Burmese and Assamese frontiers, we have gained information 
 which may be turned to valuable account in forwarding the object. Mr. T. 
 T. Cooper has succeeded, after great hardships, in discovering, though not 
 in traversing, a road leading from Bathang on the frontiers of Szechuen and 
 Thibet to the town of Sudya on the head-waters of the Brahmapootra. 
 Twelve days journey from Bathang is a town called Tzo, on the Thibet side 
 of the hills which separate that country from Assam. This is the site of 
 a yearly fair, and it behoves the Indian Government to open up com- 
 munication with this mart from Sudya. Mr. Cooper has gone to Calcutta, 
 to offer his services in furthering this object ; he will endeavour to cross 
 from the Indian side, the road which was barred to him in China. The 
 enterprise and courage with which he persevered in his arduous under- 
 taking, in spite of difficulties from want of money and official opposition, 
 have been liberally recognised by the Shanghai community since his return. 
 We hope Calcutta will shew an equally just and intelligent appreciation of 
 his services and his object. 
 
 But, though there has been no marked progress in the intimacy of our 
 social or political relations with the country, we are not altogether without 
 hope of early improvement. Sir Eutherford Aloock has asked the opinion 
 of merchants in China on the subject of opening more ports to foreign 
 intercourse, in a tone which implies that there is probabiUty of this step 
 being gained. A port in Manchuria, two on the coast of Ohekiang, three 
 on the Yang-tsze and three on the coast of Kwantung are spoken of. A 
 scheme is also rather obscurely hinted at for allowing trade in foreign built 
 vessels, other than steamers, at coast and inland marts near open ports. 
 So far as inland towns are concerned this step would be useless, except as a 
 trifling concession leading nearer to that great desideratum, the introduction 
 of steam for purposes of inland carriage. With the upper waters of the 
 Yang-tze, and the Tung-ting and Poyang Lakes, with the Yellow River, the 
 Tsien-tang and their feeders and off-shoots, open to small steamers, the 
 movements of commerce would be expedited and increased to an extent the 
 Chinese cannot dream of. Still, limited as are our relations, and restricted 
 as are our points of communication with the country, the Customs Returns 
 of trade done show a gradual and steady increase. The exports from 
 England, of manufactured goods alone, show an increase in value over last 
 year of above £1,000,000 sterling, represented by double the quantity of 
 
12 
 
 cloth. These, however, are matters on -which we shall enter at greater 
 length on another page. We only desire here to infer, from the 
 present increase in trade, that great commercial advantage might be 
 expected from freer intercourse and improved communications. It is 
 reported that the Futai of Kiangsu is already employing a small steamer to 
 tow cargoboats on the Grand Canal, though whether as a private speculation 
 or from an enlightened desire to introduce his countrymen to inevitable 
 change, we venture not to say. The former supposition is more consistent 
 with mandarin, and especially Ting's, character. 
 
 (jeneraJ. Our tast of Summarising the events of the past year is now 
 nearly ended. It remains only to sketch a few incidents which 
 have been either omitted from, or could not well be classed under, 
 the chief divisions of our subject. Foremost amongst these, is the 
 opening of Cbaochow, in Fohkien, to foreign residents and trade. Steps 
 were, we believe, taken to accomplish this object during the incumbency of 
 Mr. Caine ; bub the foreign office objected, and one of that gentleman's last 
 acts was to re-urge the question on Lord Stanley's attention. The latter's 
 adhesion has been since gained, and Mr. Alabaster, H.B.M. present acting 
 Consul at Swatow, has successfully brought the matter to an issue. Chao- 
 chow is now open to foreign residents and trade. 
 
 We have to record a little progress during the past year, in lighting and 
 buoying some portion of the Coast. But the entrance to the Yangtsze and 
 the islands which endanger the approach, are benighted as ever. A light 
 house however is in course of erection on Gutzlaff, which will be an 
 advantage. A Hydrographical Department has been created, without 
 however giving any signs of its existence. Another recent creation, the 
 Foreign College at Peking, has, we believe, dissappointed the hopes of its 
 founder; though what but failure could be expected under professors 
 who don't know the language of the people they are to instruct, we are at a 
 loss to conceive. Mr. Hart might have been more happy in the selection, 
 for materials are available to his hand. In the arts of war, the Chinese 
 have shown greater enthusiasm than in the paths of science. The Arsenals 
 at Shanghai and Nanking have thriven and increased ; a new one has been 
 established at Tientsin, and that at Foochow, through good and evil report 
 continues at least to exist. A steamer, built by foreigners it is true' 
 but for, and under the auspices of, the Chinese Government, has been 
 launched on the Wongpoo. 
 
 The position and prospects of the public companies of Shanghai 
 will be found sketched on another page. It is sufficient to say, here, that 
 the majority show a steady recovery from the coUapse which succeeded the 
 inflated prosperity of 18634. The " Hongkong and Shanghai Bank " and 
 the several Steamer and Insurance Companies especially, are monuments 
 of brilliant success. Land has much increased in value, and house rent 
 has risen proportionately. Many new buildings have been erected or 
 
13 
 
 commenced ; amongst others, one destined for the Comptoir d'Esoompte 
 deserves notice. But the most remarkable feature in this connexion 
 is the extension of the settlement up the Bubbling Well road, which 
 is now lined with villa residences nearly to the two-mile stone. We 
 cannot but think the class of buildings rather too pretentious, but they 
 are nearly all let, and this is the great criterion. We are confident however 
 that cheap houses — snch as would let at Tls. 25 per mensem, offer a profit- 
 able investment to a limited extent. There are many people with incomes 
 averaging Tls. 100 a month, who would gladly rent them. We must not 
 omit to mention that Trinity Church is rapidly approaching completion, and 
 bids fair to be an edifice of which Shanghai may be proud. New premises 
 are also spoken of for the Oriental Bank. A new gaol has been commenced 
 by H. B. M. Government, and extensive alterations in the Consulate build- 
 ings are in progi-ess. The new cemetery has been opened. The Racket 
 Court is gradually payingoff the encumbrance with which its first Com- 
 mittee left it weighted, and threatens to pay a good dividend to shareholders, 
 when this desirable end has been accomplished. 
 
 Several changes have taken place in the Consular service, the most 
 important having been the death of Mr. T. T. Meadows, one of its oldest 
 members, and the departure for England of Mr. Winchester, who has been 
 succeeded in Shanghai by Mr. Medhurst. 
 
 Japan. The past year has been an eventful one in the Land of the Rising 
 Sun. It has witnessed a revolution in government as complete as that 
 which, 1,100 years ago, ended, in France, a very similar regime. Only, in 
 her case, a Maire, du palais mounted the sovereign throne ; in Japan, the 
 sovereigns have recovered the power which had long passed from their 
 hands. A growing feeling of jealousy at the power of the Tycoons led to a 
 combination among the Southern daimios, which the actual holder of that 
 post declined to oppose. He resigned his high position ; a Council of 
 State comprising the princes of Satsuma, Chosiu, Geyshiu, and Tosa, 
 his chief political opponents, was formed ; and the troops of these princes 
 were massed at the Mikado's capital. Thus far it seemed that everything 
 would pass off without bloodshed ; that a complete revolution in the 
 government of the country, involving the overthrow of the Tycoonate, and 
 the resumption of active power by the real Emperor, would be accomplished 
 without a blow. But though the ex-Tycoon seemed willing to acquiesce in 
 the change, the powerful Tokugawa clan would not brook this extinction of 
 their political influence. Massed at Osaka to the number of 30,000 men, 
 they insisted on being led to the capital. They were met half way by 
 their opponents, and after three days severe fighting, the confederate 
 daimios took possession of Osaka, which Stotsbashi abandoned without 
 a blow, flying to Yeddo. The coup d'Uat seemed over. After they 
 had partially recovered from their defeat, the Tokugawa were willing 
 
14 
 
 to further support their chief ; but the latter submitted implicitly to 
 the edicts of the Mikado. He surrendered Yeddo, gave up his fleet, 
 and retired for a brief period to the castle of Mito, whence he has 
 since been called to resume active life — as a daimio among daimios, 
 but still a powerful one — as Prince of Tsurunga, the district from 
 whence his ancestor issued, two hundred years ago,' to carve his way to 
 power. But it now became evident that not only dislike of the Tycoonate, 
 but a jealousy between the Northern and Southern princes had embittered 
 the quarrel. And, though Stotsbashi submitted, this hostility prolonged 
 the struggle. Arrogant in their new power, the Southern party desired to 
 confiscate the territory of Aidzu, who had been one of the Tycoon's 
 most faithful adherents, and had fought best for him on the field of 
 Fushimi. An injudicious order by the new Government to the wavering 
 Prince of Sendai, to take possession of Aidzu's territory, drove him into the 
 arms of the latter. If he had to fight, he preferred to do so for his 
 friends, rather than his enemies. For nearly twelve months did these 
 allies, supported by various minor chiefs, withstand the whole power 
 of the new Government ; but the forces of the latter at length succeeded 
 in penetrating their territory, besieged Aidzu in his capital, compelled 
 hjs surrender ; and the rebellion — if it can be so called — collapsed. The 
 Prince of Aidzu and hia son are now prisoners in Yeddo ; and the power of 
 tbe Mikado is apparently supreme in Nippon. It seems to have been 
 the misfortune of the Northern party to have lacked energy and unity of 
 action. Had Stotsbashi, at the head of the Tokugawa, thrown in his lot 
 with the Northern princes, he might have recovered the Tycoonate ; had 
 his followers followed their own inclination at the outset, they would at 
 any rate have equalised the struggle ; but by disjointed action, they have 
 enabled the Southern party to beat them in detail. Now, at the last 
 moment, a noted member of the clan has carried oflf the ex-Tycoon's fleet 
 and a number of his late adherents, to the island of Yesso, where they 
 have expressed an intention to erect themselves into a new State — owning, 
 we presume, a sort of feudal subjection to "the Mikado ; but where they will 
 be relieved from the hated supremacy of Satsuma and Chosiu. With seven 
 ships of war and 3,000 trained soldiers, their position is a strong one • 
 and they are likely to be left in possession of Hakodadi, at least, until the 
 return of warmer weather facilitates a campaign for their ejection. In the 
 meantime, they are behaving in the most friendly manner towards for- 
 eigners, whose free intercourse with, every part of the island they promise 
 to promote. 
 
 The course taken by the British Ilepresentative has been decided from 
 the outset. He recognized the New Government, which he induced to 
 accept the treaties we had concluded with the Tycoon ; so our relations 
 with Japan have gained in solidity. These are now with the Emperor 
 instead of with a Prince who, however powerful, could not legally bind 
 
15 
 
 the whole country by his action. Our commercial interests have been 
 necessarily disturbed by these political changes ; but, as the prospects 
 of a permanent peace brighten, these improve. Osaka and Hiogo have 
 been opened to foreigners ; Yedo and Nee-e-gata were to follow on the 
 first day of 1869. We apprehend little difficulty in gradually extending 
 our intercourse as opportunity arises. The results expected have hardly 
 ensued from our business relations with the two former ports ; but civil 
 war is not conducive to trade ; and foreign residents at -Hiogo and Osaka 
 had the disadvantage of living in the immediate neighbourhood of its 
 theatre. Yeddo naturally suffered greatly from the breaking up of the 
 Tycoon's court, and the departure of the numerous nobles and their 
 retainers, who always cluster round the seat of power. But it is likely to 
 revive imder the shadow of the Mikado, who has made it the temporary 
 seat of Government in order to give an impulse to its recovery. The 
 other new port, Nee-e-gata, is situated on the west coast of Nippon, 
 opposite the island of Sado, and is likely to prove an important mart for 
 silk and silkworms' eggs. It taps an entirely new district. Its chief draw- 
 back is that the harbour is unquestionably bad. 
 
 ' Sales of steamers to the Japanese continue, not so much to increase 
 their stock — or they would otherwise have a large marine, as to supply the 
 place of others lost or worn out through ignorance and neglect. It is 
 strange that, with their ready intelligence and mechanical ingenuity, the 
 Japanese should not yet have learned to keep their ships in good order and 
 repair. They show an increasing disposition to go abroad; and have 
 ceased to be a curiosity in Shanghai, where one enterprising firm has 
 actually opened a curio shop. The hostility of the two-sworded men to 
 foreigners seems decreasing. It is not surprising that one or two attacks 
 should have been made on us at the time, and on the scene, of the civil war. 
 Sir Harry Parkes had a narrow escape at Kioto, on his way to his first 
 interview with the Mikado. Two fanatics cut through his guard and had 
 nearly reached hig person, when he was saved by the courage and activity 
 of a Japanese noble, who was riding alongside him, and whose action has 
 since been acknowledged by the gift of a handsome sword by the British 
 Government. A party of the prince of Bizen's retainers, under provocation 
 from two French men-of-war's men, made an indiscriminate attack on 
 foreigners in Osaka ; but were quickly driven out of the place without loss 
 on either side ; and their leader was afterwards beheaded — insufficient 
 allowance being, we think, made for the provocation under which he had 
 acted. The Mikado, moreover, has issued a proclamation threatening to 
 degrade from his military rank and behead any Samurai who assaults a 
 foreigner ; and as this disgrace would reflect on his whole family, the 
 threat has an excellent effect. The murderers, at Nagasaki, of two seamen 
 of the Icarus, who were still at large when we wrote our last summary, 
 have been lately captured and sent to Yeddo for punishment. Nagasaki 
 
16 
 
 has also witnessed a persecution of native Christians,* discreditable to the 
 new Government. The inhabitants of several Christia,n villages were 
 deported, separated, and distributed among various daimios, to be treated 
 with increasing severity, if they should not abandon their creed. For the 
 absurd report of a general noyade, there was no other foundation than the 
 fact that they were taken to their various destinations by sea. 
 
 On the whole, though our trade has suffered from the political 
 convulsion which- has agitated the Kingdom, we rnay consider that both 
 our commercial and political relations with Japan have been placed on 
 a more firm and satisfactory basis during the past year ; and for this result 
 we are greatly indebted to the ability, fearlessness, and energy displayed 
 by H. B. M. Minister. We wish we could look forward to Sir Harry 
 Parkes' translation to Peking. But we fear he has shown himself so 
 admirably fitted for Japan, that he ha§ hindered his own promotion. 
 
 * Details are given in the N.-C. Hei'ald during September 1868. 
 
17 
 
 1 s e 9 
 
 Political. It is difficult for a foi-eigner to acquire the information necessary 
 to give even a tolerable sketch of the political condition of China. The means 
 at his disposal are confined, almost exclusively, to yague rumours that 
 filter out from native sources, or to such inferences as he can draw from 
 memorials in the Peking Gazette. It may he doubted, indeed, tvhether 
 the Chinese themselves — except the highest officials — have much more 
 definite sources of knowledge; for the Peking Gazette is to them, as to us 
 the only medium of publicity. So far as can be gathered from these 
 sources, the work of pacification has gained ground during the past year. 
 The Taeping rebellion has become a matter of history, and the Nienfei 
 disturbances in the North may now be passed into the same category. 
 
 The suppression of the latter, by the joint efforts of Li and Tso, ap- 
 pears to have been effectual ; and the Mahomedans have been driven back 
 from Shansi, into the far North-west, across the borders of Kansuh. Here 
 they still seem to maintain a front against the Imperialists, and we hear of 
 large claims for money by the Viceroy, to enable him to operate effectually 
 against them. It is likely, however, that their condition is rather that of 
 brigandage than rebellion, and that Tso's difficulty is rather to crush than 
 to defeat them. 
 
 The only province where rebellion can be fairly said to exist, is Yunnan 
 — if a. province which has constituted itself into an independent kingdom 
 and held its own for several years, can be fairly called rebellious. It is, 
 however, regarded so at Peking, and reports are frequently heard of 
 endeavours made or promised, to recover its allegiance. One of the charges 
 recently made against Wutang, Viceroy of Szechuen, was connected with 
 the supply of money to aid operations in Yunnan ; and we now hear, from 
 Canton, of heavy imposts on foreign trade, under the plea that the proceeds 
 are destined to forward the same object, It does not appear, however, that 
 any extensive movement has yet been attempted. The government 
 probably " se recueille " after its late struggles, before directing an extensive 
 expedition against this remote province. 
 
 Yunnan and Kansuh are, then, the only provinces in China proper, 
 which can be spoken of as insurgent. In the remaining sixteen, the 
 Emperor's rule, however weak, is unchallenged. Local disturbances may 
 exist, but, unless perhaps in Kweichow, not of grave nature. And those 
 districts which were devastated by the Taeping Kebellion are gradually, 
 though slowly, recovering from their ruin. 
 
18 
 
 But if precise information is difficult to obtain, regarding the provinces 
 of China proper, the task becomes akin to impossible, in the case of its vast 
 dependencies, Tartary and Thibet. Vague reports exist of discontent in 
 both these regions. The inhabitants of Thibet are said to be uneasy under 
 the priestly government through which China rules them ; and rumour is 
 rife of discontent among the Mongols, which is causing anxiety at Peking. 
 It is said that troops are being directed towards both regions, in case of 
 trouble. 
 
 It is interesting to note, on the other hand, that the King of Siam 
 has renewed his fealty.* Like most of the States bordering on China, Siam 
 has generally acknowledged itself tributary to the Central Kingdom ; and 
 foreign nations generally are classed by every true Chinaman in the same 
 category with these " lesser States." Siam fell off from its duty during 
 the Taeping rebellion, because, it now alleges, the disturbances in the 
 interior of Ciiina rendered the journey to Peking unsafe ; but its King now 
 begs, again, to be allowed to approach the Celestial throne, and bask in the 
 sunshine of the Imperial presence. 
 
 What goes on in the capital itself is wrapped in even more than usual 
 diplomatic mystery. Only now and again is the veil lifted, and the outer 
 world allowed a glimpse at proceedings in the sanctuary. The most 
 important occurrences of the year have been the revision of the British 
 treaty, and the ratification of the celebrated convention^ entered into by 
 Mr. Burlingame, with America. During a recent flying visit to the capital, 
 Mr. J. MacLeavy Brown succeeded in persuading the Tsung-li yamen to 
 take this step, so necessary to the stabiUty of Mr. Burlingame's position as 
 Chinese Ambassador, and also induced them to grant the Mission a prolonged 
 lease of life. H. B. M. Minister left Peking, after signing the revised 
 treatyt with England. As we have before remarked, this embodies no 
 concessions, except the opening of one additional port on the Yangtsze ; and 
 the Chinese must congratulate themselves on their success in repelling our 
 demands for progress. The changes in detail are variously viewed, but they 
 will be more appropriately discussed on another page. 
 
 Great preparations are said to be in contemplation for the Emperor's 
 marriage. § It is likely that that event will be the signal for his 
 assumption of the reins of power. It is to be feared that the influences 
 under which he has been educated will not predispose him to liberal 
 measures or a friendly foreign policy. The Empress dowager and his 
 
 * TUs is founded on a Memorial from the Tartar General of Foochow, translated in the i? -C Herald of 
 December 11th 1869 The Regent of Siam subsequently caused a special letter to be addressed to this 
 paper (published miV.-e. if«-aW of August 12th, 187u) denying that Siam is tributary toChhia" and 
 aaymg that her overtures pomted to a treaty on the same footing as Western Nations. 
 
 t The text of this treaty, which the English QoTerument refused to ratify, will be ' found in tl.o if -C 
 flei'ata of 21st December, 1869. ' 
 
 U The text of this treaty will be found in the N.-O. Herald of September 11th, 1868. 
 
 § Preparations were begun but the marriage did not take place tiU October 1872, and the Emneror 
 asanmed power on the 23rd February, 1873. ' araperor 
 
19 
 
 tutor are both eminently conservative ; and are believed to influence 
 unfavourably the more intelligent members of the Tsung-li yamen. 
 
 Some interesting articles have been lately published, on the efforts which 
 China is making to strengthen her military position. It is well, of course, 
 that a nation should be strong; but it is feared that the possession of 
 foreign arms and of a few thousand troops roughly instructed in foreign 
 drill, may encourage a government so arrogant and so ignorant of its real 
 strength, to measures that may end in war. 
 
 ^""^^h^r^ "^^^ opening of the year found the Chinese Envoy in Europe 
 at the zenith of his prestige, and home papers at their 
 extreme point of error, in regard to Foreign Merchants, and the political 
 situation in China. Mr. Burlingame had made the British Government a 
 convert to his views ; and dispatches] were soon addressed from the Foreign 
 Office and from the Admiralty, to the Civil and Naval Officers of Great 
 Britain in China, forbidding the display of force in any case short of 
 immediate danger to life and property, but ordering the reference of 
 aU difficulties to Peking, — and if necessary thence to England — " leaving 
 H. M. Government free to determine, if occasion should arise for doing so, 
 what is best to be done to enforce upon the Central Government the 
 obligation, not only themselves to observe treaties, but to compel provincial 
 authorities also to respect them." This was done on the faith of Mr. 
 Burlingame's assurance, that ''the Central Government is both willing 
 and able to control its provincial subordinates, and, had the axiom been 
 true, the rule would have been right also. But a series of events were 
 taking place, almost simultaneously, in China, which proved the theory 
 to be thoroughly hollow. The affair at Yangchow was already over, 
 after contributing its quota of proof to the error of Mr. Burlingame's 
 assertion, as to the anxiety of the Chinese to welcome " shining crosses," 
 and their " hospitality to fair argument." The course of affairs at Taiwan 
 had shown the utter ineffioacy of appeals to Peking, and had elicited 
 from Sir Rutherford Alcock the able despatch in which he sketched, as the 
 result of such a policy, " an interminable series of references backwards 
 and forwards ; a see-saw of correspondence between the ports and the capital, 
 and no final solution ever arrived at ;" the Provincial officers, in fact, lying 
 to the Imperial Authorities, and the latter evading the argunaents of the 
 Foreign Representatives. These occurrences, however, belong really to 
 1868, and were touched on in our retrospect of that year. We refer to 
 them again, only to show the position of affairs at the outset of 1869, and 
 to connect them with the events which followed. 
 
 Close on the heels, then, of the embroglios at Taiwan and Yangchow, 
 came an attack by a party of villagers on a boat's crew of H. M. 
 gunboat Gockchafe?; near Swatow. Lieut. Kerr was taking a pull up 
 the river with some of his men, when the villagers pelted him. He landed, 
 and requested a respectable Chinaman to conduct him to the Headman. 
 
20 
 
 The latter refused ; Lieut. Kerr then insisted that he should, himself, come 
 as a witness before the mandarins. He still resisted, and the village 
 braves turned out and fired at the boat's crew, who responded, and 
 re-embarked and pulled off. On the way back they were attacked by about 
 1,000 villagers, who had cut across a neck of land to intercept them, and 
 11 of the crew were wounded before they could return the fire poured into 
 them from the high banks. The Snider, however, did good work event- 
 ually ; and the boat got past, leaving 11 of her assailants dead, and 30 or 
 40 wounded. An apology for the attack, and a guarantee against similar 
 outbreaks by the villagers, was demanded ; but the authorities have little 
 control over the ■ turbulent clans of Fohkien ; and the latter, so far from 
 making submission, demanded head-money for the men killed in the attack 
 which they had themselves commenced. It became necessary, accordingly, 
 to take their punishment into our own hands. A squadron consisting of 
 the Rinaldo, Perseus, Cockchafer, Leven, and Bouncer was gathered ; and on 
 the 29th January, a party of 450 men under the command of Commodore 
 Jones, accompanied by Mr. Alabaster H. M. Acting Consul, were landed for 
 the purpose. The braves made an attempt at resistance, but the fire 
 of the Sniders soon dispersed them, and two fortified villages were taken 
 and burned with little loss on their side and none on our own. A Chinese 
 gun-boat was present, tacitly countenancing the proceeding. Indeed, 
 there is every reason to believe the authorities were obliged to us for 
 inflicting on their unruly subjects a chastisement which they were not, 
 themselves, strong enough to administer. Since that time, there has 
 been no disturbance, and communication with the newly opened port 
 of Chao-chow, which had previously been hazardous, is now perfectly 
 secure. The effect in Swatow was excellent ; as these villagers had 
 enjoyed, among the natives, a reputation for quasi-invincibility ; and oux 
 prestige was raised, in proportion to our easy victory over them. Of 
 course such collisions are regrettable, but it was impossible to allow the 
 matter to pass. Had the attack on an armed boat's crew gone unpunished, 
 the tribes would at once have assumed that we feared them ; no foreigner 
 would have been safe in their neighbourhood, and the river would have 
 been virtually closed. 
 
 Nearly simultaneously with these troubles at Swatow, a hostile spirit 
 began to be shown towards foreigners at Foochow ; several attacks on 
 missionaries and native converts occurred in the neighbourhood ; the 
 literati began to post proclamations on the city walls, urging the people to 
 rise and exterminate foreigners. An affair connected with a sanitarium, 
 which the missionaries were erecting on Sharp Peak Island, at the mouth of 
 the Min, brought matters to a climax. Incited by an ex-oflicial living 
 in the neighbourhood, the people began to demolish the building ; the 
 commander of the Janus landed some men to protect it, and a slight 
 affray ensued. These matters became the subject of earnest discussion 
 
21 
 
 among the provincial authorities; when the Governor of the Province 
 expressed himself in favour of such demonstrations, opining that they 
 would frighten and render foreigners submissive. But the old Viceroy 
 gave it as his experience that, though foreigners would put up with a 
 good deal, if they were pushed an inch too far their shot and shell 
 would come flying about the Yamen before there was time to turn. 
 His advice prevailed ; threatening proclamations ceased to be posted, 
 and the pending difficulties were arranged satisfactorily ; though troubles 
 with missionaries have since occurred at intervals, in different districts 
 of the Province. 
 
 At Tungchow and at other places in Shantung, missionaries and 
 native converts were seriously threatened at the beginning of the year ; 
 the arrival of some disciplined troops at Chefoo being construed by the 
 people, both at that port and in the interior, as a demonstration against 
 foreigners. A proclamation by the Taotai, issued at the request of H. B. M. 
 Consul, eventually restored quiet. 
 
 From Szechuen, the same news has come, in graver form. An attack 
 was made, early in January, on the Christian community in the prefectural 
 city of Yuyang, when a number of converts, with their Pastor, le P&re 
 Rigaud, were killed. The cause, here, seems to have been jealousy of the 
 advantages gained for the converts by their Pastors, who were in the habit 
 of protecting them against the local mandarins. The latter were of course 
 annoyed at this, and encouraged the mass of the people in their jealousy — 
 till a riot occurred with the result we have named. Warning was given to 
 the officials of the danger, but the latter denied its existence ; the Christians 
 armed themselves for defence ; but the officials declared that, by so doing, 
 they placed themselves outside the pale of the law's protection. They 
 then disarmed, to destroy this excuse, and, the following day, were attacked 
 and murdered. M. de Rocheohouart, H. I. M. ChargI d' Affaires, is now on 
 his way to Yuyang, to press for satisfactory reparation. 
 
 But in the meantime he is halting at Nganking, in the province of 
 Anhwei, where attacks were made at the close of the year, on both English 
 and French missionaries, by liierati assembled for the yearly examinations. 
 On the 2nd November, an inflammatory placard was posted on the walls of 
 the Literary Examination Hall, calling on the students to pull down the 
 Mission house. The Protestant Missionaries went to the Taotai to seek 
 protection ; they were referred to the Che-hien ; but were mobbed by the 
 assembled candidates, on leaving the Yamen, and obliged to return to it for 
 protection. The crowd then went on to their house, and ransacked and 
 gutted it. Mrs. Williamson, wife of one of the missionaries, her baby and 
 another child, were roughly treated by the rioters, but were eventually 
 escorted by a native servant to the YamSn for protection ; and the whole 
 party were dispatched by the officials, during the night, to Chinkeang. Sir 
 R. Alcock has since visited the Viceroy of Nanking, to demand satisfaction, 
 
22 
 
 and, though he met with discourteous reception, it seems likely that his 
 demands will be complied with. A house belonging to the Jesuit Mission- 
 aries was attacked and gutted at the same time ; and, as we said before, Mr. 
 Eooheohouart is now lying oflf the city, pressing for satisfaction for the latter 
 outrage.* 
 
 Our record, thus far, has been one of quarrel ; but is interesting, not 
 only on account of the events it chronicles, but as illustrating the error of 
 Mr. Burlingame's representations, as to the enlightenment and good feeling 
 of the governing class. In no single case-^except perhaps the affair at 
 Swatow, where unruly and semi-civilized clans were concerned — has the 
 hostility shown been traceable to the people. Literati have been the 
 instigators, and the officials have nearly always refrained from interfering to 
 check the rising turbulence. Yet British and American policy is based on 
 the assumption that the official classes are well-disposed, and are held back 
 from progress and free intercourse, only by the hostility of the people. We 
 unhesitatingly affirm the case to be the reverse. The people are invariably 
 found well-disposed, while the officials, and the literati from whom the 
 officials spring, are bitterly jealous of foreign doctrine or intrusion. To 
 quote the words of a recent article in the S. G. <fc G. Gazette — "We see the 
 most evident improvements steadily opposed by the ruling classes ; we see 
 industry hampered and obstacles placed in the way of free intercommunica- 
 tion ; we see a feeble government, yet strong enough to obstruct, allying 
 itself with prejudices laughed at by even an ordinary Chinese, fearful lest, 
 with the removal of the enforced isolation of its people, it should be itself over- 
 thrown." For "free trade means free intercourse ; railroads and telegraphs 
 mean the bringing together of people from distant localities ; the reform of the 
 transit tax system means a greatly increased internal trade. All these are good 
 for the people, but how for the Governors ? The knowledge that their trust has 
 been abused, excites in their mind the worst misgivings ; but, unfortunately, 
 instead of fitting themselves for the new position of afifairs they, like the 
 ministers of Rehoboam, strive to increase the pressure on their dependents." 
 Conscious of their own weakness and venality, in fact, the mandarins dread 
 beyond everything the flood of light which accompanies foreign ingress, and 
 the damaging comparison of their own with foreign institutions. 
 
 We turn, now, from the category of missionary troubles, to a record of 
 more general occurrences. 
 
 Peking has not been prolific of news during the year ; though it has, as 
 usual, contributed largely to official literature. But the shower of 
 despatches which have fallen from the Capital upon the Provinces and 
 upon the Lesser States, have rather chronicled inaction than indicated 
 activity. In fact, with the exception of the missionary troubles, the 
 negociations for the new treaty, and various claims which merchants have 
 
 • Full particulare of Mr. Bochechonart's expedition and its lesulte are given in the N,-C, Herald one* 
 Sujtreme and Consular Cfazette of iBt March, 1870. 
 
23 
 
 pressed on his attention, H. B. M. Minister has had no special objects to 
 enlist his care. On the first of these subjects, we have already written at 
 full length ; the second we defer considering for the present ; of the third, 
 we have only to say that, though the Nanzing silk claims have been 
 admitted at Peking, they remain unpaid in the provinces; and that, though 
 the Eussian merchants have been compensated for the teas and money lost 
 by them, during the disturbances which followed the Sung-yang mutiny, 
 the English claimants have appealed in vain. 
 
 Another country has added its name to the list of treaty Powers. 
 Austria has sent an expedition to the East, with the design of pushing her 
 commerce, and one of her first steps was to establish relations with the 
 Celestial Empire. No disinclination was expressed- by the Chinese Govern- 
 ment, but a significant incident was an objection made to characterise the 
 Emperor of Austria by the term Hwang-ti, which the Chinese consider the 
 exclusive perquisite of the Central Sovereign. The firmness of the Austrian 
 Envoy, however, overcame their scruples. Many circumstances have 
 occurred during the year, to prove that the Peking magnates cling as 
 firmly as ever to the theory of universal supremacy, though they have 
 learned better than to perpetually flaunt the absurd claim in the face 
 of Foreign Ministers. These, however, are still excluded from personal 
 audience of the Emperor, — unless, of course, they would choose to go 
 through the nine prostrations and other symbols of feudal inferiority, 
 incumbent on the " tribute-bearers " from Siam, Corea, the Liuchius 
 and other of the Outer States, from whose acknowledged inferiority 
 China derives her notion of universal sway. And, as if this were not enough, 
 a son of the Queen of England has been included in the ban. The 
 Duke of Edinburgh visited Peking in October, as a private individual. 
 After a royal reception from the Euler of Japan, he experienced utter 
 neglect from the Emperor of China ; and the Chinese, judging from 
 traditional usage, inferred that he had been refused an audience. They 
 can only conceive a Foreign Prince visiting the Celestial Capital, to 
 crave the favour of an interview with his Feudal Lord ; and the refusal 
 of this interview involves, in their eyes, both disappointment and degrada- 
 tion. The common expression, accordingly, as the Duke returned to 
 Tientsin, was " pu kien mien " he has not had an audience ; and he 
 and the prestige of England fell accordingly in public esteem. It is 
 to be hoped that this instance may open the eyes of people at Home 
 to the error of the views which they hold, in regard to Chinese good-will, 
 large-mindedness, appreciation of their backwardness, and anxiety to enter 
 into the comity of nations. The assertions which have been made by 
 sinologues, as to the unsatisfactory tone of Mr. Burlingame's credentials, 
 receive support from these circumstances. It is averred that, if not in 
 distinct terms, at least by implication, he is accredited as from a superior 
 to inferior nations ; and the haughty neglect which our English Prince 
 
24 
 
 experienced, supports this view. Probably the question of personal audience 
 may, in consequence of this neglect, be pressed to a solution. It is 
 impossible that foreign nations can much longer accept the inferior 
 position which exclusion from the Emperor's presence implies. 
 
 On the other hand, Peking has lost a Foreign Minister who, during his 
 short stay, shewed a remarkable appreciation of the true political position, 
 and gave promise of an energetic and useful career, had he been allowed to 
 retain his post. We refer to the departure of Mr. J. Ross Browne, who 
 succeeded Mr. Burlingame as U. S. Minister at Peking. The circumstances 
 of his resignation are still fresh in the minds of our readers ; and we need 
 only refer to the N.-G. Herald of the 29th July, as containing the address 
 fo the Shanghai community to him on his departure, and an admirable 
 exposS of the political situation conveyed in his reply. Since his return to 
 America, Mr. Browne has further urged his" views ; and has contributed 
 greatly to our knowledge of the origin of the Burlingame Mission, by 
 publishing a memorandum§ on the subject by Mr. Hart, with annotations 
 by himself which are remarkable for lucidity of statement and accuracy 
 of view. 
 
 One more change in the diplomatic world remains to be chronicled ; 
 that of Mr. Wade for Sir R. Alcock, as head of the British Legation. 
 The latter has gone home, after signing the new treaty, on a well-earned 
 leave of absence. We say " well earned " for, however much people 
 may differ as to his political carriage, none can deny him the credit of 
 thoroughly hard work. Indeed, the complaint has been made against 
 him, that he wrote so much as to allow himself no time for thought, 
 and hence the vacillation often perceptible in his views and conduct. At 
 times he wrote manly expositions of political questions to the Home 
 Government ; at others he scolded Shanghai merchants with the petulance 
 of an over-worried usher addressing his class. His closing act, the 
 revision of the Tientsin Treaty, has of course been a chi^f subject of 
 comment ; and it has been variously viewed. No one likes the treaty ; 
 the most that can be said for it is that it was the best that could be hoped 
 for under the circumstances. But it is fair to give prominence to Sir R. 
 Alcock's own plea, that those circumstances controlled him, and that he 
 was powerless to act otherwise than as a mouth-piece of the policy urged 
 on him by His Government. It was, he said at Hongkong, " the habit 
 to speak on all such occasions of this that or the other act of Sir 
 Rutherford Aloock ; but he could do no more than obtain from the 
 Chinese Government the best terms compatible with his instructions. 
 He was not a free agent, but Her Majesty's Minister." .On the Home 
 Government, then, lies the chief blame for the Treaty's shortcomings- 
 It is right, too, to remember that Sir Rutherford took b old and decided 
 
 § This dooumont was published in the N.-G. Herald of 9th November, 1869, and subsequentlv in ths 
 London Tiirm. 
 
25 
 
 action in the case of the Yangchow difficulties, and supported with 
 fi-ank and manly approval the action of Mr. Gibson at Formosa. On 
 the other hand, there is reason to beheve that Sir Rutherford's representa- 
 tons of the aims and designs and character of his countrymen in 
 China, to the Foreign Office, have not always been creditable either to 
 his discretion or his accuracy. 
 
 A difficulty occurred in the early part of the year, between the 
 French Chargg d' Affaires and the Tsung-li-Yamen, through a brother of 
 Prince Kung striking a coolie attached to the French Legation, who jostled 
 his horse. M. de Rochechouart demanded an apology, which was made, 
 with the explanation that, as he was travelling without the usual train 
 and marks of his rank, the Prince could not know the coolie was one 
 of his followers. 
 
 The military strength of the capital has been much increased during 
 the year ; large numbers of troops drilled after the English method 
 being now assembled within its walls, and at different stations in the 
 province. Large quantities of munitions of war have also been collected. 
 The Peking college, which was reported dead, is alive again ; but we 
 have not heard that very great activity is yet shown in its ialls. Mr. 
 Hart has handed over entire control to Dr. Martin, who hopes to infuse 
 new life into the institution. We sincerely trust that he may succeed ; 
 for it is on education that we must rely to overcome the prejudice in 
 which the Chinese have become wrapped, ihrough their long isolation. 
 
 In the meantime, credit must be given to Mr. Porter of the Chinese 
 Customs service, for having given them the most practical lesson on the 
 advantages of steam machinery, which has yet been attempted. Mr. 
 Porter brought over from England a hay-cutter, a corn-grinder, a ram-pump 
 and other machines, all worked by a little two-horse power steam engine ; 
 and succeeded not only in getting them worked before the high mandarins 
 of Tientsin, but in introducing them into the capital itself, into the house 
 of an enlightened Chinaman named Yang who, however, it is signiiicant to 
 add, ventured only to import them as toys lest he should offend the 
 exclusive susceptibility of his rulers. Good would result if Mr. Porter's 
 example were followed more widely. Practical demonstration such as 
 his would do more, to hasten the introduction of steam, than much talking, 
 because people who see these " toys " would bye-and-bye want to use 
 them. At present, the people being indifferent, the mandarins have 
 it their own way. Change this indifference into desire, and resistance 
 would be less easy. 
 
 We have already referred to the extension of Mr. Burlingame's 
 appointment, aa Ambassador from the Emperor of China to Western 
 States. A report had prevailed that the Chinese Government were' 
 disgusted .with his misrepresentations and intended to recall him ; 
 they finding that some European Powers, France for instance, were pressing 
 
26 
 
 inconveniently bard for the fulfilment of his promises of progress, and for 
 & realisation of the brilliant pictures of enligbtenment which he bad been 
 drawing. The diplomatic secrets of Peking, however, are veiled with true 
 Oriental mystery ; all that is knowa is that Mr. MaoLeavy Browne arrived 
 very hurriedly from Eur'ope at the close of the autumn, stayed a short 
 while at Peking, and returned by the American mail of the 21&t December, 
 to rejoin his Chief; having succeeded in inducing the Chinese to extend the 
 latter's commission, and to ratify — ^nearly two years after its conclusioQ — 
 the unmeaning treaty negotiated with Mr. Seward, and which fittingly 
 capped the ridiculous tissue of nonsense that Mr. Burlingame uttered on 
 behalf of his new masters, at the famous New York dinner.* Very 
 excusably misled by the statements of a man on whose accuracy it naturally 
 relied, the American and English Press flew off on Mr. Burlingame's trail, 
 in a strain of mistaken eulogy and euphuism, dictated by utter misconcep- 
 tion of the political situation. China was depicted as a placid, well-meaning 
 country ; rejoicing in institutions both respectable in themselves and 
 venerable from their antiquity, but which the unscrupulous foreigners 
 residing here were bent on overthrowing, with utter disregard for the 
 welfare of the people, and a desire only to forward their immediate selfish 
 ends. The Duke of Somerset led the van of abuse, by declaring Shanghai, 
 the chief foreign port in China, to be a "sink of iniquity j" and several leading 
 papers, notably the Morning Star and the Pall Mall Gazette, followed 
 heartily in his wake. Even the Standard started on the same mistaken 
 track, though it has since been better advised, and has laid before its 
 readers sounder views of the true state of affairs. The Spectator and Globe 
 have also shaken off the glamour, and published one or two thoughtful and 
 appreciative articles on the China question. An important convert has 
 been made, too, in the New York Nation, which has lately shown a clear 
 and fair appreciation of the real state of the case. The Times has 
 vacillated like the Times. It started warmly pro-Burlingame, and out- 
 Clarendoned Lord Clarendon, in commenting on the latter's despatch of 
 February 1869, which laid down the new policy of concentrated respect for 
 Peking. But, in obedience, apparently, to a hint of its error, it took 
 occasion a few days later, to explain away much of its first ^declaration, and 
 has since committed itself only twice ; once (on Sept. 4th) in favour of the 
 Burlingame policy, and again, Sept. 8th, after publishing an exhaustive 
 letter from its Shanghai correspondent, in a rather modified tone. The 
 Pall Mall Gazette, only, has been consistently abusive of its countrymen 
 throughout, and amusingly stupid in its wilful misconception of every 
 occurrence and every complaint reported from this country. It shares, too 
 with the Times and the Daily News, the discredit of having rejected from 
 its columns several able letters expressing opposite views to those itself had 
 taken up, while admitting very mediocre effusions in support of its own 
 
 * Vida Lmvion it China, Bxprtss, July ITtli, 1868. 
 
27 
 
 side. We are aware of several ably compiled etatements of facts and 
 arguments, directed against the prevailing misconception, which have been 
 excluded from each of these papers. And it is with regret we chronicle a 
 fact so little creditable to the boasted fairness and impartiality of British 
 journalism. Had there been a doubt as to the literary merit of the letters 
 we refer to, this explanation of the case might have been accepted ; but it ia 
 otherwise. The ability of the writers in each case was unquestionable ; 
 and we have the disheartening conviction that we are not only misrepre- 
 sented and misunderstood, but refused an opportunity of justifying 
 ourselves ; while the feeblest twaddle in support of the popular view finds 
 ready publicity. 
 
 An attempt made, about the middle of the year, to organise a China 
 Association for the purpose of setting before the Home Government an(^ 
 Public a correct view of the political situation, and of supporting the lino 
 of pohcy which foreign residents in China mainly advocate, fell, unfortu- 
 nately, to the ground. But the Chamber of Commerce has promised to 
 fulfil, as far as possible, the object designed, by addressing, to the Home 
 Government and to English Chambers of Commerce, comments on passing 
 questions which wiU at least show them that we are able to give reasons 
 and facts in support of the views we hold. An able despatch which has 
 just been written with reference to the new treaty, is an earnest of future 
 labour. The Protestant Missionaries at Peking, in the meantime, had also 
 seen the necessity of defending themselves against the violent attacks to 
 which they have been subjected, in the Home papers. On the 14ih July 
 they addressed a lengthy but clever despatch to Sir R. Alcook, vindicating 
 the usefulness of their labour, and repelUng the favourite accusation that 
 they had not tried, and were unfit, to enlist the sympathies of the educated 
 classes of Chinese. The Missionary question has been very fully discussed 
 during the past year, in our columns ; and we have plainly shown the 
 falsity of this sweeping accusation, by quoting many valuable works which 
 have been translated into Chinese by missionary sinologues ; but at the 
 same time we have frankly expressed an opinion adverse to others, whose 
 education and discretion are alike defective, and who, therefore — ^however 
 well-disposed — do not, we think, either forward the work of propagandism, 
 or raise the reputation of foreigners for knowledge and wisdom, in the eyes 
 of educated Chinese. 
 
 We have aUuded, in the early part of this retrospect, to the good effect 
 of the operations at Swatow, in securing communication between that 
 port and Ohao-ohow-foo. The latter city, situated some thirty miles 
 higher up the river, which had always been supposed bitterly hostile 
 to foreign intercourse, was successfully opened by Mr. Alabaster H. B. M. 
 Acting-Consul at Swatow, in the early part of the year ; and the opposition 
 of the officials having been withdrawn, it was found that the hostility 
 of the people had miraculously disappeared also. The result to trade 
 
28 
 
 has been satisfactory ; a stimulus having been given to the demand for 
 imports, and communication made safe, regular, and expeditious. A 
 steamer is being built, to run on the river between the two cities. 
 
 Another port which has benefited greatly by the late demonstrations 
 of force, ia Chinkiang, where trade — since Mr. Medhurst took the opportu- 
 nity of the Yangchow troubles to upset the illegal squeezes previously 
 levied in its neighbourhood — ^has increased in a degree truly vfonderful ; 
 and which should, if the Mandarins were not wilfully blind, demonstrate to 
 them, practically, the financial wisdom of light taxation. The Revenue 
 yielded now, by the transit tax on manufactured goods, must be many 
 times greater than it was in the old days, when barrier exactions were 
 in full force, and trade was comparatively prohibited by their weight. 
 This port also has a prospect of benefit from the new treaty, the opening of 
 the coal mines in its neighbourhood seeming a likely contingency. A 
 vein of plumbago has also been discovered in the neighbouring hills • 
 but there is no indication that the officials intend allowing this valuable 
 mineral to be worked. 
 
 The mining experiments which were made at Chefoo during the 
 summer of 1868, have entirely ceased, as the hills did not yield sufficient 
 gold to repay hand-labour ; and the opposition of the Chinese Government 
 prevented the employment of machinery. The same blind folly has 
 prevented the working of a rich vein of galena lately discovered in the 
 neighbourhood of the port, while excessive taxation and bad roads prevent 
 the arrival of excellent coal which is dug only a short distance inland. 
 For the same reasons, the valuable coal mines of Chaitang near Peking 
 are prevented from supplying Tientsin — despite the anxious wish of 
 the owners that the roads should be improved, and au offer which has 
 been made by a foreign merchant to, himself, undertake the expense. 
 The officials will neither do it themselves, nor allow any one else to ; 
 and persist in choking this valuable source of industry and wealth. 
 Various causes also have tended to depress the coal trade with Formosa, 
 during the past year; but the promised reduction of the excessive 
 rates now charged on the movement of native coal, may shortly revive it. 
 A treaty made with the aborigines of this island, by Mr. Legendre, 
 U. S. Consul at Amoy, by which they undertook to assist instead of 
 plundering and maltreating shipwrecked seamen, has worked very satisfac- 
 torily, Wrecks are frequent on this dangerous coast, and several crews 
 have since been treated with kindness. The right of foreigners to share in 
 the camphor trade, from which they', had previously been excluded, 
 has been unassailed since Mr. Gibson's vigorous action at Taiwan cleared 
 up the mass of pending difficulties that hampered our intercourse in 
 Formosa. In fact, the result has proved, in every instance where a 
 display of force and energy was made, beneficial in every respect to 
 our trade, and to our relations with the officials who had previously ignored 
 
29 
 
 our claims and insulted our representatives. It has also proved beneficial 
 to the people, by clearing away impediments to trade, and thereby 
 promoting general industry and welfare. 
 
 In the commencement of the year, the approaching revision of the 
 treaty of Tientsin excited absorbing interest. The remarkable change 
 in British policy which has encouraged the Chinese to resist all demand 
 for progress and for freer intercourse, not having been anticipated, 
 much was hoped from the pending negociations ; and, in deference to 
 a call from H. M.'s Minister, for fuller information regarding the commercial 
 features of the country, an expedition was organized by the Chamber of 
 Commerce to explore the upper portion of the Yangtsze, and to report more 
 fully on the resources disclosed by Mr. Cooper, Mr. Wylie and other 
 recent travellers in Szechueu. Messrs. Michie and Francis, the two 
 gentlemen delegated by the Chamber of Commerce, were accompanied 
 by Mr. Swinhoe of H. M.'s Consular service, and escorted as far as 
 Ichang, at the foot of the first rapid, by H. M.'s gunboat Opossum ; from 
 thence they had to prosecute their journey in a native junk to Chungking, 
 the head and centre of the water traffic of the famous province. The 
 able and interesting report which they addressed to the Chamber of 
 Commerce was accepted, both here and at Home, as a valuable contribution 
 to our knowledge of the country. § They were well received, except at 
 Ichang and Yochow — at each of which places hostility was excited by placards 
 posted by the literati. The native merchants generally welcomed them with 
 pleasure, and expressed a desire for intercourse. The result of their 
 enquiries was a recommendation that a Consulate should be posted at 
 Ichang, and the river opened to foreign traffic as far as Chungking, which has 
 lately become famous from the various accounts that have been given, of 
 its commercial and geographical importance. 
 
 Neither this, however, nor other suggestions have much influenced the 
 negociations which were at the time going on. It was generally reported, 
 before the change in policy which ensued on Mr. Gladstone's accession 
 to office, that Sir K. Alcock had succeeded in obtaining the consent 
 of the Chinese Government to the removal of various restrictions on 
 our intercourse. But the fatal influence of Mr. Burlingame's misrepresen- 
 tations of the disposition and intentions of the Peking Cabinet, overset all 
 calculations. Pressure was removed, and mandarin insolence and obstruc- 
 tiveness revived with a spring. The request that a British Minister 
 should be admitted to the Imperial presence, as the representative of 
 an equal sovereign, was denied. All mention of railways, telegraphs, 
 and inland steamers was scouted. Mining was advanced only thus far ; 
 that it was agreed coal mines shaU be worked at three places in the 
 vicinity of treaty ports south of the , Yangtsze, and that it shall 
 be at the option of the Southern Superintendent of trade to employ 
 
 § For a fixll review see N,-C, Herald of 26th August, 1869. 
 
30 
 
 foreign engineers for their development. But, as mines are already 
 worked by natives in Formosa and near Kiukiang, the concession is reduced 
 to one port — which is likely to be Chinkiang, if the engagement be not 
 altogether evaded. The undertaking that Foreign Engineers shall be 
 employed if the Viceroy choose, is nearly meaningless ; for the reason that 
 His Excellency could employ as many as he wished already, if it seemed to 
 him good — which it does not. Peking would never control a Provincial 
 satrap on such a minor point. - The concession to foreigners of a right to 
 ply on the inland waters of China in their own, instead of in hired, boats, is 
 a point which might be taken advantage of by any one with sufficient 
 energy to push a trade up the Han and the Upper Yangtze ; as the prestige 
 attaching to foreign ownership may help to defend such boats and their 
 cargo from illegal exactions ; but the rigid exclusion of steam, and the 
 insistance that even the boats which foreigners are to be allowed to own shall 
 be of native rig, reduces the advantage to an almost inappreciable minimum. 
 The object is rapidity of communication. It does not pay foreigners to 
 peddle goods in the interior j a Chinaman can do that much more profitably, 
 and therefore it is of small moment whether our manufactures travel in a 
 foreign or native owned craft. The concession is just one of those specious 
 platitudes in which the Chinese excel. They say, we place you on the same 
 footing as our own countrymen ; what can we do morel Yes, they lower ua 
 to their countrymen's level ; but what we want them to do, is to let their 
 countrymen rise to ours — to allow the use of steam. But this they refuse, 
 because, among other reasons, it would interfere with barrier exactions. 
 Cargoboats propelled by a single scull, journeying thirty miles a day, are an 
 easy prey; their slow movements and frequent stoppages enable the exaction 
 of equally frequent squeezes, which would be impracticable with boats 
 possessing the power of rapid locomotion. These would not submit to have 
 their rapidity of movement counteracted, by perpetual requests to stop and 
 be taxed. 
 
 And this brings us to the one clause of the treaty which is, really, of 
 immense importance, both to English manufacturers and to merchants in 
 China. To make the matter distinct to English readers, we must 
 premise that, under the treaty of Tientsin, foreign goods travelling inland 
 have to pay a 2^ per cent, ad valorem transit due, in addition to the 5 per 
 cent, levied on them at the port of entry ; a transit pass is given them on 
 payment of this additional tax, which is supposed to free them all over the 
 Empire, so long as they remain in.foreiga hands. Foreign merchants aver 
 that the original intention was to free the goods, irrespective of ownership ; 
 but the wording of the treaty not being very explicit, the Chinese officials 
 gained, as usual, the benefit of the doubt. In practical working, moreover, 
 it was found that the privilege, even in its restricted sense, was infringed 
 upon at every turn. Sometimes under the plea that the allegation of 
 foreign ownership was a fraud, sometimes without any excuse at all, goods 
 
31 
 
 were "squeezed," in transit, to many times the amount stipulated; and 
 commerce of course suffered from the enhanced cost which these inordinate 
 levies involved. Even if the transit pass were respected, the shop-keeper in 
 the interior was taxed ; and the natural result was constant complaint, by- 
 Foreign merchants, of the bad faith of the mandarins, and of the checks placed 
 on the extension of trade. We have not space to recapitulate the various 
 suggestions which have been made, and the discussions that have taken place, 
 with the object of providing a remedy ; but refer our readers to the 
 memorial by the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce* expressing the favourite 
 view of mercantile men, and to the text of the new Conventiout which sets 
 forth the scheme oflBcially resolved on. This is, that the 2i per cent transit tax 
 shall be added to the import duty, and the payment of the 7^ per cent 
 be made compulsory, at the port of entry. In consideration of this, 
 goods of foreign manufacture are to be freed, irrespectively of ownership, 
 over the whole Empire. In the provinces wherein the several treaty porta 
 are situated, they will not even need the protection of a transit pass ; their 
 own entity will be their pass; when destined, however, for an inland 
 province, a pass will be given, for greater security. In case of illegal 
 levy being made on them, notwithstanding the treaty stipulation, the 
 Commissioner of Customs at the nearest port will be bound to send 
 a foreign delegate to the spot, to investigate the matter, and will have 
 power to repay the overcharge. The scheme has the merit of extreme 
 simplicity and, if it works, will be accepted as in every way satisfactory. 
 But very grave fears are entertained that it will not work ; and that 
 the addition of 2J per cent to the import duty will simply prove an 
 additional tax, — the old squeezes being levied as before. There is no 
 possible reason, it is urged, to anticipate that the native officials will 
 show better faith now, than before. They have taxed goods illegally, 
 hitherto, and there is no better guarantee that they will not do so again. 
 The stipulation that a Customs officer shall be deputed to set right 
 any case of squeezing will be nearly inoperative, because no Chinaman 
 will dare resist. In the absence of publicity, or of means of rapid 
 communication, and under the existing state of official corruption, the 
 Mandarins have such uncontrolled power of harrassing any one of their 
 countrymen who renders himself obnoxious, that native traders, one and all, 
 will pay any squeeze rather than run the risk involved in fighting it. 
 The great gain is the definite removal of all distinction as to ownership. 
 and in this removal lies the best chance of good faith being observed, 
 Before, an excuse was always possible, however false ; in future there 
 wiU be none. Under no circumstances whatever will foreign goods be 
 liable to further taxation, so that any attempt to •' squeeze " them must be 
 illegal. These are, as concisely as we can state them, the arguments 
 
 * m.-C. Herald 9th Not., 1867. t N.-C. Herald 2l8t Dec, 1869. 
 
32 
 
 for and against the new convention. Practical experience alone can 
 show what will be its operative efifect. Various other changes have 
 been agreed on between the British Minister and the Chinese cabinet ; 
 amongst them the formal opening of Wu-hu on the south bank of the 
 Yangtsze, where, however, steamers already call to discharge or take 
 in passengers, and of Wanchow on the south coast of Chekeang ; both 
 ports are already large consumers of manufactured goods, which reach 
 them in native craft, and are likely to prove outlets for a considerable 
 quantity of tea. On the other hand, the right stipulated for in the 
 former treaty, of residence at a port in Hainan, is abandoned ; and an 
 addition of Tls. 20 a chest to the duty on opium, and of Tls. 10 per 
 pecul to that on silk, is consented to. 
 
 It will thus be seen that, real progress, there is little or none ; 
 there are changes, but little advance. Taking advantage of the changed 
 attitude which Mr. Burlingame has persuaded the British Government 
 to adopt, the Chinese have fallen naturally back into their old groove, 
 and rejected every proposal involving extended intercourse or any kind 
 of innovation. The truth of Sir Rutherford Alcock's reply to Dr. 
 MacGowan, on the subject of telegraphy — that, "of the desire for progress 
 which the Chinese mission now in Europe has assured people, at Home, 
 is so ardent and general with the rulers of China, there is no evidence 
 here," — is abundantly proved by the result of these negotiations. In fact, 
 it would be as rational to withdraw one's hand from a carriage, after pushing 
 it half-way up a hill, as it is to cease urging the Chinese Government forward 
 on the path of progress. The carriage will certainly run back, instead of pur- 
 suing its own way to the top ; and, as certainly, do the Chinese relapse into 
 their old state of inanition, directly pressure is removed. However much, 
 writes H. M.'s Minister, " it may be the desire of the best friends of China 
 to see her advance in the path of progress, and enjoy the increased 
 prosperity which the adoption of the improvements recommended to 
 her would do so much to secure, I cannot feel justified in holding out 
 any hopes of material modification in the policy or disposition of the 
 Chinese Government, in regard to telegraphs and other similar innovations 
 on established customs and habits." This is the practical experience 
 of the man of all others best qualified to judge ; the deliberate expression 
 of opinion, of an ambassador who has tested the enlightenment and 
 good-will of the Chinese Rulers, during prolonged negociations for a 
 new treaty j and we put it forward as a practical and exhaustive reply 
 to the misrepresentations of Mr. Burlingame, and as a distinct condemnation 
 of the policy under which Chinese obstinacy finds encouragement. The 
 question has been misjudged at Home, under the cloud of two grave 
 fallacies — first that the Rulers of China are willing, and the people 
 unwilling, to progress; secondly that the foreign merchants in China 
 are crying out for changes which would be subversive of order, in utter 
 
33 
 
 disregard for the welfare of the nation, whose entire social polity would be 
 disturbed. We maintain, on the contrary, that the masses of the people 
 are either indifferent or well-disposed, but the officials of China are blindly 
 and jealously hostile to change ; while the changes and innovations 
 which merchants so energetically press, would result in infinitely greater 
 good to the Chinese than to foreigners themselves. That the latter would 
 also reap advantage, from the extended commerce that would ensue, is of 
 course patent ; but, unless it be held that free intercourse is evil, and 
 commerce a bane, it cannot be reasonably maintained that the removal of 
 existing restrictions, and the introduction of steam carriage and electricity 
 into China, could be other than a benefit to its teeming population. 
 Qonerai. jt only remains for vis to complete our summary of the year's 
 occurrences, by sketching various matters of general interest which it may 
 be useful to refer to hereafter, though they may not possess present 
 importance. It would be difficult, for example, to compile a very 
 lively history of the Mixed Court, because the record is one of almost 
 unquahfied disappointment. No very brilliant success was expected, during 
 the first year of its existence, by any one who knew what difficulties had to 
 be overcome. The mere recognition of the principle was thought to be 
 much, and it was hoped that the ability and energy of our Consular 
 representatives would gradually raise the Court to a useful status. But the 
 result has been completely opposite. The Mixed Court has sunk rather 
 than risen, both in point of usefulness and esteem ; and has become a bye- 
 word instead of a respected and trusted referee for disputants. Complaint 
 was rife enough, in its early days ; but it is inmeasurably more rife now. 
 Delay used to be a common subject for growl ; but procrastination has now 
 become so habitual, that people are beginning to look on a case laid before 
 it as a matter of hopeless form, which they owe it to themselves to go 
 through, but which is likely to prove fruitless. We might refer to many 
 suits which have dragged their slow length along, through months of 
 twaddle and delay, in the face of clear evidence on the one side and palpable 
 evasion on the other which would, in any European Court, have led to 
 summary and decisive settlement. Much was hoped from Chen, as an 
 honest and well-disposed magistrate; but he evidently has not the necessary 
 power and weight to enforce sentences — even if suits were pushed energet- 
 ically to a conclusion. We can only hope for an early and complete change 
 in the powers and constitution of the Court. 
 
 In other respects, our local institutions will bear very favourable 
 criticism, and the relations between Foreigners and Chinese have been 
 satisfactory. An attack made on some foreigners at Pootung, in the early 
 part of the year ; and an assault on a gentleman and his wife near the 
 South Gate of the city, caused some excitement at the time. But, though 
 disagreeable, they were isolated instances of trouble ; and the general 
 bearing of the country people towards sportsmen who wander over their 
 
34 
 
 fields, has been friendly. Piracy has become more rife in our neighbour- 
 hood ; several robberies having been effected in the immediate neighbourhood, 
 and even within the mouth, of the Yangtse. It is said that the Foochow 
 government is exerting itself to quell pirates on its coasts, and that 
 these pests of trade are struggling up northward in search of safer 
 waters. It will be little creditable to the authorities of Kiangsu, if 
 they allow the intruders to realize their hopes, while the excellent 
 gunboats lately constructed at the Kiangnan arsenal are lying idly in 
 the river, or being used only as despatch vessels between Shanghai and 
 Nanking. China has been indebted long enough to Foreigners, for 
 policing her waters ; and now that she is acquiring a few practicable 
 steamers of her own, it' is right that she should fulfil duties incumbent 
 on every civilised government. She claims now, through her ambassador, 
 to Tiave entered the comity of nations, and to be entitled therefore to 
 equal consideration and respect with Western Powers. In the mind 
 of Her Rulers, she even goes farther ; or rather she possesses the same 
 claim, on other grounds. In virtue of her entity as the Central Land 
 of the Divine Commission of her ruler, and the antiquity and superiority 
 of her civilisation, she is entitled to this respect and consideration from 
 other, as from Lesser States. But, though ready to claim the privileges, 
 'she is far from ready to make the concessions inseparable from the, 
 position she covets. To re-quote a pithy remark — the equality is all 
 on one side. China claims the consideration due to a powerful and 
 enlightened state, but shows none of the power or enlightenment. We 
 have just seen that she has, for years, been indebted to English gunboats 
 for policing her waters, and making them moderately safe for coasting 
 vessels ; she has lately refused the precaution against loss by shipwreck, 
 that would be afforded by a telegraph from Shanghai to the Kintoan 
 beacon. Five years after Mr. Reynolds' plucky attempt to establish 
 a line of telegraph from Pootuhg Point to Woosung, the scheme has 
 been revived in a more formal manner, but has again met with defeat. 
 Mr. Reynolds tried a coup de main ; Mr. Dick has tried diplomacy ; but 
 a formal and joint request^ by the Consuls has been rebutted as 
 wilfully as Mr. Reynolds' individual effort. Posts, wires, and instruments 
 — all the necessary materials, are lying idle in Shanghai ; but the enlightened 
 
 Rulers of this " nation of scholars " allege a mysterious influenca 
 
 detrimental to Fengshuey — which the posts and wires would exert ; and 
 place this superstition above regard for the lives and property of seamen 
 and merchants. Fortunately, there exists one small plot of land where 
 our barbarian notions can be indulged. Within the limits of the Foreign 
 Settlement, we can override such absurd fancies ;' and a standing proof of 
 the fallacy of the alleged apprehension exists, in the shape of a line of 
 telegraph running from Kin-le-yuen to Kin-fong-foong — from the extreme 
 south of the French to the outer limits of the American Settlements • 
 
35 
 
 through and over the heads of a quarter of a million Chinese, who yet feel 
 none of the evil influence which their enlightened rulers apprehend for the 
 sparse agricultural population through whom the line to Kintoan would 
 have to pass. Messrs. Russell & Co. have the credit of being the first to 
 establish a line of telegraph on Celestial soil, to connect the wharves and 
 godowns of the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company with their Central 
 office ; Messrs. Trautmann and Co. have followed their example, on behalf 
 of the North-China Steamer Company ; and the Mimicipal Council are going 
 to adopt a similar step, with reference to the various Police stations. 
 
 While speaking of reforms, we may mention, as one of the most needed, 
 a currency more civilised and practicable than the huge lumps of silver or 
 minute rings of copper which, in China, serve as media of exchange. 
 Dollars moderate the difficulty; but they involve another element of 
 annoyance and loss, in the multiplicity of small coins, from shilUngs to 
 guelders and from francs to ^-rupees, which are tendered as quarter-dollars, 
 but which are really ten, fifteen, and twenty per cent, less in value — and 
 in the inconvenience of the exchange calculations which the dual currency 
 involves. One clause in the new treaty between China and America set 
 forth that the Emperor was penetrated with the necessity for an improve- 
 ment and assimilation of the general currency of the world. It would be 
 well if he would set an example, by introducing a practicable coinage in his 
 own dominions. 
 
 We were honoured by a visit from the Duke of Edinburgh in the 
 autumn,* and flatter ourselves that he spent a few pleasant days among us. 
 Mr. T. T. Cooper returned in January, from his hazardous journey to the 
 Western frontier. He had discovered a practicable route from Bathang to 
 Sudya in Assam ; but had been prevented from traversing it by the jealousy 
 of the Lamas, and of the local traders who feared British competition in their 
 trade with Thibet. A handsome testimonial was given to him in recognition 
 of his pluck and perseverance. He subsequently went to India, intending 
 to renew his attempt from that side. He was well received by the 
 Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, and was to start from Sudya on the 
 22nd Nov., on his new venture. Two American gentlemen have made a 
 journey from ' Canton to Kiukiang, overland ; and were well treated. 
 But it subsequently transpired that their Chinese servant had represented 
 them to be English officials, and had " squeezed " supplies from the 
 mandarins along the route, on this plea, while pocketing the purchase 
 money paid him by his masters. It is feared that this imposition may 
 prepare a less friendly reception for future travellers. 
 
 Locally speaking, Shanghai has improved in material prosperity during 
 the past year. The history of our public Companies has been one of steady 
 and increasing success. We review their position at greater length in 
 another chapter. The value of property has also risen, and the number of 
 
 * For an account of the Dnke'a vioit vide N.-C, Herald of 26th Oct., 1869. 
 
36 
 
 residents in the settlements, both native and foreign, has increased. 
 Several important buildings have been completed or bsgun during the 
 year — foremost amongst these the new Trinity Church, which was opened 
 for divine service on the 1 st August, and which is a really handsome structure, 
 worthy the importance, and likely long to supply the wants of the port. An 
 amusing excitement occurred a few weeks after it had been opened, among the 
 Chinese. A report got abroad that black devils were in the habit of issuing 
 from the compound at night, immolating passers-by, and depositing 
 the bodies in the church vaults. Placards giving the most varied details 
 were posted about the settlement ; but a proclamation by the Taotai, 
 blaming the excitement and its originators, eventually restored quiet. 
 It was shrewdly suspected that some Indian watchmen employed in the 
 church compound had given rise to the rumour, by robbing some passers-by. 
 The Oriental Banking Corporation have commenced the erection of new 
 premises on the Bund ; and' the Comptoir d'Esoompte have purchased 
 a building adjacent to the Masonic Hall, for their future habitation. The 
 Trustees of the latter building are said to contemplate selling it, and 
 erecting another temple more compact and more practically adapted for 
 their purposes. In that case, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking 
 Company would do well to become purchasers. The site is an excellent one 
 for business purposes, the building is one of the handsomest on the Bund, 
 and a comparatively small outlay would fit it admirably for a banking 
 establishment. A large new hong has also been built by Messrs. Bower, 
 Hanbury & Co., in Nanking Road ; Messrs. Carter & Co. have commenced 
 the erection of new premises in Hon an Road ; and a number of new villas have 
 been erected along the sides of the Bubbling Well Road. The alterations to 
 the British Consulate are progressing with true official slowness and expense, 
 and the British Gaol is imperceptibly approaching completion, on the 
 banks of the Soochow Creek. 
 
 The condition of the Settlement is in every respect satisfactory, and 
 reflects high credit upon the Municipal Council and their efficient staff. 
 One or two new streets have been opened, and the existing ones are in 
 admirable condition. Notwithstanding the Duke of Somerset's famous 
 declaration that we are a sink of iniquity, we have, as a matter of fact, been 
 singularly free from crime, except petty offences among natives, inevitable 
 in a large and dense population. The establishment of a River Police will, 
 it is hoped, reduce cargoboat robberies to a minimum. The patience of 
 the Council has been sorely tried on two occasions, in re the Bubbling Well 
 Road — first in the matter of macadam, and secondly of finger posts ; but a 
 public body which has given no more grave subject for abuse, may 
 congratulate itself in having attained as nearly to perfection as it is 
 given to mortal Bodies to do. To their project of metalling the road 
 as far as the Well, we are indebted for a new cross-road, bought and 
 made at the expense of the riding portion of the community ; and to 
 
37 
 
 their attempt to change the names of the Bubbling Well and Sinza 
 roads, and to confirm, by means of signposts, the miwelcome alteration, 
 we are likely soon to be indebted for a number of seats, into which the 
 demolished posts are being now converted, for the benefit of loungers 
 at the Bubbling Well. Various new amendments have been carried in 
 the Land Kegulations, which have at length been approved by the 
 Representatives of the Treaty Powers, and will shortly come into operation. 
 A dead-lock between the Club and the Recreation Fund has been solved 
 by the transfer of the building to the latter ; and a scheme is being 
 matured for working it, as an institution, on a more satisfactory footing. 
 A Silk Association has been formed, for the protection of the interests 
 of this important article of commerce, and various detailed reforms have 
 been effected under its auspices. 
 
 Japan, jj jg pleasant to turn from a record of stolid immobility, to one 
 of active progress. WhUe China clings blindly to its semi-civilization, 
 under a failing dynasty and corrupt officials, Japan is making vigorous 
 efforts to renew her national life, and to overtake the more advanced 
 nations of the West. While China falls back on the maxims of a thousand 
 ages, and sees horror and ruin in innovation, the princes of Japan are 
 devising change after change, in order, as they declare, that " the Empire 
 shall be able to take its place side by side with the other countries of the 
 world," and " that their small country of Japan may enter into fellowship 
 with the nations beyond the sea,'' a fellowship too — unlike the relationship 
 which China desires, — both intelligent and possible. China — really inferior 
 to Western powers in almost every respect — tries to assume the position of 
 a superior, and repels every advantage she might derive from contact 
 with their higher knowledge. Japan frankly acknowledges her backward- 
 ness, strives almost hurriedly to adopt every appliance of Western 
 civilization in which she sees she is deficient, and conciliates the respect 
 and hearty aid of her Foreign allies. If a Chinese official lays bare, 
 in a memorial, the prevailing flaws and corruption of celestial institutions, 
 he is either snubbed or put off with an unctious platitude. But Japan 
 has completed, in eighteen months, a revolution founded on liberal 
 principles, in which examples have been given of enlightened and 
 patriotic self-abnegation, and which promises to lead to rapid progress. 
 It was not, as similar movements have been in Europe, an upheaving 
 of the people, but a movement of their chiefs. It was an outbreak of 
 discontent at the rule of the Tycoon ; but an outbreak stimulated by 
 Foreign intercourse, and leading to the adoption of many foreign views. 
 Judged by its result, the movement must command the sympathy of 
 Western nations, and should, by the contrast it affords to the sulky 
 stolidity of China, aid Home politicians to guage more accurately the 
 degree of enlightenment with which Celestial officials deserve to be credited. 
 
38 
 
 While the ruling classes of China are repelling foreign intercoutse 
 because it deranges their prejudices, interferes with their extortions 
 and threatens their power by tending to enlighten the masses ; we find 
 the Princes of Japan offering to abandon their feudal rights, to give up 
 their lands and revenues to strengthen the Central power, and their troops 
 and ships to form an Imperial army and navy. It is true, difficulties 
 have occurred in carrying the design into execution, which have temporarily 
 hindered it ; but the fact remains, that the movement was made ; and 
 we desire to show the active, liberal, and progressive spirit in which 
 Japan seeks to deal with her difficulties. Almost simultaneously with 
 this effort to transmute their feudal system into an aristocracy based 
 on the European model, her nobles endeavoured to copy, also, Western 
 representative assemblies ; and a parliament comprising 276 members 
 actually held several meetings. It is true, it lacked the essential value 
 of Western parliaments, in that it comprised no representatives of the 
 people. It was essentially a House of Lords ; but a representative popular 
 assembly is not an institution that can be created in a day, out of a system 
 of feudal despotism ; it is only by experience of freedom, and exercise 
 of thought, that men become fit to discuss and influence political' problems. 
 Even the Japanese patricians fell short of the high standard aimed at ; 
 and it is likely that, to have assembled representatives of the plehs, would 
 have been to have created a mixture of incompetence and servility. The 
 fault with Japan is, not that she stops short, but that she goes too fast. 
 The Japanese have been so long in darkness, that they naturally err 
 in the flood of light so suddenly let in upon their seclusion. 
 
 But, to quote a recent able essay in the Japan Times, there is nothing 
 ridiculous, while there is much to admire, in their efibrts. " Their 
 patriotism grasps at everything it sees, in the Western nations it so long 
 and so jealously excluded from its home, which has given them power 
 or wealth ; and seeks to incorporate these elements into the polity of 
 the country, that she may become as powerful and wealthy as they. 
 But superficiality and instability are equally prominent as vices of the 
 Japanese character ; and the former blinds her statesmen to the fact 
 that constitutional government and decorous freedom are plants of slowest 
 growth, while the latter gives us cause to fear that they will be long in 
 rearing them from our seed. They would transplant a stock fully grown, 
 and even graft upon it, before it had taken root, buds which flower 
 in widely different climates. That they fail is no matter of surprise. 
 That they will learn by experience we can hope, for we have reason for 
 our hope in their constant search for guiding knowledge ; but they must 
 fail often, and have much to sufier before they can obtain their ends." 
 In the meantime, it is well to know that they are struggling forward, 
 as earnestly as the Chinese Mandarins are holding back. 
 
 We had, in the last chapter, to record the revolution which 
 
39 
 
 overthrew the power of the Tycoons, and left the Mikado sole Ruler 
 of his fertile land. The only element of opposition which remained, 
 was the force of Enomoto, who had just taken refuge in Yesso, with 
 the fleet that had formerly belonged to the ex-Tycoon, and some 3,000 
 of the latter's adherents, who had thrown in with his wild project of 
 forming a Tokugawa principality in Yesso. The circumstances of his 
 defeat and capture will be fr«sh in the minds of our readers. As soon 
 as the opening of spring permitted active operations, a large fleet and 
 army were directed against the rebel force. A gallant dash by the 
 latter at the Mikado's fleet, while anchored in Miaca bay, failed in its 
 chief aim — of capturing the ironclad Sioneivall ; and, having previously 
 lost two of his best vessels on the coast, it remained only for Enomoto to 
 wait the threatened attack behind his fortifications at Hakodadi. This wtls 
 made on the 19th June, and resulted, after three days hard fighting, in the 
 destruction of the Tokugawa fleet, and the eventual surrender of the 
 garrison. We can only, here, chronicle the result, and add that the 
 gallantry displayed by the combatants excited the admiration of men 
 who had been accustorned even to European warfare.* This was 
 the last phase of the civil war, and the Mikado's authority was 
 now unchallenged throughout the Empire. Peace was badly needed to 
 enable the Government to strengthen its position, and the country to 
 recover from the excitement and confusion into which it had been thrown; 
 Financial difficulties were amongst the most serious which weighed on it. 
 difficulties partially inherited from the Government of the Tycoon, partly 
 caused by the heavy expenditure of the civil war. A debased coinage first, 
 and paper money subsequently, were resorted to as temporary alleviations 
 of the difficulty ; but the ultimate result has of course been to increase it. 
 The result to trade has been highly injurious, and urgent reclamations have 
 been made by the foreign merchants to their representatives. The Govern- 
 ment has now bought the Hongkong Minting apparatus, and promises a new 
 coinage, which is looked for with interest. 
 
 This ready adaptation of their coinage to the requirements of commerce, 
 is only one example of the anxiety of the Japanese to grasp at any improve- 
 ment which foreign intercourse has introduced to them. While the 
 Chinese are opposing the miserable argument of Feng-shuey against the 
 construction of a telegraph, even from Shanghai to the mouth of the 
 Yangtze, Japan has actually made, and is working, an experimental line 
 between Yeddo and Yokohama. And, while Chinese statesmen are blindly 
 opposing the opening of mines and the introduction of railways, Japan is 
 eagerly availing herself of foreign skill and foreign capital, to hasten forward 
 the one and the other. About two years ago, Messrs. Glover & Co. obtained 
 a lease of Takasima from the native authorities, with a view to working a 
 coal mine on the European system ; and, having ordered requisite machinery 
 
 * The action, which was mainly a naval one, is deBCribed in the N.-C. Herald of July 8th, 1809. 
 
40 
 
 from Englaad, at once commenced operations to sink a shaft. They, of 
 course, had to contend with various difficulties, which however they 
 happily overcame by perseverance. The Nagasaki JExpress gives the 
 following particulars of their venture : " An eighteen feet seam of coal was 
 struck at the depth of 150 feet from the surface, and powerful pumping and 
 hoisting machinery having been erected, the efforts of the owners were 
 rewarded towards the end of last year, by obtaining good coal at the rate of 
 100 tons per day ; the pumps easily keeping the mine free from water. 
 Many useful appliances yet remain to be adopted, before the mine is in 
 thoroughly good working order, when it will be capable, in the opinion, of 
 the two practical miners lately arrived from England, of yielding 500 tons 
 of coal per day/' The coal has been tested, both scientifically and 
 practically, and is declared to be thoroughly good and useful fuel. And 
 some Japanese princes, stimulated by this proof of success, have been 
 induced to order suitable machinery in Europe, in order properly to develop 
 coal fields in their own territory, to which native hand labour cannot do full 
 justice. 
 
 And, lastly, we hear that an offer made by some English capitalists 
 through Mr. H. N. Lay, to advance funds for the construction of a railway 
 between Teddo and Kioto — 270, miles — has been gladly welcomed. The 
 offer was first made to the Chinese Government, but met with the 
 reception habitually accorded to all suggestions breathing enlightened 
 progress. It was summarily rejected ; and Mr. Lay went on to Japan, 
 where his proposals were welcomed as readily as they had been, at Peking, 
 stolidly refused. He has now returned to England, to complete the 
 necessary arrangements ; and work wiU, we learn, be commenced as soon at 
 the necessary skilled labour and appliances can be despatched. A line of 
 telegraph will also be constructed, as is ths custom in Europe, along the 
 road. 
 
 The ports of Yeddo and Ne-egata were opened to foreign trade on the 
 1st January, 1869; but the results have not yet been brilliant. No 
 foreigners have settled at the latter port, though large purchases of 
 silk-worms eggs have been made by casual visitors. The trade of Nagasaki 
 has greatly declined in importance since the opening of Osaka, which, 
 during its second year as a treaty port, has shown signs of progress. The 
 local paper acknowledges that business has not been so large or profitable as 
 it might have been, nor fortunes made so quickly as might have been 
 desired ; yet says that encouraging signs are opening up to the view of all, 
 and prophesies especial improvement when some of the present difficulties 
 are removed, by the introduction of the new coinage. The leading 
 Yokohama paper draws a gloomy picture of the commercial position of that 
 port ; attributing the depression, in great measure, also to depreciation of 
 the coinage. 
 
 Attention is called by the same paper to a serious encroachment by 
 
41 
 
 Eussia. A position has been seized by that ambitious power, on 
 the southern coast of Saghalien, from which the island of Yesso is separated 
 only by thirty miles of Strait. The garrison consists as yet of only 200 
 men, but the barracks, stores and munitions of war established there would 
 suffice for a six months occupation by a large force. Aggressive designs on 
 Yesso are alleged in explanation of this move, and it is justly argued that 
 Japan will be entitled to look to other European powers for support, if ever 
 the attempt is made. It may be a question whether China would not 
 benefit by a strong Alien Government ; but Japan would unquestionably 
 suffer. Her Rulers are willing and anxious to do, themselves, all that a 
 Foreign Ruler could do in China; and they are entitled to our fullest 
 sympathy and aid, in their efforts to overtake the more advanced nations 
 with whom they have so lately come in contact. It remains for us to note 
 one more incident ; and here, again, to point a moral, at the expense of the 
 rulers of the Central Land. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Japan 
 in September, and received a royal welcome. He landed at Yokohama, 
 Hiogo and Nagasaki, and at each place was received in a manner, 
 worthy alike of his own rank, and of courtesy of his hosts. His reception* 
 by the Mikado, at Yeddo, was marked by splendid hospitality, and will 
 probably dwell long in His Royal Highness' memory. 
 
 * A description was giveu in the N.-C. Herald of tlie 12th October. 
 
42 
 
 IS-TO 
 
 Political. It jg gQ (Jifficult for a foreigner to acquire reliable information 
 regarding the political condition of China, that we can only attempt 
 a very superficial sketch of the occurrenoea which have come to our 
 knowledge during the past year. Without railways, telegraphs or 
 newspapers, it cannot be expected that detailed information of events 
 should find its way over so vast a country. London, before these 
 appliances were introduced, was probably ill-informed of what happened 
 in Wales ; much less can Shanghai get accurate accounts of events in 
 Yunnan or Kansuh. 
 
 We know, only, that the Rebellion in those provinces drags along 
 its weary length ; and that the Ittperialist generals seem, to make little 
 progress towards restoring order. At the close of 1869, the prospect 
 appeared more hopeful ; the Mahomedans had either been driven or 
 retreated from Sbensi and Shansi into far Kansuh, and it was hoped 
 that the large sums placed at the disposal of the Viceroy Tso would 
 have enabled him to pursue his success to a climaix. Suddenly, however, 
 we heard of a renewed irruption, and then again of various combinations 
 on the part of the Imperialists that were to result in the extinction of 
 the rebellion — when a large portion of their army fell into an ambuscade, 
 and was cut to pieces. Either the reverse was really a serious one, or it 
 was used as an excuse to assemble large forces in the North without exciting 
 foreign suspicion. Considerable alarm was either felt or simulated at 
 Peking ; and Li-hung-chang was at once ordered to march northward, 
 with the large army he had retained under his command after the 
 extinction of the Nienfei. With these troops, he was reported to have 
 gained some successes, when lie was suddenly ordered to Tientsin, to 
 face the complication which had arisen there with Foreigners. Of the 
 Mahomedan rebellion, we have since heard no more ; but shall probably 
 be startled by intelligence of a new raid, as the returning cold weather 
 causes distress to be felt among the semi-nomad people of Kansuh. 
 
 Our knowledge of the position of affairs in Yunnan is not much 
 clearer. We had news, during the summer, of various successes achieved 
 by the Imperialists, with the help of an English oificer who was managing 
 their artillery ; but orders were received from Peking to dispense with 
 his services, and lately, if we may trust information received across 
 Burmah, the Mahomedans have regained the ascendant. Disturbances 
 
43 
 
 have also occurred in the adjoiuing provinces of Kwangsi and Kweichow ; 
 the Miautae are giving trouble in Szechuen ; and there has been an 
 outbreak in Hunan, which seems to have been quelled on the ap|jointment, 
 to the chief military command, of a member of the Tseng family whose 
 influence in these districts is dominant. In each case the insurgents 
 seem to aim at brigandage rather than at any political object ; but the 
 misery and desolation which they cause in the disturbed districts, is 
 incalculable. That they should be able to continue their depredations with 
 so little molestation, is an instance at once of the weakness of the 
 Government and of the corruption of its officers. Large sums are raised in 
 the wealthy and peaceful provinces, to pay troops in those which' are 
 disturbed ; but the Mandarins peculate, instead of using the money 
 honestly to put an end to a state of things which yields them so rich 
 a harvest. Besides, it does not suit either chiefs or soldiers to finish a 
 war which finds them employment and loot — for they are almost worse 
 enemies to the country-people than the Eebels themselves. Kweichow 
 especially seems to be fairly overrun by double bands of marauders. 
 Indeed, the condition of affairs is so bad that Li was under orders 
 to proceed to Kweichow to take the province in hand, when he was 
 diverted by the more urgent requisition for his presence in the North. 
 
 This able and powerful mandarin appears to be the sole reliance of 
 the Peking Government, In any case of emergency. Whether the danger 
 arise from Taepings or Nienfei ; whether the question be one of Miautsze in 
 Kweichow, or Mahomedans inShensi, or foreign complications at Tientsin, 
 it is Li who is always called on. His actual power is perhaps less than that 
 of Tseng-kwo-fan ; for the ~ latter has a wider official connexion — more 
 relatives and nominees in high office. But Tseng is getting old, whereas 
 Li is active, able, and in the prime of life. The two mandarins hold, 
 between them, the two highest provincial positions in the Empire, and 
 are probably the two most influential men in it, for the provinces are, 
 now, in China, stronger than Peking. Li, as Viceroy of Chihli and 
 Superintendent of the three Northern Ports, and Tseng as Viceroy of 
 the two Kiang and Imperial Commissioner for Foreign Affiiirs at the 
 Southern Ports, are powers which Prince Kung would find it difficult 
 to control. 
 
 The first Chinese Embassy to Europe has come to an end during 
 the year, owing partly to the death of its chief, but partly to decay 
 of influence. Mr. Burlingarae died at St. Petersburg, after a very brief 
 illness, in March. The course of events in China had previously tended 
 to show Western nations that the glowing pictures of Chinese civilization 
 and progress which had been laid before them, were unfounded ; and the 
 prestige of the mission was already tottering, when the responsibility 
 of its future conduct devolved upon Mr. Browne. That gentleman 
 subsequently visited several of the minor European Courts ; but the 
 
44 
 
 nine 'days wonder of the "First Chinese Embassy" was exhausted, 
 and it had been almost lost sight of, when it suddenly re-appeared in 
 China, in October. Mr. Browne, we believe, has resumed his position 
 in H, B. M.'s Legation, and the Chinese "Associate Envoys" have dropped 
 back to their former positions in the Chinese Foreign Office. We confess, 
 we have little hope that their report will excite in their countrymen 
 a desire to possess the advantages and emulate the prosperity of the 
 West. Chinese officialdoto and, under its malign influence, the Chinese 
 people are so hopelessly stagnant that nothing short of a moral and a 
 political convulsion can be expected to move them. 
 
 Mr. Burlingame's mission is now replaced by one of which Chunghow, 
 formerly Superintendent of Trade for the three Northern Ports, is the 
 head ; and had this Mandarin left under other circumstances, no better 
 selection could have been made. It was an objection to the previous 
 embassy, that it was not genuinely Chinese, as a foreigner was at its bead ; 
 and that the Chinese attached to it were of rank so inferior, that the mission 
 would be held in low estimation by their countrymen. These drawbacks 
 are, in the present case, completely removed. The Ambassador is a 
 Tartar, and of unexceptionable rank and standing in the Empire. The 
 misfortune is that he goes under the cloud of his connexion with the 
 Tientsin massacre of the 2l8t June. Opinions vary greatly as to the degree 
 of his fault. It is argued by some that he was completely innocent of 
 design ; by others, that it is impossible a man of his rank and position in 
 Tientsin should have been ignorant of what was brewing. But nothing can 
 override the broad facts that H. B. M. Consul had, on three several days 
 previous to the event, called his attention to the threatening aspect of 
 affairs, without eliciting a reply ; and that the massacre eventually occurred, 
 within a quarter of a mile of his Yamen, without a finger being lifted to 
 prevent it. The circumstances will, however, be made to appear more 
 clearly in a subsequent paper ; and we will only add that his conduct 
 contrasts unfavourably with that of Ma-hsin-i, who was placed in an almost 
 identical position, and who restored order in Nanking by his personal 
 interference, when the people had actually gone the length of bringing fuel 
 to set fire to the Catholic Mission premises. The Missionaries appealed to 
 each ; Ma responded to, Chunghow neglected, the call. 
 
 The assassination of Ma, and the return of Tseng-kwo-fan to his 
 favourite post, at Nanking, are prominent events in the political history of 
 the year. Viceroys govern, in China, districts as large as some European 
 countries ; and the niiUrder of so high an officer naturally excited much 
 attention among the people. In the eyes of foreigners, too, the circum- 
 stance derived importance from the time of its occurrence. Ma had just 
 curbed the hostile demonstrations against foreigners which, occurring 
 nearly simultaneously with those in the North, would have inevitably 
 resulted in a similar explosion, but for his strong hand. He was stabbed as 
 
45 
 
 he was returning from a review of the Military candidates, and died the 
 next day. . The assassin refused, despite extreme torture, to give any 
 account of himself or reason for the deed. The delay became awkward, as 
 Tseng-kwo-fan, who had in the meantime been appointed to the vacant 
 satrapy, could not take up office until the examination was concluded. 
 The culprit's mother-in-law was accordingly put under the rack, and told S 
 tale of a pirate gang to which the prisoner had belonged, and which had 
 been exterminated by Ma, when Futai of Chekiang. The assassination was 
 an act of vengeance for their death. The account may or may not be true. 
 Apart from the fact that evidence elicited by torture is not valuable, we 
 incline, from the circumstances, to adhere to the surmise expressed at the 
 time, that Ma's murder had relation to his conduct during the crisis in 
 June. 
 
 The Kegent of Siam has addressed an interesting memorandum* to 
 the R.-G. Herald, regarding the negociations opened by him last year with 
 China. The Viceroy of Fohkien and Chekiang memorialized the 
 Emperor that Siam had asked to be allowed to resume the tributary 
 relations which had subsisted in earlier years, between that country 
 and China. But the Regent indignantly repudiates the , allegation. 
 Siam, his Highness declares, simply sought to establish relations 
 with China on the same footing as Western nations ; and we 
 can easily believe that Chinese conceit lent, to the communication 
 from Bangkok^ a significance very different from that which it was 
 intended to convey. The assumption by the Central Kingdom of 
 feudal superiority over all outer nations, is a well known peculiarity ; and it 
 is quite likely that European Powers are often spoken of, in Chinese 
 documents, in terms very similar to those employed in the Foochow 
 Viceroy's memorial about Siam. In fact, we unhesitatingly re-assert that 
 the Audience Question — under which title the question of political relations 
 between China and Western nations has come to be defined — is one of the 
 most pressing that claim attention and settlement. Until Western Courts 
 insist on the admission of their Ambassadors to the presence of the 
 Emperor on the same footing that they would be received in Paris or St. 
 Petersburg, it is impossible that our political position should be accurately 
 estimated, in the country. 
 
 Foreign B^ions jt has taken two years to correct popular opinion at Home 
 in regard to China ; but the object is, now, nearly accomp- 
 lished. If the beginning of 1869 found Mr. Burlingame at the zenith of his 
 prestige, and English papers at their extreme point of error, the close of 
 1870 leaves the first Chinese Mission extinct, and the Press nearly 
 unanimous in condemning the weak policy that was adopted at its instance. 
 The massacre of Tientsin has completed what the outbreak at YangcKow 
 began — the last and gravest of a long list of hostile demonstrations, it has 
 
 * Published in the N,-C. Herald of April Izth, 1870. ^ 
 
46 
 
 clhiohed the chain of evidence, showing pi-actioally that Chinese civilization 
 is not the brilliant miracle which it was represented, and that reliance on 
 the professions of Chinese Rulers is misplaced and dangerous. 
 
 The beginning of 1870 found the French Minister on his way, 
 with a strong squadron, up the Yangtsze, to demand reparation for 
 various outrages which had been committed on Missionaries at several 
 places on its banks, and notably for the murder of M. Rigaud and a 
 number of converts, in Szechuen. Protracted negotiations had been 
 going on at Peking, but had led to no results ; and Count Roohechouart 
 was driven to negociate at the real seats of power — the provincial capitals. 
 Persecutions had occurred in Anhwei, in Kiangsi, in Hupeh, in Szechuen 
 and Kweichow, involving negotiations at Nanking, Nanchang, and Wuchang 
 — Li-hung-chang, the Viceroy of the two Hoo, having been appointed Special 
 Commissioner to deal with the two latter cases. The Minister was 
 courteoiisly received by the Viceroy at Nanking, and those matters which lay 
 within his jurisdiction were promptly arranged. Halting at Nganking, His 
 Excellency assured himself that the terms agreed on were being fulfilled ; 
 several of the culprits were punished ; satisfactory proclamations were posted, 
 and the Missionaries were reinstated. Passing next to Kiukiang, he visited 
 Nanchang, the capital of Kiangsi, and exacted reparation for various outrages 
 which had been committed, on Mission premises and converts, in that province. 
 This was the first time a foreigner had entered Nanchang ; and the appearance 
 of the French,' and especially of the steam launch which towed them, natu- 
 rally excited deep curiosity. The authorities tried hard to dissuade M. 
 Roohechouart from his purpose, drawing dire pictures of mob turbulence 
 and personal danger. No annoyance was, , however, experienced ; the 
 people were perfectly well behaved, and the ofiicials compliant, though 
 evidently chagrined at the intrusion. 
 
 The most important difiicultiea remained to be settled at Wuchang, 
 whither Count Roohechouart next proceeded. The same tales which 
 had caused the outbreak at Yangchow, and which subsequently led to 
 the massacre at Tientsin, had been spread with similar results, at a town 
 called Tien-men on the Han river. Converts had been attacked, their 
 houses sacked, and the Mission premises destroyed. In the absence of 
 the Viceroy Li, who had gone into Szechuen to investigate the Yuyang 
 outrage, negotiations were conducted with the Futai. The reconstruction 
 of the buildings was exacted, compensation paid, and proclamations 
 asserting the freedom of Christianity were posted. M. Roohechouart 
 was now thinking of going into Szechuen, to discuss with Li-hung-chang 
 the terms of reparation for the murder of the Abb6 Rigaud, when that 
 ofiioial opportunely returned, and a satisfactory arrangement was at 
 once come to, on the spot. The destruction of Mission premises in 
 Kweichow, and the imprisonment of three Missionaries still remained 
 to be atoned for ; but that jprovince was in such a disturbed state, and 
 
47 
 
 communications so inten-upted, that M. Eochechouart had to be satisfied 
 with Li's promise that he would settle the matter satisfactorily during 
 his intended expedition thither.* 
 
 Having thus, by personal negotiation and the " moral " aid of a 
 naval force, settled questions which he had been vainly endeavouring 
 for many months to arrange at Peking, M. Rocheohouart set out on 
 his return to the capital overland, and arrived safely in March, having met 
 with no remarkable difficulty on the way. 
 
 For a short while, now, the hostility to Missionaries seemed to have 
 been repressed ; and it was hoped that the official proclamations on which 
 Mr. Medhurst had insisted at Yangchow, and M. Rocheohouart at the 
 various cities where his countrymen had been molested, would place 
 them on a safer footing. But the hostility of the literati was not so 
 easily quelled ; the old false tales about kidnapping and mutilation were 
 repeated, after an interval ; hostile placards were posted with a simultaneity 
 that carries irresistible evidence of conspiracy, at several of the principal 
 cities in this and other provinces ; and we were alarmed, in June, by news 
 of serious excitement at Nanking, which led to the immediate despatch 
 of H. M.'s gunboat Dove and the French gunboat Scorpion, to lie off 
 that city. To such a pitch had the feelings of the populace been worked 
 up by false accusations, that the people demanded the immediate expulsion 
 of the Missionaries, and went so far even as to collect fuel, with the 
 intention of burning down the Roman Catholic premises. The mandarins, 
 in the meanwhile, instead of at once asserting the falsehood of the rumours, 
 and declaring that kidnapping existed only in the popular imagination, 
 had tacitly recognised them, by proclamations assuring the people that 
 they would take every measure to hunt out and capture the criminals. 
 It was only at the last moment that the Viceroy Ma responded to a 
 personal appeal addressed to him by the Missionaries, visited their 
 establishments, and issued a public denial of the reports set abroad 
 regarding them. His action prevented an outbreak ; but apprehensions 
 were still entertained that troubles might recur during the Official 
 Examinations which were pending ; and soldiers were quartered in various 
 parts of the city, to maintain order. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the excitement at Nanking, reports 
 reached us of a similar feeling manifested at Tangchow and at other 
 places in Ma's Viceroyalty; and at the end of June, came news of the 
 horrible massacre at Tientsin. There, as at Nanking, tales of children 
 kidnapped, eyes scooped out for medicine, and other horrible forms of 
 mutilation, had been used to excite the people. Placards had been 
 posted, threatening the outbreak which actually occurred ; the Missionaries 
 had been warned by their converts ; the cpmpradores of Foreign hongs 
 had intimated to their employers that an attack on foreigners was 
 
 * For full particulars of M. de Rochechouart'a expedition vide N,-C. Herald 1st March, 1870. 
 
48 
 
 imminent ; in consequence of representations made to him, H. B. M.'s 
 Consul wrote, on three several days preceding the event, warning Chunghow 
 of the threatening aspect of aifairs. But Chunghow neither replied nor 
 moved, and the city mandarins rather encouraged than suppressed the 
 rising excitement. One proclamation* distinctly endorsed the accusation 
 put forth against the Catholics, of employing men to steal children for 
 purposes of mutilation, and expressed the strongest determination to root 
 out the "malevolent demons and restore peace to the locality." Two 
 men were actually executed on a charge of kidnapping. Yet Tseng-kwo-fan 
 subsequently admitted that kidnapping existed only in the popular 
 imagination — ^for not a single complaint of such an occurrence had been 
 ever laid before the magistraten. 
 
 Worked upon by rumours thus publically endorsed by their officials, 
 it is not surprising that the^ mob reached the climax of terror and fury 
 which found expression in the massacre of the 21st June. Our knowledge 
 of the incidents of that day is derived chiefly from native sources, as 
 only one foreign witness, a Frenchman named Oourtris, remains alive 
 of those who were on the spot. From one source or another, however, 
 very full particulars have been gleaned, and have been fully recounted- Early 
 on the morning of the day which had been fixed for the outbreak, a large 
 crowd assembled in front of the Consulate and Mission premises ; soon, one of 
 the City Magistrates visited the Mission, ostensibly to make enquiries about 
 a member of the establishment who was accused of purchasing children. He, 
 according to the evidence of M. Courtris, who was present during the inter- 
 view, declared himself perfectly satisfied, and averred that he only went 
 through the formality in order to satisfy the people. Still, on leaving the 
 Yamgn, he took no steps to calm the mob. The French Consul wrote to 
 represent to Chunghow the threatening appearance of the crowd, but no 
 steps were taken to disperse it, although this official had some hundreds of 
 drilled troops under his command. The mob commenced to throw stones ; 
 M. Fontanier went personally to Chunghow. Of what passed at the interview, 
 we have no clear record ; but certainly it produced no result, and we may 
 well believe it was stormy. M. Fontanier seems to have left in anger. 
 On his way back he was murdered, after, it is said, firing a shot from his 
 revolver. The circumstances of this occurrence are important, but are 
 variously related. That on which we place reliance is that the shot, 
 was fired at the Hsien, whom he met on his way through the crowd, 
 and whom he heard encourage the mob in their violence. M. Simon, 
 the Consular Secretary, was killed too. A general attack was made 
 on the Consulate and Mission premises, and their occupants were cut 
 to pieces. The mob then turned to the establishment of the Sisters 
 of Charity, and murdered all the occupants with horrible barbarity. 
 Altogether twenty-one foreigners, including the French Consul, his 
 
 * (11. N,-C. Herald July 2iiidJ ^ '■ ' 
 
49 
 
 Secretary, a member of the French Legation at Peking and his lady, a 
 French storekeeper and his wife, three priests, ten Sisters of Charity, 
 and a Russian merchant and his wife, fell victims to the popular rage, 
 besides a number of Chinese converts and employes on the Mission 
 premises, and thirty children who were smothered in the vaults of the 
 burning buildings. The cry was raised to attack the Foreign Settlement 
 and exterminate the remaining foreigners, but, whether from fear of 
 resistance which might be encountered, whether the rioters were tired, 
 or whether the officials, alarmed now for the probable result of the 
 day's work, exerted successfully their influence, the crowd fell away, 
 until those remaining when the bridge approaching the Settlement 
 was reached, concluded that they were too few for the exploit, and 
 arranged to resume their work on a subsequent occasion. 
 
 In the meantime, the flames of the burning buildings, and the 
 reports brought in by natives of what was taking place, had of course 
 excited alarm in the Foreign Settlemeut. The residents organized 
 themselves for defence, and the S. S. N. Co.'s str. Manchu, which was 
 then in port, loaded her guns and trained them so as to command the 
 Bund. A man was found in the steeple of the Church with fuel and 
 a light, (another Guy Fawkes) ready to fire the beacon which was to 
 be the signal for attack. There was no man-of-war in harbour ; but 
 the residents, left to their own care, patrolled the Settlement for several 
 days; and to this precaution, and to the accidental circumstance of 
 heavy rain, may probably be attributed their immunity. The Chinese 
 had fixed their next attack for the 23rd ; but on that day occurred, 
 after a long drought, one of the heaviest falls of rain remembered in 
 the North of China ;and the superstitious saw, in this, divine approval of 
 the massacre. Not only in Tientsin but in Peking, and even in Shanghai, 
 the same tale was told. The Emperor and the Mandarins had in vain 
 prayed for rain, but directly this good deed was done. Heaven vouchsafed 
 it. With renewed courage, accordingly, the rioters appointed the next 
 day for their exploit ; but, unable to restrain the propensities evoked 
 by the prospects of such rich plunder, some members of the crowd 
 began robbing the market people of their produce, as they paseed them 
 coming into town. The villagers resisted ; a fight ensued, in which 
 Chunghow's soldiers at last espoused the cause of order, and the mob 
 was repelled. On the 25th, the Opossum arrived, and the residents 
 were able again to breathe freely. The news of what had occurred at 
 Tientsin spread like wild-fire over China, and appeared to have the 
 general approval both of Mandarins and people ; though motives of 
 policy generally prevented the former from imitating the example set. 
 The literati, however, were prompt to improve the occasion. The 
 iniquities of the Missionaries, which had led to the catastrophe, were 
 dilated upon in conversation and in placards. At Chefoo, the excitement 
 
50 
 
 Was so great tliat the Manchi was detained on her downward voyage, 
 and lay for 24 hours with her guns loaded, commanding the approach 
 to the Foreign Settlement. The residents organized themselves as 
 volunteers. A British gunboat soon put in an appearance ; the excitement 
 subsided for a time, but recurred at one or two intervals during the 
 succeeding few weeks. At Newchwang a very mixed feeling was created. 
 The respectable portion of the native community seemed distracted 
 between apprehensions of a riot, in which their goods would suffer as 
 well as' foreigners', and of war, in which case trade would be stopped. 
 They accordingly sought refuge at several intervals on board junks, 
 with their property, when the lower classes became unusually demonstra- 
 tive ; and merchandise fell heavily, through their anxiety to sell. 
 Foreigners armed themselves ; but the arrival of a British gunboat 
 had a very wholesome effect, and no disturbance occurred. 
 
 Chinkeang has always been ready to respond to an anti-foreign 
 movement. At the time of the Yangchow outrage, placards flew free, 
 and the Tartar soldiers stoned the City Magistrate's Yam6n because he 
 repressed their desire to attack the Settlement. And the news of the 
 Tientsin massacre was the signal for a fresh manifestation. A Frenchman 
 living in the place was obliged to leave ; the plunder o,f the S. S. N. Cc's 
 and U. S. N. Co.'s hulks was planned, but frustrated by a guard of 
 Marines from H. M.'s Dove ; and foreigners generally felt very uneasy. 
 At Kiukiang, the populace also became very excited; so much so that 
 the Taotai told H. M.'s Consul it would not be safe to enter the city. 
 A placard was found on the door of the French Cathedral at Hankow, 
 eulogising the action at Tientsin, and significantly mentioning that 
 members of the same class as those murdered were existent in Hankow. 
 There was much suffering, however, at the time from a flood, and the 
 people were too distressed and pre-occupied to notice the call. 
 
 At Shanghai, the excitement also was great, and danger of an 
 attack, especially on the French Settlement and Mission premises, was 
 apprehended. The departure of H. M.'s S. Dwarf for Tientsin, on 
 the first news of the massacre, left us for the time unprotected; and 
 an invitation to reorganize the volunteer force was warmly responded to. 
 Within a month, some 500 men were armed and drilling vigorously 
 morning and evening, despite the heat of the weather ; and to this display 
 of preparation, far more than to native forbearance, may be attributed the 
 absence of actual outbreak. Several alarm's were given ; several 
 times guards were posted and patrols doubled throughout the French 
 Concession, and once the precaution was extended to the English and 
 American Settlements. There was never any danger that the industrious 
 classes of natives would originate a disturbance ; though the coolies might 
 have joined in, and certainly would not have prevented, a row. The danger 
 lay with the junk-men, soldiers, and the low nondescript population which 
 
51 
 
 Is always to be found in a large city. The loot of a place like Shanghai 
 ■would have been a rich j)rize ; and a little inspiration and direction, as 
 at Tientsin, would have encouraged them to try for it. The local authorities, 
 however, " proclaimed " in favour of order ; and the popular excitement 
 did not go beyond the posting of hostile placards, and threats of attack. 
 
 At Ningpo, the excitement was greater even than in Shanghai ; various 
 hostile placards repeating the calumnies on the Mission, were posted ; and 
 several days were named — but fortunately passed over — ^for an attack. 
 The Local Authorities, however, here also, were constant in their efforts to 
 maintain order ; and the prompt arming of the Foreign residents, and the 
 presence of a British gunboat, contributed their share to deter the evil- 
 disposed. 
 
 The Southern ports did not respond so warmly to the movement, as 
 those north of Fohkien ; but Fooohow, Amoy and Swatow had each made 
 their demonstration during the previous year, and were perhaps satisfied 
 with the result. That the massacre was approved, was clear ; but we do 
 not hear that any inclination was shown to emulate the crime. The 
 population of Canton showed signs of excitement, and the Sisters of 
 Charity retired to Hongkong ; but no active hostility was shown in 
 the city itself; though at Fatshan, a city some thirty miles inland, a 
 Protestant chapel was pulled down and some native converts were badly 
 maltreated. And this brings us to a second ripple of the wave. We 
 have spoken thus far of the treaty ports ; but Missionary stations in the 
 interior were exposed to even greater danger ; and it remains to sketch 
 the various attacks and demonstrations to which they were subjected. 
 
 If the news created so much excitement among the population of 
 the treaty ports, which had been long accustomed to the presence of 
 foreigners, it was natural that its effect should be still greater at 
 outlying Missions ; aqd anxiety was felt for the fate of the Catholic 
 priests in districts were symptoms of hostility had been previously 
 shown. Especially from Szechuen, bad tidings were anticipated ; and 
 the effect at Nanking, of news of an outbreak so similar to that which 
 had nearly happened there two weeks previously, was anxiously awaited. 
 The forebodings were fortunately not realized, in either case ; though 
 the result showed that the effect of the intelligence had not been altogether 
 miscalculated. Following the precedent set by Ma, the Nanking officials 
 redoubled their precautions, stationing strong bodies of troops in various 
 parts of the city, wherever the students principally congregated, ready 
 to quell the first attempt at disturbance. From Szechuen, too, an evident 
 return of the excitement which had shortly before found expression in 
 the murder of the AbbS Rigaud, was reported ; though fortunately no 
 outbreak took place. One of the first deeds of actual violence, was the 
 destruction of the Catholic Mission chapel at Woochiug on the Poyang 
 Lake, and the maltreatment of numerous converts who were residing 
 
52 
 
 in its vicinity. Threatening placards had been previously posted in 
 Kiukiang ; and the General in command of the garrison was known to 
 favour the execution of the menace. But the civil authorities desired 
 to keep out of trouble, and managed to prevent disorder. The plunder 
 of a Protestant Missionary's garden was the worst harm done ; but the 
 spirit of the people was shown by the talk which even this trifling matter 
 elicited. The idea of the culprits being punished for the offence was 
 ridiculed, and the successful depredation was hailed as an earnest of 
 more complete measures hereafter. A Catholic chapel was soon after 
 destroyed at Foo-chow-foo, in the same province. The demolition of a 
 Protestant chapel at Fatshan near Canton, followed ; and subsequently the 
 metropolitan province again distinguished itself by destroying a Catholic 
 chapel near Ho-shi-woo. A house which had been rented by the American 
 Mission in Shansi next fell ; and the native preacher who was in charge, 
 was obliged to fly. 
 
 Before these last events, the American Missionaries residing at Tung- 
 ehow, in Shantung, had found themselves obliged, toward the end of August, 
 to leave the city in consequence of the threateaing attitude of the people 
 towards them ; but, before doing so, they made an important discovery, 
 which tended to throw much light on the anti-foreign movement. It was 
 the same tale, here as elsewhere — eyes scooped out and breasts cut off for 
 medicine, children and young girls kidnapped for the purpose, and gross 
 immorality habitually practised. The people had been excited by these 
 tales, until an attack on the mission premises was generally talked of. 
 Shortly after the massacre of Tientsin, it was rumoured that Tseng-kwo-fan 
 had instigated the local authorities to foment a rising against the Mission- 
 aries, and a visit paid by the City Magistrates to the provincial capital 
 was said to be in cdnsequence of those instructions. A subsequent visit by 
 the Prefect to the Taotai of Chefoo, and frequent conferences held with the 
 principal inhabitants of Tungohow, were connected with the same cause, 
 and the Missionaries learned that opinions were strongly divided as to what 
 course should be followed. One party was in favour of a mob attack, as at 
 Tientsin ; another opposed any hostile movement. The former, however, 
 seems to have at length prevailed, for report became rife that the 10th 
 September had been fixed for an outbreak; and the local information which 
 the Missionaries received, was confirmed by warnings from converts 
 at out-stations. The native servants attached to the Mission were advised 
 by their friends to flee from the wrath that was to come, and the 
 Missionaries, with the precedent of the Tientsin massacre before their 
 eyes, judged it wise to take heed of the prevalent cry. They wrote to the 
 IJ. S. Consul at Chefoo, begging that measures might be taken for their 
 removal ; and, in the absence of an American man-of-war. Admiral Kellett 
 sent H. M.'s ships Barossa and Grasshopper for the purpose. In these 
 vessels, the Missionaries came away on the 7th October. But hardly had 
 
53 
 
 they left, ere a change came over the aspect of affairs. The mandarins, 
 who had been deaf to their representations, suddenly expressed surprise and 
 regret at their "departure, and invited them to return, assuring them of 
 protection. The fact probably was, that the officials were glad to see them 
 driven out by the moral pressure of popular menace, and would not 
 interfere to stay the consummation ; but thought it wise, when they had 
 gone, to protect themselves from possible trouble by this amicable demon- 
 stration. If the Missionai'ies did return, the matter was only where it had 
 been ; if they did not, the fact of the invitation would be a proof that there 
 had been no official remissness. After a short stay in Chefoo, the Mission- 
 aries, with the consent of their Minister, decided to take the Prefect at his 
 word, and were conveyed back on the 19th October, in the U. S. frigate 
 Benicia. They found the people quieter, and have not since been molested. 
 We referred, however, to a discovery which they made before their 
 departure, and which tended to explain the remarkable demonstrations of 
 hostility against Missionaries and their converts, that had been growing in 
 intensity from the time of the Yangchow outrage, till they culminated and 
 became general with the massacre of Tientsin. They obtained possession of 
 a Chinese book entitled " Death-blow to Corrupt Doctrine," which purported 
 to expose the faults of Christianity, and actually brought forward all the 
 accusations against Missionaries which had been the alleged motives for 
 the late popular demonstrations and attacks. The book is beheved to have 
 been written in the year 1862, by one Tang-tsze-shing, then Fantai of 
 Hupeh, and was freely circulated in that and the adjoining province of 
 Hunan, through the medium of the district officials, to whom it was sent 
 gratis. Latterly, it had been again circulated, with greater energy and more 
 widely than before ; endeavours were made to keep it from foreigners and 
 from native converts, but a copy was brought to light in Tungchow by a 
 native Christian ; others have been since discovered, at Kiukiang and in its 
 neighbourhood ; and it is understood that the official yamens were in each 
 case the media of distribution. We cannot soil our pages with a sketch 
 of the charges which are there brought against foreigners, and more 
 particularly against Missionaries ; but we have said enough to show how 
 strongly such a book, having a quasi-official reaoguition, would work upon 
 the feelings of a superstitious people, prone to believe evil of the barbarian. 
 It is remarkable that the persecution of the Christians which occurred 
 under the Regency that followed the death of the Emperor Shun-chi in 
 1624, was excited by a similar work written by one Yang-quangsien. This 
 book, according to Du Halde, was filled with " the most horrid calumnies 
 against the Christian religion and the Missionaries ;" and obtained.' credit 
 with the Kegents, who transmitted it to the tribunal with orders that the 
 mandarins should investigate a matter of so much importance. The 
 Missionaries and several Christian mandarins were loaded with chains and 
 dragged before the tribunals ; and eventually PSre Adam was sentenced to 
 
54 
 
 be exposed in a public place and, while alive, cut into ten thousand pieces. 
 Various circumstances, into which we cannot here enter, led to a 
 reversal of this sentence and to the eventual resurrection of Christianity. 
 Our present object is only to show the remarkable similarity between the 
 persecution of two hundred years ago, and the recent outbreak. In each 
 case, there is little doubt that jealousy of the Missionaries' influence with 
 their converts was the origin of the Mandarin hostility ; and the charges 
 were disseminated as a means to the desired end. That men should incur 
 the expense and trouble of a distant journey, from the simple desire to make 
 religious proselytes, is so incomprehensible to the Chinese mind, that we 
 cannot wonder suspicion attaches to Missionary labour. The great problem 
 is how to regulate this labour, so as to obviate all ground for jealousy. The 
 tendency of British policy seems rather to restrict Missionaries to the treaty 
 ports ; that of the French has hitherto been to support them to the fullest 
 extent in the interior. It is possible that the Kepublican Government will 
 uphold them less warmly. 
 
 It remains for us to sketch the course of negooiations which were 
 undertaken with a view to obtain reparation for the Tientsin outrage. A 
 joint note was addressed to Prince Kung by the Foreign Ministers, directly 
 news of the outbreak reached Peking,* and assurances were given of the 
 speedy punishment of the culprits. Tseng-kwo-fan and Chunghow were 
 appointed Commissioners to investigate the matter, and drew upt a joint 
 report, recognising the main facts of the outbreak and entirely exculpating 
 the Missionaries from the charges brought against them. Neither in this 
 case, however, nor at any subsequent time, could the Chinese be induced to 
 recognise the guilt of the Tientsin Mandarins, in any higher degree than 
 inability to preserve order ; while, of the complicity of ChSn-kwo-jui, who 
 was accused of leading and encouraging the rioters, they refused to entertain 
 a supicion. It will be sufficient for us to refer to an admirable letter by 
 Messrs. Lees and Hall, J and to a description of the converts§ after their 
 release from the Hsien's yamSn, written by an English surgeon, to prove, on 
 the other hand, that the whole affair must have been carried out, from 
 beginning to end, with official foreknowledge and approval. Count Koche- 
 chouart, dwelling on the clear evidence of foreknowledge and complicity, 
 demanded the execution of the Prefect and sub-Prefect and of Ch6n-kwo-jui, 
 as an essential feature in a settlement ; and foreigners throughout China 
 approved his demand. Monetary compensation, further than would suffice 
 to compensate for actual loss, was deprecated ; and the punishment of the 
 actual rioters was felt to be of much less importance than that of the 
 Mandarins who had instigated and approved the crime. What was needed 
 was a settlement which would prove that foreign lives could not be taken 
 with impunity, and which would deter officials who might incline to 
 
 * N,-C. tferald Sept. 22. t -W.-C. Herald Sept. 29. 
 
 { N.-C. Herald July 14. { N.-C. Herald Auguat 80. 
 
55 
 
 countenance similar outbreaks elsewhere. We cannot bnt think that, had 
 the Foreign Representatives joined in a peremptory demand to this eiFect, 
 at the outset, a prompt and satisfactory settlement might have been sum- 
 marily obtained. It is of course easy to criticise after the event ; but it seems 
 clear that their attitude lacked the sternness which experience has shown 
 to be necessary in dealing with Oriental nations, under such circumstances. 
 Had certain terms of reparation been demanded, under threat of bombarding 
 Tientsin, they would have been accorded ; and the gravity of the case would 
 have fvilly justified every Minister, in the eyes of his Government. Un- 
 fortunately, however, there seems to have been a tendency in the English 
 and American Legations to regard the affair too much as one in which the 
 French only were interested, instead of accepting it as an insult and a 
 threat of danger to all foreigners in China. The Chinese people do not draw 
 a clear line between nationality and nationality ; to them a foreigner is a 
 foreigner ; and though the French had incurred the original odium in the 
 present instance, they would not be likely to stop, in a fit of extermination, 
 at the extinction of one sole nationality. The general prestige of the 
 foreigners in China was shaken by the events of the 21st June ; and it 
 behoved us to regain our lost ground with promptness and decision. 
 Negociation, however, pure and simple, was relied on ; and it seems, 
 unfortunately, that the French Charge d' Affaires, while acting to a certain 
 extent with his colleauges, pursued at the same time independent negociations, 
 thus weakening the force of the collective pressure. 
 
 However this may be, month after month passed by, without a single 
 act of punishment or reparation being accorded. And the gravity of the 
 event was thus magnified by the proof it afforded of the weakness or ill-will 
 of the Central Government, and the encouragement given, by the delay and 
 by our inaction, to the ill-disposed among the people. It was understood 
 that Prince Kung favoured a settlement which should satisfy foreign claims ; 
 but that two of his brothers threw their weight into the hostile scale — 
 advising war rather than the slightest concession. Tseng-kwo-fan, too, was 
 believed to oppose effectual measures of reparation, holding the people 
 excused because they were mistaken. Popular report among the Chinese 
 even went further, and said that he approved the massacre, and the action 
 taken by the mandarins to bring it about. Whether this be really the case ; 
 whether Tseng-kwo-fan's removal from the Viceroyalty of Chihli were his 
 own wish ; or whether he was excluded to make room for a more vigorous 
 administrator, it is very difficult to say. Suffice it that Li was eventually 
 called in; and then only, at the end of October, nearly four months after the 
 outrage, did the Chinese Government show any desire to repair and punish 
 the wi-ong done by its subjects. Almost simultaneously with the appoint- 
 ment of Li to the Viceroyalty, Ting-jih-cheng was called up from Kiangsu, 
 to aid in arresting and trying the rioters. And shortly after Li's arrival, 
 the Central Government announced the terms which it was willing to 
 
56 
 
 concede. Twenty of the rioters were to be executed ; Tls. 460,000 were to 
 be paid in compensation for lives lost and property destroyed ; and the two 
 Magistrates were to be banished for ten years to the Amoor. The damage 
 done to tlie English and American Mission premises during the riot was also 
 to be made good ; and Chunghow was to go home, to apologise to, and 
 endeavour to conciliate, the French Government. These terms were 
 neither accepted nor rejected by the French Minister, but simply referred by 
 him to his Government.* The Chinese, however, at once commenced 
 putting them in execution. Sixteen of the prisoners were executed ; 
 the remaining four, who were supposed to have been concerned in the 
 murder of the two Russians, being held over during the pleasure of the 
 Russian Consul-General, who wished to satisfy himself of their actual compli- 
 city. It is always easy in China to find men willing, for a few taels, to be 
 executed in the stead of another ; and there is reason to fear that those 
 executed at Tientsin were not prominent rioters, but were selected because 
 they were willing to sell their lives. From Tls. 350 to Tls. 500 each was paid 
 to their families as compensation for their loss ; they were dressed out as for a 
 theatrical display, escorted to the execution ground by a number of admiring 
 and excited friends, and a memorial temple was spoken of, to commemorate 
 their patriotic death. The sentence of banishment passed on the mandarins, 
 was one to which similar doubt attached. Foreigners could never know 
 certainly whether it were carried out ; and the report in fact did soon obtain 
 that they had been allowed to retire quietly to their homes. Chen-kwo-jui, 
 whose execution was demanded by M. de Rochechouart, as that of a ringleader 
 in the riot, is barely mentioned. Prince Kung briefly declares him completely 
 innocent ; and passes on. Yet there is strong evidence that this mandarin 
 led the rioters to the attack, and encouraged them to " burn and kill." He 
 has since been intimately associated with the Seventh Prince, who was the 
 strongest advocate for war. 
 
 The negociations which led to this abortive settlement have been 
 severely criticised, and the failure has been attributed to the mistaken 
 action of the foreign ministers. We cannot but think there is some 
 truth in this belief ; for we cannot but believe that the Chinese would 
 have yielded implicitly to a joint demand, pressed with sternness and 
 energy. We have already shown that a joint letter was written, in the 
 first instance ; but we fear that M. Roohechouart's collateral negociation 
 tended, subsequently, to weaken the collective pressure ; and that Mr. 
 Wade and Mr. Low acted rather as arbitrators than as. complainants. We 
 are convinced that the terms actually obtained are greatly due to the influence 
 of these two Ministers ; but we do think a more satisfactory settlement might 
 have been obtained, had they taken a dififerent attitude and a more decided 
 tone at the outset. The English Press have generally accepted the conclusion 
 
 * The reply of the Freuch Government will be found in the 2f,-C. Herald of Feb. 29th 1872. 
 
57 
 
 as satisfactory. It is not so regarded in France ; but France has not yet 
 leisure to turn her attention to the East. 
 
 The occurrences at Tientsin naturally led to. discussion, in English 
 and American papers, of the whole question of our relations with China, 
 and caused, as we have already explained, a strong revulsion against 
 the policy adopted at the instance of Mr. Burlingame. The remonstrances 
 of the Hongkong and Shanghai Chambers of Commerce against the treaty 
 which had been negociated by Sir Rutherford Alcock, under the constriction 
 of the new policy, had commenced to turn public opinion, and the 
 Tientsin outbreak completed the work. The London merchants energetically 
 supported the protest of their friends in China ; and, in deference to 
 this general pressure,* the British Government rejected the Convention. 
 The receipt of this news, in the midst of the negociations consequent ~ 
 on that tragedy, probably strengthened the hands of the peace party 
 at Peking. It had been calculated that England was done with ; but 
 here was she also re-opening troublesome questions, at a time when 
 they would be ill able to oppose her wishes. 
 
 What we have to do with, however, is the simple fact of the rejection. 
 The question of revision, therefore, still remains open ; and the time 
 for the revision of the French treaty is also rapidly approaching. We 
 may be sure that the Audience question will form a prominent feature 
 in the negociations. Will England and France unite, now, in an effort 
 to expand the treaty of Tientsin, as they united in exacting it ; or will 
 their views prove divergent ] The question is important, both as regards 
 Foreign and Chinese interests ; and the solution may lead Chinese 
 statesmen to regret, that they did not pave the way to friendly discussion, 
 by a more prompt and complete punishment of the massacre of Tientsin. 
 It is of course very difficult to predict how France may greet the 
 reparation offered. Her attention is absorbed, now, by the death-struggle 
 in which she is engaged at home ; but a breathing time will come, and 
 it is likely that the whole question of her Chinese policy will then come 
 up for revision. In her case as in that of England, the Missionary 
 question is a prominent difficulty. It remains to be seen whether the 
 Eepublioan policy will prove identical in this respect with that adopted 
 by the Empire. The great question is, whether the missionary or the 
 merchant should be the pioneer of intercourse. Hitherto the former 
 has claimed, and been awarded, privileges of residence and travel which 
 have been denied to the latter. 
 
 Oar knowledge of China has been increased, during the year, by 
 Baron Richtofen's valuable reports on the provinces of Hunan, Hupeh, 
 Honan and Shensi ; and by Mr. Moss' exploration of the districts watered 
 by the West River, in Kwangtung and Kwangsi. The Chambers of 
 Commerce of Shanghai and Hongkong fulfilled one of their highest functions 
 
 • The various documents wiU ba found in Vol I, of N,-C. Herald for isro. 
 
68 
 
 in organizing these expeditions ; and the information gained will no doubt 
 help them in the struggle for freer intercourse, of which they are the 
 natural champions. Much of course depends on the ministers at Peking ; 
 but these cannot act efficiently without the support of the Home Govern- 
 ment ; and experience has shown that the way to secure this support 
 is to enlist the aid of merchants at Home. The voice of merchants 
 in China, although best entitled to be heard, would not have secured 
 the rejection of the Peking convention, without the powerful aid of the 
 various Chambers of Commerce in England. And the same aid, which 
 it devolves naturally upon the Shanghai and Hongkong Chambers of 
 Commerce to seek, will induce the Government to renew negooiations 
 for a revision of the treaty, from a more intelligent standpoint than 
 that which they adopted at Mr. Burlingame's suggestion, and from which 
 Sir Rutherford failed. All experience shows us that, to wait tiU the 
 Chinese voluntarily embrace progress, will be to wait for ever. All that we 
 have gained has been gained by pressure ; and nothing but continued 
 pressure will ensure further advance. 
 
 One of the most regrettable featutes in Sir R. Alcock's career, is 
 his advice to the British Government to give up their treaty rights in 
 Formosa. The advice was based on hasty and imperfect estimates, 
 which have been overthrown by subsequent experience ; and we are glad 
 to hear that the London merchants are lending their influence to oppose 
 what we conceive would be a political and commercial blunder. Formosa 
 is a small island, it is true ; but its resources are great ; its sulphur and 
 camphor trade already reaches an important figure ; and its coal and 
 rice trade promises to form a considerable item in the coast carrying 
 trade. If we withdraw, the Mandarins will congratulate themselves 
 that we do so in consequence of the perpetual trouble which they have 
 stirred up against us ; and the result will be to encourage similar hostility 
 at other places. Now, at last, the monopolies which hampered trade 
 at the commencement do seem to have been broken through ; and we 
 repeat that it would be a political and commercial blunder to withdraw 
 from the position we have gained. 
 
 Yunnan is so completely shut out from communication with the East 
 coast, that the task of opening up intercourse with it has been left to the 
 Governments of India and Cochin China. The former seems at length 
 to have been fairly successful. Major Sladen has succeeded in opening 
 friendly relations with the Mussulman Rulers, and the Political Agent 
 whom we have established at Bhamo has conciliated the border tribes. 
 Steamers can ply on the Irrawaddy from Rangoon to that old entrepot 
 of trade, and a commercial expedition was despatched about the end 
 of December, with a cargo of goods, to test the requirements of the 
 Yunnan merchants. The French Expedition which started from Saigon in 
 1868, to explore the Meikong, found that that river was not navigable j but 
 
59 
 
 discovered a river running from the south of Yunnan across Tonquin, into 
 the gulf of that name, which may probably become an available means of 
 commerce, if it be so easily navigable as the Explorers were led to suppose. 
 
 Sir R. Alcock, going Home on a leave of absence from which he is 
 hardly likely to return, was succeeded in the early part of the year by Mr. 
 Wade, as ChargS d'Affaires at Peking. The Spanish Minister returned 
 to Europe during the autumn; the Italian Minister has come down to 
 Shanghai. Tlie Russian Minister, M. Vlangally, has returned and 
 resumed charge of his post at Peking. Baron t'Kint van Roodenbeelc, the 
 Minister for Belgium, has gone to Yeddo — he holding a joint appointment 
 to the two capitals. 
 
 The mystery which hangs over the capital has been carefully 
 preserved during' the year. Even during the excitement which followed 
 on the Tientsin massacre, we were left by our Representatives in utter 
 ignorance of the political position ; and we, on the spot, still await the 
 Blue Book, to learn the history of that eventful period. The Ministers 
 of Belgium and France did, twice, lift the veil ; but those of England 
 and America, from whom a more prompt recognition of the popular 
 demand for knowledge might have been expected, were pertinaciously 
 silent. We cannot but think their countrymen have, in this, good 
 reason for complaint. In England, the course of politics finds ready 
 publicity, through discussion in the Houses of Parliament or the speeches 
 of members to their constituents. Here, no such opportunity exists ; 
 and we think, in times of doubt and excitement, we are fairly entitled 
 to expect from our Representative a notification giving us some insight 
 into the position of affairs. 
 
 Not one of the least interesting events of the year, has been the 
 visit to China of Mr. W. H. Seward, the veteran American statesman. 
 Peking and the Great Wall are naturally the first places strangers coming 
 to China would desire to see ; and Mr. Seward accordingly at once went 
 to the capital. He asked for an interview with Prince Kung, which 
 the latter at first declined on the standard Mandarin plea of sickness. 
 On Mr. Seward's return from the Great Wall, however, the Prince 
 reconsidered his decision, and called on him at the American Legation. 
 Mr. Seward was also entertained at a dinner at the Tsungli-yamen ; and 
 had a private interview with the man of all others best calculated to 
 give him a favourable impression of Chinese statesmen — a man whose 
 secession from active life has been a misfortune both to China and to 
 Foreigners, — the enlightened Wenseang. Returning from Peking, Mr. 
 Seward went afterwards to Hankow, where he had a sample of Chinese 
 politeness, in the shape of a volley of stones which smashed his chair, 
 from a lot of the roughs of Woochang. At Hongkong, Mr. Seward 
 received his countrymen and several other foreign gentlemen, formally, 
 at the U. S. Consulate ; and gave an unmistakeable hint of his opinion 
 
60" 
 
 on a vexed question to -which we have before referred — by saying that 
 Commerce should be the pioneer of further foreign progress. 
 General. fjijje political disturbances which characterrsed the second half 
 of 1870 had at least one good effect. They led to the revival of the 
 Shanghai Volunteer Corps, which had lapsed during the quiet years that 
 followed the extinction of the Taiping rebellion, on a basis which promises 
 to give it permanency for the future. Within a month from the 
 occurrence of the, Tientsin massacre, between 500 and 600 men were 
 drilling as infantry, cavalry and artillery. The several companies of 
 the Fire Brigade at once joined the military organization, and some 
 300 among the residents enrolled themselves as Eiflemen, Rangers or 
 Artillery. By dint of energetic drill, morning and evening, despite the heat 
 of July and August, a fair organization was soon gained, and the spectacle 
 of preparation thus evinced contributed greatly to restrain the turbulence 
 which existed among certain classes of the natives. It is to be sincerely 
 hoped that the force will, in future, be maintained in efficiency. The^ 
 principle was loudly asserted at the time, that Shanghai should never be 
 without a strong Volunteer Corps ; and the suddenness of the alarm which 
 called it into existence proves the truth of the axiom. 
 
 All this preparation for war, however, has not prevented a certain 
 progress being made in works of peace. Lighthouses have been constructed 
 on the GutzlaiF and North Saddle Islands, at the entrance to the Yangtze, 
 and a useful beacon has been erected on Bush Island, opposite the mouth of 
 the Hwongpoo. But we regret that other branches of the Marine Depart- 
 ment have not shown so much energy as that of the Chief Engineer. The 
 condition of the river itself is disgraceful to the Chinese Government, and 
 discreditable to the Department which has harbour works under its especial 
 care. The channel of the Hwongpoo, opposite the Foreign Settlement ot 
 Shanghai, is deteriorating seriously ; wrecks lie in various awkward positions 
 direutly in the way of the approach to Woosung ; but the Harbour 
 Engineer, who should be actively employed iu remedying these evils, is 
 superintending the erection of some Customs edifice in Amoy. It is useless 
 to recapitulate the accidents that have been caused during the year. The 
 loss of the Lismore, on the wreck of an old junk just outside of Woosung, 
 is the latest and one of the more glaring consequences of the gross neglect 
 which has characterised the administration of the Department. Let us 
 hope that, with the departure of the Marine Commissioner, it will show 
 symptoms of greater activity. Captain Forbes can hardly look back 
 with satisfaction to his career in an office for which he has exhibited little 
 qualification. 
 
 We have been brought into more intimate connection with Europe, 
 both in respect of carriage and communication, during the past year. The 
 opening of the Suez Canal has tempted a number of steamers to Engage in 
 the Chinese trade, and threatens almost the extinction of sailing vessels. 
 
61 
 
 One result will be that men will soon be able to go home by steam as 
 cheaply as they preTiously could go round the Cape, and trips to Europe 
 will become more frequent. A line of telegraph has been laid from Madras 
 to Penang and Singapore, bringing us within fifteen days of London; 
 preparations are being made to extend the cable to Hongkong, and it is 
 likely that the latter port will be connected by telegraph with Shanghai by 
 the end of March. Twelve months hence, we shall probably be in direct 
 communication with London. 
 
 In the meantime, the Foreign Settlement of Shanghai is growing and 
 improving. New roads are being made, under the auspices of the Municipal 
 Council, and trees have been planted along the Bund, the Bubbling Well 
 Road, and some of the principal outlets. A new road along the bank of the 
 river towards Woosung has been completed as far as the Yangtzepoo Creek. 
 Materials have been imported for building new iron bridges over the 
 Hongkew and Sooohow Creeks ; our only regret is that the latter has not 
 yet passed into the possession of the Municipality. A tax on communication 
 between two parts of a Settlement which is practically one, is an intolerable 
 inconvenience. The French portion of the New Cemetery has been raised 
 and laid out. We regret that some system was not followed in the 
 excavations made for the purpose ; as what now are an unsightly series of 
 holes, might have been made an ornamental sheet of water. One improve- 
 ment that is urgently needed is a system of Water-works. The water which 
 we now use, dipped by buckets from the river or creeks, is impure and 
 expensive. A reservoir should be established, and pipes laid on from a spot 
 some miles up the river. We are convinced that the general health of - 
 the Settlement would be improved by the measure. In the Settlement 
 itself we have little to record, except in the gradual extension of drainage 
 works, and the perfection of the roads. Steps are being taken to improve 
 the sanitary arrangements of the Chinese quarter. A handsome new 
 building for the Oriental Bank, erected from designs by Mr. Kidnef, has 
 been completed and occupied. The Club has been repaired and embellished ; 
 and, more than all, the monetary entanglement between it and the Eecrea- 
 tion Fund has been set straight, in pursuance of a scheme devised by Mr. 
 Groom. The Trustees of the Recreation Fund have taken over the Club 
 building in discharge of their mortgage, the Club Shareholders sacrificing 
 the value of their shares and ceasing to exist as a proprietary. An 
 arrangement has been made between the members and new proprietors 
 which works well, and under which there seems a prospect that the 
 mortgage on the building will be soon paid off. But if the Settlement 
 has gained a handsome building in the new Oriental Bank, it has lost one in 
 the destruction by fire of the British Consulate, during the night of the 
 23rd December. This edifice was built in 1850, during the Consulate of 
 Mr. Alcock, and was therefore just twenty years old. Of course it will 
 have to be rebuilt ; and the Public Works Department can hardly do 
 
62 
 
 better than repeat the old plan. The new ofi&ces of the Supreme Court, 
 which are an adjunct, were fortunately saved. A new residence for the 
 Consul,, in another part of the compound, is nearly finished. The new 
 British gaol, on the banks of the Soochow Creek, is also finished. 
 
 Sir Edmund Hornby, the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, has gone 
 home on leave of absence, and his post is temporarily filled by Mr- 
 Goodwin. Mr. N. J. Hannen has been appointed Assistant Judge, with 
 charge of the Japan district, and left a few days since to take up his post. 
 
 Among other social institutions. Freemasonry has flourished and 
 extended, a new Royal Arch Chapter, under the American Constitution, 
 having been added to the number of societies working here. The District 
 Grand Lodge of China, under the English Constitution, has been practically 
 removed from Hongkong to Shanghai, in consequence of the change of 
 residence to this port of the District Grand Master, Henry Murray. We 
 hear that it is likely the number of Lodges under his jurisdiction may be 
 increased, by the inauguration of one at Chinkeang. 
 
 Japan, fhe eventful year 1870 seems to have been a quiet and satisfactory 
 one for Japan. If we look over the able summary published in the 
 Japan Weekly Mail, we are struck by the contrast which the history 
 of the bye-gone year presents to that which we read in European, and 
 we must add in China, papers. Whereas the great nations of the old 
 and so-called civilized world have been labouring to prove that the 
 tiger instinct is the dominant passion of man, the Empire of the Rising 
 Sun has been developing and progressing in all the directions which 
 expand the better instincts of the individual, and in the end consolidate 
 government, and justify our hopes of the ultimate reign of Right and 
 Reason. To quote the contemporary chronicle of occurrences, the past 
 year " has been a year of peace for Japan, during which some progress 
 has been made in the work of consolidation and centralization." 
 
 The Mikado has remained in Yeddo, which is thus marked as the capital 
 of the Empire, " all the Departments of the Government being in full and 
 permanent function within its precincts." As a very important step in the right 
 direction, we observe that the once isolated and mysterious Emperor 
 has, on two noteworthy occasions, exhibited his august countenance 
 to his loyal subjects. To us who are looking eagerly for a solution 
 of the audience question in China, this seems a hopeful sign. If the 
 Mikado can deign to unveil his resplendent visage to poor grovelling 
 humanity, surely the " Son of Heaven " may allow his face to be seen 
 by the accredited ambassadors of Western nations. Further, it seems 
 that during the year just over, two Princes of the blood have left their 
 own country for other climes, one for the United States, and one for 
 England. 
 
 But this is not all, the territorial titles of the Daimios and Kuges 
 have been abolished, and the country has been divided for administrative 
 
63 
 
 purposes into three parts. The important cities of Tedo, Osaka, and 
 Kioto have their special rank and their special goTernment, just as 
 ecclesiastically in England there are three premier sees. Next come 
 the Ken, i.e. districts administered by officials appointed directly by 
 the Central Government ; and lastly the Han, i.e. provinces nnder their 
 former princes or relations of the same, and still for the most part 
 governed by their own laws and usages. This change, however, though 
 satisfactory in the main, has to a certain extent a trace of that feudal 
 system which it is so essential to abolish, and therefore many strenuous 
 efforts have been made during the past year to change the Han into 
 Ken, thereby bringing the whole country under the control of the Central 
 Government. Nambu H'totsubashi, and some other Han, have been 
 changed into Ken, and more are likely to undergo a similar transformation. 
 These are constitutional and administrative changes, but these are not 
 the only signs of altered times that are coming over Japan. Everywhere 
 the inhabitants are abandoning the stereotyped system of routine and 
 precedent that they inbibed from the Chinese, and are exhibiting a 
 readiness to learn lessons from the West. The Eailway scheme has 
 lost the energetic aid of Mr. Lay, as the Government feared that 
 complications were likely to arise from the powers placed in the hands 
 of a foreign agent. They hesitated to pledge their Railway and Customs 
 duties for a certain sum of money, though it was less than that required 
 to construct the proposed line, and Mr. Lay's commission was revoked. Our 
 own feeling on this subject need not interfere with our general satisfaction 
 that a line will soon be laid down in Japan ; and we cannot help observing 
 the cruelty of that policy which flatters the Chinese in all their prejudices, 
 and virtually debars them from the enjoyment of the blessings of civilization. 
 The tone of feeling amongst the natives toward foreigners is gradually 
 undergoing a change. We read with unmixed pleasure that the old 
 attitude of the two-sworded men is changing. We are assured that "the 
 fierce scowl which the features of these gentry assumed, and the ill-repressed 
 tendency of their hands to seek their sword -handles on passing a foreigner, 
 have subsided into a bearing which, if not friendly or deferential, is certainly 
 far from hostile.'' 
 
 , One blot on the Mikado's administration must be remarked. The 
 Government iinfortunately once, and we hope once for all, allowed them- 
 selves to be overborne by the clamours of the old conservative party, and 
 set on foot a persecution of the Christians. Three thousand men, women 
 and children were deported from the neighbourhood of Nagasaki to different 
 provinces, there to be disseminated among the pagan population. We are 
 disposed to think that, even in this act, Mercy was allowed to speak, and 
 that the Government put the native converts out of harm's way, knowing 
 that they wouM fall victims if they were left where they were. Still, the 
 act was wrong, and was unquestionably a sign of weakness ; but the 
 
64 
 
 difficulties of tiie new regime were great, and the policy of removing the 
 Christians may have averted the horror of another Tientsin massacre. At 
 all events, Buddhism seems to be dying out, and Sintooism taking its 
 place. This may not be a great advance, but it is not a retrogp:ade 
 movement. Altogether, the annus miraibilis of Europe has been a prosperous 
 year for Japan. 
 
 We have spoken, thus far, of the political events that have occurred 
 during the past twelve months in Japan ; and we have been able to speak 
 with pleased confidence, of the signs of progress that are discernible 
 in the Island Empire, so near to China in geographical position, and so 
 intimately connected with her in the opinion of Western nations. Living 
 as we do in the midst of the Chinese, and therefore in daily acquaintance 
 with the social and political phenomena that make themselves apparent 
 while the tardiest of nations developes itself, the comparison of the two 
 countries, so common in European journals, appears misleading. In fact, 
 every day proves that violent contrast, and not illustrative similarity, 
 marks the efforts of the Chinaman and the Japanese to find the more 
 excellent way. It seems to us that China and Japan present very different 
 lessons ; and when we see the two places named together, we are reminded 
 of the old and hackneyed truth, that comparison of things not comparable 
 is the fruitful parent of error. It is no doubt a great temptation to a 
 writer who aims at clearness, to add illustrations and similes at every 
 turn, and to enforce the weight or point the edge of his argument, by 
 some seemingly apt similitude. But the temptation is as perilous as it 
 is astray. In writing about China, men are specially liable to be seduced 
 into this mistake, who have not assiduously studied the country and 
 its inhabitants on the spot, and who regard aU Eastern nations as pretty 
 much alike. 
 
 In the present case, we do not design to draw any parallels, but 
 content ourselves with attempting a resume of the commercial progress 
 of the Land of the Kising Sun. It seems that, while the political 
 institutions of the country have been enlarging themselves -to meet the 
 requirements of the age, the foreign merchants have not been so fortunate 
 as they might reasonably have expected, in -the course of commerce. 
 The Government still appears to interfere too much with trade, instead 
 of boldly attempting to carry out a hberal and comprehensive programme. 
 The excessive rains of 1869 affected production in almost the whole of 
 Nippon, and caused a deficiency which the foreign merchants naturally 
 devoted themselves to supply. The quantity of rice imported into 
 Yokohama alone, during 1870, amounted to no less than 3,133,000 piculs ; 
 of peas there were imported 227,300 piculs; of oil 88,760 piculs; of 
 sugar 381,900 piculs, and of salt 37,000 piculs. The total value of 
 these imports amounted to nearly ten miUions of dollars. A wise and 
 thoroughly enlightened Government would have rejoiced at the relief 
 
65 
 
 afforded to the population, and would have allowed the stream to have 
 free course. Instead of this, however, the Mikado and his advisers have 
 fallen back on the oldest of old mistakes, and have endeavoured to 
 create monopolies, to impose new taxes on those who trade, and, in the 
 language of the summary in the Weekly Mail, to show, " in a thousand 
 little and narrow-minded ways," Governmental jealousy of, or indifference 
 to, those who have done it such precious service. Now, of course, we 
 are aware that the immediate peril is over. Japan has had a good year, 
 and is elated and joyous in consequence j but the disaster of 1869 may 
 be repeated in 1871, and if so the new rulers will find their position 
 damaged by the attitude they have chosen to assume. It is strange that, 
 while in certain directions liberality and common sense are found to 
 inspire the Government, in other directions old and worn-out notions 
 seem still to cramp and hamper intelligent activity. With regard to 
 the Silk trade, we notice, of course, the effects of the European War. 
 The season of 1869-70 was finished before the world-renowned "mis- 
 understanding at a watering-place " occurred ; therefore, as all looked 
 peaceful, the prices, which had risen rapidly, seemed likely to be 
 maintained ; the export has of course been affected by recent events. 
 The total export of Tea for the year will, it is believed, be about 
 3,000,000 lbs. in excess of 1869, and will sum up between thirteen 
 and fourteen millions of pounds. Nearly all the tea exported has gone 
 to the United States. The export of native coin has reached the 
 enormous sum of ten millions of dollars, and the natives were fortunate 
 in having a good coin capable of being exported to pay for the Saigon 
 rice that so greatly relieved their necessity. A further improvement 
 will take place in this respect on the establishment of the mint at Hiogo. 
 For some time yet, however, the internal business of the country will have 
 to be transacted in paper. It is to be noted that at Nagasaki the business 
 is lapsing into the hands of the Chinese. 
 
66 
 
 1871 
 
 Political. Glancing back at our retrospect of 1870, we find the condition of 
 China has improved, though not so materially as might have been the 
 case, had a stronger Government had better means of applying the large 
 sums drawn from the more prosperous provinces for the purpose of queUing 
 insurrection in others. Beginning in the North-west, the inference seems 
 safe that Imperial authority has at last really regained an ascendant. We 
 have been so often deceived by untrue reports of Mahomedan annihilation, 
 followed by exaggerated reports of Mahomedan success, that we quite well 
 know how unsafe it is to rely implicitly on the irridescent accounts of 
 glorious victory published from time to time in the Peking Gazette. Still 
 these have a certain value. A city would not be reported taken unless it 
 were taken — by bribery very likely instead of bravery, but still taken — and 
 as we can trace on the map the actual scenes of the successes reported, we 
 can assure ourselves that Imperial authority is being actually re-established 
 in Kansuh. The process is tedious ; for it does not suit Chinese Mandarins 
 to terminate too quickly a profitable campaign, nor Chinese soldiers to fight 
 too actively for arrears of pay. The country, too, is difficult ; no crushing 
 victory can be gained over enemies who sally forth from mountains, and 
 can disperse among them at will. But that the Mahomedans are reduced 
 to this style of warfare, indicates that they have been overcome in the field. 
 In Yunnan the prospect is less bright. For the first timfe for many 
 months, the Peking Gazette very lately contained a reference to TunEan. 
 Of course it was to chronicle an important victory ; the Gazette is not 
 designed to spread news of disaster. But the exaggeration was transparent, 
 and we have no reason to believe that any real progress has been made 
 towards subjugating this province. The improved condition of other 
 parts of the Empire may permit greater efforts to be made during the 
 ehsuing year ; and it is the more likely that this wiU be done, as the 
 Peking Mandarins are said to view with much jealousy the negooiations 
 that have la,tely taken place between British India and Tali. If so, they 
 had better exert themselves to restore Imperialist supremacy throughout 
 Yunnan, and carry out the liberal policy in regard to commercial inter- 
 course which the Mahomedan authorities favour, and which secures for 
 them the sympathy of Indian merchants. Here, as elsewhere, their 
 fortunes lies very much in their own hands. 
 
 Kweichow, at the beginning of 1871, seems to have been more than 
 
67 
 
 half out of hand. The Miaotze, who appear to survive in greatest strength 
 in this quarter of China, had descended from their fastnesses and overrun 
 more than half the province. But during the latter part of the year great 
 progress seems to have been made in recovering the invaded districts. It 
 may be that the Imperial troops have been really handled with some energy, 
 or it may be that the Miaotze got tired of occupying territory from which 
 they had sucked the life-blood. But at any rate we attach so much credence 
 to the reports published in the Peking Gazette, as to believe the cities named 
 have been recovered. A rumour has been current in the South, of an 
 insurrectionary movement having for its design to combine the disaffected 
 classes from Yunnan to Kwangtung, under the leadership of a son of the 
 late Tien-wang ; but in the absence of more definite information, we can 
 give no weight to the report. 
 
 It seems clear, on the other hand, that Imperialist authority has been 
 to a certain extent re-established over the turbulent tribes of Kwangtung 
 and Fohkien, who had for some time been almost independent of control. 
 We had occasion, in the last chapter, to remark on the lawless condition 
 of the Fohkienese, in explaining the necessity for Commodore Jones' 
 expedition against the villages near Swatow ; and we subsequently recorded 
 the despatch of an expedition, from Canton, to re-assert an authority 
 which had come to be set at naught. From the Peking Gazette and 
 from other sources, we learn that this expedition has been fairly successful ; 
 and that the Imperial Officials can now again claim to have some influence 
 over these half-civihzed tribes. Chekiang and Kiangsu, two provinces 
 which suffered worst from the Taeping rebellion, have gone on recovering, 
 under the stimulus of foreign commerce and steam carriage, more rapidly 
 than any of their neighbours. Immense crops of cotton and rice have 
 found outlet this year, by the aid of foreign ships, to Szechuen and 
 Kwangtung, where a demand has existed for both these (Chinese) necessaries 
 of life. 
 
 What is remarkable is that, while so large qnantites of rice have 
 been shipped from Chinkeang southward, less exertion has apparently been 
 made to supply the more serious demand in Chihh. Heavy rains, 
 occasioning unusual freshets, acting on neglected embankments, have 
 caused disastrous floods over an immense area of that province. Hundreds 
 of thousands of acres have been submerged, and hundreds of thousands 
 of people ruined and made houseless. The Peking Gazette has teemed 
 with Imperial edicts, ordering the local authorities to apply the Imperial 
 rice tribute and take other measures to relieve the prevalent distress. 
 But it is feared these weU-sounding mandates will not have full practical 
 effect, and that many thousands will die from cold and starvation, 
 during the. winter. In the meantime large districts are still under water 
 and ice-bound; and are unlikely to drain sufficiently early, in the 
 spring, to permit the land to be sown for the ensuing summer. 
 
68 
 
 Some apprehension has been felt, of outbreak among the distressed 
 inhabitants; but we fancy want of food and difiaculty of locomotion 
 will prevent large gatherings of men, though there will undoubtedly 
 be much plunder and brigandage. The occurrence of the disaster so 
 close to the capital, has caused the Government much uneasiness. The 
 mandarins don't care much for the people's welfare, except on paper; 
 but they do like peace and quietness, in order to save themselves trouble. 
 
 A report has got abroad of boundary disputes with Eussia, inthe North; 
 and the tone of St. Petersburgh papers seem to indicate some truth in the 
 statement. Whether the Chinese purpose making a stand or not, is another 
 question. They certainly dread Russian encroachment; but yet they 
 incline to look on their outlying possessions as troublesome encumbrances. 
 There are also said to be serious disturbances in Mongolia, which are 
 occupying considerable forces, but the difficulty of getting accurate informa- 
 tion on these points is very great. 
 
 When we wrote last year, Chunghow had just set out for Europe, on 
 his mission of apology. He arrived while the Franco-Prussian war was yet 
 going on ; and had to wait till occurrences left French statesmen time to 
 deal with less pressing qiiestions. We now hear that his mission has been 
 successfully accomplished. M. Thiers has virtually said : We have too 
 much on our hands to inquire too rigorously into the Tientsin massacre, 
 now. We accept your apology, therefore, and the reparation you have 
 offered ; but warn your Emperor that Missionaries must be better protected 
 in future, and that he must receive the^ Representative of France as I have 
 received you, if he wishes to avoid misunderstanding. This matter, 
 however, as well as the late excitement which has been got up in the South 
 regarding certain imaginary pills that foreigners were accused of dissemin- 
 ating, will be referred to more fully hereafter. 
 
 In the meantime, the Chinese Government has succeeded in staving off 
 the Audience Question, by deferring the marriage of the Emperor. This is 
 said to be now definitely fixed for the approaching spring ; and it is 
 generally understood that, as this event symbolises the formal assumption 
 of power by the Emperor, it will be made the occasion for a joint demand 
 by Foreign Ministers for admission to his presence as the representatives 
 -of equal Powers — and that the demand will be insisted on. It is perhaps 
 fortunate for the cause of peace that the Emperor's tutor, Wojen, has 
 died during the past year. A man of great scholarship, according to 
 the Chinese test ; but rabidly conservative and hostile to foreign inter- 
 course — his influence must have been bad on the young sovereign who 
 was taught at his feet. The extent of this influence remains yet to 
 be seen. Some Foreigners believe that the more liberal party will 
 prevail, and that the Emperor will be persuaded to accept the political 
 position which the last ten years have established ; others declare that 
 the Chinese are preparing' for a struggle which can only end for them 
 
69 
 
 in extreme disaster, and point to the activity lately shown at their 
 Arsenals and Dockyards, in support of this belief. 
 
 As we endeavoured to show, at the outset of this chapter, progress 
 has been made towards restoring order in some districts of the Empire ; 
 but the Peking Gazette itself establishes that nothing has been done to 
 remedy the frightful coiTuption which prevails everywhere. Judges 
 bribed, justice perverted, people overtaxed, roads neglected, and mandarins 
 and their subordiuates waxing fat on peculation. — such is the picture of 
 Celestial civilisation which philo-Chinese foreigners ask ua to admire and 
 respect. Neither the people nor the leaders of the people are blind to the 
 weakness in the Central Government, from which all this results ; but such 
 great Chiefs as Li and Tseng are waiting to see what the young Emperor 
 is like. 
 
 ^°^th cwna°™ January, 1871, found Chunghow arrived in France, on his 
 mission of apology for the massacre of Tientsin. The terms 
 of reparation which he was charged to offer are to well known to need 
 recapitulation ; they had in effect been cai-ried out Ijefore he started ; and 
 his task was to commend them as suf&cieut, to the Government of France. 
 Whether he would have succeeded in this, had France not been pre-occupied 
 with a graver quarrel, may well be questioned. We have repeatedly 
 expressed our own opinion, that nothing short of the execution of the 
 Mandarins who fomented the massacre, would be an adequate punishment 
 for their complicity, and guarantee against similar misconduct by other 
 locnl officials. The execution of twenty wretches, who were bribed by a 
 present of Tls. 500 to their families, was a satire on justice ; and the 
 sentence of banishment passed on others, a farce. But France was too 
 deeply occupied in Europe, to have leisure to coerce ihe Government of 
 China. Chunghow was eventually received; and his proffered apology 
 accepted, with a waruiug that the Emperor had better keep his subjects 
 tighter in hand for the future, if he wished amicable relations to continue. 
 Its object accomplished, the Mission is now on the point of returning to 
 China. 
 
 The injuries done to American and English Missions during the riot of 
 the 21st June, have also been compensated during the year, — to the 
 satisfaction of Mr. Low and Mr. Wade ; but quite inadequately, even as 
 regards actual pecuniary loss, in the opinion of other people. 
 
 We have no design to go back over the circumstances of an event which 
 was fully described in our retrospect of 1870 ; and need only add that the 
 Blue Book completely substantiates the accuracy of our record. Had we 
 had access to the official documents since made public, we could hardly 
 have given a more precise sketch of the course of events, than is contained 
 in our last chapter. 
 
70 
 
 One political advantage has followed from the Tientsin massacre. 
 It has shown foreign powers that the Chinese are barely a semi-civilised 
 people ; that foreigners residing among them are more or less insecure, 
 and need ever-active protection, and that the optimist views inspired 
 by Mr. Burlingame were inistaliea and baseless. A despatch* from Mr. 
 Low to Prince Kimg, couched in the most extreme terms of forbearance, 
 was fittingly overridden by the Government of Washington, and a warning 
 conveyed to the Chinese, that America would be prompt to act with other 
 foreign powers in case action became necessary. The instructions of the 
 British Admiralty, which had virtually converted our men-of-war into 
 floating hotels — forbidden to fight, permitted only to receive Englishmen 
 who might be driven away from their houses and settlements — have 
 been materially altered ; and naval officers are now again allowed to 
 exercise their proper functions of active guardianship. 
 
 The massacre of Tientsin was followed by a Circular despatch from 
 the Chinese Government to Foreign Powers, calling for a review of the 
 whole missionary question. This despatch, f recapitulates the alleged grounds 
 of official complaint and popular hostility against missionaries, and suggests 
 a series of regulations for their future governance. Though no especial 
 reference is made, the wording makes it evident that Catholic missionaries 
 chiefly are indicated. The reply therefore of the French Government f 
 has prominent interest. It is, briefly, that the complaints against missionaries 
 made by the Chinese need no special legislation, but constitute ofifenoes 
 which can and will be punished under existing laws and treaties, whenever 
 substantiated. 
 
 More remarkable, however, than even the list of grievances which 
 the Chinese Circular catalogued, was the picture drawn in the preface, 
 of danger from the existing position. " From the information which 
 " the Prince and the Yamin have gathered, these persons (missionaries) 
 " found, as it were, among us, an undetermined number of states within 
 " the state. How under these circumstances can we hope that a durable 
 " understanding should be established, and to prevent the governors and 
 " the governed uniting against them in common hostility t The Prince 
 " and the members of the YamSn are impressed with the desire to ward 
 " off from henceforth an eventuality so menacing. In fact they fear in 
 " aU sincerity lest, after the arrangement of the Tientsin affair, the 
 "minority of the ignorant Christians of the Empire should take a 
 " more decided tone of insolent bluster ; that the bitterness of popular 
 " resentment should increase, and that so much accumulated bad feeling 
 " causing a sudden explosion should bring about a catastrophe. It would 
 " then be no longer possible for the local authorities nor the high provincial " 
 " functionaries^ nor even, for the Tsung-li Yamgn to assert their authority. 
 " In the event of a general rising in China, the Emperor may appoint high 
 
 * jr.-O, Herald, April 6. t if--C, Herald, August 26, t N.-C. Herald, December 6, 
 
71 
 
 " dignitaries to order them to assemble everywhere imposing forces ; but 
 " the greatest rigour does not reach the masses, and when their anger 
 " manifests itself, there are persons who refuse to yield their heads to 
 " the executioner." 
 
 Our object at present is to record rather than to criticise. But 
 we cannot refrain from declaring, for the hundredth time, the 
 fallacy which underlies this exordium. The " anger of the masses " 
 ■will not manifest itself against missionaries unless it is stimulated from 
 above. That missionaries may have committed indiscretions tending to 
 irritate the mandarins, we can believe ; but the remedy lies in formal 
 complaint to- the foreign Ministers, not in exciting mob outrage ; and if 
 the mandarins have real grievances, they have retarded rather than 
 mended their case, by exciting popular antipathy. The Chinese habit 
 of exaggeration, however, is so profound that few people will believe in 
 the existence of a foundation broad enough to bear the great superstructure 
 raised in this famous despatch. We have indeed heard it suggested by 
 a man than whom few are better cognizant of Chinese habits, that the 
 massacre, the despatch, and the subsequent anti-missionary demonstrations 
 in the South, where all parts of a programme designed to attain the 
 object of curtailing missionary enterprise. The importance of the 
 question would not be lessened by this interpretation ; but it would have 
 to be reviewed in a very different light from that in which the Circular 
 places it. The prophecy of further disturbance, our correspondent 
 argued, meant that further disturbance should take place if the alleged 
 motive were not removed. And the self-evident manufacture of the 
 Shan-sin-fan mmours which distm'bed the Southern provinces in the 
 summer of 1871, — as the tales of kidnapping and mutilation excited the 
 North in 1870 — tends to justify his argument. 
 
 In July 1871, placards were posted in Fatshan, a city some thirty 
 miles inland from Canton, declaring -that foreigners had compounded a 
 pill, christened " Shan-sin-fan " (Genii powder pill), whose effect was 
 to cause swellings of the body and other ailments that would terminate 
 fatally unless the effect were counteracted by an antidote of which 
 foreigners only had the knowledge, and which they would not administer 
 unless the patient embraced Christianity. These placards spread from 
 Fatshan throughout the Kwangtung province, into Kweichow, to Hongkong, 
 up the coast to the treaty ports and inland cities of Fohkien ; and created 
 an excitement and terror among the ignorant populace that found vent 
 in actual riot in several inland cities, and caused disturbance even in 
 Hongkong. A chapel in Fatshan narrowly escaped destruction. An 
 outbreak was expected hourly at Canton, H. M.'s gunboat Thistle was 
 gent up, and a detachment of troops was held in readiness to start from 
 Hongkong at a moment's notice. At Sheklung and Toonkun, missionary 
 premises were pulled down ; at Sun-woo-ee foreigners were mobbed. 
 
72 
 
 Several chapels were destroyed, and the Rev. J. Mahood narrowly escaped 
 with his life, in the neighbourhood of Fooohow. The excitement was 
 almost entirely confined to the three provinces we have named ; one 
 placard was posted at Tsekee in Chekeang, and frightened the populace 
 effectually, but it was pulled down and the matter died out. At Hankow 
 also an attempt was made to spread the rumour, but failed. 
 
 Translations of various placards, and of proclamations issued by 
 mandarins at Kweilin, Canton, Swatow, Amoy and Foochow, have been 
 made public during the year. The purport of the former we have already 
 described. They appeared to be based on the Mission hospitails, as they 
 speak of illness wilfully caused by Foreigners, which Foreigners only 
 couJd cure, and which they would not cure unless the patient embraced 
 Christianity. As there is generally a particle of fire in every case where 
 smoke is seen, so the missionary element in these hospitals seems to 
 have supplied an idea on which to build up the superstructure of 
 falsehood that caused so much disturbance. What is regrettable is, 
 that the local mandarins do not combat such tales by frank deni^ and 
 ridicule, instead of hegging the people to be calm, and assuring them 
 of watchful care that they shall suffer no injury. The minute elaboration 
 and industrious spread of these reports, proves that more powerful agency 
 than a locg,l popular misapprehension is at work. It is difficult to resist 
 the inference that they are got up by design ; and that powerful influence 
 restrains the mandarins from treating them as they would do, if frank 
 ipstructions from the Peking Government, and a sincere desire on their 
 own part to maintain' peace, were the only motives at work. It looks 
 very inuoh as though the spirit which dictated the Missionary Circular 
 were at work, producing evidence to substantiate its averments. As we 
 said before — that the mandarins may have some grounds of annoyance 
 many believe ; but that these hostile manifestations are the pure outbreak of 
 popular instinct, no one believes ; and the Chinese should realise that 
 any sympathy they may gain from a frank diplomatic eipi'ession of 
 their feeling will be more than counterbalanced, if this absurd process 
 of placard-calumny is repeated. Count Rochechouart has told them : 
 if they have grievances against Foreigners, to appeal to Foreign Authority. 
 But if their design be, as has been suggested, to keep up a feeling of 
 irritation which can be fanned into flame at a chosen moment^-they may 
 rest assured that they are preparing a shock which wiU recoil with hundred- 
 fold force upon themselves. However this may be, the Governmsnt 
 evidently did not desire an outbreak on this occasion. Partly by the 
 feeble remonstrances in official proclamations, partly by natural subsidence, 
 the reports died out as they had arisen ; and everything now, so far a's 
 foreigners are concerned, seems politically still. 
 
 The most interesting question before us is, what further steps will he 
 taken in regard to treaty revision. Will Great Britain pui-sue alone the 
 
73 
 
 negooiations broken off by the rejection of Sir E. Alcook's convention, 
 or will the other Powers join in persuading the Chinese Government to 
 move another step or two in advance ? One thing is certain ; the Audience 
 Question will be mooted so soon as the Emperor's marriage indicates his 
 assumption of the full responsibility of office ; and Western Powers are 
 quite disposed to insist on the concession, to their Representatives, of 
 a privilege that has been granted to Chinese Envoys in Europe. On the 
 other hand, the Missionary question may be mooted by the Chinese ; 
 and, judging from the evidence lately given by Sir R. Aloook before the 
 committee on Indian Finance, they show a strong inclination to remonstrate 
 against the opium trade also. We have at last, from Sir Rutherford's 
 own mouth, a narrative of the interview at which Prince Kung expressed 
 his famous wish to be rid of missionaries and opium, as the two chiefly 
 disagreeable features in foreign intercourse. It is worth while quoting 
 the account of the interview. 
 
 " Prince Kung came with the other Ministers to take leave of me as a 
 matter of courtesy, and naturally he referred to all the discussions which we 
 had had on the revision of the treaty ; and, as we had neither of us obtained 
 exactly what we wished, and the missionaries and the opium had very often 
 been brought forward as the great obstacles to any perfect understanding, I 
 alluded to those conversations and the signing of the convention, and I said, 
 'After all these discussions, now that we have entered into a convention, 
 regulating many points, I hope that, though I going away, you will find other 
 matters will settle themselves satisfactorily, and that there will be a gradual 
 improvement in our relations and in the progress of our commerce.' He shook 
 my hand very cordially, and said, 'Yes; we have had a great many discussions, 
 but we know that you have always endeavoured to do justice, and if you could 
 only relieve us of missionaries and opium, there need be no more trouble in 
 China.'" 
 
 Sir Rutherford expresses a strong opinion that, despairing of inducing 
 us to consent to de-legalise the opium traffic, China intends to try to ruin 
 the Indian trade by encouraging the manufacture at home, trusting then to 
 stamp out the habit of opium smoking by the power of the Executive. We 
 apprehend the exigencies of Indian Finance wiU oppose an insurmountable 
 barrier to the concession which the Chinese seek ; just as the sympathies of 
 France more especially will prevent any curtailment of the privileges 
 claimed under the treaty, for missionaries. It is interesting, however, to 
 note the views of the Chinese on these two points. 
 
 One important question seems to have been removed, during the year, 
 from the category of demands — we refer to Transit Passes. Every one 
 interested in China knows that Art. XXVIII of the Tientsin Treaty provides 
 that a payment of 2J per cent, ad valorem shall free foreign goods to any 
 place inland ; but that the Chinese have long sought to restrict the concession 
 to goods in Foreign hands, claiming that, when they had passed into native 
 ownership they became subject to the usual barrier taxation. This evidently 
 was to neutralise the treaty ; for, as foreigners have no hongs in the interior, 
 
74 
 
 they have nowhere to send goods to. The design was to protect foreign goods 
 Trom the rapacity and exclusive instincts of the officials. The result of the 
 restriction was, that foreign merchants often took out transit passes for 
 goods sold to Chinese — virtually selling them to arrive at their inland 
 destination, instead of on the spot. The vahdity of the pass was then 
 constantly questioned, and dispute was frequent. Mr. Medhurst took the 
 first step to break down the opposition to the clause, in procuring the 
 recognition of Transit Passes at the Hweiquan barrier, in 1868 ; and the 
 enormous growth of the trade of Chinkeang has convinced the Taotai of 
 that port that free trade is a true principle. We learn from the Blue Book 
 No. 6 of 1871 (p. 213), that the Chinese admitted the principle in conver- 
 sation, so long ago as July 14th, 18G8 ; but begged that it might not be 
 insisted on. Mr. Medhurst's action at Yangchow, however, seems to 
 have persuaded them to view it differently ; for we find, in an official 
 book of treaties and explanatory despatches published by the then Taotai 
 of Shanghai, a note by Tseng-kwo-fan, dated Nov. 10th, 1868, referring 
 to an order from the Tsung-li Yamen which lays down that Chinese 
 as well as foreigners have the right to take foreign imports inland on 
 payment of the fixed transit due. But notwithstanding this order 
 the officials continued the old squeeze, until the question was again 
 raised and strenuously fought by Mr. Markham, last autumn. The 
 matter seems then to have been brought to the notice of the Tsung-li 
 Yamen by Mr. Hart, and renewed instructions to have been issued, which 
 are now obeyed in this province. At some other ports, however, the 
 old restriction is still maintained ; and it behoves H. M.'s Minister, as 
 representing the nation most interested, to. procure, and officially notify, 
 a copy of the Tsung-li Yaraen's order, so as to strengthen the hands of 
 the Consuls in fighting the point with the local mandarins. We are 
 glad to have to record this intelligent action on the part of the Peking 
 Government, and must repeat our surprise that Foreign merchants have been 
 left to drag out the concession as it were from a dark corner, instead of 
 having it first from the mouth of their Representatives ; but this extraor- 
 nary taciturnity of which we complained in our last chapter, seems to be 
 a prevalent characteristic of Peking. 
 
 The question of transit dues is therefore removed from the list of. 
 subjects to be battled for in revising the Tientsin treaty ; though it may be 
 desirable to alter the wording of Art. XXVITI, so as to put it beyond the 
 power of philo-Chinese theorists to invent for it a meaning which even the 
 Chinese themselves do not claim. Another matter which was urged in all 
 the memorials addressed to Sir R. Alcock, was the revision of the drawback 
 system. The custom is that drawbacks shall only be allowed for goods 
 re-exported within a year ; but there is no such restriction as to time in 
 Art. XLV of the treaty ; the habit of refusing to refund duties on goods 
 which had been imported more than a year is an infraction of treaty, and 
 
75 
 
 the point is therefore one simply for assertion — not in the loast concerning 
 treaty revision. What will be matter for negooiation probably, is the further 
 opening up of inland waters. Permission for steamers to run to lohang, to 
 ply on the Poyaug lake, and possibly to ascend the Han, and run on the 
 Yellow Eiver, will no doubt be asked. And if the objection of interference 
 with the boating industry were sincere, experience on the Yangtze should 
 have convinced the Chinese that any injury done in this respect is far more 
 than counterbalanced by the advantage of improved communication. Trade 
 on the Yangtze had been destroyed by the Taeping rebellion, at the time 
 the steamers began running ; and not only have these greatly hastened a 
 revival of traffic, which would have been infinitely slower in recovery 
 without the facility for carriage they have afforded, but a large junk and 
 lorcha trade has grown up alongside them. During tlie last few months the 
 advantage of rapid transport has been especially shown, in the carriage 
 from Chinke^ng to the south of rice, which superabounded in Kiangsu but 
 of which there was a deficiency in the South of China. Junks would have 
 failed to carry the surplus crop with sufficient rapidity and certainty to 
 stimulate the cultivators to gather produce which they would have seen no 
 prospect of selling. Even as it is, many fields have been allowed to lie 
 uncut, from the difficulty and expense of carrying the produce to a mart. 
 Good roads, and road steamers or railways, would have obviated this waste. 
 But we fear there is as much dislike to the commotion which rapid 
 communication implies, as sincere regard for the people's interests, in the 
 official opposition to these innovations. Steamers and railway trains, 
 moreover, don't stop to be squeezed at frequent Customs barriers. It 
 remains to be seen whether these points can be more successfully urged in 
 the next attempt at revision, than they were two years ago. 
 
 An interesting question arose, during the year, in regard to the 
 relations of Portugal with China. The Customs refused to grant a permit 
 to land opium, to a Portuguese applicant, unless he signed a guarantee to 
 pay the Lekim tax — on the ground that Portugal is not a Treaty Power. 
 The assertion took Portuguese as well as other foreigners by surprise, 
 but research showed that no real treaty existed. A complete sketch of 
 Portuguese relations with China was given in the iV.-C7. Heraldpi August 11, 
 and showed that the only treaty ever negociated (by Governor Gumiaraens 
 in 1862) was not ratified ; though the Chinese habitually concede to Portu- 
 gal the privileges of a Treaty Power, and recognise its Consuls. The 
 Portuguese resident in China have, we believe, now moved their Govern- 
 ment to resume negooiation, with a view to gain for them a treaty status. 
 
 In reviewing the events of 1870, we strongly condemned Sir R. 
 Alcock's advice to the British Government, to withdraw its Consuls from 
 the treaty ports in Formosa. We showed that the advice was based on 
 hasty and imperfect estimates, and that the island possessed great natural 
 capabilities which time would quickly develope. We are glad to have 
 
76 
 
 to record that Sir Rutherford's advice has been rejected, and that the 
 Formosa trade is actually increasing with the rapidity we predicted. Its 
 tea export is already considerable ; and the existence of such an item in the 
 trade returns would suffice to prove the great advantage of our presence 
 there, even to the Chinese themselves. The cultivation of tea in Formosa 
 is due solely to the enterprise of Mr, Dodd, a British merchant at Tamsui. 
 
 The want of proper currency is a cause of constant complaint by 
 Foreigners resident in China ; and the advantage to the Chinese themselves, 
 of having portable silver coins instead of huge strings of cash or impracticable 
 lumps of sycee, needs not be insisted on. If our Eepresentatives could 
 persuade the Government to make, or allow to be made, a step towards 
 providing a tael coinage, they would be entitled to general gratitude. The 
 inconvenience to Foreigners from the present system of no currency, which 
 involves the use of numberless foreign, coins, and attendant complication in 
 exchange and in accounts, has been often pointed out. The experience of 
 last November, in connexion with the Salt Trade of Yangchow, sufficiently 
 illustrates the case as regards the Chinese. The mandarins invited tenders 
 from Chinese merchants for the right to deal in salt during the year 1872, 
 and required a deposit of Tls. 3,000 from every applicant. The business is, 
 in this district, considered very profitable ; and the number of applicants 
 was great — so great that all sycee was withdrawn from the Shanghai 
 market, and business brought to a standstill. It was not that bullion was 
 deficient, for sycee was borrowed at high rates of interest, on the security of 
 dollars and gold bars. Nothing but sycee would do. Had a proper 
 coinage existed, all the money in Shanghai would have been Chinese, and 
 all would have been equally available. 
 
 Airt. XXXII of the Tientsin treaty has been found to work very 
 imperfectly, and requires careful elaboration. We gladly recognize the 
 advance which has been lately made towards appropriating the Tonnage 
 Dues to their proper purpose ; but much still remains to be done — notably 
 in dredging the bars of the Peiho and the Hwongpoo, so as to permit 
 the entrance of steamers at all stages of the tide, and to obviate the 
 delay and inconvenience now so frequently experienced. Lastly, before 
 turning from the question of treaty revision^ we would express a strong 
 hope that no opportunity will be lost of claiming the fulfilment of Art. 
 VIII of the Convention of Peking, wherein the Emperor promises to 
 command the high authorities, in the capital and in the provinces, to 
 print and publish the Treaty of Tientsin for general information. If 
 this stipulation were sincerely carried, out ; if a copy of the treaty, 
 bearing the Emperor's own seal, were posted in every provincial city, 
 and the Government officials influenced the people towards rather than 
 against it, one half of the difficulties in the way of our intercourse . with 
 the interior would disappear. As it is, we believe hardly a pretence 
 
77 
 
 has been made of communicating to the people the actual state of the 
 relations between China and AVestern Powers. 
 
 The jealousy of the Court of Mandalay, fostered by Chinese intrigue, 
 has hitherto prevented the results that had been hoped, from the negocia- 
 tions entered into by Major Sladen with the Mussulman rulers of Yunnan. 
 Communication has however been opened up, and steamers now run from 
 Rangoon to Bhamo, on the very frontiers of Western China. 
 
 The preoccupation of France, in Europe, has prevented any effect 
 being yet given to the suggestions of the Mission which started from Saigon 
 to explore the sources of the Meikong. It will be remembered that 
 their hope was to find, in the Meikong, a means of communication which 
 would enable Cochin China to compete with British Burmah for the 
 trade of Western China. The Meikong itself, however, proved impracticable 
 for navigation in its upper course. But they ascertained that a river 
 called Hoti — which washes the walls of Yuenkiang in the south of Tunnan 
 and, taking further on the name of Songkoi, falls into the gulf of 
 Tonquin — is a fairly navigable stream. Saigon is the port from which 
 an effort would be most naturally made to avail of this possible route ; 
 and we shall probably hear, before long, that measures have been taken to 
 test the value of the discovery. 
 
 G«nerai. rp^jg great event of the year has been the completion of telegraphic 
 communication between China and England. The line from Shanghai 
 to Hongkong was completed on the 18th April ; and that from Hongkong 
 to Singapore on the 3rd of June. The first through telegram was 
 received by the N.-G. Herald, on the 6th June. A branch line from 
 Hongkong to Saigon was completed in July. A cable between Shanghai 
 and Nagasaki was successfully laid in August, and connexion between 
 the latter port and Vladivostock was established in September ; so that 
 Shanghai is now in instantaneous communication with London, by two 
 different routes. 
 
 The news of the actual arrival of the telegraph seems to have 
 excited some curiosity in the minds of the native officials. The Tartar 
 General of Canton examined the instruments with attention during a 
 visit to Hongkong ; and the Viceroy of the Two Kiang had a special 
 wire laid from one point to another, at the Arsenal, so that he might 
 be able to examine the wonderful invention privately, during his late 
 visit to Shanghai. Both officials showed interest and appreciation ; and 
 we hope their experience may tend to remove the prejudice with which 
 electricity, like every other novelty, has been hitherto regarded in China. 
 
 We mentioned, in our last Chapter, the travels of Mr. Moss under the 
 auspices of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce, in Kwangtung and 
 Kwangsi, and those of Baron von Richtofen under the auspices of the 
 Shanghai Chamber, in Hunan, Hupeh, Honan and Shansi. Mr. Moss' report 
 
78 
 
 had not then heen printed, and we had only a brief outline of his journey 
 before us. The pamphlet* eventually laid before the public proved 
 replete with interest and information. A picture was disclosed of poverty, 
 lawlessness and mis-government in the interior of Kwangtung and of 
 Kwangsi, which had hardly been suspected. 
 
 Baron Eichtofen, whose explorations were interrupted by the excitement 
 which followed the Tientsin massacre in 1870, returned to China last 
 year, and has contributed an interesting and valuable report + on the 
 provinces of Ohekeang and Anhwei. He subsequently set out for the 
 North-west provinces of China, so we may may probably anticipate very 
 shortly another interesting paper, on this region. 
 
 The most noticeable changes that we remember in the diplomatic corps 
 at Peking, are the appointment of Mr. Wade as Minister for Great Britain, 
 instead of Sir Alcock, and the arrival of the Chevalier Calice as Minister for 
 Austria. M. Vlangally has returned from leave and taken up his post as 
 Minister for Eussia. M. Anneke has taken charge of the Prussian Legation 
 during the absence of Baron von Eehfues ; and the departure for Europe of 
 Baron von Eoodenbeek leaves the Belgian Ministry, for the present, unfilled. 
 The sad death of Mr. Markham, in September, left a vacancy in the 
 British Consulate at Shanghai, which was filled for the remainder of the 
 year by Mr. Davenport. 
 
 In the Settlement itself, we have no startling changes to record. The 
 Volunteer Force is kept up, and turned out frequently for exercise during 
 the year —for skirmishing drill or sham fights in the open country, during 
 the cool weather ; for street fighting by night during the heat of summer. 
 The musters are of course not so large as they were immediately after 
 the Tientsin excitement, but they are sufficient to permit pleasant and 
 useful drill. The Fire Brigade has grown in strength and organisation, and 
 comprises seven Engines, besides two Hook and Ladder Companies and a 
 Salvage Corps. 
 
 The various public companies have increased in prosperity during the 
 year, and give every sign of healthy and permanent business. An unhealthy 
 speculation in the share market has been followed by severe reaction, 
 involving loss and embarassment. But the fluctuation has been in the 
 "market," and not in the real, value of shares. A new company, "the 
 Shanghai and Hongkew Wharf," embodying the wharves before known as 
 the Hongkew and Olyphant's, has been formed, and has taken rank as a 
 favourite investment. 
 
 The old Soochow Creek Bridge still spans the canal from which it 
 derives its name, and toll is still levied on a transit which should be as free 
 as an ordinary roadway. Half of the new iron bridge is up; but the 
 sudden subsidence of two of its supports into the soft mud, checked its 
 
 * Jf.-e. Herald, Feb. 8 t ^^--C. Herald Feb. 15. 
 
79 
 
 completion. New means are being devised for its support. Another iron 
 bridge, erected by the Council over the Hongkew Creek, is little more 
 successful. It has been put up, certainly, but is ugly, and inconveniently 
 arched. Various improvements have been made in other respects in the 
 Settlement ; roads have been defined and planted with trees, on the old 
 Eace Course ; the Defence Creek has been cleaned out and rendered again 
 navigable ; the Bund in front of the Club has been extended. The question 
 of widening streets and continuing roads through portions of the Chinese 
 quarter, from Creek to Creek, has attracted attention. Improvements in 
 this direction are much needed. Several new buildings have been erected 
 — amongst others one in which the Asiatic Society, the Library and the 
 Debating Society have their habitation, on a piece of ground given by H. M. 
 Government, at the back of the British Consulate. A range of new foreign 
 houses has been built in the stead of Chinese houses, near the Soochow 
 Creek end of Szechuen Road, and two new hongs have been erected on the 
 French Bund. Altogether the Settlement has improved, and there is 
 prospect of continued progress. How far off the period may be, we cannot 
 hazard a guess ; but it is safe to predict that, one day, Shanghai is destined 
 to be a place of commerce second to none in the East. In the meantime, 
 our Municipal Councils should keep this future clearly in view. A local 
 railway and the opening of the Upper Yangtsze will go far to double its 
 importance and population. 
 
 Cores. Fiye years ago, a persecution of Christians broke out in Corea, and 
 a French expedition endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to punish the authors. 
 About the same time, the crew of the American ship General Slierman, 
 which had penetrated one of the Corean rivers, were murdered. After some 
 correspondence between the United States Government and its officials 
 in China, a resolution was arrived at, to endeavour to open negociations 
 with Corea, for the purpose of securing a treaty for the protection of ship- 
 wrecked mariners, and opening up commercial intercourse if possible.* 
 In pursuance of this decision, an expedition was organized last spring, 
 to escort Mr. Low to Corea, % The squadron, comprising the U. S. 
 vessels-of war Colorado, Benicia, AlasTca, Monocacy, and Palos, under the 
 command of Admiral Rodgers, sailed from Nagasaki about the middle 
 of May and anchored in the harboiir named by the French Isle Bois6e, 
 on the 29th idem. Some communication was had with Corean officials, 
 who enquired into the purpose of the visit ; and in pursuance of notice 
 given to them, a survey party, comprising four steam launches and the 
 gunboats Monocacy and Palos, set out on the 1st June, to explore the 
 river. The party were fired on from the Kanghwa fort, but their answering 
 fire drove the Coreans from their entrenchments with loss ; and when 
 
 • (,N,-C. He>-aU, May 6.) 1 Vide N.-C. Herald, June 9, Jime 80, aud July U, 1871. 
 
80 
 
 they repassed the batteries on their return to the fleet, they were not 
 molested. The American authorities waited ten days in expectation of an 
 apology for the attack, but none such was received. Admiral Eodgers 
 accordingly determined to take and destroy the forts which had fired ; and 
 an expedition left the fleet with this purpose on the 10th June. It was 
 completely successful, after a sharp action ; sustaining a loss of only one 
 ofiScer and two men killed, and six wounded. As it was now evident that 
 peaceful negociations in the sense intended could not be had with Corea, 
 the American fleet, having cleared away the insult offered to its flag, 
 returned to Chefoo on the 3rd July, to await instructions from Washington. 
 No further action has since been taken. 
 
 While this was. going on, the N. -German bark Ghusan had been 
 wrecked on the Sir James Hall Group of Islands off the Corean coast J 
 and one German and two English subjects had bought the wreck and 
 set out in a Chinese junk to try and recover some portion of the cargo. 
 News was received, in Chefoo, that they had been captured and imprisoned 
 by the Ooreans. The expedition was a foolhardy one, but the men could 
 not be abandoned to their fate ; and H. M.'s Consul, Mr. Mayers, went 
 up on board the Ringdove to try and effect their release ; an officer from 
 the N.-German frigate Hertha accompanying him, to look after the interests 
 of his national. The Ringdove reached the Islands on the 7th July, and 
 after two days cruise discovered the one where the foreigners were detained. 
 Communication was opened with the authorities; and the two Englishmen 
 were readily given up, as well as six Chinese who had been wrecked in 
 the Ghusan, and a quantity of recovered property. The wreck itsdf 
 had been burned. The German had not landed ; the junk men, perceiving, 
 the intention of the Coreans to arrest the Englishmen, had sailed off ; and, 
 it is feared, murdered their remaining passenger in the hope of destroying 
 any trace of the expedition, and stifling complaint as to their abandonment 
 of the men on shore. The successful rescue of these latter is attributable 
 to the promptitude with which Captain Hewett resolved to despatch the 
 Ringdove, and to Mr. Mayers' j udicious conduct of negociations, on landing. 
 Had time been allowed for communication to take place between the 
 island and the capital, there is every reason to anticipate that they 
 would have fallen victims to the prevalent irritation against foreigners. 
 
 Here, for the present, our relations with Corea stand still. President 
 Grant, in his late message to Congress, has expressed no wish nor opinion 
 as to whether the American expedition should be proceeded with ; and 
 England does not seem inclined to take any steps to establish commercial 
 relations. In fact, experience shows that any such attempt would most 
 likely be resisted, and the tenor of our present policy is against the use 
 of force in such cases. The best chance of convincing Corea that it 
 would do well to agree, peaceably, to the desire of Western nations for 
 friendly intercourse, would lie in joint action. Wedded as the Government 
 
81 
 
 is to the traditions of isolation which it has imbibed from China, it would 
 hardly be mad enough to resist a demand backed by the flags of England, 
 France, Germany and the United States. 
 
 Japan, "phe work of reform and progress has gone on rapidly in Japan 
 during the past year. The great changes in the Governmental system 
 which were inaugurated after the overthrow of the Tycoon, have been 
 carried nearer to their ultimate result, without notable opposition. The 
 first blow at the feudal system, by depriving princes of their independent 
 authority, while stni leaving them in position as Governors of their 
 provinces, has been followed by the complete subversion of the provincial 
 regime, and the reduction of the provinces to " Ken,'' or departments 
 administered by officials appointed directly by the Central Government. 
 At the same time, the great nobles were conciliated by a re-constitution 
 of the Cabinet — in which the principal clans are now fairly represented, 
 to the exclusion of the Court nobles — and were persuaded to complete 
 the centralisation of power in the hands of the Mikado, by contributing 
 each a quota of troops, to constitute an Imperial army. 
 
 An able summary which has been published in the Japan Mail 
 of the events of 1871, gives details of these great changes which will 
 be read with interest by all who care to follow the course of Japanese 
 politics. Our own especial province is China, and we need only make 
 brief allusion to the more prominent events that have occurred in the 
 neighbouring empire. The interest of these events is greatly enhanced 
 to us, by the contrast they offer to the lethargy of China. Possessing 
 natural resources incalculably greater than her rival, China has stood still 
 in sulky conceit, while Japan has subverted her antique form of 
 Government in favour of Western principles, and has striven with head 
 and hand to acquire the knowledge and the institutions that have 
 contributed to Western wealth and civilisation. While Chinese mandarins 
 and literati are posting silly placards about Genii pills and necromancy, 
 the Japanese Government has estabhshed a newspaper, by whose means 
 it has prepared the pubho mind and elaborately explained the nature 
 of the changes that are taking place. " By its means," says the Ja/pan 
 Mail, " they demonstrated the unconstitutional, tyrannical and oppressive ' 
 nature of the usurpation known as the Shogunate, and by short yet clear 
 analyses of the condition of the country, proved the injury which had 
 been inflicted on it by the dominance of the military class. As far as 
 we are aware, the inherent absurdity of the dual Government was never 
 argued, but invectives of no measured nature were launched against the 
 Shoguns and the unprincipled vassals or corrupt officials by whom they were 
 surrounded. They were charged with unrestrained indulgence in the 
 pleasures of the senses, with passing their days in listening to volnptuous 
 music, with exhaiisting on their mansions all the resources of luxury and 
 
82 
 
 splendour, and with floating along from day to day in careless unconoern, 
 regardless of the miseries of the people. Bat the most mordant bitterness 
 of the writers was reserved for the immense class of the lower samnrai 
 (feudal retainers) who, by living in idleness upon the labours of the 
 industrious millions, had become a canker in the very heart of the 
 country," which kept it emaciated, reduced its vitality, and kept in 
 constant agitation and dangerous combination those elements in society 
 which every peaceable citizen held in the greatest abhorrence." This 
 newspaper was widely circulated, and did great good to the cause of the 
 Government, gaining for them the support of public opinion in the reforms 
 which they were contemplating. Notably, they have taken a great step 
 towards forcing the abandonment of the sword, once the invariable 
 appanage of ±he official and military classes. Soon after the edict of 
 the 29th of August, which affirmed the Mikado's right of appointing 
 Governors over the several provinces, a proclamation was issued giving 
 permission to every samurai to discontinue wearing his swords, and 
 multitudes in consequence laid them down. The strictures passed on 
 the licentious and unruly character of the samurai had prepared the 
 way for this step, and public "opinion will soon come to regard the carrying 
 of arms with such disfavour that the Government will be able to enforce 
 their abandonment altogether. 
 
 We have not space to note the various minor reforms which have 
 been effected ; but pass on to record the opening of the Mint, the extension 
 of the Telegraph, the construction of Railways, the progressive opening of 
 Mines, the adoption of an improved method of Reeling Silk, the erection 
 of Lighthouses, the establishment of Hospitals, and the effijrts to improve 
 Agriculture. All these are moves straight forward in the path of progress. 
 One only apprehension is often expressed — whether the Japanese are 
 not moving too fast, and venturing to destroy the old foundations of 
 Society and of Government, more rapidly than they can build up new 
 ones in the popular mind. Not the least daring innovation is the 
 appearance in public of the Emperor, who has been hitherto thought of 
 with religious awe ; and it can only be by making his personal influence 
 energetically felt, by proving that he knows how to rule for the good of 
 the people and of the land, that he can retain over the popular mind an 
 influence, difi'erent from, but equal to that which he surrenders by abandoning 
 his seclusion. 
 
 The Government, in the meantime, seems to be sincerely desirous 
 of cultivating friendly relations with foreigners, and of opening up the 
 country to Foreign intercourse. The time for revising the Treaties is 
 close at hand, and a Japanese Mission has started for the West, while 
 the several Foreign Ministers have been recalled by their Governments — 
 apparently to consult on the changes that may be introduced. Japan 
 has concluded a treaty with China, during the past year, the text of 
 
83 
 
 whioh has not yet been made public. It interchanges apparently the right 
 of residence and trade, and a Japanese Consnlate has been established 
 in Shanghai in virtue of its provisions. It is said to go further, and to 
 establish a close alliance between the countries. 
 
 A branch of H. M.'s. Supreme Court of China and Japan has been 
 established in Yokohama during the year ; and Mr. Hannen has taken his 
 seat, as Assistant-Judge, at its head. The institution itself and the 
 personal appointment are regarded as advantageous and satisfactory. 
 
84 
 
 1SV2 
 
 Political. rpjie iiiost important event, in a year rather barren of political 
 incident, has unquestionably been the marriage of the Emperor — not 
 the mere fact that Tungohe has married Ah-lu-te, but the acceptance 
 of personal responsibility implied by the proceeding. It is not to be 
 supposed that His Majesty will at once act independently of the regents 
 ■who have governed China since the death of Hienfung, but his marriage 
 is the signal for an assumption of personal responsibility which wiU 
 enable him to make his presence and character felt, if he has inherited 
 any of the energy and ability of the earlier Sovereigns of his race 
 Much in the way of progress, that a Regency would shrink from advising 
 among so conservative a people, may be accomplished by the personal 
 impulse of the Emperor, if he have the necessary, intelligence and vigour. 
 The long-discussed, much-vexed Audience question is the first which he 
 will have to solve ; and rumour Says it is already decided practically, 
 in anticipation of the formal diplomatic request. We hope it may be 
 so, and that this virtual abandonment of the traditional Chinese claim 
 to feudal superiority over the rest of the word, will tend powerfully to 
 remove the remaining barriers to free intercourse. 
 
 The Empresses- dowager and their advisers have had to steer through 
 stormy waters, during the minority of the young Sovereign. Rebellion 
 within and questions of foreign policy from without, have claimed constant 
 attention. By foreign aid, the Taeping rebellion was quelled. With 
 foreign arms; Li Hung-chang succeeded in crushing the Nienfei. More 
 recently the Mahomedans have been driven back into the fastnesses of 
 Kansuh, and during 1872 the authority of Government has been 
 re-established in Kweicbow, where the Miaotze had, for years, set it at 
 defiance. Yunnan only remains insurgent and, apparently, more or less 
 disregarded ; but now that it, alone, claitns attention, a more determined 
 effort will probably be made for its subjugation. The accounts received 
 from this province, describe a state of anarchy and desolation which those 
 who remember the condition to which Kiangsu was reduced, during the 
 late civil war, will realise. Whether by re-establishment of Chinese 
 power, or by the improbable solution of a withdrawal from the enterprise 
 every one must hope that, in one way or other, tranquillity may be restored 
 to a district naturally rich in mineral and agricultural resources. 
 
As bad as the depredations even of Chinese warfare, has been the 
 effect of continued floods in Chihli ; and the accounts given of lavish 
 expenditure on the Imperial marriage contrast painfully with the 
 descriptions of poverty, starvation, and death caused by them over so 
 large an area of the metropolitan province. The recurrence of these 
 inundations led to the issue of a reprimand to the Viceroy, who is held, 
 more sinicd, personally responsible for the ill that happens under his 
 rule. To a certain extent, he probably deserves blame, for not having 
 taken means to ascertain more accurately the amount of work needed, 
 and for not conti-oUing more closely the peculation inevitable, in the 
 East, in similar undertakings. But it must be difficult for a man with 
 Li's multiplied engagements to exercise this necessary supervision. A 
 theory that geological causes have contributed to the disturbance of 
 the water-ways which has lately taken place in the north-east of China, 
 deserves attention. 
 
 A rumour has been heard, that Li Hung-chang is likely to return 
 from Chihli to the vice-royalty of Nanking, which he has already once filled 
 for a short while, during the temporary absence of his great ally Tseng 
 Kwo-fan. The post is the most important in the Empire, and is no doubt 
 an object of Li's ambition. His influence and his associations lie chiefly in 
 this district ; but the rule that no mandarin shall hold ofiice in his native 
 province, instituted no doubt as a check to rebellion in the early days of 
 Tartar rule, opposes a difficulty to the incumbency of an Anhwei man in a 
 viceroyalty of which Anhwei is a province. It remaiils to be seen whether 
 Li will break through the tradition. The death of Tseng Kwo-fan leaves 
 him unquestionably the most powerful Chinese in China ; and his fitting 
 residence would be in the Southern Capital, where his great ally ruled 
 popularly and well. 
 
 The sudden death of Tseng Kwo-fan was the subject of much comment 
 at the time of its occurrence. No one in China had so much 
 influence, and he seems to have deserved the reputation he enjoyed. 
 He was a Chinese, and had the faults of a Chinaman ; but he was a great 
 man ; and his sudden death, at a time wheti his early traditional prejudice 
 against foreigners had been modified by experience, is to be deplored. One 
 of his latest acts had been to arrange for the despatch of a hundred and 
 fifty young Chinese to America, to be educated in foreign lore in the 
 colleges of the United States. His sudden death put a temporary check to 
 the execution of the scheme, but this has since been carried out, and we 
 have news of the safe arrival of the first instalment of scholars on the scene 
 of their future labours. Good must result from this step ; the youths, 
 when they return, will act as leaven, spreading new and enlightened ideas 
 among many with whom they come in contact. The Peking College, 
 too, it is satisfactory to learn, is now doing good work, and promises to 
 be a means of conveying useful education. 
 
86 
 
 A treaty has been concluded between China and Japan, though it has 
 not been yet ratified. In the meantime, it is noteworthy that the Japanese 
 have set at liberty a cargo of coolies who were driven into Yokohama, by 
 stress of weather, in the Peruvian ship Maria Imz, and who showed an 
 emphatic disinclination to proceed to their destination. If the Chinese 
 authorities would show equal energy in dealing with the trade on their 
 own coasts, a reform would be quickly brought about. It is also noteworthy 
 ■ that the Viceroy of Nanking, on receiving from the Japanese intimation 
 that these men were there, at liberty but helpless, communicated at once 
 hy telegraph with the Viceroy of Kwantung from whose port the Maria Luz 
 had sailed, and with the latter's approval deputed Chen, the Magistrate 
 of the Shanghai Mixed Court, to go to Yokohama to receive and bring 
 back the wanderers. 
 
 Chen made the journey in one of the steamers of the Pacific Mail 
 line ; but to judge from the rapidity with which the Chinese are con- 
 structing for themselves a navy, we may expect before long to see similar 
 excursions made in vessels flying the Dragon flag. Both at Shanghai and 
 at Fooohow, the Government ship-building yards are constantly active, 
 and a good class of vessels are being turned out. Equal activity is shown 
 in the various arsenals that have been established at these ports, and at 
 Nanking and Tientsin. We wish we could chronicle a disposition towards 
 similar activity in works of a peaceful tendency. Railways and telegraphs 
 would do more to prevent rebellion in China, than frigates and rifles. We 
 must not omit to mention, as a hopeful sign, the formation of a Native 
 Company for the purpose of owning and running merchant steamers ; 
 these however are, for the present at least, being acquired by purchase 
 from foreigners. The issue of the undertaking is looked forward to with 
 interest. 
 
 On the whole, the year seems to shew evidence of progress, however 
 slow ; it remains to be seen what will come from the assumption of power by 
 the young Emperor. So young a lad can hardly be expected to originate 
 great things ; but will he be intelligent enough to support the progressive 
 party among his councillors, or will he fall into the hands of Tory 
 reactionists ? 
 
 ^° with China"™ "^^^ P^^* ^^^^ ^^^ he&o. a quict One in China, so far as 
 politics are concerned ; and if we may trust the rumour 
 that a satisfactory solution of the audience question is likely, the horizon 
 seems clear. That is the first important question which will arise ; and 
 others, such as treaty revision, seemed to have been postponed by common 
 consent, till this has been settled. A despatch from the French Govern- 
 ment,* written on the eve of Chung-how's return, emphatically expressed 
 the intention to demand this concession, and we have every reason to 
 believe that other Powers have conveyed to the Chinese hints of a 
 
 • (N. C. Herald, Feb. 20tli) 
 
87 
 
 similar intention We are glad to hope that this turning-poiut in our 
 relations will be safely passed. We can well understand that sucli an 
 event as the Emperor's marriage and prospective assumption of power 
 would be a signal for redoubling the intrigue which seems habitual in 
 Oriental Courts ; and foreign politics would naturally furnish a loud 
 party cry. It augurs well that the more enlightened party represented 
 by Prince Kung seems to retain influence ; and that Mr. Wade has 
 succeeded in persuading the Prince to procure an edict* recognising the 
 status of foreigners and claiming for thetn the consideration which Native 
 officials have too often been found loth to accord. The memorial did 
 not speak so frankly as it should have done, but it was a step in the 
 right direction ; and we hope the Emperor will be induced to supplement 
 it, on his accession, by -a more emphatic utterance. 
 
 The year has been happily free from collisions between Chinese and 
 Foreigners ; nor have, we heard of any renewal of the hostile accusations 
 which caused so much excitement in the two previous years. A persecution, 
 disgraceful to the officials, was inaugurated at Hangohow against Chinese 
 who had sold land to Protestant Missionaries j but no attack on Foreigners 
 themselves ensued. The Fantai lost a child by illness, in a house nearly 
 opposite the Mission premises. With Chinese superstition, he alleged 
 that the proximity of the Mission was the cause, and used his influence to 
 have it removed. Not daring to attack the foreigners, he instigated a cruel 
 persecution against the Chinese owners of the land. We have also to record 
 an attack on two foreigners, Messrs. Farnham and Kohl, not far from 
 Shanghai, near the Kintoan beacon ; but the outrage, though sufficiently 
 grave, sprung from a purely local cause and had no political significance. 
 The gentlemen in question were trying to recover a wrecked cargo of 
 timber, when they were set upon by the villagers who had collected the 
 spoil. The Taotai promptly punished the off'enders, and made compensation 
 for the stolen property. On the other hand. Baron von Richthofen has 
 prosecuted his travels through several other provinces of China without 
 inconvenience, beyond that caused by curiosity or occasional impertinence. 
 
 The port of Kiungchow, in Hainan, which was declared open to 
 Foreign trade by the Treaty of Tientsin, still remains closed. The privilege 
 of settling there was claimed at the close of 1870, by an American citizen, 
 Mr. C. D. Williams ; and the Peking Government admitted its obligation, 
 on the representations of the Foreign Ministers. The Viceroy of Canton 
 demurred at first, but eventually acquiesced in the demand ; and an 
 official party, comprising Customs and Consular representatives, went 
 over to Kiungchow in the spring, to make the necessary preparations, 
 Eenewed difficulties appear to have been raised by the Viceroy, and the 
 unfortunate death of Mr. Williams pending their removal, seems to have 
 led to a collapse of the project. For the present therefore Hainan is 
 
 « (,N.-0. Herald, March 28th,) ' 
 
88 
 
 still closed, but persistent effort by au intending settler would no doubt 
 soon lead to its opening. There was also a rumour, in the spring, that 
 the Chinese purposed opening the port of Ichang on the Yangtsze to 
 foreign trade ; and the statement assumed such consistency that the S. S. N. 
 Company sent delegates to prospect for suitable premises for their business. 
 The hope seems however to have since passed away, at any rate for the 
 present. As bearing indirectly on the question of opening new ports, 
 we find cause for congratulation in the formation of a purely Chinese 
 Steamer Company, under the style and title of the " China Mercantile 
 Steam Navigation Company." The vessels of this Company are, we 
 believe, authorised to run only to the open poi'ts, but we shall be surprised 
 if this rule is long rigidly maintained, and look forward to their entry 
 into other ports on the coast and Yangtsze, as a probable step towards 
 opening these to foreign ships. 
 
 The more liberal interpretation of the Transit Due Clause admitted by 
 the Government in 1870 seems to be maintained, except in Kiangsi, where 
 the authorities are traditionally obstructive. It is to be regretted that the 
 Foreign merchants of Kiukiang have not contested this treaty right with 
 more energy. In the case of bale goods, the validity of the pass is still ' 
 recognised > but other imports, such as lead, sugar, seaweed, are 
 stopped, or squeezed, or confiscated. At Chinkeang, on the other hand, a 
 dispute has arisen from an alleged overstraining of the treaty as regards 
 exports. 
 
 We should mention, while on this subject, to the credit of H. B. M.'s 
 then Acting Consul, Mr. Alabaster, and of the incumbent Taotai of 
 Shanghai, that a settlement of the long outstanding Nanzing claims was 
 achieved, early in the year. Some original items, and the whole claim for 
 interest, were foregone, but even a compromise of an apparently bad debt 
 is gratifying ; and the- actual settlement is as creditable to the oflBcials 
 concerned as the previous delay was discreditable to Peking diplomacy, 
 which has so long had the affair fruitlessly in hand. Another Customs 
 dispute whicli has been satisfactorily settled, is that regarding goods 
 brought to Shanghai by steamers from Europe, for transhipment to 
 Japan, and vice versa. Munitions of war are contraband as an import 
 into China,, and the Shanghai Customs confiscated certain cases of arms, 
 landed on a wharf at Hongkew for transhipment on to a Japan steamer. 
 The consignees and their Consuls of course resisted the seizure. The 
 matter was referred to Peking, the goods released, and the right of 
 transhipment in such cases recognized. 
 
 Points on which the Chinese have shown themselves less ready to 
 meet the just expectations of foreigners, have been Harbour conservation 
 and the protection of the Telegraph Cable. The 'Woosung bar is as 
 formidable an obstacle as ever to the entrance of the Hwangpoo, and 
 we havQ still only an indistinct report that a dredger is " coming," to 
 
89 
 
 encourage us. But it has been so many years on the journey that we 
 find small consolation under present annoyances, in the vague prospect. 
 Yet the conservation of a port which yields a Customs revenue of near a 
 million sterling, cannot be a matter of indifference to a Government 
 which draws this income. Anything in the shape of " commuuioations " 
 seems still to be a bugbear to Chinese mandarins. They will not clear 
 the channel for steamers ; they will not hear of railroads ; aud they decline 
 to protect the telegraph cable against the depredations of Chinese fishermen. 
 They plead official ignorance of its existence, and decline to treat their 
 subjects who fish it up and cut out slices to sell for old metal, otherwise 
 than as pilferers. Yet when, the other day, negooiat^ons occurred between 
 Japan and China as to the emigrants on board the Maria Luz, no less 
 personages than the Viceroys of Nanking and Kwantung used the cable 
 to arrange proceedings. The plea of the Shanghai Magistrates is therefore 
 an unfair subterfuge, for which they are perhaps not personally to blame, 
 but the occasion for which their superiors should remove. Obviously, a 
 few blows of the bamboo are an inadequate punishment for the offence 
 of interrupting communication for days or weeks. 
 
 We referred in our last chapter, to the inconvenience resulting 
 from the want of a regular Chinese coinage, and to the monetary com- 
 plications that occasionally result from the double currency with which 
 we have to deal. We have, now, for the third time in the history of our 
 intercourse with China, to force into circulation a new coin, which is 
 regarded with the habitual distrust of a people whose ideas of coinage are 
 not associated with the immaculate honesty of the minter. In the early 
 days of commerce, nothing but the Carolus dollar had a hope of acceptance. 
 When that coinage was eventaally absorbed and exhausted, the Mexican 
 was introduced with difficulty in its place ; and now Mexico has changed 
 the obverse of its medal, the Chinese look with horror at the novelty, 
 and will persist in asking discount on what is really a better coin, until 
 long habit has familiarized them with the change. We never cease 
 regretting the failure of the Hongkong Government to maintain the 
 Mint which was introduced into that colony with so good prospect of 
 success. 
 
 General. We had, last year, to congratulate ourselves on the completion of 
 telegraphic communication with Europe ; and, in glancing back over 
 1872, it is worth while to note how largely the cable has been availed 
 of -by Chinese, as a proof that it is not from the people that opposition 
 to such improvements springs. Native merchants correspond extensively 
 by telegraph between Hongkong and Shanghai, and we have already 
 pointed to an interchange of messages between the Viceroys of Nanking 
 and Kwantung, as a proof that the Officials at least appreciate the fact 
 of its existence. We can only hope that the idea is silently making its 
 •way, and that we shall some day awake to a demand for extension. In 
 
90 
 
 the meantime, the interruptions to telegraphy on the coast have been 
 frequent, owing to breakage of the cable : and the laying of a second 
 seems desirable. 
 
 The only foreign novelty introduced into China during the past year, 
 has been a road steamer, which is now lying at Tientsin awaiting 
 apparently the subsidence of the waters, and repair of roads and bridges ; 
 for though it is put together, has been favourably viewed by the author- 
 ities, and has made a trial trip, we hear nothing of any further activity. 
 
 One new public Company has been formed during the past year, 
 to work the Pootuilg Dock ; i;i other respects the Share List stands 
 unaltered — save as regards quotations. A period of tranquillity has 
 succeeded to the unhealthy excitement and over-speculation which char- 
 acterized 1871, and investments are possible at the actual, instead of an 
 inflated, speculative value. The expected advent of two new steamers, 
 in the spring of the year, to contest the S. S. N. monopoly of the Yangtsze, 
 perhaps causes this usually favourite and valuable stock to be regarded 
 with hesitation ; but it is hoped that an amicable understanding will 
 be come to between the old and new lines, and the suicidal folly of a 
 competitive fight avoided. 
 
 The Pacific Mail Steamship Company have put on a second steamer, 
 so that we now have fortnightly communication with San Francisco, and 
 the advent of a rival line of steamers to run over the same route, is 
 looked for during the current year. The P. & 0. has persisted in its 
 bad policy of causing China freights and passengers to change steamers 
 three times on the way home, while the Messageries Maritimes run their 
 splendid vessels through from Shanghai to Marseilles, and are naturally the 
 favourite passenger line. It is time the P. & 0. imitated their example. 
 
 Various changes have taken place in the Consular and Diplomatic 
 Service. The new French Minister at Peking, M. de Geoffroy, took 
 his post in June, relieving M. de Eochechouart, who has gone home ; 
 Count Mejan vacated the French Consulate at Shanghai about the same 
 time, being temporarily replaced by M. de Chappedelaine, who, however, 
 has since removed to Canton, while M. Godeau has taken charge at 
 Shanghai. Mr. Alabaster took over charge of the British Consulate of 
 Shanghai in January, from Mr. Davenport who took up the post of 
 Acting Chinese Secretary to the Legation. Mr. Medhurst has since 
 returned from Europe and resumed his post as Consul. Sir Edmund 
 Hornby has returned to take up his post as Chief Judge of H. B M.'s 
 Supreme Court, and Mr. Goodwin has gone home on leave. The death 
 of Mr. Wentzel left vacant the Consulate for N.-Germany, which has 
 since been filled by Mr. Himly. The Consulate for the U. S. A. has been 
 filled by Mr. 0. B. Bradford, during the temporary absence of Mr. Seward. 
 
 The foundation stone of the new British Consulate was laid in June, 
 on the ruins of the old building, and we are happy to note that the new 
 
91 
 
 edifice is rapidly approaching completion. Building is also going on in 
 other quarters of the Settlement, showing steady progress ; notably the 
 space of ground on the Soochow Creek adjoining the Consular block is 
 being covered by new houses ; and the building at the corner of Foochow 
 and Szeohuen Eoads, formerly occupied by Messrs. Hall and Holtz as a 
 store, has been pulled down and replaced by handsome dwelling houses. 
 Complaint is made of the continued crowding of Chinese houses within 
 the foreign quarter, and a rule that no Chinese building shall be permitted 
 ■within the line of Honan road, is suggested. The Community have 
 decided to bund out the foreshore of the two Settlements, on the plan 
 suggested years ago by Mr. Clark ; and we hear the Chinese authorities 
 have made overtures to the Council regarding the cleansing of the Soochow 
 Creek, which urgently needs attention. The bridge over that famous 
 stream has been the subject of renewed discussion ; and negociations 
 led to the purchase by the Council of the whole alleged rights of the 
 Company, for Tls. 40,000. The construction of Water Works, Tramways, 
 a Public market, Slaughter houses, &o. are still things of the future, 
 though the prevalence of rinderpest during the past year has made the 
 latter especially necessary. We regret to be obliged to add, of another 
 valuable institution, that it is still of the past. The advantages of the 
 chain gang system are so obvious, that we are disappointed the proposals 
 made to the Municipal Council early in the year, for its revival, were not 
 more frankly met. The Volunteer Corps maintains its vitality, and has 
 signalized itself on various field days. It has been decided to re-arm 
 the infantry with the Martini-Henry rifle, and the new weapons are on 
 the way hither. The Artillery Corps distinguished itself, in the spring, 
 by a day's practice with live shell at Woosung, which went off successfully, 
 that we have no doubt the experiment will be repeated. 
 
 A telegraph house has been erected at Woosung, by the Great Nor- 
 thern Company, and a Lighthouse by the Chinese Government ; both 
 steps in advance. May we hope, next year, to note some attempt to 
 deal with the Woosung bar, and with other obstructions in the river — 
 the Pootung point for instance^where dredging is badly needed to 
 prevent further deterioration of the channel. 
 
 Another measure which has been advocated for the advantage of 
 shipping, is to constitute Shanghai a port of Registry for British ships. 
 A number of coasting vessels are now owned here, and great inconvenience 
 is felt from the obligation to transfer property in them at Home ports. 
 We are glad to hear that the Chamber of Commerce intend to press 
 the necessity of the measure on the Board of Trade. 
 
 Japan. Tjjg past year has been only less remarkable, in the history of 
 Japan, than its predecessor. In August 1871 was launched the startling 
 proclamation which abolished the feudal system, reduced the princes to 
 nobles, and centralized all power in the hands of the Government. 
 
92 
 
 People could hardly realise that such a change had been accomplished 
 peacefully ; and hardly dared hope that it would be permanently accepted, 
 without violent opposition from some of the Conservative party. The 
 past year has removed all doubt. The new system has stood untouched, 
 if not unquestioned, and' other reforms have been effected with a rapidity 
 as startling as was the greatness of the first change. While the young 
 Emperor of China is still kept hidden in his gilded palace, the Mikado 
 of Japan has given proof of good sense by receiving visits of the foreign 
 ministers and carrying out the practice of granting audiences to the. 
 extent usual in Western countries. His Majesty too has completely 
 abandoned the old habits of seclusion as regards his own subjects, and 
 appears frequently in public, both on journeys between Yeddo and Kioto 
 and at various pubhc ceremonies in which he has taken a leading part. 
 He has inspected the Arsenal at Yokoska, visited the foreign CoUege at 
 Yeddo, opened sections of the railway between Yokohama and Sinagstwa 
 and between Yokohama and Yeddo, received as a guest the Grand Duke 
 Alexis, and generally taken part in the affairs of the world, with intelligence 
 and energy. A treaty* was negociated in the spring, between Japan 
 and China, but ratificationsf have not been yet exchanged — on account, 
 it is said, of objections raised at Yeddo to the offensive and defensive 
 alliance clause which it contains. Negociations have been had," too, with 
 Corea, but with what result has not clearly transpired. The prevailing 
 impression is that the Japanese envoy was received discourteously^ and 
 that the relations between the two countries are, consequently, the reverse 
 of cordial. But Japan has enough on her hands at present, in re- modelling 
 her own institutions, and will avoid, if she is wise, a fruitless war with 
 her plucky neighbour. The relations of foreigners with the country have 
 been friendly — indeed Japan has shown a sincere desire to cultivate good- 
 will, both by her condnct at home, and by the mission she has sent 
 io Foreign Courts. The only difficulty she has created redounds to her 
 credit, and will gain for her still more respect and sympathy from civilized 
 nations. We refer to the well-known case of the Peruvian ship Maria Luz 
 which was driven by stress of weather into Yokohama harbour while on 
 her passage from Macao to Peru with a cargo of Chinese coolies. The 
 evasion of one or two of the coolies, and the tales they told of coercive 
 practices on board, led to an official inspection of the ship by the Japanese, 
 who eventually set the whole number at liberty ; the Chinese Government 
 was communicated with on the subject, and an official was deputed to go to 
 Yokohama to bring back his countrymen. Peru was very indignant at 
 the proceeding, and loud threats of reprisal were uttered. But, as she 
 would find it inconvenient to encounter the hostility of all the several 
 nations of Europe, which have treaties with Japan and applaud her action 
 
 (* if.-C. Herald March?, 21) 
 t Since ratified, iu March 1873. 
 
93 
 
 she will probably stifle her wrath. The law officers of the English 
 Government have declared the action of the Japanese to be in full accord- 
 ance with international law. 
 
 AVe said that every desire had been shown by the Japanese Government 
 to cultivate the friendship of foreign nations, but we must make an 
 exception in respect to its intolerance of Christianity. This is the more 
 remarkable as there really seems no deep religious conviction in the 
 Japanese mind, which might involve enmity towards members of a strange 
 religion. Buddhism, the popular religion in Japan as in China, seems to 
 be dying out ; a movement by the Government towards establishing 
 Shintoism as the sole lawful religion, has been given up ; and there are 
 rumours of an intention to promulgate an entirely new system founded 
 on Christianity. Yet the persecution of Christians seems more or less 
 kept up. The dislike would seem to be rather political in character, a 
 remnant of the hostility caused by the proceedings of Romish Missions, 
 which have excited similar irritation in China. We trust, however, that 
 the Government will soon be better persuaded than to exclude, from its 
 many enlightened measures, the great one of religious toleration.* 
 
 "We have referred to the Mikado's presence at the opening of a railway 
 in Japan, while the Emperor of China was still secluded from mortal 
 gaze, and his advisers were repelling every suggestion to improve on the 
 native wheelbarrow as a means of carriage. It was on the 14th October 
 that the whole section of railway between Yokohama and Yeddo was 
 opened ; and the traffic receipts have increased, since that date, from 
 $7,900 to $8,400 weekly. The line is said to be admirably managed, 
 and freely used. Extensions are being made, and others contemplated. 
 A line of telegraph has been completed between Yokohama and Nagasaki, 
 but the inexperience of native operators prevents it yet having its full 
 value. Scarcely less remarkable than these instances of intelligent pro- 
 gress, were the exhibitions opened by the Government in the Spring, 
 the best published account of which will be found in the N.-G. Herald 
 of June, 1872. The experiment is to be repeated this year ; and 
 Japan will also figure largely in the great exhibition about to be opened 
 at Vienna. Minor innovations of every kind are going on alongside of 
 these greater measures — all commanding sympathy, from the yearning 
 desire which they show to overtake the advanced civilization of Western 
 nations, but some bearing evidence of haste and, in the opinion of most 
 foreigners, of erroneous purpose. The anxiety for instance, to build 
 bridges, make roads, and improve the public morals, cannot but be 
 admired ; but the abstraction of bells from the temples to furnish metal 
 for constructing bridges and cannon, is a pity ; and the edicts ordering 
 the growth of hair after foreign fashion, and prohibiting the use of the 
 soft mats which formed so marked a feature in Japanese houses, savour 
 
 * Edicts were issued in the beginning of 1873, permitting all banished Christians to return to 
 their homes. 
 
94 
 
 of petty interference with popular taste which is sure to excite dissatis- 
 faction and, very probably, opposition to more important innovations 
 as parts all of the same process of change which is made so tiresome in 
 its details. It is not necessary, in order to raise the nation to the higher 
 models presented by Western nations, to - efface the natural characteristics 
 of the people. On. the contrary, foreign visitors saw much to admire 
 and like in Old Japan ; and regret that so many features of interest are 
 ruthlessly effaced in a desire for reform which seems to degenerate, in 
 trifles, almost into a craving for change. We are surprised that the 
 expostulations of the foreign press, which really has some influence on 
 the Government, do not convince it of its error. We are glad to see a 
 word on the subject, in a recent number of the Japan Mail, which the 
 Government would do well to ponder over : — " Judging from the manner in 
 which the people have hitherto accepted the novel measures of the 
 Government, we should augur hopefully for the future, were it not that 
 there has latterly been on its part too great a tendency to obliterate 
 the past, its historical landmarks, its traditions, and all the associated 
 ideas which make those traditions alike precious and valuable. There is 
 an apparent want of tenderness exhibited in dealing with the nation's 
 memories of times which, though perhaps comparatively unenlightened, 
 are s*ill sources of pride, and might be made sources of strength. We 
 would rather have seen the old customs and modes of thought and 
 methods of reckoning gradually pale and wane before the growing light, 
 than rudely extinguished by edicts and proclamations. It should be 
 enough that the new is introduced ; the old will disappear and needs no 
 uprooting." 
 
 Neither must we, in conclusion, omit to note another danger which 
 seems to threaten the country. The expenditure during the last few 
 years has been enormous, and the necessity for increased taxation wiU 
 inevitably arise before long, to bring home to the people another disagree- 
 able phase of the new regime. It is sound economy to borrow for the 
 purpose of improving communication ; but it is not wise to incur an 
 outlay which the nation cannot afford, on expensive missions, and it is 
 folly to adopt at whatever cost every new scheme or thing because it is 
 new and interesting. Missions on a moderate scale are wise ; many 
 appliances of Western civilization are necessary, in the new career on 
 which Japan has started ; but the apparent anxiety to acquire everything 
 at once, and with utter disregard to economy, is foolish, and will, sooner 
 or later, inevitably cause financial inconvenience. We trust, however, 
 to see the high officials under whose auspices Japan has made such great 
 and intelligent strides, steady to their work and pursue more calmly 
 the really solid improvements they have inaugurated. The country has 
 great resources, in a fertile soil and rich mineral deposits ; the effort which 
 is being made to develope these resources will soon bring its reward if 
 the mark is not overshot by undue haste. 
 
95 
 
 GCH^ail^/L'BlTiCXJL.lL. 
 
 ises- 
 
 importe. Tjjg Import trade of Shanghai for the year 1868, has been 
 oharaoterised by alternate losses and profits, but its general results cannot 
 be deemed unsatisfactory, considering that the imports of Grey Shirtings 
 alone have been double those of 1867, and tbat the average prices obtained 
 have been such as to give back to importers prime cost, with full com- 
 missions and charges. It would, of course, have been more satisfactory 
 had larger profits ensued ; but merchants in China have a fair tu quoque 
 reply ready for their Home friends, when the excessive export of Tea 
 is called in question. 
 
 The average cost of 8.4-lb3. shirtings bought to be laid down in 
 Shanghai from England, during the year, has been 10s. 6d. per piece ; 
 and the average exchange for six months' sight Bank Bills as remittance, 
 has been 5s. ll^d. per tael. This by Gribble's tables would give an 
 out-tnrn of Tls. 2.27 per piece, while the average price obtained for all 
 kinds of 8.4-lbs. throughout the year, ranged from Tls. 2.23 to 2.28 
 per piece. The cost as given above includes very heavy charges ; and 
 it is quite certain that many importers have been able to make profits by 
 reducing certain charges. 
 
 As regards Grey Shirtings the figures stand as follows : — The Import 
 for the year has been 4,400,000 pieces, or an average of 366,000 pieces 
 per month against, for 1867, 2,030,110 pieces. It may be interesting 
 here to state that the average cost of 8.4-lbs. Grey Shirtings from England, 
 during 1867, was 13s. per piece ; and that the loss incurred on these was 
 something considerable. 7-lbs. Grey Shirtings, and those weights ranging 
 from 9-lbs. to 10-lbs., have generally paid profits throughout the year, 
 though the demand for them varies by the season, and cannot always be 
 depended on. 
 
96 
 
 T-Cloths seem to have come into increased favour among the Chinese 
 consumers, and although prices have occasionally ranged somewhat high, 
 there has been no lack of buyers. The imports of 1868 are more than 
 three times those of 1867 ; but there is no sign of any cessation in the 
 demand, and it seems merely a matter of price between seller and consumer. 
 At all the outports, the demand for this class of goods has been daily 
 increasing, and merely to quote one instance, the import of T-Cloths 
 into Kiukiang — a very small consuming port, is this year as 5 to 1 against 
 1866, and double that of 1867. It is difBoult to say whether first-class 
 Goods or those of an inferior quality have resulted best to importers. At 
 certain times low class cloth was almost unsaleable, and fine quality was 
 eagerly sought for, while on other occasions low class cloth was much 
 wanted for price — best goods being neglected. But it has been proved 
 that a good cloth of fine colour and free from blemishes will always be 
 saleable in the ordinary Shanghai market, while goods about which there 
 is any doubt may remain on an importer's hands for an indefinite period. 
 The heavier weights of T-Cloths 36 in. 8 to 8.4 lbs. have been imported 
 freely and have generally found ready buyers. It is open to question 
 however, whether this branch of our trade is a paying one or not. 
 
 The import of White Shirtings in 1868 has been about 80 per cent, 
 more than in 1867 ; but prices throughout have ranged very low. Chinese 
 dealers assert that the prohibition against Corean import has materially 
 aifeoted the demand, and that Chinese consumption is insufficient to work» 
 off increasing stocks. Be this as it may, the year closed with 'very small 
 supplies in first hands, and a native demand which seems likely to continue, 
 even should foreign holders raise their prices. 
 
 The year has been a bad one for importers of Dyed Goods. Chinese 
 dealers have chiefly bought from hand to mouth, and no eiforts on the 
 part of holders have been sufficient to raise prices to a decent level. It 
 seems as if Fancy Woollens were to some extent taking the place of Dyed 
 Cottons, and enabling the Chinese dealers to buy, at a moderate cost, 
 goods more suited for consumers' wants than those formerly taken from 
 our stocks of Dyed Brocades, Dyed Spots &c. 
 
 Importers of Woollens cannot be well pleased with the result of last 
 year's shipments. Cost prices have, of course, ranged lower than for 
 some time past, but Shanghai rates have been very weak and irregular, 
 while the demand has changed week by week from one colour to another. 
 Figured Orleans appear to hold their own as a staple article for Chinese 
 use, and though we cannot look back for a return of the former scale of 
 prices, there seems every prospect of a large enquiry at rates equal to 
 those now current. Whether this demand can be payingly supplied by 
 Home manufacturers, is another question. 
 
 In summing up our remarks, it is only needful to say that the 
 increased facility given during the past few years for the import of Foreign 
 
97 
 
 goods into the heart of China, must ultimately be of infinite service to 
 the Foreign merchants. It is quite true that their profits are small, 
 sometimes nil ; but when, in the course of time, (and we have signs of 
 its coming 'ere long) really cheap goods are brought into the China 
 market, there can be no doubt but that the enormous consumption will 
 amply compensate them for diminished profits. 
 
 Black Tea. fhis staple has again maintained its character for dangerous 
 uncertainty in every respect. Starting at the beginning of the year 
 under exceptionally favourable auspices, the season now closes with results 
 that have outdone the worst predictions. If export figures may be taken 
 as a test of prosperity, then nothing can be more flourishing than the 
 trade in Tea. An increase of 1 7 million pounds in the shipments from 
 this one port alone, is a proof of an elasticity in the yield, which cannot 
 but be gratifying to the Customs' interests at both ends of the line, 
 though unfortunately it is the reverse of satisfactory to the merchant. 
 So great is the competition to supply the tea-drinking public at Home 
 with cheap tea, that this addition to our annual yield has in no way 
 lessened the power of our merchants to absorb it, and that at prices 
 higher than were ever known before. This seems to be the cause of the 
 danger above indicated. With greater patience, the large yield would 
 have been, to the few, the same boon that it unquestionably is to the 
 many ; and we should not now have to chronicle another disastrous year 
 to the China merchant. What would have been the result of the same 
 means and the same competition working upon an average yield, it is still 
 more painful to contemplate ; abd now, with the experience of the past 
 year before us, it is hopeless again to predict a return to the even and 
 profitable trade of former days. The careless packing and insufficient 
 curing of the herb, are faults more marked from year to year : each 
 succession of buyers being more easy to deal with than the last. Twelve 
 months ago, we looked forward with some confidence to a steady improve- 
 ment, if not to a radical cure, in these as in the other evils with which 
 the trade seemed fettered ; but it now appears that, with our floating 
 population, no impressions of past disasters can become permanently 
 fixed on the trading community. Nature, however, with her own resources 
 to meet every emergency, will cure this anomaly also, by rendering the 
 individual merchant incapable by necessity of yielding the ground to 
 
 fresh comers ; tying him to the spot with bonds of his own constructing. 
 
 At the opening of the new season in May, the rush of tea buyers to 
 Hankow was quite unprecedented, and the native merchants there who, 
 having had experience of the ill-results to foreigners of former years' 
 trading, were prepared to accept a moderate return this season, were 
 agreeably surprised to see prices forced up to a level beyond that of their 
 most sanguine expectations, and applied themselves forthwith to the 
 collection for foreign use of every available pound of tea that the country 
 
could be made to yield. Thus far a few of the early purchases alone 
 have remunerated the shippers; the bulk of the Northern Teas, 
 notwithstanding the fortuuate conjuncture brought about by the failure 
 of the quality of the Foochow crop, showing ruinous losses. 
 Green Tea. Tjjg course of this staple has differed little from that of Black 
 Tea. An early crop, a rush to be first in the market, extreme opening 
 rates, and a consequent increase in the yield of second and third crop-teas, 
 being the main features here also. The Export figures are satisfactory in a 
 like sense, and the New York market shows signs of being equally 
 overloaded with Green, as London already is with Black Tea — consumers 
 in bT)th countries reaping the benefit. Although, owing to the almost 
 complete depopulation of many of the richest Green Tea districts, the 
 increase in the yield is' so gradual as to be almost imperceptible when 
 compared with its more flourishing rival, the growing demand has, in 
 other better cultivated districts, notably in Japan, stimulated the production 
 of inferior leaf,_ suitable for mixing with the true China growth. Many 
 of the Black Tea districts bordering on Fychow have thus been brought 
 into requisition, and made to contribute their quotum likewise. So 
 scarce has much of this Oolong leaf become, that native consumers have 
 actually taken back from off this market a part of the Black Teas prepared 
 for export, for their own use ; competing in price with the foreign merchant 
 in an unexampled manner. An increase in the yield of three miUion 
 pounds has thus resulted, and our supply promises ere long to reach the 
 figures of ante-rebel times, in years when the crop of Black Tea had 
 scarcely attained to one-half its present total. 
 
 A comparison of the export of Black Tea frorn Shanghai, during the 
 twelve months of 1868, shows an increase of 16,000,000 lbs. over that of 
 the previous year. While in Green Tea a decrease of 2,000,000 lbs. is 
 observable. Of New Season's Tea, the export from all China and Japan 
 thus far amounts to 172,000,000 lbs., 141,000,000 lbs. having been shipped 
 up to the 31st December 1867, and 135,000,000 lbs. only up to the same 
 date in 1866. This rapid advance in the totals sent forward in the first 
 seven months of the season, is due as much to the hasty shipment of the 
 Teas as they come down, as it is to heavy increase in the yield itself. 
 Bilk. The year just past has been one of mixed fortunes for silk shippers. 
 The beginning of January 1868 found a small stock of undesirable silk 
 on offer, and No. 3 Tsatlees quoted at Tls. 510, with favourable advices 
 from Home and a declining exchange. And an active business done under 
 these favourable conditions led to fairly satisfactory results. Eates of 
 course soon stiffened, till they reached at the end of March, Tls. 560 for 
 No. 3, with exchange at its lowest point, 5s. 9Jd.; but Silks shipped in 
 January, February and March nearly all realized a profit, in London, of 
 10 to 12 per cent. April and May witnessed an advance in exchange and 
 a corresponding decline in prices ; till the season closed at the end of the 
 
99 
 
 latter month, with a total export of 41,118 bales against 28,385 in the 
 preceding year. 
 
 The new season opened in June, at an advance of Tls. 10 over the 
 closing rates of the previous one, with exchange advancing rapidly. The 
 new crop promised well, and considerable eagerness was shown by natives 
 to get their silks down to so favourable a market. They were met half 
 way by foreigners ; and first arrivals, though mixed and hurriedly packed, 
 were readily bought at Tls. 570 for No. 3 Tsatlees. Bad news from Home 
 caused a temporary decline ; but the occurrence of heavy rain in the 
 beginning of July, coupled with the receipt of better news from London, 
 led to a resumption of business with increased eagerness, at advancing 
 rates. Supplies came forward freely, and were readily shipped, till the 
 beginning of August found No. 3'3 at Tls. 585, with exchange at its highest 
 point, at 6a. 3|. Renewed unfavourable advices from Europe caused a 
 dechne, both in prices aud exchange, at the end of the month, when 
 exports had reached 27,000 bales. From the beginning of August, 
 exchange steadily declined till the end of the year. The export for 
 September reached only 4,900 bales, news from England continuing 
 unsatisfactory ; but th6 following two months saw a steady business at 
 stiflfeaing rates. The year closed dully, with an undesirable stock, and 
 upward tendency of exchange, quoted at 5s. 11 J., and high prices. 
 No. 3 Tsatlees Tls. 590 No. 2 Haining Tls. 625 
 
 „ 4 „ „ 510 No. 1 Kahing Tls. 520 
 
 The export for the season had reached 41,400 bales against 32,900 
 at the close of 1867, and it is estimated that the total yield will exceed 
 this quantity by about 6,000 bales. It is not surprising that, in face of 
 such high and advancing prices, the purchases made from July to December 
 show a loss in London of 7 to 10 per cent. Any favourable turn in the 
 market has redounded to the advantage of Chinese instead of foreigners — 
 reduced rates of exchange or favourable news from Home having been 
 the immediate signal for an advance in prices more than commensurate 
 with the difierence. 
 
 PubUo Of all the local companies, the Hongkong and Shanghai 
 
 Bank takes the lead. Projected at a critical period in the financial 
 history of Shanghai, its career has been one of steady progress. It is 
 true that its projectors and managers had before them, as both warning 
 and guide, the utter collapse of a large number of houses of the highest 
 reputation, as well as of several banks ; and they have escaped the 
 entanglements of disastrous failures. This Bank was established in the 
 very midst of the financial storm which swept away a large proportion of 
 the Shanghai mercantile houses, but it was not taken unawares. It 
 passed through the crisis under cautious and judicious management, and 
 it has wrought up to magnificent success. As a London contemporary 
 observes in reference to it, "There is nothing like this in banking history, 
 
100 
 
 in the same space of time, except the large business done, the great profits 
 realized, and the important position achieved by the London and West- 
 minster Bank, on a capital almost nominal, when compared with the 
 amount of its deposits, dividends and transactions." The Bank is the most 
 important public company in China, and besides being popular on account 
 of its desire to serve itself by serving the public, its stock offers a wide 
 field for investment, yielding a high and steady dividend, and offering 
 brilliant prospects for the future. The object of the Bank is to make 
 money for the public by making money out of the public ; this is one 
 of the principal secrets of its success. Banking is a business undertaken 
 for the service and convenience of the- public, and not one undertaken 
 as a favour to the mercantile community ; and one of the results of 
 recognizing this policy, is that the Hongkong Bank has attained to a 
 position of remarkable and almost impregnable strength. There is no 
 scheme in the East that promises better, as a safe and lucrative investment. 
 With a reserve fund on 30th June last of $530,000, and doubtless by 
 the present time of about 625,000, a better guarantee of prosperity 
 and stability than its dividend of 12 per cent., and a quarter of a milhon 
 of dollars carried annually to reserve could scarcely be desired. But the 
 Directors act wisely in thoroughly consolidating the Bank, and in providing 
 for its reserved strength) before they declare dazzling dividends. They 
 can so well afford both to give a satisfactory dividend and to carry a 
 large sum annually to reserve, that no one will be inclined to question 
 the wisdom of the large appropriations that they have thought it prudent 
 to make. At the same time, shareholders may look forward to the not 
 Very distant time when the annual quarter of a million dollars will reach 
 a sum which even the most cautious will deem ample ; and when a large 
 dividend will in all human probability be the reward of their patience. 
 There are few institutions in the East which, take them all in all, will bear 
 equal comparison with the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, in point of 
 rapidity and genuineness of success, of influence and stability, and of 
 a prosperous future. 
 
 Passing from the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the next great 
 foreign enterprise in the Far East in the Shanghai Steam Navigation Co. 
 Launched at a time when the steamer mania was rapidly developing, it 
 was soon rendered famous by its misfortunes ; and, at one time, seemed 
 as if it were surely hastening on to ruin. But the shareholders courage- 
 ously clung to it with patience, and in mute agony ; and in the reaction 
 which followed disastrous competition, the Directors by prudent and 
 economical management saw their opportunity and embraced it. The 
 result has been that, from something like 65 or 70 per cent, discount, the 
 shares of this Company rapidly advanced in value till they reached par, 
 and this emboldened the Directors to issue new stock for the new steam-boats 
 and other property which they had paid out of the current profits, the new 
 
101 
 
 issue taking the form of a stock dividend of 50 per cent. Public confidence 
 in this undertaking has been so established, that the new stock is, we 
 believe, saleable at 10 per cent, discount — that is, the shave of Tls. 1,000, 
 which about three years ago could be bought at about Tls. 300, is at the 
 present moment worth Tls. 1,350. This rapid recovery from a state of 
 apparently hopeless prostration, to a condition of brilliant success and 
 promise, is one of the proofs of the prosperity which is sure to attend on 
 companies that are really needed, and amongst which the competition 
 is not excessive. Nothing could be more hopeful than the prospects of 
 the S. S. N. Co. ; but still we cannot undertake to forecast the future. 
 The present arrangements by which the three important Steam Companies 
 of Shanghai serve the public at reasonable rates, which nevertheless yield 
 them very considerable profits, are such as we think the general public 
 approve ; and we do not know that either the public whose goods 
 are carried or the public who own the steamers, would benefit 
 much by any sweeping change. The only sound condition of any 
 company is that it should pay good steady profits, and the chain 
 of events which at any time leads to steamers being worked at a loss or 
 with insufficient profit, is to be deplored. Still, in enterprises like the S. S. 
 N. Co., the thread of their existence is somewhat fragile. Arrangements 
 come to an end, new Companies are readily formed where lai-ge profits 
 are to be made, and the struggle for existence is then maintained with serious 
 injury ,to all concerned in it. The treaty entered into between the S. S. N. 
 Co., the Union Steam Navigation Co., and the North-China Steamer Co., 
 shows how good a thing it is, especially for the shareholders, to dwell in 
 unity and peace. The U. S. N. Co. is also an exemplification of the 
 revival of prosperity ; although in its corporate existence it has had no 
 misfortunes to damp or even to temper its ardour, yet both the Timsin 
 and the Bona are steamers which passed through dark times before 
 they came into the hands of their present owners ; but they are now 
 employed with surprising success, and there is no reason to look forward 
 to anything but a bright career in the future. The statement made 
 at the last half-yearly meeting — that a career of less than two years 
 has sufficed to accumulate a reserve of Tls. 80,000, equal to half the 
 paid-up capital, besides paying a dividend of 30 per cent — is a record of 
 striking prosperity. It is undoubtedly advantageous for the general public 
 that none of our steam companies should have a monopoly of the carrying 
 trade, and it is important for shareholders to have their monopolising 
 imagination kept in check, by the continual presence of a rival Company. 
 The wielding of absolute power generally recoils on the person who 
 exercises it, and a competing Company is the surest means of maintaining 
 satisfactory management. 
 
 The North-China Steamer Co. is the latest project that has come 
 before the public, although the steamers have been running to the North 
 
102 
 
 for several years. In their case, we think, they have always been to 
 a greater or less extent successful, and there can scarcely be any doubt 
 of the prosperity of this Company under the existing arrangements. It 
 would be difficult to find better evidence of the success of our local 
 companies than in the facilities offered by these three Steam Companies, 
 and the handsome profits which they return to their shareholders. Things 
 seem to have come in a general way to a state of equilibrium ; and it 
 is for the permanent interests of foreigners that they should continue in 
 this condition, without any violent changes or rude shocks. The friendli- 
 ness of the three companies is the surest guarantee for their future 
 prosperity, and so long as that continues, we may expect them to be 
 maintained in an efficient condition and to yield satisfactory dividends. 
 
 We come now to touch upon a subject which, from time immemorial 
 in China, has been identified with success and prosperity. We 
 refer to Marine Insurance. There does not occur to us a single instance 
 of failure, or of anything but extraordinary good fortune, in any of the 
 Companies that have been established in China. In the cases of the 
 Canton and Union Offices of the good old times, as they are called, the 
 dividends were almost fabulous; and even now, notwithstanding the 
 additional local Companies, there is no class of public enterprises 
 that can show such uniformly high profits.. Indeed, Marine Insurance 
 seems to be the one thing in the East that has never had its period of 
 adversity j has never wavered between success and failure. Even now, 
 when the China trade is, as the term goes, opened up, these Companies 
 continue to divide gigantic profits ; and the basis on which they are 
 founded is so satisfactory as to warrant us in confidently anticipating 
 for them a long career of prosperity. 
 
 The North- China Insurance Company has just been reconstituted, and we 
 have little doubt that the new Company will be stronger than either of its 
 predecessors ; there is every probability that it will continue to do the 
 largest business of any Company in China. We do not think we over-estimate 
 the average profits to shareholders at 60 per cent, per annum, for the 
 last three years, besides 10 per cent, dividend on shareholders' contribu- 
 tions ; and it is not improbable, even with an addition to capital of Tls. 
 50,000, that the profits of the new term may be larger still. The new 
 proprietary is doubtless very extensive and influential, and the widening 
 of the basis ought to impart new elements of strength. The reorganized 
 Union Insurance Society of Canton next claims our attention, although 
 as yet it has only pubhshed accounts for the first half of the present 
 year. With its capital of $250,000 and, at the date of its meeting in 
 the middle of September, comparative immunity from losses for the first 
 nine months of its existence, notwithstanding a rapidly increasing business, 
 this Company bids fair to take an important position amongst its rivals. 
 During the first six months the premia amounted to about $220,000, and 
 
103 
 
 in leas than three months more to about as large an amount ; so that it 
 has commenced under most favourable circumstances ; and, in the highest 
 degree promising though it be, the full extent of its capabilities remains 
 to be determined. It has been converted from an annual into a triennial 
 office, and undoubtedly it is destined to recover much of its former position 
 and influence. Passing on to the Canton Insurance Co., we have to record 
 the payment of dividends unequalled by those of any other scheme in 
 China. At the meeting held the other day in Hongkong, it was shown 
 that the dividends paid to the shareholders for the last two years were 
 somewhere about $750 per annum, or over 165 per cent., besides nearly 
 10 per cent, on shareholders' contributions. To characterise this condition 
 of affairs, prosperity is really too mild and insignificant a term. The 
 China Traders Insurance Company has also produced balance sheets indi- 
 cating unusual success ; the dividends for the three years of its existence 
 having been 27, 29, and 35 per cent, respectively, and paid out of half 
 the net profits. Of the remaining half, an equal division has been made 
 to Eeserve Fund and to shareholders' contributions, and upon the latter 
 10 per cent, has been paid. The Company is a permanent one, and with 
 an increasing business and augmenting reserve, a prosperous career is 
 evidently before it. Finally, we come to the Yangtsze Insurance Association 
 with a paid up capital of about Tls. 200,000, a Note capital of probably 
 about a half more in process of redemption by an appropriation from 
 profits, and a Eeserve Fund of nearly Tls. 200,000. In point of strength, 
 as measured by sycee, this is thie most powerful company of the whole, 
 and the dividend to shareholders has been from 17 to 20 per cent, per 
 annum, besides the appropriation to redeem the Note shares, a large annual 
 addition to reserve, and a dividend of 8 per cent, to all policy holders. 
 We have now exhausted our list of Marine Insurance Companies, and it 
 would be difficult to find anywhere a more brilliant record of extraordinary 
 and uninterrupted prosperity than they exhibit. 
 
104 
 
 ises. 
 
 Silk. A review of the silk trade for the past year is not calculated to 
 pour balm on the wounds inflicted by tea : although losses have not 
 perhaps been so disastrous, yet profits have been as scarce as in the 
 sister trade, and the average of the year is far from satisfactory for the 
 welfare of our port. 
 
 The 1st January 1869 found us with an export of 40,700 bales 
 against 32,900 bales in 1868, and prices at Tls. 590 for No. 3 Tsatlees, 
 or, at an exchange of 5s. ll^d., Is. 6d. per lb. above Home rates. Little 
 activity was displayed in the transactions of the first quarter, although 
 a fair amount of silk found its way into foreign hands in barter against 
 imports, and that in spite of an advancing exchange. 
 
 Ee-reeled silks being in large supply were offered and taken at low 
 rates ; but being badly prepared and heavily drugged they eventually 
 lost money, and disgusted Home manufacturers to such an extent that, 
 now, even honestly prepared re-reels only sell at a heavy loss. The season 
 1868-69 closed on the 31st May, with an export of — 
 
 46,750 Bales, 
 against 41,460 „ for season 1867-8. 
 
 and 28,520 „ „ 1866-7. 
 
 and exemplified the bad effects of sending Home large shipments early 
 in the season : 27,000 bales had been exported in the first three months, 
 causing much depression in Europe, and losses to merchants, and the 
 Home markets only recovered their buoyancy the following spring ; better 
 news and' higher quotations reached here in May, when reports of "dull 
 markets and low prices " would have given a much healthier tone to our 
 opening rates for new silk. 
 
 The season 1869-70 opened in June, at Tls. 550 for No. 3 Tsatlees ; 
 without much excitement however, although this price, at exchange 6s. 2d,, 
 showed- a slight margin on Home rates, for the reports of the China crop 
 were very satisfactory, and the supplies for the season expected to reach 
 50,000 bales ; and soon after the first purchases, the telegraph flashed its 
 news of the success of the crop in Europe, where 3 million Japan cards 
 had produced an increase of 25 per cent, in the supply of Silk. Such 
 advices were calculated to stop business ; but cheering signs were found 
 
3o; 
 
 on this side, in the unexpected but gradually substantiated reports that 
 the China crop had turned out badly, and that the total supply would 
 barely exceed 38,000 bales. A decline in exchange also facilitated business 
 and, at the end of August, the export stood at the satisfactory figure for 
 shippers of 14,330 bales, against 25,840 bales in 1868 ; thirds at Tls. 560, 
 being, at exchange 5s. ll;id., about 9d. per lb. .above Home rates. 
 
 New season's silk appears to have been received with favour at Home, 
 and Thirds advanced to 29s. per lb. This gave confidence on our side, 
 and a fairly active demand existed throughout September and October. 
 Prices, however, did not show much alteration, owing to the advance in 
 exchange to 6. Id. enhancing the cost of purchases. The increased supply 
 of European Silks appears then to have been somewhat lost sight of; 
 prices for these sorts declined steadily and, with political uneasiness and 
 the illness of the French Emperor, Home markets became very depressed 
 and prices for our staple gave way, in spite of short supplies and healthy 
 statistics. This and unsatisfactory account sales caused a slight decline 
 here, both in exchange and prices ; the lowest point being reached early 
 in December, when No. 3 Tsatlees touched Tls. 540 and exchange 5s. ll|d. 
 — Gd.'per lb. higher than the lowest point touched at Home. 
 
 Subsequently business improved, and the year closed with better news 
 from Home, and the following healthy figures : 
 
 
 Export 
 
 Stock 
 
 Probable 
 supply for 
 the end of 
 the season. 
 
 Third 
 
 Tsatlees. 
 
 Exchange. 
 
 31st Dec. 1869, 
 Ditto 1868, 
 
 32,500 
 40,700 
 
 2,000 
 3,500 
 
 3,000 
 2,500 
 
 550 . 
 590 
 
 6. Of 
 5,11^ 
 
 Haining silks were in special Tequest early in the season, and the 
 first parcels that reached London sold at a profit ; but the supply soon 
 exceeded the demand, and late reports speak of heavy losses : later in the 
 year common Tsatlees sold freely, owing to- their profitable out-turn early 
 in the season j but a special demand always results in over supply, and 
 it is to be feared that common Tsatlees will share, the fate of Hainings, 
 
 We cannot close our short summary without pointing at a danger 
 which threatens the silk trade ; a heavy weight will be imposed on this 
 staple — if the export duty is doubled as proposed — in the new revised 
 treaty. Silk is, so to speak, the " scape goat " of China ; a rebellion, 
 an inundation, a famine, or any other call on the authorities for money, 
 is usually followed by a new impost on silk ; and as foreigners would 
 refuse to submit to such infractions of treaty stipulations, the mandarins 
 levy these taxes on the producers and dealers ; and silk, before it reaches 
 the hands of foreigners, has to pay : — 
 
106 
 
 Up country, (exacted from producers 
 
 and packers) . ... Tls. 27.50 per picul. 
 
 Transit duty (by treaty this should 
 
 free silk from all inland taxation) „ 5 „ „ 
 Export duty „ 10 „ „ 
 
 „ 42.50 per picul. 
 
 or 183 per cent, more than the duty and transit duty fixed by treaty ; 
 the 39,000 bales exported in 1869 have thus cost Is. 4d. per lb. more 
 than they should have done, had the treaty been properly observed ; 
 and £200,000, or Is. per lb. all round on this silk, would not have been 
 amiss with the silk trade in these bad times. Now, we are threatened 
 With an extra duty of Tls. 10 per picul— another £100,000, to come 
 out of the very problematical profits of 1870. We trust that the Home 
 Government will have more concern for the welfare of the trade than 
 to sanction such a. step. 
 
 Black Sea. The Hankow market opened on the 24th May at high rates, 
 although the crop was inferior ; but considerable settlements were made 
 before buyers seemed to realise that they were paying excessive prices for 
 tea which was generally considered inferior to that of any previous season. 
 As soon as buying slackened, native teamen, to ease the Hankow market, 
 shipped largely to Shanghai, and it was not tiU considerable stocks had 
 accumulated here, that buying commenced, at prices which were universally 
 considered moderate and within the ideas and limits even of people who 
 had suffered severely by the disasters of the previous season. It was 
 undoubtedly a fact that teamen were losing 15 to 20 per cent, on their 
 first crop operations, and this naturally deterred them ftom entering into 
 large preparations for the second crop. But at this period telegrams 
 were received quoting a steady advance in common Congou in the London 
 market ; and from this point our troubles began. It seems an undoubted 
 fact that common teas cannot be produced at a profit to teamen, under 
 Tls. 18 per pionl laid down in Shanghai ; the increased rates of labour, 
 the high price of copper cash^ and the heavy native taxes making a large 
 difference in cost as compared to the years before the Rebellion. These 
 expenses are estimated as follows : — 
 
 Chests and lead per picul Tls. 0.81 
 
 Firing and labour . 
 
 Native Taxes 
 
 Boat hire to Hankow 
 
 Carriage to Shanghai including duty. 
 Teamen's hong commission 
 
 1.61 
 1.35 
 
 aso 
 
 4.75 
 0.70 
 
 Tls. 9.52 
 
107 
 
 In the beginning of July, the usual reports were circulated of a 
 probable short crop, and Foreign merchants then commenced to compete 
 against each other, at weekly advancing rates. Second crop teas did, in 
 fact, arrive sparingly ; and although they showed a profit to the producer, 
 no great harm was done till the middle of September, when large purchases 
 made at rates culminating in an advance of Tls. 2 per picul, encouraged 
 teamen who had closed their hongs in the country to return and re-open 
 them ; and from that date supplies again came forward freely. 
 
 It must be noted, moreover, that latest arrivals have almost entirely 
 consisted of very common descriptions. It has been estimated indeed) 
 that 5,000,000 lbs. of tea, unparalleled in any previous season for 
 lowness of character, has, this year, been prepared. Low mixed spurious 
 teas are also being packed, and still offered in the market ; though as 
 there is no chance of a deficient export, it is hardly likely buyers will 
 invest on the barest chance of a small profit, in rubbish which is 
 likely to be condemned as unsaleable. For the information of our Home 
 readers, we may mention that this so-called " Maloo mixture " is the 
 re-fired leaf of tea that has been already used in native tea-shops. 
 
 The result, so far as ascertained, of the out-turn of shipments from 
 Shangha,i during the present season, seems on the whole satisfactory- 
 The first teas which reached Home, by steamer, paid handsomely ; and 
 later arrivals were still covering cost. But, as the system of forcing 
 sales appears to be persisted in, it is to be feared that future advices may 
 be of a more gloomy nature. Shipments from Hankow have, we believe, 
 in most instances resulted in a heavy loss. 
 
 We must now say a few words as to the probable total export. We 
 estimate this at — 
 
 From China 140,000,000 
 
 „ India 15,000,000 
 
 155,000,000 
 
 The rate of consumption and of re-export, in England, up to the 9th 
 October, had been about 2,906,020 lbs. per week, equalling 151,113,040 
 lbs. per annum ; which would leave an increase to the stock of about 
 3,900,000 lbs. by the time the new teas arrive. Though, if low prices 
 stimulate the trade, it is likely that this may be absorbed by an increased 
 consumption. 
 
 An important feature in the tea trade, which is very much overlooked 
 here, is the great increase in the production uf Indian tea. In 1865 and 
 1866, the import into Great Britain was only 4,680,000 lbs. ; last year it 
 it was 11,260,000 lbs. ; and this year it is estimated at 15,000,000 lbs. 
 A great authority on the tea trade writes, "Indian tea, more clearly 
 
than ever, appears to us to be the tea of the future. There can be no 
 doubt that, with many grocers, it has superseded all other mixing kinds, 
 and that the use of scented teas and Oolongs is in some districts almost 
 at an end. The pungent and penetrating flavour of Indian teas never 
 becomes stale, and adds at the same time great strength to the far weaker 
 China growths. Another advantage is that the liquor drawn is dark in 
 colour, which is almost invariably considered an infallible sign of strength." 
 Now this strength ahd fragrance m'lst undoubtedly bring this tea more 
 and more into favour, so long as the quality of China teas continues 
 to deteriorate. It is apparent to any observant tea taster that, every 
 year, there is less care displayed in the twisting and manipulation of the 
 leaf. This is entirely caused by the speedy communication we now have 
 with the producing districts. Before the opening up of the Yangtsze, 
 teamen rejected all leaves that were open, and that could not be twisted ; 
 as, no doubt from previous experience, they discovered that, imless 
 carefully prepared and well packed, their first season's produce, by the 
 time it reached the Shanghai or Canton market, had lost a great deal 
 of its fragrance. It was often three months after the new teas had been 
 prepared before they could be brought to market, as the junks in which 
 they were conveyed were frequently long delayed by adverse winds or the 
 flooded state of the Yangstze, while stormy and wet weather would delay 
 their transit on the Canton route. Considering the results of this 
 deterioration, the course pursued by merchants in England, this season, 
 of forcing off their teas whenever they could get a chance, either by 
 private contract or by auction "without reserve," although much to be 
 regretted, is not to be wondered at. The experience of holding has, 
 almost without exception, been ruinous, as a rapid falling off in quality 
 entirely counteracts any improvement that may be met with in the Loudon 
 demand during the Spring. We know of many cases where teas once 
 classed as finest, after having been held for two seasons, have come down 
 to the grade of good common congou.; and an examination of sample 
 canisters in Shanghai, this season, has also betrayed rapid deterioration. 
 It is urged from London — why do you not make the natives hold the 
 stock, instead of forcing a year's consumption on us in six months ? The 
 answer is, how can it be avoided ? You forget that orders are yearly 
 sent out for nearly three titles the amount of tea that is produced ; that, 
 this season, prices were lower than they had been since 1861 ; and that, 
 while we were buying here under orders, we were quite unaware that 
 there had been such a delay in opening the Foochow market, our com- 
 munication with that port being so uncertain that, for weeks, we -were 
 dependent on Hongkong for news. The only wise course for the future 
 appears to be for persons who are anxious to invest in this dangerous 
 article, to base tlieir orders on the following principle ; — say 10 per cent, 
 of truly finest ten, at 2s. Id. ; 30 per cent, of really fine first crop with 
 
109 
 
 a limit of Is. 5d. ; and the balance GO per cent, of good common Congou 
 to best medium at lid. a Is. Id. per lb. Avoid the dangerous grades 
 and shades of quality ; for, on a glutted market, they are ignored by 
 dealers, who are always ready and willing to take advantage of the 
 weakness of Importers. Our impression is that natives will never be 
 willing to hold stocks ; and their experience of recent shipments to 
 England on their own account is hardly likely to make them anxious 
 to ship to any extent. Before the trade can assume a really healthy 
 condition, stocks in England must be reduced. Six and seven months' 
 supplies may have been a necessary reserve when the old East India 
 Company's ships took six months on a voyage, and when teas were prepared 
 so that they would keep, uninjured, over three times that period. But 
 now that the length of voyage is reduced bj' half, a different rule should 
 pi-evail. Moreover, with increasing supplies from Japan and India, China 
 is not, now, the only producing country, as it used to be. Indeed, as 
 we have before remarked, unless their quality improve, China teas promise, 
 eventually, to become only useful for leaf, while pungency and strength 
 wiU be added from Indian growths. 
 
 The increase of shipments from Shanghai via Tientsin for Russia 
 is also remarkable, and -must, next season, affect the export demand from 
 London. AYe hear from reliable sources that, notwithstanding the reduction 
 in the duty on importation through the Baltic and Germany, larger 
 quantities than ever, of tea, find their way into European Russia by the 
 overland route ; and a belief is even gaining ground that the same dete- 
 rioration of quality does not occur, on this route, as during the sea voyage. 
 The export of tea md Tientsin was — 
 
 ■ For the Season 1869 '70 against 1868 '69 
 
 Black Brick tea 9,222,203 „ 7,083,092 lbs. 
 
 Black tea 5,121,727 „ 2,022,053,,, 
 
 Green tea, dust &c 160,564 „ 100,494,, 
 
 Ureen Tea. We come HOW to Green Tea ; but it is diffioultito write compre- 
 hensively on the subject, as we are only now in the middle of the season^ 
 and there are no very definite results to be chronicled. A depressed and 
 overstocked market at New York led many to expect low rates for the New 
 Year's samples. The result, however, proved differently, as prices paid for the 
 first Tienkeis were very little under last year's opening rates. The sales of the 
 Everest's and Undines cargoes, — which were placed on a badly supplied market 
 in London — induced large shipments to that port ; and our export to Great 
 Britain at the close of the year was 2,600,000 lbs. above that of the last 
 season. Merchants at Home, doubtless hearing of the free supplies 
 coming- forward, have been forcing off first arrivals at public auction 
 without reserve ; and, consequently, a much lower scale of prices has 
 been established than stocks would justify. It would seem, however, 
 
110 
 
 that prices cannot decline much further, as an export demand will be 
 sure to set iu for Canada, if purchases can be made more cheaply in 
 London than in New York. The quality of this New Year's Crop is 
 pronounced inferior to that of previous seasons, and this may, in some 
 measure, warrant the extreme prices that have been paid for fine and 
 finest parcels ; but at the same time it does not excuse the high rates that 
 low Fychows and Moyunes are bringing, which are equally out of favour 
 both in America and England. Of our total export, we can form no 
 decided opinion ; as is only natural, teamen predict a short' supply ; but 
 from statistics before us we cannot place any credence in their reports. 
 Arrivals up to the close of 1869 amounted to : — 
 
 1869-70 against 1868-69 
 
 356,809 half-chests Fychow 329,394 half-chests. 
 73,711 „ Pingsuey 89,238 
 
 24,508 „ Sh.-pokt. .31,183 
 
 455,028 ," 446,815 
 
 importe. This is a branch of foreign trade on which we can always dwell 
 with satisfaction, because it is an increasing one. The word " progress " 
 as applied to Chinese affairs, which we chiefly owe to a clever writer in 
 Blackwood of some ten years back, and which is rather apt to degenerate 
 into a cant phrase, has a most satisfactory meaning in connection with 
 the increase in the use of foreign textile fabrics in China. When we 
 supply the Chinese people, as we have done in 1869, with, in round 
 numbers, 25,000,000 yards of good honest Cotton Cloth more than we 
 have ever done in any one year before, we know it is by furnishing the 
 people with clothing at a cheaper price than they could provide themselves 
 at from native sources ; and by so much as they save, do we enrich them ; 
 and by so much as we contribute to put a covering on those who would 
 otherwise be uncovered, do we confer a benefit on the human race. More 
 important still is the effect of this increase on the producers of the goods. 
 For if we allow that every yard of Cotton goods exported from England 
 represents the work of one man for two hours, the increment in the China 
 trade of 1869, over that of 1868, has given a comfortable living to more 
 than ten thousand persons who, without such occupation, would have been 
 paupers. It is thus that commerce improves the condition of mankind 
 generally, whatever its efiects may be on its immediate conductors. The 
 merchant, tempted by the prospect of great profit, is lured into operations 
 which may prove ruinous to him, but which bring the ends of the earth 
 together, and increase the aggregate stock of wealth. 
 
 The quantity of the chief staple. Grey Shirtings, imported in 1869 
 is 4,397,872 pieces, against 4,334,767 pieces in 1868, which was just 
 
Ill 
 
 double the quantity imported during 1867. The unsold stock at the 
 end of the year 1869 is, however, larger than that left over from the 
 previous year. 
 
 T-Oloths, which we noticed in our Eetrospeot of 1868 as having made 
 a moat remarkable advance, — ^the importation of that year having been no 
 less than three times that of its predecessor, have again increased in an 
 extraordinary manner ; the quantity entered in 1869 having exceeded 
 by 58 per cent, that of 1868, (2,645,852 pieces, against 1,677,258.) At 
 one time the demand for these goods was insatiable, and it seemed as if 
 merchants had at last found a trade which could not be overdone. The 
 heavier the arrivals, the more hungry the market seemed to be. It has 
 at last, however, been overdone, and for six months past the market has 
 been glutted. The most satisfactory thing connected vcith the growth 
 of this branch of trade is that these strong substantial fabrics seem not to 
 supplant any other foreign manufacture, but to supplement or replace 
 cloths of native make, thus realising to some extent the hope deferred for 
 five-and-twenty years. 
 
 White Shirtings shew no advance ; this is an article of luxury, which 
 has not the same elements of development as goods for the million. 
 
 The prices of Cotton Goods have fluctuated very considerably in 
 England, and have been -remarkably steady in China. T-Cloths have 
 indeed been in an exceptional position during the year, having been in 
 transition from a state of under-supply to one of over-supply ; but Grey 
 Shirtings, which have been unaffected by special circumstances, have 
 maintained an almost uniform price throughout the year. If we except 
 the months of January and February, when the value of Slbs. 4oz. goods 
 was forced to Tls. 2 by an unaccountable panic which seized some large 
 holders, presumed to be weU-informed, we find the range of price for 
 Eagle chop to be between Tls. 2.18 and Tls. 2.30 — that is an extreme 
 range of 6 per cent. On the other hand prices in England have fluctuated 
 as much as 20 per cent., or say from 10s. to 12s. per piece for Slbs. 4oa. 
 AU the higher priced goods have of course lost very considerably, while 
 the cheaper bought ones have paid a profit. Very small quantities were 
 bought at either of the extremes, but the bulk probably cost about lis. 
 or a little under, while roughly speaking it is probable that all costing 
 over 10s. 6d. left a loss to importers. 
 
 The Woollen trade does not prosper in China, and it may safely be 
 said of Long Ells, Spanish Stripes and Camlets, that merchants would 
 on the whole have been richer if they had left them alone during the past 
 year. The opening up and pacification of the country, which have so 
 greatly stimulated Cotton goods, seem unable to move the more costly 
 fabrics which only the limited number of wealthy persons can afibrd. 
 The low price of Wool and the high price of Cotton during certain 
 portions of the year, have tempted many buyers whom experience might 
 
112 
 
 have taught better ; and we are consequently flooded with woollen and 
 worsted goods, costing certainly very much leas than in previous years, 
 but equally certain to prove unprofitable. It should not be forgotten 
 that low cost can never save an article from loss. It is the relative 
 proportion between supply and demand which decided that; and 
 tea shippers at all events know by this time that while they keep 
 sending more than is wanted, however cheaply they may buy, they 
 will have to sell still cheaper. The quantity of Woollen goods China 
 will take is tolerably well ascertained ; the trade shows little power of 
 expansion ; and though low prices may increase the demand to some 
 extent, shipments that are all round 30 per cent, in excess of requirements, 
 are not likely to do well. 
 
 Public Nearly four years ago, at a time when property here had 
 reached its lowest point of depression, we compiled a list of the various 
 Public Companies in Shanghai, their shares and values ; and we remarked 
 that the most misanthropic must be satisfied with the record of loss 
 exhibited. " Shares costing Tls. 1,000 reduced to the value of Tls. 100, 
 and others brought down absolutely to a cypher, were the rule rather' 
 than the exception, and with the sole exception of the China Fire Insurance 
 and North-China Insurance Companies, not a cent, of dividend had been 
 declared during the previous year." A great change has come, since then, 
 over the aspect of affairs. Instead of being concentrated in a few hands, 
 shares in the various local companies have become a medium for general 
 investment ; and an active and even speculative market for them exists. 
 Our share list has become a recognized means of information, and share- 
 holders may find a monthly increasing satisfaction in perusing the list of 
 values recorded. Several names have disappeared from it ; notably among 
 the Banks, the havoc has been conspicuous ; but those associations which 
 have weathered the gale show a premium instead of depreciation, and a 
 liberal dividend instead of imminent calls. There were, at the time we 
 wrote, eleven banking institutions in Shanghai, of which six have come 
 to an untimely end ; the Agra and the Asiatic, the Commercial and the 
 Central, the Bank of India and the Bank of Hindostan collapsed during 
 the panic of 1866-7 ; and the shares even of those which survived the 
 storm, have not yet recovered the high premium they then commanded. 
 But their latest reports announce that the losses which they incurred in 
 common with their less stable fellows, have been nearly wiped out ; and 
 liberal dividends have been already resumed. Our local Bank, only, has 
 shown a steady improvement. It suffered very slightly during the general 
 collapse ; and its shares, quoted four years ago at par value, have gradually 
 risen to a handsome premium. 
 
 There also existed, in those days, a Brick and Saw Mill Company, 
 a Shanghai Wharf Company, and a China Fire Insurance Company ; and 
 the Hongkew Wharf and the Shanghai Club were each in the hands of 
 
113 
 
 associated shareholders. The two first collapsed with the loss of their 
 entire paid-up capital, and the third was allowed to die, through sheer 
 lack of pluck and energy. It had a run of bad luck — at Yokohama, 
 Hongkong and Foochow — which absorbed the greater part of its previous 
 earnings, but still left its capital intact, and a sufficient surplus to permit 
 a fair dividend at the end of its triennial term. These fires had cleared 
 ofi" many bad risks, and had taught the lesson of greater discretion. There 
 can be no doubt that, had the Company been renewed, it would have had 
 a successful career. It was allowed to collapse, and the Hongkong Fij-e 
 Insurance Company seized the opportunity, increased its capital, and has 
 since done a business which has raised the value of its shares to cent, 
 per cent, premium. Shareholders in the Chib have been glad to abandon 
 their subscribed capital of Tls. 48,000 ; the Trustees of the Recreation 
 Fund taking over the building and its liabilities, in discharge of a debt 
 of Tls. 34,000 borrowed from them to enable its completion. The 
 Hongkew Wharf, whose Tls. 1,000 shares had fallen, four years ago, to 
 Tls. 16, has -been bought into, and is now working successfully in 
 private hands. 
 
 It is pleasant to turn from this picture of collapse to one of solid 
 improvement. The North-China Insurance Company is prosperous as 
 it was then, and has strengthened its position by opening a branch office 
 in London. It has prosperous competitors in the Union, China Traders 
 and the Yangtsze Insurance Associations ; and a fourth, under the name 
 of the China and Japan Marine Insurance Company, is being now organized ; 
 but there seems room for all. The navigation of the Yangtsze affords an • 
 equally profitable field. We wrote, four years ago, of the S. S. N. 
 Company that, although shares showed a depreciation of 40 per cent. 
 in consequence of a succession of losses,' the shareholders might look for 
 eventual success ; that all the Company wanted was rest from loss, to 
 enable it to pay a handsome dividend. The result has surpassed the 
 expectations of the most sanguine. Partly by absorbing competing 
 steamers, and partly through the natural growth of trade, the Company 
 has steadily risen in prosperity till its shares, instead of 40 per cent, discount, 
 are now worth 50 per cent, premium ; for the par value of 100 at which 
 they are now quoted, includes a - stock dividend of fifty per cent. 
 on the original capital — the plant representing which has been paid for 
 out of earnings. The position of the S. S. N". Company is daily becoming 
 stronger, and it may look forward to a long lease of prosperity. The 
 Union Steam Navigation Company runs with it in friendly rivalry, but 
 it is generally believed that any new comers will be opposed; and few 
 would care to try a contest against an association so thoroughly organized, 
 and working on so 'firm a basis. The interest of each is to stand by the 
 other; and, as wise counsels averted a suicidal contest which seemed 
 possible in the beginning of last year, so we doubt not that a liberal 
 
114 
 
 policy on the part of the Senior Company will obviate any further 
 inclination on the part of the Junior, to try a conclusion which must lead 
 to ruinous loss. Are our readers getting tired of this sketch ? because 
 if not, we must ask their attention for a few minutes longer, while we 
 mention a recovery in the value of the "Shanghai Tug and Lighter" 
 shares, from Tls. 25 to Tls. 300 per Tls, 850 share ; and of " Shanghai 
 Gas" from Tls. 75 (through a' depreciation to Tls. 50) to Tls. 114. The 
 latter also promises to be one of the soundest and most successful ventures 
 in Shanghai, if its managers will venture on a broad and liberal policy. 
 Its field for extension is very wide, but the excessive rates now charged 
 prevent the increase of consumers which might be safely looked for if 
 the encouragement of cheap prices were added to the other advantages, 
 over oil, which gas possesses. The shares of its rival, the French Gas 
 Company, form an exception to the general rise; they have depreciated 
 from par to 30 per cent, discount ; but they are showing symptoms of 
 elastic recovery, now that the Company is known to be shaking off its 
 liabilities. The Racket Club has had its turn of depression — the unex- 
 pected disclosure of a deficit of Tls. 3,500 having depreciated its shares 
 at one time nearly 60 per cent. ; but careful management and economy 
 have nearly extinguished this debt, and the shares are now barely 
 obtainable at 30 per cent, below their par value. We have reserved till 
 the last, that brilliant incubus the Soochow bridge, whose proprietors have 
 just succeeded in persuading an intelligent Municipality to purchase at a 
 cost of 12 per cent, on the original outlay, the right for foreigners alone 
 to pass toll-free over its shaky supports. It is true that a new bridge is 
 promised at an early date, but this has been purchased out of profits, 
 after a series of splendid dividends ; and the Company reserves the right 
 of taxing Chinese passengers, to supplement the dividend of 12 per cent, 
 which the munificent liberality of the community has secured to them. 
 
115 
 
 ISVO. 
 
 suk. The year 1870 will be long remembered among silk buyers, from 
 the anxiety caused during the latter part of it, by the unexpected and 
 startling news received at the beginning of August, of the declaration 
 of war by France against Prussia. With such adverse news before them, 
 it seemed likely that buyers would act with great caution and demand 
 considerable reduction in prices, but such has not been the case. Strange 
 to say, notwithstanding the receipt of this news and of subsequent advice, 
 of a continuation of this deplorable struggle, business after a short pause 
 was carried on to a fair extent, fully 9,500 bales having found buyers 
 between 11th August and 31st December. At present, the results of 
 those purchases, which we must confess seem to us hazardous, are awaited 
 with no little anxiety. 
 
 On the Ist January 1870, our export of silk from Shanghai, from 
 1st June to 31st December 1869, reached 32,500 bales, against 40,700 
 during 1868 ; we therefore commenced the year with favourable statisticss 
 Our prices ruled fully Is. 6d. lower than those paid on 1st January 1869, 
 while the home quotations for the two years were about the same ; the cost 
 of Silk therefore was in favour of buyers. These two things, in connection 
 with the existence of a good demand at fairly remunerative prices in 
 London, induced a large business to be transacted here in January, 
 estimated at fully 5,000 bales, chiefly consisting of medium to common 
 Tsatlees and some common Taysaams. At the end of the month, sellers 
 became firmer, and established an advance of Tls. 10 to 15 per piculs 
 chiefly upon rates for common grades which were in greatest demand. 
 Early in February, owing to the intervention of Chinese New Year 
 festivities, little was done, but business was resumed after the usual 
 holidays, and before the end of the month some 2,000 bales had been 
 settled at gradually advancing quotations, until the laying down cost was 
 increased fully 2s. Od. per lb. on chops and other grades. March com- 
 menced with a good demand, chiefly for lower kinds of Tsatlees, and 
 Chincum and Ti-ki Taysaams ; a few chops found buyers at 31s. 6d. for 
 best thirds, while all other classes were neglected. The continued brisk 
 demand for all inferior descriptions induced arrivals of very undesirable 
 silks that had been stored in the interior for several years, and the country 
 was thoroughly drained of such classes. Fully 2,500 bales were settled 
 
116 
 
 this mouth ; and at the close, owing to the scarcity of other silks, buyers 
 took Szeohuens and re-reeled Hainings and Tsatlees at very full rates, 
 chop Tsatlees having advanced to 32s. Od. per lb. Great annoyance was 
 now experienced by the packing of wet, damaged and excessively inferior 
 skeins inside the books of silk. Early -in April, a fair business was 
 transacted, fully 1,200 bales of common Taysaams, Szechuens, and 
 Sewhings, being taken at a slight advance ; 32s. 6d. was offered for 
 " Koo-fong-sing's " .chop 3, but refused — 33s. Od. being demanded. Owing 
 to the receipt of telegrams reporting a very quiet market in London, 
 business during the latter half of April was much restricted, only 400 
 bales being settled, at prices showing a decline of Tls. 10 per picul. The 
 advices now received from the producing districts regarding the coming 
 now crop were favourable, and continued so during May, although the 
 usual reports as to damage to mulberry trees by insects were current. 
 The business transacted during this month was less than that of the 
 previous one — the market being almost bare of silk ; — and the season 
 closed on the 31st with an export of 42,966 bales against 46,785 bales in 
 the previous year. This decrease in the export, Qoupled with an expected 
 decrease in coming supplies, caused the New Season to open in June at 
 unprecedentedly high rates, 34s. 6d. per lb. having been refused for the 
 first few bales of best chop 3 Tsatlee ! The first arrivals, although not 
 of such fine size as previous crop, yet surpassed in colour and quality the 
 silk of season 1869-70. There was a very brisk competition for the first 
 thousand bales that came to hand, at prices on a basis of 29s. 9d. for 
 " Ked Peacock," in fact the natives had only to name a price and it was 
 at once obtained, so eager were buyers to have silk in the first steamer. 
 Many buyers now found themselves "in a fix," especially those who "had 
 bought silk for delivery the following mail, for from some unaccountable 
 reason Bankers jumped the rate of Exchange from 6s. IJ to 6s. 4|d. for 
 credits in two or three days, enhancing the cost of the silk very consid- 
 erably, and had not natives consented to a fair decline in tael prices, 
 business must have been stopped entirely. Perhaps it would have been 
 better for Foreigners if the stop had happened. The month closed with 
 10,000 bales settled against 4,200 bales the previous year, chops being 
 quoted 32s. 6d. and Red Peacock 28s. 6d per lb. ; a fair proportion of 
 the business so far had been on joint account with the sellers, and also in 
 barter against Woollens, &o. July saw 6,700 bales settled at very irregular 
 rates, owing to the large amount of joint account transactions, and the 
 export to date showed an increase of over 8,000 bales ! Notwithstanding 
 these adverse statistics, large joint account settlements took place during 
 the early part of August, on a basis of 32s. Od. for classic 3 Tsatlee, and 
 had not the news of the declaration of war between France and Prussia 
 been received, it is likely this business would have been further extended. 
 This startling announcement naturally brought the market to a standstill 
 
117 
 
 and it was not until natives were willing to makfe a concession of 2s. Od. 
 @ 3s. Od. per lb. that business was resumed in September, when about 
 1,000 bales were settled at 30s. Od. for best Thirds Tsatlee, and 263. 4d. 
 for Eed Peacock — (pafd by a native, the silli for re-sale on this mafliet.) 
 It is probable that business would have now again become more general, 
 had not Banlcs refused to negociate Silk Drafts until further particulars 
 of the calamitous war advices had been received. Early in October a 
 dragging business was transacted, but owing to the eagerness of a native 
 speculator to secure all good to best silk on offer, prices advanced about 
 Is. Od. per lb., when Foreign buyers entering the market gave prices a 
 further upward tendency, and about 2,500 bales were settled, comprising 
 chiefly re-reeled silk and medium to common Tsatlees and Taysaams, other 
 classes being neglected, especially Hainings. The export figures, as com- 
 pared with the previous year, now began to assume an equality, say 
 22,728 bales against 23,394 bales season 1869-70. The business transacted 
 during the first part of November was trivial, barely 300 bales being 
 settled, at rather weaker rates, especially for inferior grades. During the 
 latter part of the month, owing to receipt of advices reporting probable 
 peace in Europe, buyers generally regained confidence and an active 
 mai-ket resulted, fully 2,000 bales finding purchasers at rather higher 
 rates, 30s. 7d. being paid for chop 3 Tsatlee, 26s. 3d. for good No. 4, 
 and 26s. for " Red Peacock ;" — again the bulk of the settlements consisted 
 of medium to common Tsatlees and Taysaams or re-reeled classes. De- 
 cember commenced with a good business, fully 1,500 bales having been 
 settled during the first week at gradually advancing rates; the prices 
 paid being 31s. Od. for chop No. 3 Tsatlee, 27s. Od. for good No. 4, and 
 26s. 6d. for Red Peacock. At these quotations the market closed very 
 firm, and an advance looked very probable, when telegrams were received 
 pointing to a threatened rupture with Russia upon the Black Sea question. 
 This again naturally made buyers more cautious, and caused the most 
 sanguine to halt, and await further particulars, before continuing purchases 
 at such dangerously high cost as 31s. Od. for chop 3 against a Home 
 quotation of 29s. Od. per lb. The Export from 1st June to 31st December 
 has been 27,193 bales against preceding year 32,503 bales. This shows a 
 decrease of 5,450 bales ; while the London stocks on 1st November showed 
 only a slight increase, say stocks on the 1st Nov. 1870, 16,564 bales, and 1st 
 Nov. 1869, 16,143 bales. It would seem impossible to foretell the future 
 of silk, with certainty, but everything at present points to lower prices in 
 Europe for Chinas. The ruinous effects of the war between France and 
 Prussia will, it is to be feared, so impoverish the country, and render 
 taxation so heavy, as to greatly check silk manufacturing in France. 
 The very heavy stocks of European silks, (both last season's crop and this 
 year's racolte) which are being offered at such a great reduction in prices, 
 to say nothing of the increased stocks of Japan and Canton silks, must 
 
118 
 
 naturally have a tendency to force down the price of Chinas ; and although 
 up to the present time importers have been able to resist a decline in 
 the London market, it yet remains to be seen what will be the result, as' 
 drafts mature in January and February. 
 
 Tea. In our review of the tea season just past, we have to chronicle an 
 exceptional year — exceptional in all its profitable results to those engaged 
 in it. We hardly know whether or not to congratulate our readers on 
 this fact ; we congratulate them on the profits won, but we can scarcely 
 congratulate them on the fact of this being an exceptional feature. Since 
 1865 we have had nothing but losses to register, notwithstanding, or rather 
 because, the figures have exhibited a most prosperous increase in the 
 shipments. But this apparent paradox is the key to the prosperity of 
 the trade, as all those engaged in it know. FaiUng crops represent, as a 
 rule, profit to the merchant and an enhanced cost to the consumer; 
 excessive crops, the reverse. From the point of view of the China 
 merchant, the short crop of 1870 is a decided subject of congratulation, 
 and the falling off shewn in our export trade a healthy feature of it, at last 
 realizing hopes deferred during five long years of loss. 
 
 For indeed, it is an indisputable fact, and a lamentable one to the 
 distributor, that the yield of tea in China has been steadily outstripping 
 the consumption. With increasing yield has come inferior quality, the - 
 object of the grower being quantity, the price paid for quality having, 
 until quite recently, not been sufficiently high to compensate the producer 
 for a lesser quantity ; and hence, everything in the shape of leaf has been 
 eagerly packed, the Chinese having found that they could never pack too 
 much for the demand — the demand in China. Everything brought down 
 for sale — Maloo, willow leaf, stalks, sweepings, dust — has found a ready 
 market ; and the country, between the seasons, has been entirely denuded. 
 In the Home markets, on the other hand, the stock carried between the 
 seasons has grown heavier and heavier, while quicker communication has, 
 more and more, obviated the necessity of those stocks ; and hence the 
 Importer has stood entirely at the consumer's mercy. With India reduced 
 to barely one, and China to two months' distance, London could afibrd 
 to wait its regular supply, with the assured certainty of a well stocked 
 market to meet all its wants. Meanwhile, a surplus stock of seven or 
 eight months' consumption was being steadily pressed for sale. Nothing 
 but reduced exports could remedy such a position ; and this remedy, the 
 short yield of the past season has at length brought us. 
 
 The season opened in Hankow in May, as usual ; the first two chops 
 being bought on the 19th, five days earlier than in 1869. These teas were 
 from the Ningohow district, and had been sent up from Kiukiang for sale ; 
 they were settled at the price of Tls. 40 delivered in Shanghai, equal to 
 2s. 2d. per lb. delivered in London. During the following week, large 
 purchases were made, 2s. 4|d, being the highest price paid. The quality 
 
119 
 
 was considered good, though nothing extraordinary, the best judges indeed 
 characterised the crop as generally wanting in strength, though of fine 
 flavovir. No less than four steamers were at Hankow, awaiting the opening 
 of the season ; and their loading gave rise to considerable competition, 
 which rapidly cleared the market. Two, the £rl King and Diomed, filled 
 up in little more than a week, passing Woosung outward bound on the 
 8th and 9th June respectively. The rate of freight by these first steamers 
 was £1 per ton of 40 feet, being £1 less than in the previous season, and 
 an additional 10s. per ton was promised to the first steamer Home. This 
 bonus was gained by the Erl King, after a close race with the Diomed ; 
 the two steamers arriving in the Thames, the former on the 3rd, and the 
 latter on the 4th August, the run having been made in 56 days against 
 the monsoon. The only direct sailing vessel from Hankow to London was 
 the Titania which, with the other two steamers, the Agamemnon and the 
 Oheron, sailed in the middle of the month. It is probable that this will 
 prove to be the last sailing vessel from that port, there having been a 
 steady decrease in the number of direct ships each year the port has been 
 open, from 1861 downwards. In fact, we are of opinion that, had not 
 the Suez Canal, with its facilities for direct steamers, come to the rescue, 
 the whole trade would have returned to Shanghai, and thus again have 
 concentrated the buying here, and deprived the Chinese of the choice of 
 the two competing markets they now possess. As it is, after the 
 first rush is over, the greater portion of the crop finds its way to 
 Shanghai for sale ; the admirable arrangements of the Shanghai Steam 
 Navigation Co. affording every facility to the Chinese teamen to store their 
 goods here; while at Hankow and Kiukiang they can be transhipped 
 direct from the up-country junks on board the steamers. Indeed, but for 
 the fact that our chief fhms are heavily interested in establishments at 
 these ports, inaugurated under expectations since disappointed, it is pro- 
 bable that both Kiukiang and Hankow would have been abandoned as 
 buying marts, some years since. 
 
 A few days after the first arrivals in Hankow, samples of the new 
 teas were shown here ; but our chief buyers being still absent up the 
 Eiver, little was done until after their return, about the middle of June, 
 when considerable settlements were made ; shortly afterwards, operations 
 were temporarily checked by a continuance of unfavourable telegrams 
 from Home ; in feet our chief experts were unanimous in quoting rates as 
 2d. per lb. above latest London value. Under these circumstances, the 
 Stock was allowed to accumulate until near the end of June, when it 
 reached over 100,000 chests. By this time teamen began to show some 
 anxiety to sell, while buyers on the other hand received encouragement 
 by the news from Foochow, where a month had already passed without 
 any business being done. This led to a more active market here, and by 
 the middle of July nearly the whole first crop— about 300,000 chests— 
 
120 
 
 had been bought. The commonest descriptions, from the Oonam districts, 
 had now fallen to 18 taels, equalling Is. OJd. per lb. ; a higher price than 
 the experience of the previous season seemed to justify, while the number 
 of steamers loading for the Suez Canal route seemed to presage a recur- 
 rence of the disasters of the past few years. From these, however, we 
 were fortunately saved by the determination of the Foochow teamen, who, 
 judging themselves from the course of former seasons, imagined they had 
 only to hold firm in order to bring the foreigner to their terms sooner or 
 later. Such, however, had been the losses from that port in 1869 that, 
 purely in the absence of any combination or apparent previous determi- 
 nation, a stand was made during nearly two months > and it is to this 
 lucky but unforeseeable incident that we owe one of the most prosperous 
 seasons within the memory of the present generation of tea-shippers. 
 
 The first two cargoes met an unusually active demand in London, and 
 were rapidly sold at prices ranging from Is. lOd. to 2s. 6d. per lb., leaving 
 profits that, but for the high rate of freight, would have been brilliantly 
 large. As early as the 18th August, however, when the third steamer, 
 the Agamemnon, had arrived, the London reports stated that a " declaration 
 of an unreserved sale of a portion of her cargo, coupled with heavy 
 reductions submitted to in several quarters, had quite paralysed the market, 
 and that dealers were unwilling to buy except at rates at which a loss 
 seemed probable, while many of the best teas proved to be in transit for 
 Russia, and were consequently not offered." It seemed then for a time 
 that Importers were still at the Dealer's mercy, but the lull was only 
 temporary, and as high as 2s. 8d. was subsequently realised for choice 
 lots. The best proportionate rates were, however, obtained later, for the 
 m.edium and common teas, the very sorts on which in previous years the 
 heaviest losses had been made. These teas were found to possess a flavour 
 and fragrance which had escaped the notice of China experts, and were 
 consequently ranked much higher at Home than here. It is probable that 
 the crusade against bad tea-leads and indifferent packing, which has been 
 carried on of late with so much difficulty, has at last had its eflFect, and 
 that a marked improvement in this respect, coupled with the shortening 
 of the sea voyage, has led to the teas being landed in England fresh and 
 brisk as we find them in China. Nor must it be forgotten that the Assam 
 crop, on which dealers had hitherto depended for strengthening and 
 improving common China tea, was this year a partial failure, and they 
 were therefore driven back on the medium China teas, as of old. This 
 fact also explains the neglect with which the common teas have been met 
 and that, while medium Congous have advanced from Is. 2d. to Is. 8d., 
 common is still quoted at 10|d. Such a conjuncture— a failure in India, 
 with a short crop and delay of shipments in the South, but a fine crop 
 of Black Leaf Congous here in the North — is as fortunate as it was 
 unexpected. 
 
121 
 
 The news of the outbreak of war in Europe, which reached us in 
 August, tended still further to delay shipments. For a time, exchange 
 operations were largely curtailed, many Home orders were cancelled, and 
 competition was much reduced. It was soon seen, however, that there was 
 little fear of the conflagration spreading, and that the war would probably 
 be confined to a duel between France and Prussia. Confidence was fully 
 restored in September ; and prices from this time onwards grew firmer, 
 until at last, as the teas grew daily more common, quotations mounted 
 fully up to if not above the equivalent of the advanced London value. 
 Owing to the high country cost, the teamen, however, were still losing 
 money, and they have consequently shewn little inclination to push the 
 manufacture of third crop teas to an extreme. We are thus fortunately 
 without a great portion of the rubbish which clogged our markets at the 
 close of the last season. The export from this port (in which the Hankow 
 teas are included) now promises not to exceed last year's, while from 
 Foochow and Canton a deficiency is certain. It is also a matter for 
 congratulation that common Congou is still quoted from London as low 
 as 10|d., for any deficiency that may be probable can be well borne there, 
 the stocks usually held between the seasons (amounting to nearly 
 100,000,000 lbs. in 1870) being much more than, with modern means of 
 communication, the trade requires to be carried over. From the 8th of 
 June to date, no less than 21 steamers have sailed by the Canal route, 
 taking between them nearly one-third of the crop ; it seems likely that 
 next year one-half, or more, of the teas will take this route. Already a 
 fortnightly line is advertised for the coming season, by the " Ocean " 
 Company; and with the completion of the electric telegraph, the result 
 of shipments will be known here so quickly that the excessive speculation, 
 which has always been a peculiar feature of the trade, will be considerably 
 lessened. At the same time the whole crop will probably be dispatched 
 with greater rapidity than ever, and shippers will have to be careful to ship 
 teas that will bear holding, or a great contemporary collapse may occur. 
 By many this change is looked upon with dread, but to us it appears as 
 the welcome means of putting an end to the disasters which have 
 repeatedly decimated the trade. 
 
 Another fact worthy of record is the despatch of the first cargo of 
 Northern teas to Australia. The Saint Albyn's Isle sailed from Hankow 
 direct to Melbourne in June, and we hear the result has fully justified the 
 enterprise, and is likely to lead to a regular business between the two ports. 
 
 The direct shipments to Kussia that were talked of at the beginning 
 of the season, have not been inaugurated this year. The steamer Diomed 
 was at one time advertised to load for Odessa, but we believe it was found 
 that the Russians were not yet. prepared for the change. We hear that 
 arrangements to adopt this route are in contemplation, and that it is not 
 unlikely a commencement will be made next season. The revolution that 
 
122 
 
 the Suez Canal was destined to make in the trade between Europe and 
 the East, has actively begun, and it seems merely a question of time as 
 to what extent the ports on the Mediterranean and adjacent seas wiU take 
 advantage of it. 
 
 The export from Hankow reached a total this season of 49,770,000 
 lbs. against 50,000,000 lbs in 1869, shewing but little change. It was 
 thus distributed : — 
 
 Settlements for London (direct ) 17 545 nooibs. 
 
 and transhipment) j ' ' 
 
 ForKussia, do. do 6,785,000,, 
 
 For Australia (direct) 450,000 „ 
 
 Sent forward to Shanghai for > ^a 990 000 
 
 salethere J ' ' " 
 
 Total ;...49,770,0001bs. 
 
 The export of Black Tea from Shanghai (in which Hankow settlenients 
 are included) for the twelvemonth, Ist January to 31st December 1870, 
 amounted to 63,022,9831bs. against 59,990,7091bs. in 1869, shewing an 
 increase of about 3,000,0001bs. derived mainly from the Eaukiang 
 districts, Hohow and Ningohow. The Seasons are now becoming more 
 and more conterminous with the Years, so that we are enabled to make 
 up our Annual Review immediately on the close of the old year, and 
 at the same time, in the same figures, present with only a trifling dis- 
 crepancy, a summary of the business of the season. 
 
 Greeii Tea. Green Tea, though prepared from the same leaf, and under 
 much the same conditions as Black Tea, usually pursues an independent 
 course of its own ; it relies on other markets for its consumption, and 
 it is unaffected by many causes which influence the sale of its more 
 important rival. This year, however, it seems to have met with precisely 
 the same vicissitudes. An early crop, above the average in strength and 
 flavour, a diminished yield, a cost price in China which was by many 
 deemed excessive, but a remunerative sale at Home. At least such is the 
 result of the season's business so far as now known, although the bulk of 
 the crop has yet to be accounted for. 
 
 The first instalments of the crop reached this port early in June, by 
 way of Ningpo — Pingsuey Teas, which, by their nearness to the coast, 
 are always the first to market. Business was opened about the middle 
 of the month, by the purchase of a standard chop, at Tls. 38 per picul 
 "all round;" the opening price in 1869 being Tls. 36, and in 1868 Tls. 38, 
 the same as in 1870. A large business ensued, the chops being taken 
 freely on arrival by both English and American buyers ; and the sales up 
 to the end of June amounted to 28,000 half-ohests (each 60-lbs. nett) 
 at prices ranging from Tls. 33 to Tls. 40 for chops of the usual assortment, 
 equalling and averaging a cost of Is. lOd. to 2s. 2Jd. per lb., laid down in 
 
123 
 
 London. Business increased in July ; an urgent demand for shipment to 
 New York creating a keen competition -with English buyers, who have 
 hitherto held almost a monopoly in these sorts which used to be little 
 appreciated in America. In the previous season, however, the few Pingsuey 
 teas sent to New York, sold readily. This was owing to their exceptionally 
 good flavour and handsome appearance as compared with those of the 
 Foochow and Moyune teas, in the preparation of which great want of 
 care has of late years been shown. Yet these Pingsueys are never free 
 from a certain amount of earthy taste, which prevents their consumption 
 extending • and the Americans have never taken them freely, except as a 
 makeshift. 
 
 This year, however, three vessels were almost completely loaded for 
 New York, with these teas. The Pacific mail steamer of 12 th July took 
 no less than 20,000 boxes, and the Caroline Hutchings and steamer Magdala 
 a similar quantity. Together, this formed a heavy addition to the supplies 
 of the New York market ; shipments of new tea thither being not usually 
 made until September, when the Moyune teas come down. It has still to 
 be seen what results these shipments will give. To England, however, 
 this abstraction of the usual supply of Pingsuey, brought limited shipments ; 
 and, as a consequence, prices for the first arrivals were unpreoedentedly 
 high. The profits on the early shipments by steamer fully equalled those 
 made on black tea ; and as the crop is short also, a healthy demand seems 
 probable up to the end of the season. The reduction iu the yield, which 
 amounts to fully ten per cent, has, however, thus far only affected 
 shipments to London ; to New York, an excess over the usual quantity 
 has been sent, an excess formed of Pingsuey tea. The reduction in the duty 
 from 25 cents to 15 cents per lb., which enters into efiect on the 1st January 
 1871, has made shippers sanguine that the consumption will materially 
 increase ; while it seems now certain that, by the end of the season, the 
 shipments will have fallen off to considerably less than last year's total. It 
 seems therefore probable that the short yield will equally benefit the 
 merchants concerned in the American market, which is the main outlet 
 for Green Teas. 
 
 Although the advantage gained by using the Suez Canal, iu the 
 voyage from China to New York, is comparatively trifling, two large 
 steamers were placed on the berth for this route in July, the Magdala 
 carrying 800,000 lbs., and the Riga carrying 1,400,000 lbs. The former 
 vessel, being the first to use this route, succeeded iu obtaining a freight of 
 £5 lOs. per ton of 40 feet, and the latter £.i ; both very remunerative 
 rates. It appears, however, that these rates were by no means justified 
 by the result, the arrival of the Magdala being just advised from New 
 York, on the 22nd November, after a passage of 97 daya; the same 
 voyage having been completed by the Harlaw, a sailing vessel, round the 
 Cape, last season, in 89 days. The Riga promises to be equally long, if 
 
124 
 
 not longer on the way. In fact, we much doubt whether the saving in 
 distance (about 3,000 miles) is not more apparent than real, as it is almost 
 impossible for such steamers to take a direct course across the Atlantic, 
 in winter. We are, indeed, curious to learn the condition in which their 
 cargoes will have arrived, as we think the chances of a smooth voyage to 
 be much in favour of sailing ships, by the old route, and we doubt if the 
 experiment will be repeated this year. In addition to this, 2,000,000 lbs. 
 of Green Tea have already gone, via Japan and San Francisco, on the 
 Pacific Mail Steamers and Overland Railway, by which route freight reaches 
 New York in about 45 days, while the cost is only 5 cents per fi gross, 
 being about the same as that charged by the Magdcda. This is now 
 undoubtedly the favourite route, and is likely to be still more largely 
 patronised for the future, the care with which the goods are treated 
 fully preventing any ill result arising from the repeated transhipments. 
 
 To the 4,000,000 lbs. thus taken by steamer has to be added a 
 further 12,000,000 lbs. shipped in sailing vessels ; and the competition 
 induced has led to a maintenance of high prices and unusually large 
 early shipments, undeterred by the unfavourable accounts received by the 
 bulk of last season's ventures. Nor has the quality of this season's tea 
 as received here, been by any means satisfactory, the proclamations and 
 warnings against dust having had little effect on the teamen, who find the 
 practice of thus adding 4 or 5 lbs. to the weight of a chest too profitable 
 to be readily abandoned. At the same time the teas have been shipped 
 off comparatively free from this adulteration — as it has been called ; while 
 the crop itself was undoubtedly of good quality and flavour, though 
 carelessly packed. Shippers have almost universally been compelled to 
 repack most of their teas after purchase, though a few of the worst chops 
 have been re-manipulated by the teamen themselves, who have, we trust, 
 at last learnt a lesson, not so complete as might have been wished, but 
 still sufficient to induce greater care in future. It is to be hoped that we 
 have now seen the last of the dust nuisance, which has caused so much 
 annoyance to Importers of late years. This dust, which by the Home 
 trade " is regarded as an adulteration, is not looked upon at all in this 
 light by the Chinese. In turning the tea over and over in the firing pans, 
 a good deal is necessarily broken up into fine leaf and powder, and the 
 younger and better the leaf the greater its brittleness. In first crop teas 
 the percentage of loss thus suffered amounts to fully one-tenth of the 
 whole, and to lessen this a, portion is usually left in, in all but the highest 
 grades. There is no doubt that, if consumers would overcome the prejudice 
 against broken leaf, they would enjoy an equally good drinking tea at a 
 much lower cost, but as long as they are willing to pay a long price for 
 their prejudice, the dust should not be forced upon them. The difficulty 
 would be less, could the siftings of Green Tea be used as freely for other 
 purposes as are those of Black, which are largely made up into Brick tea 
 
125 
 
 for Mongolia, besides being shipped in bulk to England. The Chinese 
 prefer the commonest Black to the best coloured Green tea, although the 
 colouring matter is in itself perfectly innocuous, and is only used in 
 infinitesimal quantities. We believe, however, that we shall never get what 
 ■we want in tea : uniform quality, good packing and reliable firing, until 
 we take the manufacture into our own hands, as the Russians are doing 
 near Hankow, and all the foreign shippers in Japan. There are great 
 difficulties in the way, but with the inauguration of a more liberal policy 
 in China it will be done, though at present the Green tea districts are 
 almost a forbidden land to foreigners, as those who have ventured there 
 know to their cost. 
 
 The total yield of the present season is estimated at 27,000,000 lbs. 
 against 31,000,000 lbs. in the season 1869-70, being a falling off of no less 
 than 4,000,000 lbs. this year. Of this quantity, about 18^ million pounds 
 are being shipped to New Tork and 8J million pounds to London. 
 
 The falling off is due entirely to the smaller quantity of common 
 tea packed this season, and not to any failure in the crop. The present 
 prices paid for common Green teas in the consuming countries barely 
 cover the actual outlay for chests, firing, native taxes and freights, which 
 amount to nearly 8d per lb. on tea laid down in bond in London, or 31 
 cents on tea, duty paid, in New York. On teas selling at these quotations 
 therefore, not a cent, remains for the grower or merchant, and hence the 
 Chinese, will gradually abandon the preparation of this class for foreign 
 markets, until we can again afford to pay them remunerative rates. 
 
 The export of Green Tea from this port for the twelvemonth ending 
 31st Dec. 1870 amounted in all to 31,365,267 lbs., against 29,656,149 
 lbs. in 1869. 
 
 Memo, of cost of Green Tea packed in chests and freight and 
 duty paid in New TorTc, gold dollar cents., per lb. 
 
 Original cost of leaf 
 
 Loss of weight in firing and packing, 20 per cent. 
 
 Labour ,. „ » » » ••• ''z 
 
 Chests and Lead 2J 
 
 Native taxes 3J 
 
 Inland freight from (Moyune to Ningpo) IJ 
 
 Steamer freight (Ningpo to Shanghai) J 
 
 China Export duty 2| 
 
 China hong commission and brokerage 
 
 Foreign Merchants „ „ 
 
 Freight (Shanghai to New York) ..•••■••• ^ 
 
 Duty on freight (Shanghai to New York) 15 
 
 = gold dollar cents. 31 
 
126 
 
 Imports. In our Retrospect for 1869, we remarked that this is a branch 
 of the foreign trade on which we can always dwell with satisfaction, 
 " because it is an increasing one." That the past year has been one of 
 decided progress in this respect, no one who has carefully watched the 
 trade will care to deny, while every one interested in it must sincerely 
 regret that there all the satisfaction ends. Like many of its prede- 
 cessors, 1870 has been a season of constant disappointments and heavy 
 losses, to the importers of foreign textile fabrics. Nor need we seek far 
 for the causes. Supplies fully adequate to our requirements have 
 maintained almost intact the heavy stocks with which the season opened ; 
 civil war has raged in the West ; floods have devastated the valley of 
 the Yangtsze, creating great scarcity of food and otherwise impoverishing 
 the people, and the country has been on the eve of war with foreign 
 nations. Yet although these causes have acted most prejudicially to the 
 interests of the importer, they have utterly failed in checking the growth 
 . of our import trade with China. With the solitary exception of Sheetings, 
 there is not an article of Cotton or Woollen manufacture whose consumptive 
 deliveries do not shew a decided increase ; and it becomes a question of 
 serious consideration to what extent our Government is prepared to foster 
 a trade of such increasing magnitude, and one frau^t with so many 
 advantages, not only to our own country, but to the millions of China, 
 who are yearly more and more appreciating its value. It might savour 
 somewhat of presumption on our part, to indicate any course for our 
 Rulers to follow, but we think we express only the general opinion, 
 in saying that their action has, for years past, tended to check, rather 
 than to further our commercial intercourse with this Empire. In their 
 supreme ignorance of the conditions of the country, people at Home have 
 interpreted our demands for a firm and vigorous policy into a desire for 
 violence and war. Precisely the reverse is the case. It is because we 
 dread war that we ery out against a lax policy, which is specially calculated 
 to encourage the hostile party in China in aggressions which wiU have to 
 be resented by war. We do not want the " inevitable gunboat," in the 
 sense in which the phrase is used at Home. We desire only a determined 
 maintenance of our Treaty rights. If these be enforced, our name and 
 manufactures will quickly and surely establish themselves throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land, to the utter discomfiture of that class 
 whose one great desire is to see the hated foreigner driven into the sea. 
 That it will be a matter of exceeding difficulty to eitadicate, or even to 
 modify, the influence of this class, we freely admit ; but the difficulty can 
 be surmounted, and there may be a way of making our presence better 
 liked. In all our dealings with the Chinese, too little regard has hitherto 
 been paid to the interests of the provincial authorities. In the arrange- 
 ment of the transit duty system, for instance, they have never, so far as 
 we know, been consulted; and, as it deprives them of a considerable 
 
127 
 
 portion of their incomes, they have bitterly and successfully opposed 
 its working. By their own customs, and in virtue of the premia they 
 pay to the Peking Government for their official positions, they are fully 
 entitled to the revenue arising out of all trade within their jurisdiction ; 
 and to deprive them of any portion thereof is an injury for which they 
 naturally hate the foreigner, who originated and still upholds it. The 
 transit duty system demands remodelling. The plan last proposed — Mr. 
 Aloock's — amounted to nothing short of a revolution in the Customs of 
 China, and although the Peking Government assented to it, experience has 
 taught us that, if it had passed into law, it never would have been observed 
 beyond the limited circle of foreign influence. It will be well, therefore, in 
 our future legislating on this important question, to weigh most carefully 
 every point which afiects it, so that all interests may, as far as possible, be 
 conciliated. We cannot expect the mandarins to view our trade with appro- 
 bation, when the principle upon which it is conducted, means the abstraction 
 from the provincial revenues of large sums which they consider their own, 
 for the benefit of the Peking Government — who spend the money in 
 munitions of war. As a rule, the mandarins are to be conciliated through 
 their selt-iuterest ; but apart from this, it is right and wise to consult 
 them in the final arrangements of a matter which so vitally concerns them. 
 The year 1870 has been rendered ever memorable in connection with 
 the East, by the opening of the Suez Canal. On the 19th March, the first 
 steamer reached us by way of Egypt, and our carrying traffic is fast being 
 transferred from the old Cape route, to that speedier and more certain one 
 so recently opened up to us. To what extent the event will benefit com- 
 merce we do not pretend to say, but that benefits must accrue from it we 
 cannot doubt. A more regular and more easily controlled supply of manu- 
 factures from Home will enable merchants to turn over their money with 
 greater rapidity, and will tend to discourage that accumulation of stocks 
 which so naturally occurred on a dull or an unfavorable market, and which 
 has so often resulted in all the heavier losses to the owners. Indeed these 
 effects are already apparent. Scarcely a steamer arrives whose cargo (in so 
 far at least as regards those staple articles of import, the stocks of which 
 were not excessive when the Canal was inaugurated) is not either sold " to 
 arrive," or disposed of immediately after landing ; and although rates have 
 hitherto been very unremunerative, it is to be hoped the day is not far 
 distant when all interested in the trade will have good cause to rejoice with 
 M. Lesseps, in the success of his great enterprise. 
 
 Grey Shirtings. Starting from the stand-point that the actual delivery to 
 consumers is the true criterion of trade, it is satisfactory to note the marked 
 increase in the consumption of this article during the past year. We 
 commenced the season with a heavy stock, but a good demand existed, and 
 a large business was done during the first four months, prices ranging 
 between Tls. 2.17 a 2.22 per piece,— the opening rates for 8|-lb. cloths; 
 
128 
 
 and Tls. 2.27 a 2.32 per piece — the highest point they touched. In May 
 and June a lull occurred, and when the news of the Tientsin massacre 
 reached us, a heavy drop was the instant effect of the desire to sell which 
 seized holders. Happily the panic was but of short duration, and the 
 decline was almost wholly recovered by the middle of July, advices having 
 in the interim been received, that tranquillity had been restored in the 
 North, and that hostilities would not immediately ensue. From that time 
 to the end of November, when the Northern traders withdrew from the 
 market, a healthy trade was carried on, and an uniform value of Tls. 2.18 
 a 2.25 per piece fairly maintained. After the season closed last month, 
 rates receded to Tls. 2.11 a 2.16 per piece. In the lighter and heavier 
 weights of this textile, the range of prices has been much wider, the early 
 part of the season shewing the highest points of the market. In January, 
 last year, 7-lb. Grey Shirtings were worth Tls. 2.02 a 2.06 perpiece, from 
 which they gradually receded until Tls. 1.73 a 1.74 per piece was reached. 
 A slight reaction subsequently established the quotation of Tls. 1.74 a 1.79 
 per piece, which was the closing rate of the year. The heavy cloths have 
 apparently lost favor with the Chinese, for there was no great business done 
 in them during 1870, and their value for a time was entirely governed by 
 speculators. From Tls. 2.95 per piece, the quotation in January for best 
 chop of 9.10/12-lb. makes, {the price was run up to Tls. 3.20 per piece in 
 March, but in the utter absence of any native demand it rapidly receded to 
 Tls. 2.55 per piece, at which the market closed last month. 
 
 T-ciotha Hold the second place in our Import trade with China. As 
 shewn by our rough statement given below, the deliveries for the past year 
 exceed those of 1869, by nearly one million pieces, while they more than 
 double those of 1868, the figures for that year summing up only 1,290,000 
 pieces. Yet the Importer has suffered severely. ' Against Tls. 1.80 a 1.95 
 per piece for 7-lb. goods, Mexican quality (the laying down cost of the heavy 
 stock on hand, on 1st February last), the prices obtained did not return an 
 average of Tls. 1.70 per piece ; and the subsequent imports having nearly 
 kept pace with the deliveries, stocks had not a chance of being reduced to 
 within a reasonable compass, hence, the more recent arrivals have also 
 resulted in heavy losses.- As the season approached its close, however, very 
 extensive purchases by the Northern dealers relieved us considerably, and 
 with more moderate receipts from Home the market assumed a healthier 
 tone, and gave a promise of better things for the ensuing year. There is 
 no need to particularise the other weights and qualities of T-Cloths ; it is 
 sufficient for our purpose in the present paper to base our remarks on best 
 7-lb. makes, as they as a general rule govern the market. 
 
 White Shirtings. Of these the trade have taken off 493,000 pieces against 
 357,000 pieces in 1869, but the comparative imports shew an excess of about 
 160,000 pieces, and hence even a less satisfactory business in them to the 
 Importer than in the Grey Cloth. — In January of 1870 we quote 64-reed 
 
129 
 
 "White Shirtings Tls. 2.30 a 2.S5 per piece, which improved to Tls. 2.45 a 
 2.48 per piece iu March following, when a reaction set in, and they fell 
 steadily in value to Tls. 2.05 a 2.15 per piece, the quotation ou 31st 
 December. The other counts generally followed the course of 64-reed8, at 
 their proportionate values. 
 
 Driiia and Jeans Have likewise received increasing attention from the trade 
 during the period under review, and the deliveries of them have been on a 
 most satisfactory scale ; but as with the before-mentioned staples, the results 
 of the year have been far from encouraging. The chief portion of the 
 business in the English manufactures has been done at Tls. 3.00 a 3.25 per 
 piece for the former, and Tls. 2.25 a 2.30 per piece for the latter. The 
 market opened at Tls. 3.50 a 3.60 per piece and Tls. 2.50 a 2.60 per piece 
 respectively ; but with heavy stocks and receipts these rates could not be 
 maintained, and, in the fall of the year, they delined to the closing prices of 
 Tls. 2.95 a 3.05 per piece for Drills and Tls. 2.15 a 2.23 per piece for Jeans. 
 We make the English manufactures the subject of our comments ; as the 
 imports of them are now nearly double those received from other countries, 
 and they are fast becoming the standard of the trade. 
 
 Sheetings. As Stated abovG, this article is the only one of which the con- 
 sumption falls short, but the decrease is not in any way to be attributed to 
 want of demand, but simply to an insufficient supply. By the Custom 
 House Returns only 5,000 pieces have been imported, against 95,000 pieces 
 in 1869, and the trade have thus been compelled to rest contented with the 
 stocks left over from that year, about 40,000 pieces, and the imports of 
 1870. Doubtless, had the staple been in greater supply, a much larger 
 business would have resulted, for a steady demand has existed for it, and 
 the rates paid here, as a rule, have been much nearer cost price than those 
 obtained for any other foreign textile. The year closes without a piece of 
 Sheeting in stock. 
 
 Fancy ctottona. Regarding this class of imports, we can add but little to our 
 remarks on the other articles of Cotton manufacture. The only satisfactory 
 feature presented by the trade has been its increase, but, as will be seen 
 from our comparative statement, imports have been far in excess of our 
 requirements, and consequently a discouraging and disastrous business to 
 the merchant throughout the year. 
 
 WooUena. We regret that the character of the Woollen trade of 1870 has 
 very closely resembled that of the sister branch ; but never in any year, 
 since our establishment in China, have such quantities of Woollens been 
 taken into the country. Doubtless the very cheap prices at which they 
 have been purchased is one of the chief causes of this vast increase, and this 
 is the only phase of the trade to be regretted. At the sarnie time it is 
 unquestionable that Woollens are rapidly gaining in the estimation of the 
 people, and when we consider the misery caused by last year's floods and 
 
130 
 
 rebellion in the principal consuming districts, we think there is room for 
 congratulation with regard to the past, and for hope that^ with the return 
 of more peaceful and prosperous times, our manufacturers and shippers 
 may soon reap harvests as satisfactory as they have of late years been 
 disastrous. As regards Woollens, the season of 1870 has been somewhat 
 exceptional. The market has been swamped by bankrupt stocks, and the 
 desire to realise those, together with the system of barter which so freely 
 obtained during the first six months, completely disorganised the trade, and 
 led to heavy sacrifices in Long Ells and almost every article which comprises 
 it. The year closed under slightly better auspices, and we think it now 
 rests entirely with the Importer whether 1871 is to be a repetition of that 
 under notice. We close this Eetrospect with a few quotations, which we 
 trust may be found sufficient in indicating the course of the Woollen market 
 during the past year. 
 
 Long Ells, CPH, Scarlet. 
 Assorted. 
 
 Camlets do. 
 
 Figd. Orleans. ... do. 
 
 Laatings do. 
 
 Lastinga, Grape . . do. 
 
 Martalsan Crapes, do. 
 
 Spanish Stripra . . do. 
 
 Jfoitiary. June. 
 
 6.00 a .... 5.70 a . . 
 
 December. 
 
 December. 
 
 5.10 a 5.15 ^ pee, ) Market depr^sed Stocks 
 ) heaTy, 
 
 J Market improTing Stocks 
 I moderate. 
 ( Market improving Stocks 
 ( moderate. 
 / Market improvii^ Stocka 
 ( moderate, 
 (Market quiet, coneider- 
 l able Stocks. 
 ( Mu'ket quiet, but film. 
 ( Stocks lieaTy. 
 0.60 a 0.55 0,44 a 0.60 0.42 a 0.47 ^ yd. { "gket^^-e^j^but film. 
 
 . 6.05 a 6.10 6.60 a 6.70 4.60 a 4.70 
 
 .11.26 a 12.00 10.60 11.60 10.00 ffi 10.40 
 
 . 3.43 a 3.76 3.20 a 3.60 3.20 a 3.70 
 
 .10.50 a 11.60 8.00 a 10.50 8.00 o 9.60 
 
 . 7.60 a 8.00 4.50 a 6.50 4.26 a 5.25 
 
 . 4.00 a 4.60 3.20 a 3.60 2.70 a 8.00 
 
 COMPARATIVE TABLE of 
 
 Grey Shibtinos. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 Pes. 4,397,900 3,700,000 
 
 1870 „ 4,090,100 4,223,000 
 
 Increase „ ... 523,000 
 
 Decrease „ 307,800 
 
 White Shirtings. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 Pes. 444,000 357,000 
 
 1870 607,000 493,000 
 
 Inoreaae 163,000 136,000 
 
 Decrease „ 
 
 T-Cloths. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 PcB. 2,646,000 2,200,000 
 
 1870 „ 2,664,000 754,000 
 
 Increase , 18,000 1,052,000 
 
 Decrease 
 
 IMPORTS IN 1869 and 1870. 
 
 Drills, all kinds. 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 744,000 
 
 1870 „ 623,000 
 
 Increase . . 
 Decrease.. 
 
 121,000 
 
 Jeans, all kinds. 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 177,000 
 
 1870 222,000 
 
 Delivered. 
 473,000 
 711,000 
 
 238,000 
 
 Delivered. 
 
 96,000 
 
 260,000 
 
 Increase . , 
 Decrease.. 
 
 45,000 164,000 
 
 1869.. 
 1870.. 
 
 Sheetings. 
 
 Imported. 
 .Pes. 95,000 
 . „ 5,000 
 
 Delivered. 
 79,000 
 46,000 
 
 Increase . 
 Decrease.. 
 
 90,000 33,000 
 
131 
 
 Chintzes. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 Pes. 167,000 200,000 
 
 1870 „ 398,000 271,000 
 
 Increase . , 
 Decrease.. 
 
 231,000 71,000 
 
 Fancy Shtrtings, Bbocadbs, Spots, 
 Damasks, Ttokey Ekds. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 ...Pes. 
 ... ,, 
 
 176,000 
 231,000 
 
 208,000 
 220,000 
 
 Increase ... 
 Decrease... 
 
 ... ,, 
 ... ,, 
 
 55,000 
 
 12,000 
 
 Velvets and Velveteens. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 1869 Pes. 89,000 59,000 
 
 1870 „ 98,000 75,000 
 
 Increase .. 
 Decrease., 
 
 9,000 16,000 
 
 1869.. 
 1870.. 
 
 Camlets. 
 
 Imported. Delivered. 
 
 Pes. 124,000 99,000 
 
 . „ 93,000 125,000 
 
 Increase ., 
 Decrease.. 
 
 31,000 
 
 26,000 
 
 LoNO Ells. 
 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 128,000 
 
 1870 „ 203,000 
 
 Increase ,, 76,000 
 
 Decrease ,, 
 
 Lastings. 
 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 28,000 
 
 1870 „ 48,000 
 
 Increase 20,000 
 
 Decrease ,, 
 
 Crape Lastings. 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 28,000 
 
 1870 „ 33,000 
 
 Increase ,, 5,000 
 
 Decrease ,, 
 
 LirsTBES, Plain Figd. and 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 244,000 
 
 1870 „ 271,000 
 
 Increase 27,000 
 
 Decrease „ 
 
 Spanish Stbipbs, Broad, &c. 
 Imported. 
 
 1869 Pes. 102,000 
 
 1870 „ 107,000 
 
 Increase ,, 5,000 
 
 Decrease „ 
 
 Delivered. 
 133,000 
 161,008 
 
 28,000 
 
 Delivered. 
 39,000 
 47,000 
 
 8,000 
 
 Delivered. 
 11,000 
 20,000 
 
 9,000 
 
 Crape. 
 Delivered. 
 276,000 
 354,000 
 
 78,000 
 
 , Cloths. 
 
 Delivered. 
 83,000 
 87,000 
 
 4,000 
 
]32 
 
 1S7 1. 
 
 tmportB. Our Retrospect for 1871 must bear two phases, one of congratu- 
 lation at the increase of imports, and one of regret that the home energy 
 thereby displayed, had not been of a more judicious character. It was 
 hoped that, through the opening of direct telegraphic communication with 
 Europe, home shippers of Manchester goods might have been taught to be 
 careful as to accumulation of stocks on this side ; just as China merchants 
 were formerly lectured as to increasing stocks of, and partial absence of 
 demand for, Tea in England. Bat China advices this season seem to have 
 been utterly neglected, as the year has closed on Shanghai merchants, 
 leaving them with a stock of goods never yet reached in the China trade, 
 and with a demand which, in spite of rising prices at home, is quite 
 problematical. 
 
 If there is any subject for congratulation, it is that the Transit dues 
 question has been fairly settled, thanks to the exertions of an active Consul. 
 Too much importance cah hardly be attached to this fact, nor to the benefit 
 which will, through it, accrue to the importers of foreign manufactures. It 
 may take time to get the machinery into working order, but once this is 
 done, the benefit to foreign trade will be distinctly visible. The very fact 
 of Chinese being able to send foreign goods into the interior under a pass • 
 issued by their own Government, is a subject for congratulation, and a step 
 in the right direction. Had we more vigorous Ministers at Pekin, the 
 wedge might be still further inserted, and permission obtained for small 
 draft but roomy steamers to convey European goods up the great canals 
 and second class rivers, to the trade centres of new districts. 
 
 The floods which occurred during the summer at Tientsin have, by 
 Chinese merchants, been stated as the cause of the slack demand for Piece 
 Goods which existed in Shanghai during the autumn. There may be some 
 truth in this, but we incline to the behef that the "flooding" was more of 
 Manufactured Goods than of water, and that the extra presence of the latter 
 element did not greatly influence the market. 
 
 The increased use of the Suez Canal has been a prominent feature of 
 the Import business of 1871, and even the oldest conservatives have come 
 to recognise its advantages. Freights, thanks to good and wholesome com- 
 
133 
 
 petition, have been kept at a moderate standard ; and merchants have, in 
 many instances, been enabled to reahse profits and quick returns, where, by 
 sailing vessels, loss might have ensued. But, taken all round, it may be 
 fairly doubted whether the underwriters have not been the chief gainers by 
 the change in transit. Their " particular average claims " have been a mere 
 bagatelle, their " total losses " almost nil ; while, on the other hand, the 
 unfortunate merchant has had to bear the brunt of sundry claims for 
 " mildew," arising perhaps from damp packing, but also certainly from the 
 extreme heat and damp of an iron steamer's hold. 
 
 Taken all in all, the season of 1871 cannot have been a good one for 
 importers. The course of home prices has been distinctly opposite to those 
 current here, aud many firms in Shanghai have held on to goods in a 
 persistent way which has astonished even the Chinese mind. And now the 
 year has closed, home rates are advancing with but little chance of any 
 great response from Chinese customers. They hint vaguely at the absence 
 of a spring demand for the North, and it is just possible that they may be 
 right. One thing seems quite certain : -so long as home shippers will con- 
 tinue to write about decreased exports, and yet go on shipping heavily, 
 ignoring the fact of our enormous stocks in Shanghai, no good can accrue 
 to the bond fide importing merchant. Commission merchants may reap a 
 harvest, but the general trade must suffer. 
 
 Grey Shirtings. PricoB for these goods have been very irregular through- 
 out the year, but may be fairly stated as against the importer. At the 
 beginning of 1871 our stock was not more than 550,000 pieces of all 
 weights, and prices were then firm at Tls. 1.71 a 1.76 for 7-lbs. and Tls. 
 - 2.08 a 2.15 per piece for 8J-lbs. As a marked contrast to this,- we closed 
 1871 with a stock of about 2,500,000 pieces, with prices of Tls. 1.68 a 1.71 
 for 7-lb8. weight, and Tls. 1.81 a 1.91 per piece for SJ-lbs. The lowest 
 point for 8J-lbs. was reached about the 11th of May, when actual sales of 
 ordinary goods took place at Tls. 1.70 per piece. The reports from America 
 of floods on the Mississippi, induced a reaction, but it was not of a very , 
 lasting nature, and accumulating stocks soon produced a depressing effect. 
 Heavy Cloth has not been in excessive supply during the year, and its value 
 has simply varied as demand ajrose. It may interest our readers to learn 
 that the Import of Grey Shirtings into Shanghai during the twelve months 
 ending 31st December 1871 was 7,400,000 pieces, against 4,100,000 pieces 
 in 1870. These figures teU their own tale, and fully account for the 
 present low range of prices. An examination of statistics proves that 
 the average price in Shanghai during 1871 of fair 16 by 15, 8^-lbs. Grey 
 Shirtings was Tls. 1.91 per piece, while the average cost of the same 
 goods if purchased in Manchester between 1st January and 31st October 
 and shipped to Shanghai via Saez Canal (with full charges and commis- 
 
134 
 
 sions) would be Tls. 2.01 per piece. Of course this can be cut down in 
 various ways, but it must not be forgotten tbat a difference of even one 
 candareen per piece, on the year's import, represents £22,000. 
 
 T-ciotha. The market for these goods, in spite of its being one of 
 great increase, has not been satisfactory to importers. The Statistics, 
 given below will show fully the augmented imports, and increased 
 re-exports. But while, during the course of the year, there have been 
 several occasions on which importers have secured a fair profit on this class 
 of goods, there have been many times when a loss, more or less heavy, had 
 to be incurred. If we may accept the transactions in 7-lbs. Mexican Cloth 
 as a fair criterion of the market, we find that the highest point of the year 
 was reached about July, when an almost exceptional sale of " Chop Dollar," 
 Chop was made at Tls. 1.75 per piece. Prices have, of course, been ruled 
 by the news from what may be practically called the consuming ports, rates 
 having declined at the close of the year owing to the closing of the Northern 
 markets. There were also, on one or two occasions, several local influences 
 at work to keep down prices, but the main result appears to be that the 
 average prices of 7-lbs. Mexican Cloth were Tls. 1.50 « 1.62, or the equi- • 
 valent of Is. \\d. a Is. 6A per piece, laid down here from England as above 
 stated in the case of Grey Shirtings. It is curious to notice here that during 
 the height of the season, the demand ran chiefly on the class of cloth most 
 nearly approximating to Mexican quality, and that the prices given for this 
 description varied but little from those offered for the lower Mexican counts. 
 6-lbs. cloth has been in fair enquiry throughout the season, and this weight 
 seems to be obtaining more favor among Chinese buyers, the commonest 
 cloth having a ready preference at the low rates current during part of the 
 year. On the other hand 8-lbs. 36 in. cloth has not been, until latterly, so 
 much sought for, and the sales effected have been far more difficult to make 
 than in former years, while the rates obtained have been less satisfactory 
 than heretofore. 
 
 The statistics given below include all weights, but represent the posi- 
 tion of the article of which we have above written. 
 
 White Shirtings. The busiuess transacted throughout the year can hardly 
 be described as of a satisfactory nature. The re-exports have, as compared 
 with 1870, fallen off nearly 15 per cent, and the general demand has been 
 of a languid character. The prices paid, except for crack chops, have been 
 always ridiculously low, but holders have doubtless acted wisely in realising, 
 and seeing the end of bad ventures. 
 
 DriUa and jeana. These have been the best paying articles for the importer 
 during the whole season. Prices and demand have varied owing to 
 local causes, but the former have generally been such as to warrant 
 Foreign holders in realising. American Drills have arrived sparingly, and 
 
135 
 
 have found a ready outlet, but it seems as if the improved quality (at a 
 much lower cost) of English makes, and their infinitely superior packing, 
 does material harm to the imports of American cloth. The same remark 
 applies to American Jeans, which though intrinsically of greater value than 
 their English competitors, are being rapidly supplanted by the latter makes. 
 
 Sheetings. The stock of these goods at one period of the year was 
 almost nil, and every paltry arrival was picked up with avidity at very 
 remunerative rates. American cloth was sold to arrive at as high a rate as 
 Tls. 4.20 per piece, and English goods at a relative figure. But when sup- 
 plies came on, rates declined, and they have now found their level. The 
 year closed with a stock of 27,000 pieces, all kinds, as against none at the 
 corresponding period of 1870. 
 
 Fancy Cottons. The general course of the market for most kinds of 
 this manufacture has been in favour of buyers. Chintzes specially have 
 dragged all the year through, and though the stock of them on 31st 
 December 1871 was only 129,657 pieces, as against 207,400 pieces at a 
 corresponding date in 1870, this is more owing to a decrease in imports than 
 to any active Chinese consumption. 
 
 VeiTeta and Vei\etaens Were lower in stock at the close of 1871 than at 
 the same period of 1870, but their enhanced cost in England was not 
 fuUy followed on this side, even after a demand for Japan and a local 
 speculative enquiry had had full vent. 
 
 Damasks Were in the early part of the year in very small stock, and 
 eagerly sought for, but subsequently the demand died out ; and the 31st 
 December 1871 quotations show a fall of four mace per piece on those 
 current in February 1871, while stocks on 1st Jauuaty 1872 were about 
 6,000 pieces, against 158 pieces on Ist January, 1871. 
 
 Regarding other classes of these goods there is but little to be said. 
 Dyed Brocades are now in nearly threefold stock as compared with the end 
 of 1870, and the demand for them has been much less active than in former 
 
 years. 
 
 nyed Spots. The stock of these goods on 3 Ist December, 1871, was 
 12,050 pieces, against 650 pieces on 31st December, 1870. They have, in 
 common with Dyed Brocades, been less sought for than formerly, and the 
 sales effected have been in small lots for current wants. 
 
 Tnrkey Red Shirtings Have realised very low prices throughout the year, 
 and present stocks show little change from those noted a year ago. 
 
 Handkerchiefe Have not gone off very freely, and it will be seen that 
 present stocks show a large increase. 
 
 Muslins. The stock is now reduced to 950 pieces, against 5,200 pieces on 
 31st December 1870. 
 
1 36 
 
 Woollens— Camlets. At the commencement of 1871 prices for S. S. were 
 Tk. 10 a 10.40, with a moderate enquiry, and a stock of 40,000 pieces. 
 At the close of the year, prices for the same goods were Tls. 14 a 15.75 per 
 piece, with a stock of 25,000 pieces. This large advance was of course due 
 to the home advices, and though the Chinese dealers were somewhat unwill- 
 ing to concur in the gradual rise, foreign speculation soon showed them 
 that there was reason for the advance, and they submitted to it. It cannot, 
 however, be denied that the enhanced value has somewhat checked the 
 enquiry, and it seems probable that until lower prices are established, 
 consumption will only go on at a moderate rate. 
 
 Figured Orleans. Stocks have accumulated, being now 71,684 pieces, against 
 19,907 pieces on 31st December 1870. The demand has, however, been 
 steady, prices ranging from Tls. 3.20 a 3,73 on 4th January 1871 to 
 Tls. 3.85 a 4.03 on 3rd January 1872. A new feature in these goods has 
 been shown by the introduction of what are technically known as the "spot 
 patterns." This new class have met with much favor among the natives, 
 and some sales have been effected at as high as Tls. 4.45 per piece. 
 
 Long buj. Stocks have remained much on a par with those given last 
 year, but prices are now, in sympathy with home values, much higher. 
 The year's business opened with value of H. H. assorted at Tls. 4.50 per 
 piece, and closed with a quotation for the same chop of Tls. 5.50 per piece. 
 At one time, in obedience to home instructions, or in response to home 
 telegrams, a considerable amount of speculation took place in this fabric, to 
 the exclusion of Chinese buyers, who were in hopes of obtaining the goods at 
 moderate rates. Subsequent and improved advices from Hankow induced 
 them to purchase at the advanced figures, but they did so very charily, and 
 as the year closed the demand was very slack. 
 
 Spanish stripes Have materially advanced iii price since our last retro- 
 spect, being now quoted 57 a 60 cts. against 42 a 47 cts. per yard on 31st 
 December 1870. There has been a good business done in them during the 
 season, and the Chinese have been willing operators at the advancing quota- 
 tions. Present stocks show little change from last year. 
 
 Crapa Lustres Were for a long time almost impossible to place, but in 
 the middle of summer a demand both real and speculative set in, and prices 
 rapidly advanced. Kates on the 31st December 1871 were Tls. 3.60 a 3.75 
 per piece with a stock of 35,400 pieces, against Tls. 2.70 a 3.00 per piece 
 on 31st December 1870, and a stock of 77,000 pieces. 
 
 Crape Laatings Have also attracted the attention of speculators, and the 
 stock is now 50 per cent under that of last year, while prices show au 
 average rise of Tls. 2.25 per piece. 
 
 Regarding other classes of Woollens it is only necessary to remark that 
 higher values have ruled, not always followed by an increased demand. We 
 can therefore only conclude by referring to the full statistics given below. 
 
137 
 
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138 
 
 Metals. The trade oontiaued to feel, during the past twelve months, the 
 effects of over-shipments from Europe in 1870. The native buyers controlled 
 prices to their own advantage, and importers had to accept bare re-imburse- 
 ments of cost of their goods. Iron and Lead, the two most important 
 articles, have both averaged selling prices below cost, in spite of a reduced 
 importation in 1871, of nearly " half-quantities " in both instances, as com- 
 pared with 1870. The actual consumption does not appear to have decreased, 
 but importation continued to keep stocks much in advance of demand, and 
 re-exports from Shanghai were smaller than in 1870. Referring to the 
 statistics given below, and the reduced stocks at the close of 1871, we 
 consider that our Metal Market has now recovered from the over- importation 
 of 1870, and with the limited shipments to arrive, now afloat, we 
 believe our prospects for a remunerative trade are brighter than for some 
 time past. 
 
 COMPAHATIVE STATEMENT OF IMPORTS AND KE-EXPORTS 
 OF METALS 1871 AND 1870. 
 
 Re-Exports. 
 
 Metals— Pfe. 1871. 1870. Incr. Deer. 
 
 Quicksilver 1,674 1,331 343 
 
 Lead 69,704 91,133 ... 21,429 
 
 Srl^ni 91.266 105,474 ... 14,208 
 
 Steel 6,194 2,893 3,301 ... 
 
 Tin 9,789 10,465 ... 676 
 
 Tin Plates... 1,083 4,482 ... 3,399 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Metals— P&. 1871. 1870. Incr. Deer. 
 
 Quicksilver 2,157 1,641 516 
 
 Lead 50,868 192,855 ... 141,987 
 
 &lar5onh35,413 284,764 ... 149,351 
 
 Steel 6,625 15,388 ... 8,763 
 
 Tin 12,862 18,710 ... 5,848 
 
 TinPlates... 1,468 10,983 ... 9,515 
 
 Exports— suk. In reviewing the course of this market during the past year, we have 
 to notice violent and irregular fluctuations in prices, the opening and closing 
 rates being nearly identical, while in the interim we have seen a gradual rise 
 of about 5 per cent, then a sudden fall of 20 per cent, and again an almost 
 as sudden recovery. This year also the opening of daily telegraphic commu- 
 nication with London has introduced, or at least made general, the entirely 
 new custom of selling early Season's Silk " to arrive." The facility of doing 
 this, and of quickly closing and as quickly repeating transactions, has increas- 
 ed the already severe competition here, and has also had the effect of hurry- 
 ing forward the greater part of the season's supplies in the first two or three 
 months, and of so strengthening the hands of Chinese holders during the 
 remainder of the season that prices have since ruled even more considerably 
 over London rates than in previous years. On the other hand, while rapidity 
 of communication has diminished the chance of large profiits, it has also 
 lessened the risk of heavy losses, and tended to reduce the trade to a system 
 of regular sliipments for full or partial commissions. 
 
 The year opened with a quiet but very firm market here. Prices of all 
 classes ranged about 5 per cent, over the latest advices from London, although 
 
139 
 
 there then appeared no immediate prospect of an end to the war between 
 Germany and France ; and even with peace it was generally believed that 
 the latter country would be so crippled in her consumption and embarrassed 
 by financial disorganization that no immediate recovery could be looked for. 
 On the other hand, the apprehension of further complications between 
 England and Russia had been averted by the appointment of a Congress. 
 The position of native holders was very strong, 85 per cent, of their crop 
 having been sent forward in seven months, while the low exchange ruling 
 caused a steady demand for produce as returns for imports. 
 
 In January, settlements were 2,200 bales, costing Tls. 590 a 600 for 
 best chop No. 3 Tsatlee, and Tls. 510 a 515 for Red Peacocks. Arrivals 
 were almost nil, and stock was reduced from 4,000 to 2,000 bales, while it 
 became evident that the export for the Season would be barely 35,000 bales. 
 The month closed with a firm market, the Chinese generally holding their 
 remaining stock for higher prices. 
 
 In February, settlements were 1,400 bales, and stock was further 
 reduced to 1,500 bales. Prices for Chop Silk remained unchanged, while 
 on Red Peacock and lower Tsatlees there was a further advance of about 
 Tls. 10 a 15, caused by a slightly better market in London, consequent on 
 the capitulation of Paris, and the hope that peace must goon follow. 
 
 Early in March, we had a good enquiry, and prices were forced up Tls. 
 10 further. Red Peacocks touching Tls. 540, and best chop 3rd Tls. 605 ; 
 but this excitement was followed by a reaction, when it was found that the 
 proclamation of peace in Europe had no good effect on the Silk markets, 
 and during the last half of the month business was almost entirely suspended. 
 Settlements this month were 1,000 bales, and total since Ist June 32,300 
 bales. Stock was 1,000 bales, apd prices 10 per cent, over the nominal 
 rates ruling in London. 
 
 April was virtually the closing month of the Season, settlements being 
 1,200 bales, raising the total to 33,500 bales, while hardly any Silk remained 
 in stock. Prices showed a decline of about Tls. 80, but were very irregular, 
 and there was, as is usual when only the last and least desirable parcels are 
 left, much pressure to sell. 
 
 In the beginning of May, 100 bales more were settled, and Season 
 1870-71 closed with an export of 33,609 bales, the smallest since 1866-67. 
 The results on the whole had been disastrous to shippers, upwards of two- 
 thirds of the Silk having lost on the average £10 a 15 per bale, while the 
 remaining one-third, shipped soon after the outbreak of the European war 
 had paid perhaps £5 per bale. 
 
 It was little wonder that, after such an experience, buyers showed 
 unusual caution in entering on operations for the New Season, which opened 
 on the Ist June. The crop was expected to be larger than any since 1862-63, 
 consumption in Europe seemed to have received a severe check, stocks there 
 of Japan, Canton and European Silk were very heavy, and all these classes 
 
140 
 
 had declined greatly in price. It seemed inevitable that Chinas, notwith- 
 standing the unusual degree of favour shown to them of late years by 
 manufacturers, must either follow or be driven out of the market. Accord- 
 ingly, opening prices in Shanghai were lower than have been known for 
 several years, and about Tls. 100 per pioul under those of the previous 
 season — having fallen Tls. 80 a 90 in the short space of two and a half 
 months. The quality of the new Silk was, however, very unsatisfactory, 
 and the foul and wasty character of nearly all classes rendered them unusu- 
 ally diflS.cult to classify. 
 
 Settlements for the first fortnight were large, many buyers being 
 tempted by our unusually low prices, and rates gradually advanced a little. 
 About the middle of the month, more encouraging telegrams began to 
 arrive, reporting a better market in London ; and when direct telegraphic 
 communication was opened on the 21st of June, the first telegrams reported 
 a strong market in London and an active demand for export to France, 
 which began to take back the Silk that had been lodged in London during 
 the war, while her power of consumption showed an unexpected degree of 
 elasticity. Before the end of the month, prices had advanced fully Tls. 30 
 from opening rates, Eed Peacocks closing at Tls. 485 and best Chop 3rd at 
 Tls. 545. Settlements reached the very large figure of 11,500 bales, and 
 the unsold stock in Shanghai was 3,500 bales. 
 
 The early part of July witnessed the introduction of the system of 
 selling Silk to arrive, and for the next six weeks the greater part of the 
 purchases in Shanghai, expecially of Silk bearing well-known Chops, were 
 immediately resold by telegram. The London market continued steadily to 
 advance, and was followed, at first slowly, and then excitedly, by ours. The 
 closing rates of July showed a further advance of Tls. 30 a 40, making about 
 Tls. 70 from the opening of the Season. Settlements were as large as in 
 June, and total for the two months reached about 23,000 bales. Prices 
 were now on the basis of Tls. 520 for Red Peacocks, and Tls. 680 for best 
 Chop No. 3. Good Kahings brought perhaps unprecedented prices, Tls. 550 
 being the quotation for No, 1 ; while Hainings, as in the previous Season, 
 remained neglected. The coarser classes of Taysaam were in fair supply, 
 but shared only slightly in the advance. 
 
 The high rates paid in London for many of the jparcels which were 
 hurriedly bought about this time, and sold " to arrive," caused afterwards 
 many disputes when the Silk was delivered, its generally inferior quality leav- 
 ing much more room than usual for difference of opinion as to classi- 
 fication. 
 
 Throughout August, our market remained nearly unchanged, classic 
 Tsatlees advancing about Tls. 10, while lower grades declined as much. 
 Settlements were 5,500 bales, and total since 1st June 28,500 bales. Stock 
 reached the large figure of 8,000 bales. 
 
 In September, notwithstanding dull advices from London, consequent 
 
141 
 
 on very heavy arrivals, prices here showed no change, and 5,000 bales more 
 were settled, making a total in four months of 33,500 bales, or more than 
 the whole of the previous Season's export. It became increasingly difficult 
 to get good Silk, the faults of foulness and mixing being more apparent than 
 ever, and this induced many buyers who looked on the fjjture prospects of 
 silk as good, to enter the market while there were still a few desirable 
 parcels left. 
 
 October brought a further slight advance in London, which caused us 
 to touch the highest prices, so far, of this Season, Chop No. 3 reaching Tls. 
 595 a 600, and Red Peacocks Tls. 525 ; No. 1 Kahing was bought at Tls. 
 570, and No. 2 Haining at Tls. 510. Settlements were 3,500 bales, making 
 total since Ist June 87,000 bales. Stock was reduced to less than 4,300 
 bales. Both settlements and stock this month and in November included an 
 unusual quantity of Szechuen and Shantung yellow Silk, prices for good 
 parcels of both ruling about Tls. 400. 
 
 In November, the money panic in Shanghai suspended business in Silk 
 for a time, and when purchases were resumed our rates showed a decline of 
 about Tls. 20 per picul, but before the close of the month Tls. 10 of this 
 had been recovered. Settlements were 2,600 bales, and stock remained 
 about 4,000 bales. The fluctuations in Silk this month were generally 
 balanced by a high and irregular Exchange, and the sterling cost varied 
 only slightly. 
 
 December also passed without any noticeable change in prices, and 
 settlements being 3,200 bales, the year closed with settlements since 1st 
 June 42,700 bales, stock 2,500 bales, and prices of Chop No. 3 and of Red 
 Peacock Tsatlees Tls. 590 and 515 respectively. 
 
 The result of the year's operations may be summed up thus : 6,000 
 bales shipped between January and May, lost on an average about £10 per 
 bale, say 5 a 10 per cent ; about 12,000 bales settled in June paid a profit 
 varying from £15 a £5 per bale, averaging also 5 a 10 per cent ; of 30,700 
 bales bought between Jidy and December, fully two-thirds may be taken as 
 sold at about cost price, while the remainder, showing a loss of 3 a 5 per 
 cent, is generally being held in the expectation of higher prices in Spring, 
 after the large stock in London is reduced. 
 
 The anticipations of a large crop this Season have proved correct ; the 
 total export for the Season 1871-72 promises to be about 48,000 or possibly 
 50,000 bales, naturally depending somewhat on the future course of our 
 prices. 
 
 Black Tea. The Saying that one good season generally leads to two bad ones, 
 has this year fortunately not proved its correctness. In last year's report, 
 our readers were congratulated on the profits they had made by their trade, 
 and we can again have the pleasure of writing about a season which, on the 
 whole, has been a satisfactory one to shippers ; with the exception of the 
 heavy' losses made on the arrivals in London during August, we have heard 
 
142 
 
 almost incessantly of profits, although they may not have been so large as 
 in the preceding year. 
 
 Our close communication (now that we can use the telegraph) and the 
 quick and satisfactory passages made by the Ocean line of steamers through 
 the Suez Canal, are doing away with that suspense which, in previous times, 
 characterized the trade. Importers in England, can now tell in seven weeks 
 if the purchases on their account are what they are described to be, and the 
 old cry of deterioration on the voyage, (which in former seasons has shielded 
 so many cases of exceeded limits,) has ceased. Steamers are every year 
 becoming the favourite carriers, and we have seen fewer sailing vessels in 
 this port during the past year than at any time since Shanghai was quite in 
 its infancy. The P. & 0. Company have again attempted to compete with 
 their more vigorous opponents, but so far as obtaining a share of the trade 
 have failed. 
 
 The great feature of the past year has been the wonderful increase in 
 the consumption in Europe, which more than keeps pace with the production 
 of the leaf We understand, however, from native sources, that the planting 
 of tea is extending in the Oonahm and Ningchow districts, but it takes 
 nearly five years before the shrub can be freely picked. The excess in our, 
 total crop has come from these districts, and yearly we may look for a further 
 increase. From Hohow our supplies have been over last season's, but a 
 considerable portion of the leaf packed in this country used formerly to b6 
 forwarded to Fooohow. In the Oonahm district, the packing of low dusty 
 teas, known as Shontams, has continued on a large scale, notwithstanding 
 the heavy losses packers were reported to have made on them last season ; 
 this season their losses must have been heavier, as they have brought lower 
 prices both here and in Hankow than they ever did before. 
 
 The usual number of Ohaazes left Shanghai for Hankow about the 
 second week in May, but they arrived there too early, as the packing of the 
 crop was everywhere delayed by rains ; it was not till the 20th of May that 
 samples were shewn, and they were nearly all from Oonfa. The following 
 fleet of steamers was in port — Erl King, Ulysses, Enterprise, Craigforth, 
 Lord of ike Isles, Cheops, Agamemnon, Tchihatchoff for Odessa, and one of the 
 S. S. N. boats, which had made arrangement to tranship into the P. & 0. 
 s. s. Emeu, in Shanghai, whence the cargo was again to be transferred into 
 the Australia, in Hongkong. With so much tonnage in port, teamen natu- 
 rally asked high prices, and they got what they wanted ; for the very day 
 the musters were shewn, the market was opened, and purchasing was carried 
 on late into that night. On the following day, which generally is looked 
 upon by Englishmen as a day of rest, the excitement continued, and nearly 
 every parcel on offer had found buyers. Prices paid were as under : — 
 
 Oopaoks ^28.00 a 35.75 per pioiil= 1/11 a 2/4 per lb. 
 
 Oonfas fSO.TS a 33.00 „ =2/0ia2/2J „ 
 
143 
 
 The market for Ningchows was opened on the 22nd, and purchases at 
 first were almost entirely confined to Russian buyers. Common Oonahms 
 attracted little attention. 
 
 The quality of the crop was almost universally condemned, and there 
 is no doubt but that the rains which fell day after day just when the leaf 
 was bursting from its bud, prevented the picking, and the warm days which 
 followed rapidly encouraged the growth, so that when the harvest commenced 
 the leaf was old and lacked that flavour which can only be attained by 
 securing it when it first bursts forth into life. The district which sufiered 
 less than any other from rain was Oonfa, and the bright infusion of the teas 
 from that country contrasted most strikingly with those from other localities. 
 As fast as arrivals came forward they were snatched up, and in no previous 
 season was there ever shewn such anxiety to hurry purchases forward. 
 Shippers seemed to ignore the fact that, by filling up steamer after steamer 
 and ofiering inducements for speedy passages, they were certain to bring , 
 about a state of things on the London market which must entail 
 upon them serious losses. The first teas despatched were for the P. & O. 
 Co.'s steamer Emeu, transhipping in Hongkong into the Australia. On the 
 3rd of June, the first direct boat was despatched, and was immediately 
 followed by three others. After these departures the market assumed a 
 much quieter tone and teamen became anxious to realize. The large profits 
 they had already made (especially in Ningchows-) screened them from further 
 loss, and for a few days they sold freely, at a decline of from Tls. 3 to Tls. 8 
 per picul. This fall was, however, partially recovered, and taking quality 
 into consideration, the Haukow market shewed very little fluctuation 
 throughout the rest of the season. The Tchihatchoff left for Odessa on the 
 18th of June, carrying 1,983,999 lbs. most of which consisted of Ningchows. 
 We understand that, in the coming season, this route will be patronized 
 by .Russian buyers, but at present we are ignorant as to whether the first 
 cargo by this new line has resulted in a profit. For Australia two small 
 sailing vessels loaded from Hankow, and the black leaf teas seem to be more 
 in favour on that continent than the Kaisows, which used to be exclusively 
 imported. 
 
 Teamen commenced shipping to Shanghai in the second week in June, 
 and generally found the benefit of having two markets to oflier their produce 
 on. From the following returns it will be seen that Hankow is not losing 
 her trade, settlements having considerably increased over the previous 
 year : — 
 
 1871-72. 1870-71. 
 
 Settlements in Hankow 310,910 chests against 223,478 chests. 
 
 Shipments to Shanghai on Native ) 269,608 „ „ 262,467 „ 
 
 account j . ;7 >. 
 
 Contracts on Foreign account 16,503 ,, ,, 10,719 ,, 
 
144 
 
 The first steamer to arrive in England with the new season's teas was 
 the P. & 0. s.s. Australia. She reached Southampton on the 29th July, 
 but samples were not shewn until the 31st in London. Shippers by this 
 route did not profit by their paying higher rates of freight, as the Enterprise 
 and Mrl King arrived in London the next day, and until musters of their 
 cargoes were put on the market, the trade were not disposed to do any 
 business. Merchants, taking alarm at this apathy, and seeing that fresh 
 cargoes were almost daily to be looked for, commenced advertising their 
 teas at public auction without reserve, and for weeks a daily declining 
 market was seen. Fine first crop Ningchows and Oopaoks were sold at 
 ruinous losses, and it was not until the beginning of September, when it was 
 seen that no more steamers could arrive, and that the sailing vessels could 
 not be expected for a month, that any rally took place. From this time 
 up, the London market has been strong, and a considerable advance has 
 established on nearly every description of Congou. Demand has more than 
 ever run on classes from good common to medium, and this may in a great 
 measure be accounted for by the general inferiority of teas which were 
 classed as fine. The grocers in England now use more Indian teas, and by 
 mixing the finest of these with those from China which possess good leaf, 
 they can give their customers a better and stronger tea. 
 
 Returns from Hankow and Kiukiang shew a large increase as compared 
 with previous seasons. Consumption of black teas is steadily increasing, 
 and our Northern teas are every year finding new markets. Although 
 Russian shipments through England and to Odessa are over last year, the 
 trade by Tientsin to Siberia has also increased. The following table will 
 show where our produce has gone to — 
 
 1871-72. 1870-71. 
 
 To Euasia vii Odessa 1,983,999 lbs. against nil. 
 
 Continent of Europe 270,432 
 
 New York 1,947,234 
 
 Tientsin for Siberia, Black 2,237,990 
 
 „ ,, Brick 8,750,686 
 
 Great Britain Black 67, 523, 000 
 
 AustraUa Black 656,733 
 
 541,634 
 
 3,179,754 
 
 5,601,163 
 
 59,542,649 
 
 450,000 
 
 Green Tea. It is too early at this time to aflSrm whether the business in this 
 class of tea, taken as a whole, has been remunerative to shippers ; the bulk 
 of the trade is conducted with America, and the only arrivals we have heard 
 of so far have been shipments by the Pacific Mail steamers, which have been 
 forwarded by rail from San Francisco to NeV York. The high cost teas by 
 this route have, so far, resulted in loss, but we understand that samples of 
 purchases forwarded by sailing vessels round the Cape are valued to a small 
 profit. As to shipments to England, the result generally has been unsatis- 
 factory. Cargo has been hurried forward by steamers, and arrivals have 
 
145 
 
 been more than the requirements of the trade ;had merchants not pressed 
 their goods, a better mai-ket might have been the result; but the "without 
 reserve " siuotion system was resorted to, and the prices that were obtained 
 have generally shown some loss. By last telegraphic advices things were 
 firmer, and we look for a still stronger market. 
 
 Pingsueys arrived during the second week in June, and were settled at 
 prices fully Tls. 6 a Tls. 8 per picul over the rates paid in the preceding 
 season. The bulk of the purchases being made for America, for shipment 
 by the P. M. S., great anxiety was shewn to secure anything with quality, 
 and prices for fine lines have been fully maintained throughout the season. 
 The new Teenkais arrived early in August, and the well known chops 
 Chengchew and Echeong were settled at Tls. 50 proportion, or five taels 
 over rates paid the previous season. These purchases were, however, sup- 
 posed to be made for freight engagements with the P. M. S. Co., and buyers 
 generally held aloof. Prices in a short time declined, but the general range 
 has been far higher than in any previous season, which may in a measure 
 be accounted for by the fact that supplies are not really equal to the present 
 consumption of England and America. Norwithstanding high prices, pro- 
 duction does not increase as it was expected to ; and large tracts of ground 
 where, formerly, there were Green tea plantations, are now nothing but 
 uncultivated wilderness. These districts have never recovered from the 
 ravages of the Taiping Rebels, and labour is so scarce that it is quite impos- 
 sible to attempt the cultivation of Tea. 
 
 The Tea Hongs this season have packed their teas better than of late, 
 and chops generally have been free from dust. The quality, however, both 
 from Pingsuey, Teenkai, Moyune and Fychow, was the worst that was ever 
 known ; less attention seems every year to be paid to the twisting and 
 manipulation ; but natives attempt to account for this by the scarcity of 
 labour and the unsatisfactory weather when the leaf was picked. Shipments 
 by steamer through the Suez Canal to America have ceased, as last year's 
 experience shewed that no compensation was obtained for paying the extra 
 freights, sailing vessels round the Cape making the passage in nearly the 
 same time. 
 
 Although arrivals of Green tea, as given befow, are apparently in excess 
 of last season, the chests have weighed lighter, in consequence of their not 
 holding so much dust. 
 
 1871-72. 1870-71. 
 
 Arrivals stand at 470,000 4-chests against 448,000 J-cheats. 
 
 To New York, by last circulars, imports, deliveries, and stocks stood as under : — 
 1871. 1870. 
 
 Import of Green Tea since January 24,766,042 lbs. against 23,136,258 lbs. 
 
 Delivery of Green Tea since January ...21,217,022 „ „ 17,200,190 „ 
 
 Stock of Green Tea in Bond 3,549,020,, „ 5,936,068,, 
 
 To London the statistics stand as under:— 
 
146 
 
 1871. 1870. 
 
 Import of Grreen Tea since January 9,693,285 lbs. against 11,497,505 lbs. 
 
 Delivery of Green Tea since January ...10,651,025 „ „ 10,076,341 „ 
 Stock of Green Tea in Bond 5,690,786,, „ 6,570,056,, 
 
 These figures shew us that consumption more than keeps pace with 
 production,' and may in some measure excuse the high range of prices that 
 have been paid throughout the season under review. So far, shippers, 
 either to England or America, cannot be congratulated on the profits they 
 have made. 
 
147 
 
 IST 2. 
 
 Piece Goods. The hopes of improvement so frequently indulged in with 
 regard to thia branch of our trade with China seem doomed to constant 
 disappointment. Great and beneficial results were expected from the 
 establishment of direct telegraphic communication with Great Britain and 
 from the opening of the Suez Canal, but at the beginning of 1873 it is not 
 too much to say that many of them have yet to be realised. Not that the 
 Canal and the telegraph have not done their own peculiar work and that 
 thoroughly, but rather that those quick returns and that profitable employ- 
 ment of capital which were anticipated have not followed on the successful 
 inauguration of these scientific achievements. Nor is it too much to say 
 with reference to the past year that the gains to the importer have been 
 few and his losses many. For these losses, and the miscarriage of many 
 wisely laid schemes, the native Chinese blame the telegraph. The European 
 has been taught to think differently, whatever he may believe. No doubt, 
 the wire and the canal have to some extent been the innocent media of 
 converting probable profits into certain losses, and no doubt also there are 
 stiU amongst us those who long for " the good, old times " when ventures 
 were made and nothing more was heard of them until the final settlements 
 were rendered back to China ; but no sane person can justly accuse the 
 former ; and the longings of our conservative body are now effete, for tele- 
 grams and steamers are faUi accomplis, and they will work until superseded 
 by some more approved modes of communication and transport. Therefore 
 it remains for the merchant to accept with philosophical contentment the 
 means with which he is at present provided, and to endeavour in the future 
 to make a more judicious use of them than he has done in the past, for it must 
 be admitted that, during 1872, every tendency towards improvement, either 
 in stocks or in prices, has almost instantly been checked by that " haste to 
 be rich " which has impelled aU simultaneously in the direction of the wire, 
 and by that over production at Home which has been only too eager to risk 
 the promise " of good things to come " shadowed forth in the messages. 
 Hence it is that a good and healthy market has never had a fair chance. 
 A plethora of goods, either in godown, or "to arrive" — which amoimts 
 almost to the same thing now-a-days — is constantly seeking buyers. The 
 laying down cost is calculated to such a nicety that it seems to matter little 
 
148 
 
 which way it leatis j ani the Chinese, knowing well that the cargo has been 
 ordered specially for their benefit, and that sooner or later it must come to 
 them, have been obliging enough to keep out of the market until they 
 could " wire in " on their own terms. 
 
 But the darkest cloud, it is said, has a silver lining. The trade of 1872 
 has not been all darkness and discouragement. Consumption has increased 
 in a worderful degree, and it is very pleasing, at the close of the year, to 
 find that our manufactures are becoming more and more appreciated by the 
 natives, and that the escape in China for the overstrained energies of 
 Lancashire Is yearly widening. 
 
 The following comparative statement points Its own moral and, without 
 farther preface, we would now crave the reader's special attention to it. 
 
 Statement of deliveries for re-export and for local consumption during the 
 years 1872, 1871 and 1870, compiled chiefly from the Shanghai Customs 
 Gazette. 
 
 Grey Shirtings, Hound numbers Pes. 5,400,000 
 
 T-Cloths „ 
 
 White Shirtings „ 
 
 Drills ; » 
 
 Jean3 ,, 
 
 Sheetings, , , 
 
 Gentian Shirtings ,, 
 
 Brocades and Spots White ,, 
 
 „ Dyed 
 
 Chintzes >, 
 
 Damasks >> 
 
 Turkey Reds ,. 
 
 Velvets >> 
 
 Velveteens > 
 
 Handkerchiefs >> 
 
 Muslins > > 
 
 Dimities , > > 
 
 Spanish Stripes .> 
 
 Russian Brojid Medium and Habit Cloths , , 
 
 Camlets " 
 
 Long Ells " 
 
 Lastings " 
 
 Do. Crape » 
 
 Lustres Plain Figured and Crape „ 
 
 In 1869 we characterised the trade in Imports with China as a pro- 
 gressive one, but we were hardly prepared for such a satisfactory increase 
 as the above figures indicate, and we are mistaken if there are many 
 merchants who will not learn with some surprise that the business during 
 1872 has been larger than it ever has been in any one year since the opening 
 of this country to the foreigner. "We mean those merchants who have not 
 made the matter their particular study, and who have been contented to 
 
 1872. 
 
 1871. 
 
 1870. 
 
 5,400,000 
 
 5,200,000 
 
 4,200,000 
 
 3,590,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 2,578,000 
 
 567,000 
 
 354,000 
 
 490,000 
 
 981,000 
 
 749,000 
 
 656,000 
 
 326,000 
 
 184,000 
 
 246,000 
 
 123,500 
 
 43,000 
 
 38,500 
 
 55,200 
 
 38,500 
 
 29,300 
 
 29,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 20,500 
 
 82,200 
 
 69,800 
 
 70,900 
 
 260,000 
 
 140,800 
 
 205,000 
 
 9,500 
 
 16,400 
 
 11,100 
 
 101,400 
 
 68,000 
 
 72,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 32,100 
 
 47,300 
 
 25,200 
 
 13,000 
 
 13,000 
 
 248,000 
 
 103,000 
 
 84,000 
 
 48,000 
 
 24,100 
 
 28,000 
 
 16,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 6,000. 
 
 47,400 
 
 35,300 
 
 51,800 
 
 32,600 
 
 14,100 
 
 11,100 
 
 67,900 
 
 64,700 
 
 114,600 
 
 124,500 
 
 119,500 
 
 148,000 
 
 34,300 
 
 37,600 
 
 41,600 
 
 11,700 
 
 10,100 
 
 15,300 
 
 327,000 
 
 223,000 
 
 287,000 
 
149 
 
 accent, as final, the gloomy and disheartening market advices which have 
 been constantly placed before them by trade circulars and otherwise. 
 
 Mildew in Grey Cottons has been a fertile source of loss to the merchant 
 throughout the whole of 1872; nor have the native dealers— notwithstanding 
 their ill-concealed desire to discover taints in every parcel of goods they 
 have bought — invariably escaped scot-free. But as a rule the consumers 
 have benefited, and that to no mean extent, from this cause, and hence 
 their continual demands for mildews. It is not our purpose to discuss this 
 question here, but we cannot allow the matter to pass without recordiug our 
 gratification at the steps which have recently been taken by our own Chamber 
 of Commerce and by that of Manchester with a view to the complete 
 eradication of the evil. We trust they may soon be crowned with success. • 
 
 The Transit Pass system has worked satisfactorily enough, so far as it 
 has been permitted to work by the local authorities. There have not been 
 many complaints on this score, however, we are happy to say, and as the 
 fears of trouble become fainter amongst the natives, a more extended use 
 of the system, under their own names, will doubtless follow. At present 
 the fear of annoyance and loss compels the native to avail himself of the 
 foreigner's services to procure for him passes for the merchandise intended 
 for inland ta:ansit, and for such services he has to pay a commission charge 
 which he would save if the treaty were faithfully observed at , the barriers. 
 This ought not to be, but the difficulty is to induce those who have suffered 
 wrong to make any accusation, and hence it is to be feared that squeezes 
 and injustice will continue. When will the days of Railways, and of "small 
 draught, but roomy Steamers," enable us in China to defy the hosts of 
 harpies who prey upon our Commerce? How long is China to close her gates 
 against every act or step which tends towards the amelioration of her people? 
 The young Emperor is said to have conceded the Audience Question — will 
 he still further commemorate his reign by the sanction and adoption of those 
 appliances which have enabled Western Nations to distance his own country 
 in the race for existence 1 These, and kindred ones, are questions we cannot 
 answer, but it seems to us that the gradual abandonment by all classes, in 
 a more or less degree, of their own miserable and worn out modes of com- 
 munication and carriage ; their decided preference for those improvements 
 which the foreigner has been permitted to introduce amongst them ; their 
 associating themselves in copartnerships for the working of foreign-built 
 steamers in order to the better development of their own commerce, &c., &c., 
 are plain indications of a strong desire in the native mind for progress ; a 
 desire which will gather strength with age, and which, before many years 
 have passed away, will assert itself in defiance of all that the more conserv- 
 ative among the officials can do against it. 
 
 Grey shirtingB. The year opened on a stock of about 2,435,000 pieces of 
 all weights in godown which, under the influence of heavy imports and light 
 
ISO 
 
 deliveries to the trade, swelled to 2,910,000 pieces by the beginning of 
 March following. That happily proved to be the turning point. Prom 
 April onward a gradual, and we might almost say steady diminution was 
 apparent. The receipts from home, as a rule, were more moderate, 
 while the trade wants increased, and at the close of the year the 
 supply on hand, according to the Chamber of Commerce returns, was 
 only 1,284,500 pieces. Messrs. Da Costa & Co.'s statistics showed a 
 difference — excess — of 78,000 pieces over those of the Chamber, which 
 is to be attributed to an under-estimate of the deliveries to the local 
 trade. The re-exports are compiled from the Customs Daily Returns, 
 but the local business is estimated only, there being no organised system 
 ■whereby correct figures can be ascertained. The Imports for 1872 were 
 4,250,000 pieces, against 7,468,000 in 1871 and 4,090,000 in 1870. 
 The comparative deliveries for the same period have already appeared in our 
 Retrospect. And now with regard to prices during last year. The position 
 of 8J-lb. Cloth as being, from the magnitude of the business done in it, of 
 the chiefest importance, claims first notice, and we may preface our remarks 
 by stating very briefly and at once, that the market has been most unsatis- 
 factory and disappointing throughout. There have, doubtless, been parcels 
 which have resulted in profit to the importer, but they have been few 
 and scarcely deserving of even a passing notice. At the opening, the aspect 
 of affairs was dull and unpromising in the extreme. The stocks in godown 
 were large ; the supplies afloat were very heavy, while current rates were 
 low — say Tls. 1.81 a 1.91 per piece. Holders of sound cloth, however, 
 ■were unwilling sellers, but there was a great accumulation of unsound or 
 mildewed cargo on offer, and the current demands were fuUy satisfied from 
 this source until about the end of January, when a telegram advising an 
 advance, and a still rising tendency in Manchester, imparted a gleam of 
 strength and hope, and gave an impetus to foreign speculation, which ran 
 prices up here to Tls. 2.05 per piece — for time delivery — for Dewhurst's 
 best makes. The improvement was very transient. By the end of February 
 the rate had receded to Tls. 1.97, but a reaction set in during March, and 
 it rallied to Tls. 2.00. In April the quotation was again Tls. 1.97, and on 
 the 10th of June it had receded to its normal basis of Tls. 1.91 per piece. 
 The price fluctuated between Tls. 1.91 and Tls. 1.94 from mid- June to mid- 
 September, 'iwhen it suddenly fell, and sales were effected at Tls. 1.86 on 
 the 7th of October. At the commencement of November we find Dew- 
 hurst's best cloth again quoted at Tls. 1.91, but only to be followed 
 by a drop of 4 to 5 cents per piece before the close of the month. This 
 decline, however, was fully recovered in early December, and the year 
 closed on comparatively small stocks, comparatively light floating cargoes, 
 a firm market at home, and great firmness on the part of holders here. The 
 principal disturbing elements in the trade of the past twelve months have 
 been : First The high pitch at which the stock has been maintained ; and, 
 
ISl 
 
 second, the great preponderance of mildew damage prevailing iu the medium 
 qualities of the cloth. These have effectually baffled every effort put forth 
 by importers and home and local speculators to raise values to the equival- 
 ent of Manchester rates, and to keep them there. Are we to experience a 
 continuance of such ruinous influences during 1873 1 At the opening, 
 appearances are by no means unfavorable for business, but who can tell 
 what a day or an hour may bring forth. The Lancashire production 
 increases year by year, and must find an outlet, whilst the fingers of Man- 
 chester Agents are continually itching for employment, seizing every 
 opportunity which foreshadows the smallest possible chance of profit, risk- 
 ing their money and their credit by advances of margins to speculators 
 who frequently have very little of either, and in whose position a loss, or 
 even a series of losses can make no possible alteration. Thus it is that 
 stocks get beyond control — sales must be effected and accounts rendered. 
 And thus it is that goods are sent us which our merchants, who have really 
 the welfare of the trade at heart, are ashamed to lay before their customers. 
 7-lbs. have been scarce and in constant request during the whole year, and 
 as a consequence they have maintained their value very fairly. Indeed we 
 believe the importer has, on the whole, benefited by dealing in 7-lb. goods. 
 In January the market opened at Tls. 1.72 per piece for Dewhurst's best. 
 The highest point, Tls. 1.79, was touched in April, and the lowest, Tls. 
 1.67, in September. In June also Tls. 1.67 was accepted, but on that 
 occasion a sterling exchange of 6s. 2^d was the motive power. So soon as 
 exchange on England declined, 7-lb. Shirtings rose in value to about the 
 level of opening rates, and the quotation on 31st ultimo was Tls. 1.70 for 
 Dewhurst's best cloth, stock of all kinds light, holders very firm, and the 
 market having a strong upward tendency. We have selected Dewhurst's 
 manufactures as the basis of our remarks, but really good cloth has com- 
 manded comparatively better rates, while the difference paid for the most 
 inferior fabrics has been altogether out of proportion when compared with 
 the cost at home. There have not been many complaints of mildew in 
 7-lb. Grey Shirtings, but some have come under our observation. They 
 have not been of a serious nature, however, and the dealers, owing to the 
 lightness of the stocks, have not had matters quite so much their own way, 
 as they have had with 8J-lbs. 9f and 10-lbs. After the usual speculative 
 burst for the Spring demand, during which the price for best reached Tls. 
 2.90 per piece, heavy cloth suffered the customary relapse, being quoted 
 Tls. 2.70 in mid-June. It remained stationary and in little request, at 
 the latter figure, until the beginning of September following. After that 
 Tl. 2.65, 2.60, 2.55 and 2.50 were the dividing marks of the downward 
 course. The last named was the current quotation at the close of the year, 
 and at it sales for distant clearance were booked with foreign speculative 
 buyers. 
 
152 
 
 r-cioths come next in order, and 1873 has shown to the world what 
 Lancashire can do by way of producing this textile — the imports from home 
 since the first of January last year amounting in the aggregate to about 
 4,600,000 pieces. Now, although the native consumption is very large, and 
 still increasing, the trade is not yet prepared for such supplies, and the 
 results are in consequence unfavorable to the importing merchants. The 
 laying down -cost has been high, and excepting about the beginning of the 
 spring demand, when Dewhurst's 7-lbs. M T quality was saleable here at 
 about Tls. 1.65 per piece, it has seldom been realised. Up to about the end 
 of May, an extensive business to the trade, at fair average rates, was con- 
 stantly reported, but increasing stocks then began seriously to tell upon 
 prices, and although considerable quantities of goods kept changing hands 
 to the dealers, the desire to realise on the part of holders was so strong, and 
 so apparent to the former, that they bought only to satisfy their more 
 immediate requirements, and thus forced the rate down until, on or about 
 18th ulto., a parcel of "Dewhurst's M T quality was declined at Tls. 1.44 
 per piece, and fair Mexican Cloth was placed at Tls. 1.35 per piece." The 
 circular from which we quote goes on to say : " While, 'however, these rates 
 show great irregularity, it is satisfactory to find that really favorite cloth 
 has not declined in value so much as might have been expected, from the 
 position of stocks and the prolonged Sluggishness of the market." A fort- 
 night later, best goods had taken a decidedly upward course, and the market 
 closed with few sellers, at a rise of 3 to. 4 cents per piece from the lowest 
 point. Our space does not admit of a particularisation of the other weights 
 and qualities of T-Cloths, but it is sufficient for our purpose in the present 
 paper, to base our remarks on the position and course of the market for 
 best 7-lbs. makes, which as a general rule govern the trade. 
 
 White Shirtinga. Our table of deliveries given above shows that this fabric 
 has participated in the expansion of our Trade with China in common with 
 the other plain cotton textiles. The clearances for the year amount to 
 nearly 570,000 pieces, which is fully 200j000 pieces above the estimate for 
 1871, and between 16 and 17 per cent, over the large business of 1870. But 
 here again end our gratulations to the importing merchant, for, on the 
 whole, the business of the past year has been a losing one. Once or twice 
 prices rose here to about the level of cost, and occasionally a profit was 
 realised, but rates, when the enquiry had subsided, at once fell to their 
 normal losing state. White Shirtings, however, as may be seen from our 
 previous and subsequent remarks, are not singular in this respect, and we 
 incline to the belief that importers are never satisfied unless they are con- 
 ferring benefits upon the native consumers. At all events there have been 
 times when a little firmness would have been followed by the maintenance 
 of at least the values of the day. But the quiet which generally succeeds a 
 period of great activity and heavy settlements, instead of being regarded as 
 a short breathing time, has too often looked upon as a cessation of demand 
 
153 
 
 for the year, and the consequent desire to sell was followed by its inevitable 
 result. In January, the price of 64 reed was Tls. 1.92 a 2.15 per piece, 
 from which, with a strengthening market, it rose to Tls. 2.05 a 2.20 in 
 February, where it remained with a large business doing until April follow- 
 ing, when the demand fell off and rates became weaker. On 17th May the 
 registered rates for ordinary 64 reed was Tls. 1.95 a 2.00, and for Dewhurst's 
 Tls. 2.15 a 2.17 per piece; sales for the fortnight reaching the large 
 estimate of 40,000 pieces. From that time until September, there was no 
 particular business done, and the minimum quotation for 64 reeds stood at 
 Tls. 1.90 a 1.92 per piece. On the 6th September, our report stated : — 
 " Trade insufficient to establish rates which are nominally lower," and on 
 the 13th, " still no business.'' The next note of sales is ou the 20th 
 September, when best 64's were placed at Tls. 2.10, and small transactions 
 took place betwixt then and the 6th November, when an advance of 5 cands. 
 was estabhshed and large settlements were effected. During the week fol- 
 lowing, a further rise of 3 a 5c. was extracted from buyers, but at this point 
 the demand ceased; the value of ordinary 64 cloth being Tls. 1.85 a 1,95, 
 and of Dewhurst's Tls. 2.05 a 2.15 per piece. The interval up to the 
 close of the year was not characterised by any peculiarity or activity, but on 
 31st December we wrote, in reference to an improved enquiry on the part of 
 the trade : " there are very few sellers at the prices offered, and stocks 
 generally are very firmly held for a basis of Tls. 2.00 per piece for good 
 ordinary 64 reeds." It only remains for us to note a fair business for fine 
 reeds of White Shirtings at remunerative rates during the early part of the 
 year. Considerable sales at Tls. 3.55 a 3.75 per piece "to arrive" were 
 effected, and we believe every one interested in the trade derived some 
 benefit from it. The stock of all reeds at the close is favorable, being under 
 200,000 pieces. The market for 56's, 60's, 66's and so on has been ruled 
 by the demand and position of 64 reeds, so we have taken the last count as 
 the basis for our review of 1872. 
 
 Driru. The imports have fully equalled the clearances, large although 
 these have been during 1872. We commenced the year with a stock of 
 104,007, and we end it with a supply of 124,689 pieces, according to the 
 returns published by the Chamber of Commerce. The receipts have been 
 984,000 pieces, against the published re-exports and an estimated local 
 consumption of 971,000 pieces. On one or two occasions the stock has been 
 reduced to a small compass, and then prices immediately responded, but manu- 
 facturers could not leave well alone. The looms were turned on in their full 
 strength. As fast as the home accumulations were shipped off, they were 
 replaced by new goods, and every tendency towards improvement here was 
 checked by "heavy sales to arrive." Notwithstanding these, the buoyancy 
 of the trade has been great, and the losses on Drills have been light in 
 comparison with those on the other descriptions of Grey Cottons. Indeed, 
 we are assured that even the low rates ruling about the close of the year 
 
154 
 
 have, in some instances, brought ventures out without loss and have evea 
 paid a small profit. Our trade wants of the past year have been almost 
 exclusively supplied by Great Britain and Holland. The email stock of 
 American Drills on the 1st January, 1872, was entirely exhausted in April, 
 and has not since been added to. But these have only occasionally been 
 asked for, and hence the inference that the English and Dutch textiles have 
 run them off the market. Under this heading it only remains for us to 
 notice prices, and this we now do as follows : — 
 
 English. Dutch. 
 
 14 to 15-lbs. 13 to 14-lbs. 
 
 Jauuary ?3.03@3.12 13.00@3.10 
 
 April - „ 3.00 „ 3.08 „ 2.90 „ 3.10 
 
 July „ 3.05 „ 3.15 „ 2.95 „ 3.10 
 
 October ,, 3.10 „ 3.13 ,, 3.02 „ 3.08 
 
 December „ 2.85 „ 2.93 „ 2.75 „ 2.90 
 
 Jeans, The market opened with a quiet but steady demand at TIs. 2.28 
 a 2.35 for best 8-lbs. English cloth, the stock of all kinds being only 39,650 
 pieces, and while it kept within moderate bounds prices were fairly upheld, 
 but supplies soon began to accumulate, and the values were unfavourably 
 influenced thereby. At the end of June buyers could select from upwards 
 of 80,000 pieces in godown, with ready sellers at TIs. 2.18 o 2.25 per piece. 
 On the 12th September, the stock was estimated at 98,000 pieces, and 
 quotations were TIs. 2.17 a 2.20. In the course of the week next following, 
 a slight decrease took place, but a decline of 6 cand. was most unaccountably 
 established notwithstanding, and thereafter right on to the close of the year, 
 there was scarcely any attempt made to rally prices, which fell to TIs. 2.00 
 a 2.03 for fair ordinary English. Dutch Jeans have never been in undue 
 supply, and the variation in the quotations for them has been trifling. 8 J-lbs. 
 best have shown a range in their value of scarcely 1 mace per piece, and 
 owing to their scarcity they were saleable " to arrive," at the commencement 
 of 1872, at TIs. 2.28 per piece, which is within 5 cands. of the opening rate 
 of last year. In American Jeans there has been almost no business. 
 
 Sheetings— American. Some fivo or six transactions have been recorded in 
 the course of the year ; and although English cloth has dechned in value 
 from TIs. 3.20 @ 3.30, the opening rates, to TIs. 2.70 @ 2.90 per piece at 
 which sales were effected towards the end of October, the closing operation 
 in American sheetings showed a market value of nearly TIs. 3.90 per piece 
 for best Lidian Head chop. The deliveries of all kinds have been 123,500 
 pieces, or nearly three times that of last year against an import of 135,793 
 pieces ; and the stock on 31st December last was only 34,870 pieces. 
 
 Fancy Cottons. Beyond drawing attention to the figures published on a previous 
 page, very little need be said regarding this class of imports. "With 
 the exception of Velvets and Damasks, the consumption of every article has 
 largely increased, and in the case of the former at least, it has been limited 
 because of inadequate supplies. Until December last, the few Velvets which 
 
155 
 
 were Imported were instantly bought up at a very handsome profit to the 
 importer. The buyers of this article have been principally Japanese 
 merchants, but considerable quantities have been taken by the Chinese 
 traders, and between the two prices have been maintained at a high stand- 
 ard. Referring to our records, we find that Tls. 0.35 per yard is the high- 
 est point touched by best 22-inch Velvets. That was in October last. -The 
 market opened in January at Tls. 0.23 per yard, and closed in December at 
 Tls. 0.30 per yard, bare of stocks but expected heavy receipts. Prices have 
 since dropped 6 cands. per yard. Turkey Red Shirtings have been very 
 largely dealt in, but the trade has not been a very remunerative one until 
 nearly the close of the season, when sales began to show a fair marginal 
 profit on the home cost. The same remark is applicable to Chimtzes, with 
 this exception that very few ventures have resulted satisfactorily to those 
 primarily concerned. The stock however, at the end of the year, is by no 
 means excessive, and matters look more promising for the coming season. 
 Brocades, although in greatly augmented request, have also proved disap- 
 pointing investments, but the stock of these likewise has been reduced to a 
 small compass, and if the market is not spoiled by early and heavy im- 
 ports, the spring trade of 1873 should prove very remunerative. Spotted 
 Shirtings and Gentian Shirtings may be put in the same class with Bro- 
 cades, and as such they require no special reference. Muslins, Dimities and 
 that class of outside fancies have resulted disastrously, but the clearances of 
 all have been much heavier, stimulated probably by the low rates at which 
 importers as a rule have forced them on their customers. The decrease in 
 the consumption of Dyed Damasks is to be accounted for chiefly by their 
 place having to a great extent been taken by Figured Orleans, which brings 
 us to the concluding part of our Retrospect for 1872. 
 
 WooUena. The busiuess of the past year shows a considerable increase 
 over that of 1871, but it falls short of that done in 1870. The last named 
 twelve months, however, were exceptionally favorable for the development 
 of our Woollen trade with China. Abundant harvests in Szechuen and the 
 Upper Yangtsze provinces, where Woollen fabrics are principally used, and 
 the consequent prosperity of the inhabitants, enabled them to indulge in 
 comforts which the floods and distress of 1871 put beyond the reach of the 
 common people. But 1872 proved a better season for the country, and a 
 large portion of the leeway of 1871 has already been recovered, whilst at the 
 beginning of the present year there is every evidence that the foreign Wool- 
 len trade will rival if not surpass that of 1870. We commence 1873 with 
 reasonable stocks of every article j and the high prices of the raw material 
 at Home, and of the cloth, make it improbable that the supplies will be on 
 a large scale, or that the value of those now here will be seriously afiected 
 for some time to come. 
 
 We concluded our remarks on Cotton Manufactures by a reference to 
 Lustres the increase in the clearances of which has raised the fabric to th? 
 
156 
 
 foremost place in our Woollen trade -wfth China. Taking an average value 
 of Tls, i per piece — (and this value is under the mark, as during the past 
 year Plain Lzistres have never been so low, Crapes very seldom, and of 
 Figures large quantities of new patterns have been taken at Tls. 4.20 up to 
 Tls. 5.00 per piece), we find a trade amounting to about £400,000 sterling 
 in 1872, £270,000 in 1871 and about £300,000 in 1870. The Plain Lustre 
 has found greatest favor with the Japan traders, and most of our re-exports 
 have gone to that country. The consumption of Grapes has been exceed- 
 ingly limited and appears to be retrogressing. But Figures seem to be 
 specially adapted for China, and, judging from the energy and ingenuity 
 displayed by nearly every importer in catering for the wants of consumers, 
 the merchant and manufacturer of 1872 have not gone ' altogether unre- 
 warded. There are so many qualities of Figured Orleans, so many different 
 designs and assortments, that we cannot here afford to particularize each, 
 and we would therefore close this paragraph by directing our readers' atten- 
 tion to the range of prices for 1872, given in the subjoined table. 
 
 Spanish Stripes, Broad and Medium Cloths, &o. The Consumption of Meavy Gloths also 
 
 shows a marked increase. But here our remarks must end for, as in the 
 case of Figured Lustres, the qualities and descriptions are so numerous 
 and varied, that we could not do justice to each in the limited space at 
 our command. The reader must therefore form his own opinion from the 
 figures which are hereinbefore and hereinafter submitted to his notice. 
 Spanish Stripes, however, are more easily defined ; at least there are chops 
 which are marketable standards, and which generally govern the value of the 
 article. The Cloths more extensively dealt in have been C.P.H., H.H. and 
 T.T.B., and the trade have taken of them nearly 50,000 pieces in the course 
 of the past twelve months. Last year the consumption was set down at 
 35,000 pieces, and that of 1870 was estimated at about 52,000 pieces. As 
 may be gathered from the subjoined tabular statement, the course of the 
 market was steadily upwards from its opening in January until October 
 when the highest point was reached ; and the cause of this was set down in 
 the N.-G. Herald Market Report of 26th July to " the great firmness of 
 holders ; the enhanced cost in Yorkshire ; the reduced export from home ; the 
 decrease of stocks here, and the better prospects up river owing to the' 
 subsidence of the floods." At the close of the year business quieted down, 
 and rates receded 1 a 2 cand. per yard during November and December. 
 At the highest point, recently imported Spanish Stripes gave a profit, but 
 long held cargo lost money. The year's trade on the whole has been 
 against the importing merchant. 
 
 Long Ells. The most cheering feature in the position of this import is 
 the great reduction in the stock during the past year. At its commence- 
 ment there were 110,800 pieces here; at its close only 59,500 pieces were 
 returned as on hand ; and in these days of electricity and steam, this speaks 
 forcibly in favor of the assumption that the results to the Home trade have 
 
157 
 
 been unsatisfaotoi'y, more especially as the first cost has varied very Uttle, 
 the quotation for 0. P. H. Scarlet showing a fairly uniform rate of Sis. or 
 BO per piece. 
 
 OamietB. The market opened at Tls. 14.00 to 14.75 per piece for S. S. 
 quality assorted, but under the influence of a steady demand from the 
 trade, and" moderate imports, prices gradually hardened until, on the 16th 
 of October, they were quoted Tls. 15.25 to 16.10 per piece. They fell again 
 towards the close of the year, but the general opinion is that the decline is 
 temporary only, and that higher rates will rule on the resumption of business 
 after the holidays. Stocks on 31st ultimo were retiurned at 16,263 pieces 
 against 27,696 pieces in 1871, and the imports were 56,718 and 68,292 
 pieces respectively, or a reduction, and a falling off, of about 11,500 pieces. 
 
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158 
 
 EiportB-suk. The year 1872 has been a most unsatisfactory one for ship- 
 pers of Silk, from Shanghai. Ther6 appears no reason why it should have 
 been so, except only the great and increasing competition among buyers 
 here. There has been no great political or commercial crisis to interfere 
 with the course of our trade, the consumption of Silk in Europe and 
 America has kept up to a fair average, and if our supply has been greater 
 and of worse quality than for some years past, it might naturally have been 
 expected that this would be allowed for in the prices paid for the produce. 
 Yet, with a large supply of inferior Silk, prices here have ranged even more 
 highly over London rates than in previous years, and the consequence has 
 been continual disappointment and loss to exporters. 
 
 The practice of selling Silk "to arrive" has unfortunately been con- 
 tinued; and in the absence of a rising Market in London, which made profits 
 on such sales possible last year, shippers have vied with one another in cut- 
 ting down commissions and charges, until even in cases where no claim for 
 over-classification was made on delivery and where Silk turned out well in 
 weight, the commission earned for division between the exporting and 
 importing houses can only have been the most fractional possible. The bulk 
 of the Silk so sold must have resulted in loss to the London speculators, and 
 it is to be hoped that neither side will find it worth while to repeat oper- 
 ations which result only in a large part of the Season's Silk being sent 
 forward on terms which leave little or nothing for the exporter; which cause 
 this market to open high and continue for some months to excite it, leading 
 the Chinese dealers to pay high prices up country, and so entail heavy losses 
 on themselves when the market here falls to a more natural level ; which 
 lead to hurried reeling and consequent inferior quality ; which strengthen 
 the hands of growers and make them excessively difficult to deal with dur- 
 ing the remainder of the Season ; and which finally enhance the cost of our 
 produce to consuming countries, and so injure its chance in competition 
 with the Silks of Europe, Japan and Canton. 
 
 This year, as last, upwards of 50 per cent, of the Season's Silk was 
 shipped within the three months of June, July, and August ; and again, as 
 a natural consequence, a large part of the Crop has been reeled in the most 
 hurried and careless manner, making it coarse and uneven in size and very 
 foul. These faults, affecting chiefly the lower classes, have made them 
 difficult of sale, and the difference in value between good and common Silk 
 has much increased. While the London value of Chop No. 3 Tsatlee is 
 only about 6d. per lb. lower than at the opening of the year, and that of 
 good No. 4, 6d. a Is. lower. Red Peacocks have declined Is. 6d. a 2s., and 
 common Tsatlee 2s. 6d. a 3s. The best result to shippers has generally 
 been given by No. 3J down to good No. 4 Tsatlee ; the difference in value 
 between Blue Elephant and Red Peacock In Shanghai havmg averaged only 
 Tls. 10 a 15 = 6d. a 9d. per lb., while in England it has ranged from Is. to 
 Is. M. Good Kahinga have also shown comparatively fair results, fcut 
 
169 
 
 coarse Taysaams have lost heavily, from the abundance and cheapness of 
 Canton Silk. 
 
 January.— The year opened with a high range of prices, only about 
 7,000 bales of the Crop of 1871-72 remaining to go forward. Chop Ko. 3 
 Tsatlee was worth Tls. 675 a 590, and Red Peacocks Tls. 515. Settlements 
 to date were 43,000 bales, and Stock in Shanghai 2,500 bales. A fair busi- 
 ness was done throughout the month, the tendency of medium Tsatlees 
 being upwards, while the higher and lower class both declined slightly. 
 Settlements were 2,300 bales, and Stock was reduced to 2,000 bales. 
 
 February. — The Chinese New-year settling-day fell in this month and 
 caused some pressure to sell ; this, with continued unfavourable advices 
 from Europe, caused a decline of about Tls. 10 all round. Chop No. 3 Tsat- 
 lee closing at Tls. 665 a 585, and Red Peacock at Tls. 500 a 605. Settle- 
 ments were 1,700 bales, making total since the opening of the Season 
 47,000 bales. Stock was further reduced to 1,000 bales. 
 
 March. — The chief feature of this month was a large re-export of 
 Szechuen and wild Shantung Silk, purchases on the Shanghai Market being 
 small. Prices of Chop Tsatlee fell about Tls. 15 per pecul, while lower 
 sorts showed but little change. Closing rates were, Chop No. 3 Tls. 550 a 
 570, Red Peacocks Tls. 500 nominal. Settlements of all sorts were 1,700 
 bales, and Stock 400 bales. 
 
 April. — About 900 bales of Rereels, Szechuen and Wild Brown Silk 
 make up this mouth's business, and no quotations for standard classes can 
 be given. Only about 200 bales remained in Stock. 
 
 May. — A few trifling shipments brought to a close the Season of 1871- 
 72, with a total export of 49,900 bales. Attention this month, however, 
 was chiefly directed to the progress of the New Crop, and to speculations as 
 to how it was likely to be affected in value by the fluctuating accounts of 
 the European Raccolta. Unfortunately these became most unfavourable 
 just as the earliest Silks began to arrive on our Market, and the Chinese 
 were in consequence enabled to establish a high opening range of prices. 
 The first purchases were on the basis of Tls. 500 for Red Peacocks, fully 10 
 per cent, over the opening rates of the previous Season, although our Crop 
 was estimated at the large figure of 55,000 a 60,000 bales, showing an 
 increase of 15 per cent, over that of 1871-72. The Season was unusually 
 early, 3,500 bales coming to Market before the Qnd of May, of which 1,500 
 were settled in that month. 
 
 June. — Continued unfavourable accounts of the European Crop excited 
 our Market ; and Chop No. 3 Tsatlee, which was settled in the beginning of 
 the month at Tls. 550 a 570, closed at Tls. 580 a 600, while Red Peacocks 
 rose to Tls. 520 a 525. The proportion of common Silk in these early 
 aiTivals was unusually large, and the results of hurried reeling were even 
 more apparent than in the preceding year, the Silk being coarse, mixed and 
 foul. Settlements were 11,500 bales, and Stock at the close 7,000 bales. 
 
160 
 
 July was also a month of very large business, adding 10,000 bales to 
 Settlements, arrivals reaching about the same figure. This heavy Export 
 began to shake the confidence of buyers, and prices ruled somewhat lower, 
 closing at Tls. 575 a 590 for Chop No. 3 and Tls. 515 for Red Peacocks. 
 Finest classes suitable for the American Market brought extraordinary 
 prices, Teng-yue's Extra No. 1 Kahing being taken at Tls. 555 and best 
 Eereeled Haining up to Tls. 650. Eaw Hainings were in very small supply, 
 and have continued so throughout, the price of Fatmow's No. 2 having 
 never varied from Tls. 600 a 510. 
 
 August. — A slight further decline was sufficient to lead to a continu- 
 ation of large settlements, and towards the end of the month prices again 
 advanced, closing nearly identical with those of the end of July, Red Pea- 
 cock class only being Tls. 5 lower. Fair to good No. 4 up to Market No. 
 3^ Tsatlee was in especial request, true No. 3 Black Lion being worth Tls. 
 540, and Blue Elephant Tls. 525 a 630. An unusual quantity of Yellow 
 Silk was sent forward, a class which had not hitherto come to market until 
 much later in the Season. Settlements this month were 7,000 bales, making 
 a total of 30,000 bales in three months. Stock was still 7,000 bales. 
 
 September. — Advices of the unfavourable reception of Jbhe new China 
 Silk in London at last gave a check to business here, and prices fell Tls. 15 
 a 20, closing at Tls. 565 a 575 for Chop No. 3 and Tls. 490 for Red Pea- 
 cock. About 6,000 bales were settled, and Stock remained nearly unchang- 
 ed. Rereels and coarse Taysaam, in the absence of enquiry, declined 
 heavily, and in other classes common Silk generally was weak, while the 
 better grades showed little change. 
 
 October. — FuUy 6,000 'bales were settled, and again there was no 
 change on good to medium Silks, but a decline of about Tls. 10 on lower 
 classes. Arrivals were small, and Stock was reduced to 4,000 bales. The 
 quality of the receipts this month showed a very marked falling off from 
 even the previous standard of the season. 
 
 November brought little change in prices, Chop No. 3 Tsatlee closing 
 at Tls. 660 a 575 and Red Peacocks at Tls. 495. Settlements were 8,000 
 bales, and Stock at the close 4,600 bales. Advices from Europe continued 
 unfavourable, and it was only with difficulty and by taking a share in ship- 
 ments that the Chinese kept up the market. 
 
 In the beginning of December, prices dropped about Tls. 15 per pioul ; 
 and on some classes,-such as Eereeled Tsatlee and Thrown Silks, as much 
 as Tls. 25 a 80. This led to a large business for the time of year, 5,600 
 bales being settled this month, while Stock was reduced to 2,000 bales. 
 Closing quotations are, Chop No. 3 Tsatlee Tls. 550 a 560, Red Peacocks 
 Tls. 480. 
 
 Total settlements to date for' the season 1872-73 are 49,500 bales, v. 
 48,000 bales in 1871-72, 27,600 bales in 1870-71, and 38,500 bales in 1869- 
 70. 
 
161 
 
 The only Silks shipped in 1872 which can have done more than cover 
 cost were, except isolated parcels of outside classes, a few of the earliest 
 purchases of the New Season. All the rest of the year's operations have 
 shown a loss of 5 to 10 per cent., and supposing the whole of the business to 
 have been done free of commissions on both sides, the result would probably 
 stiU leave a deficit. 
 
 The early estimates of the crop are likely to be correct, arrivals to date 
 being 51,500 bales, with 6,000 more to be received from the country. 
 
 Tea. The season just brought to a close exhibits no marked feature, at 
 least from a China point of view, whereby to distinguish it from its imme- 
 diate predecessors. The trade still continues to shew steady progress, both 
 in the extent of the crop brought to market and in the rapidity with which 
 it has been despatched, accompanied with the usual deterioration in quality 
 attendant on a large yield. The proportion of steamers employed continues 
 to augment ; so much so that, at the present rate of change, it will not be 
 long before sailing vessels are a subject for history. The quantity of black 
 tea shipped to England and America was somewhat less than the amount 
 brought down to this port last year, although there is a large increase in the 
 shipments to Russia, both to Odessa and by Tientsin : green tea on the other 
 hand shows a large increase. Prices have accordingly ranged^on an advanc- 
 ing scale for the former staple, while for the latter they have been steadily 
 declining. To the middlemen engaged in the trade, whether foreign or 
 native, the result has been bad in both cases, but producer and consumer 
 have largely benefited. Between these two mutually complimentary yet 
 antagonistic forces, production and consumption, stands however the 
 shipping and importing interest, with which we are more immediately 
 concerned : by them is determined the figure of market value, which falls 
 or rises according as the balance oscillates in favour of the one force or the 
 other. In the season now under review, prod':.ction has once more over- 
 powered consumption, and it would seem that the cycle which we commenced 
 afresh in 1868, has again come round to its starting point. Profitable 
 years, in which consumption outstripped production, have brought about 
 the inevitable reaction, and it would appear that shippers who would avoid 
 further losses must patiently await the time when the consumptive force 
 shall once more be in the ascendant. 
 
 We are led to make these introductory rema,rks by our endeavour to 
 seek for an explanation of the manner in which the opinions on the subject 
 entertained last year in the best informed quarters, have been disappointed. 
 Summaries of the previous season's business, published in New York and 
 London at the close of 1871, spoke most encouragingly of the future. Pre- 
 dictions, based on incontrovertible premises, foreshadowed a new and better 
 era. The causes of former losses were satisfactorily analyzed, and it was 
 
162 
 
 thought that the experience gained thereby was such as to preclude all 
 immediate possibility of their repetition. The large deliveries both in 
 England and America were considered to have placed Tea " in the position 
 of a healthy trade,'' and with a telegraphic cable at length binding the 
 China ports to the rest of the world, it was thought that no difficulty would 
 be found in keeping the supply on a level with the demand, and thus the 
 risk of a continuance of the ill-judged ventures of a former less enlightened 
 period, be entirely removed. 
 
 A reference to our previous Retrospects and a comparison of the facts 
 there detailed with those given below, would almost lead one to believe that 
 the Tea trade was subject to no law but pure haphazard. When we find 
 that attempts to forecast the future, however well they may seem to be 
 based on past experience, invariably miscarry, we are inclined to withhold 
 our judgment altogether and to abstain from needless comment on a subject 
 so unpromising. A careful examination, however, of the results of a long 
 series of years leads us to the opposite conclusion that no trade is more 
 certain in its course or less affected by unforeseen external contingencies. 
 Endeavours to seek'for an explanation of the fluctuations in the tea markets, 
 in the usual outside causes : market tariffs, and abolition of duties, the 
 establishment of telegraphic communication and the opening up of new 
 routes, the change from sail to steam-carriage, the fickleness of the pubhc 
 taste, the superiority or inferiority of crops and modes of packing, — all 
 considerations like these may, we think, be safely dismissed from view, 
 provided we pay strict attention to the capabilities of these two main agents, 
 Production and Consumption, an illimitable production coupled with a 
 limited, though increasing consumption. 
 
 The capability of Production is now fairly shewn to be practically 
 unlimited. The supply available for foreign use in this quarter of Asia 
 alone has increased in ten years from 140,000,000 lbs. to 225,000,000 lbs. 
 and even these large figures are capable of indefinite increase. The Tea 
 shrub in these latitudes may be said to grow almost wild, and once planted 
 needs little or no subsequent cultivation. In each season large quantities 
 of leaf are left unpicked, the only limit to the quantity brought down for 
 export being the labour required to iire and pack it. On the other hand, 
 shippers are naturally prone to over-estimate the increasing capabilities of 
 Consumption, and are thus led to purchase all that the producers offer 
 them. In this way the increase in the production continues until this latter 
 outstrips consumption to such an extent that matters come to a temporary 
 deadlock, when after a time the consumption rises to a level with the 
 increased production, overtakes it, and is once more outstripped. We are 
 convinced that all other causes which afiFect the markets are but accidental 
 and of temporary influence. 
 
163 
 
 Black Tea. Although, as mentioned above, the export from Shanghai atid 
 its subsidiary River Ports is below that of last season by about 1,000,000 lbs., 
 yet in adding up the total from all China, we find a considerable increase. 
 It would almost seem that this fact has been lost sight of, and that operators 
 have been emboldened by the diminution in the yield of black leaf teas 
 alono. This diminution, small as it is, is simply due to the falling off in 
 the demand for common tea, the present price of which barely covers pack- 
 ing expenses. Stocks of this description will probably continue to accu- 
 mulate at Home, until a really short supply of all kinds again forces them 
 freely into consumption, raising the price to a figure that will remunerate 
 the packer and lead to all the surplus leaf in China being once more packed 
 for foreign export. It is well known that the labour and expense required 
 to produce fine tea comparatively limits its supply, and that in this class 
 production, barely keeps pace with tbe demand, which is largely increasing 
 in Russia and oti the Continent of Europe. Hence the competition in 
 Hankow, in which port the bulk of the first-crop teas are marketed, 
 increases yearly, and the high prices paid have even proved remunerative 
 at Home. The misfortune has been that high quotations for a class of tea 
 which intrinsically merits them, lead to corresponding rates being conceded 
 for inferior grades, which cost comparatively little labour to prepare. The 
 Chinese have thus every inducement held out to them to bring down 
 inferior teas, the profit on which is far larger than on the fine, and hence 
 the need of greater care and discrimination in buying than we have seen 
 hitherto exercised. The present season exhibits this need in a most striking 
 manner. 
 
 The market was opened in Hankow on the 13th May, one week earlier 
 than in 1871. Between that date and the 15th June, 300,000 chests were 
 settled, a large portion being bought to arrive on muster chests prepared in 
 advance. This led to many disputes which, however, owing to the great 
 competition ruling, were generally settled in favour of the teamen ; chops 
 rejected owing to inferiority of muster, by one buyer, being readily taken 
 by another. The quality of the first crop was fair, and the prices paid, 
 when compared with those of previous seasons, not excessive. The average 
 price of fine tea ranged between 36 and 40 taels, equal to 2s. 4d. to 2s. 6d, 
 per lb. laid down in London ; one or two choice parcels fetching ii taels, 
 or 2s. 9d. The best teas were, as usual, appropriated by Russian buyers, 
 to whom price seems to be less an object than quality. The Ningchow 
 Monings again commanded the highest value, the Oopack teas having quite 
 lost their old reputation. The two first steamers to leave were the 
 Agamemnon, of Holt's line, on the 28th May, with 2J million pounds, and 
 the Deccan (P. & 0.) on the 29th, with If million pounds on board. The 
 rate by the former steamer was fixed at £5, and that by the latter at £7 
 
164 
 
 per ton, being the same as in the .previous season. Although the quality 
 of the crop, as far as then known, was considered fair, later receipts proved 
 it to be generally below the average. In fact, in the condition in which the 
 new teas now come to market, fresh from the firing pan, it is almost 
 impossible to form a sure opinion on them, especially as regards their 
 keeping qualities, a requisite in which the present crop particularly has 
 shown itself notably deficient. This is a difficulty which, since the opening 
 of the ports in the immediate neighbourhood of the tea districts, there 
 seems to be little probability of our being ever able thoroughly to overcome. 
 
 For when highly fired, the flavoiir is to a certain extent latent at first, 
 and the tea requires time to mature. If, on the other hand, lightly fired, 
 and the flavour be rich and delicate from the beginning, there is a risk of 
 its being dissipated by time. Indeed, had not the Suez Canal and steam 
 carriage most appositely come to the rescue, the depreciation at home of 
 China teas, when brought into contact with the better cured teas of India, 
 would have been still greater than it actually is. As long as the sale is 
 not thereby prejudiced, light firing benefits the teaman in every way : the 
 cost of curing and loss in, weight are both diminished, while the tea reaches 
 his market in its finest condition ; but high firing conceals the aroma for 
 the time and, if hurrifedly managed, risks its total destruction. 
 
 The Deccan reached London on the 16th July,, and the Agamemnon, came 
 up 24 hours later. Never perhaps since teas were first shipped from China, 
 was greater apathy displayed on the arrival of a fresh crop, and if anything 
 could cure the annual rush to be first to market, the reception accorded to 
 the new teas this year should do so. During the first week, scarcely 5,000 
 packages were sold, and these at barely covering rates, (a very dlfiierent 
 state of business from that of the corresponding week in China, when over 
 100,000 packages found buyers), while subsequent sales shewed Id. and 2d. 
 decline, leaving an unlocked for loss. From this unsatisfactory beginning, 
 the market continued to drag on, with occasional flashes of recovery, from 
 bad to worsd, until at last we heard of the second crops losing 3d. and 4d., 
 and in some instances even 6d., per lb. on China cost. 
 
 Meanwhile, in China, the second crop teas followed closely on the first, 
 arrivals having reached Hankow as early as the end of June. The quality 
 proved very inferior to that of 1871, in which year the sales of these teas 
 at home gave good profits. The remembrance of these led this year to 
 extravagant prices being paid for the inferior tea, with the result we have 
 just quoted. The third crop teas commenced to arrive in August, and 
 continued to reach Hankow freely until October, by the end of which 
 month the bulk of the crop had been marketed, nearly the whole year's 
 business being thus accomplished in about six months. These common 
 teas having been difficult of sale in London for two seasons past, were less 
 
165 
 
 readily bought ; still they realised prices Id. a 2d. above home rates, an 
 important feature being the free competition from Russian buyers, who 
 seem hitherto to have neglected this class. These teas were wretchedly 
 thin and poor, and of a grade too low to be profitably employed in mixing. 
 Hence the fact of their acoumulatiou in the home markets and the quota- 
 tion of common Black Leaf Congou recently telegraphed from London — ■ 
 7Jd., the equivalent of ten and a half taels in China, a figure lower than 
 any we ever remember to have seen reached here. 
 
 At the same time the consumption generally, as shown by the London 
 deliveries, which have increased from 163,000,000 lbs. in 1871 to 
 169,000,000 lbs. in 1872, continues to show steady progress ; it has, how- 
 ever, been overpowered by the excessive production which has raised the 
 quantity held in stock from 83,000,000 lbs. on the 1st December 1871, to 
 90,000,000 lbs. on the 1st of the same month in 1872, equivalent to over 
 six months' consumption, while the best judges consider a supply of three 
 months ample for all possible contingencies. 
 
 The season is now closed, with a total export to all countries of 
 72,000,000 lbs. against a total of 76,000,000 lbs. last year, shewing a 
 decrease of 4,000,000 lbs., entirely in third crop teas. This small deficiency 
 has, however, been more than counterbalanced by the large excess from the 
 South, the actual amount of Congou exported from China, Red and Black 
 Leaf, being 105,000,000 lbs., against 103,000,000 lbs. only last season. 
 
 The Export from Hankow alone reached a total of 61,000,000 lbs., 
 against 62,000,000 lbs. last season, shewing a decrease of 1,300,000 lbs. It 
 was thus distributed : — 
 
 Settlements for London (direct and for transhipment) 31,600,000 lbs. 
 
 Do. for Russia (via. Odessa, Tientsin and London) 9,000,000 lbs. 
 
 Do. for Australia (direct) 400,000 lbs. 
 
 Sent on to Shanghai by the Teamen for sale there.-. 20,000,000 lbs. 
 
 61,000,000 lbs. 
 
 The direct shipments to Russia which were inaugurated by the steamer- 
 Tchkhdlcoff, in 1872, reached a total of 4,000,000 lbs., three steamers 
 having sailed from Hankow and hence for Odessa, this season. The revolu- 
 tion that the Suez Canal was destined to make in the trade between Europe 
 and the East is fast hastening towards its accomplishment, more than half 
 of this year's crop having been shipped by that route. The competition 
 between the different steam lines has been very keen, the rates now paid 
 being, with the exception of the first steamers of the season, but little above 
 the ordinary rate by sail, while the condition of the tea is usually much 
 improved by the shorter voyage. 
 
166 
 
 Green Tea. Causes tlie opposite of those that led to a shorter yield of Black 
 Tea from the North of China, produced a heavy increase in the yield of 
 Green. While towards the close of last season common black leaf tea was 
 almost unsaleable in London, a heavy advance took place in the corres- 
 ponding grade of Green in New York. In that market, while fine and finest 
 teas were comparatively neglected, and yielding to the Importer a loss on 
 the invoice price, common chops were eagerly enquired for and realising 
 good profits ; in consequence, a most unaccountable change seemed to halve 
 taken place in the wants of the consumers, and this quickly telegraphed 
 out to China produced the usual effect. The native holders of green tea 
 here were enabled to place the remnants of the crop at a handsome advance 
 on country cost, and prepared themselves for a like result during the present 
 season, while on the other hand the stocks of common Congou, then left in 
 the hand of the Black teamen, barely realised enougti to recoup them their 
 outlay for packing charges and duty. Apart^from this, the general course of 
 the market, both here and at home, has ruled much the same in green tea as in 
 black. Jligh opening rates and excessive early shipments from China, received 
 with total apathy in New York and London, and consequent heavy losses to the 
 Importer, form the main feature in both casses. To the detriment of Green 
 Tea has to be added, however, the fact of a markedly inferior crop, hurried- 
 ly prepared and carelessly packed. Teamen, misled by the extravagant 
 rates paid for the very indifferent teas which formed the first crop, them- 
 selves raised prices in the country and gathered together all the leaf avail- 
 able for the second and third crops. Hence an excessive yield, generally 
 of inferior quality, accompanied by an inflated range of prices ; for, unfor- 
 tunately, a high range once established at the beginning is taken by the 
 Teamen as a standard for the whole season ; on this they base their subse- 
 quent demands ; it is almost impossible to enforce a serious decline until the 
 following year, when buyers, by a return to moderation and the exercise of 
 a little patience when new teas first come down, may succeed in re-estab- 
 lishing prices on a comparatively safe level. 
 
 The market was opened on 4th June, 10 days earlier than last year, by 
 the purchase of a chop of Pingsuey, arrived on the previous day, at the 
 unprecedented figure of 66 taels per pioul, equal to a cost laid down in New 
 York by steamer of one dollar per pound ; we have since had news of its 
 sale there at 82 cents, showing a net loss of 18 cents per pound. This 
 operation, both in its inception and its result, has proved a fitting precursor 
 of the whole season's business^ The excitement caused by the total abolition 
 of the duty in the United States seemed to remove all restraint, and to lead 
 to the willing payment by buyers here of the first price asked. It is true 
 that the telegraph was not long in giving information of the sorry result of 
 this sanguine course, but, as we have just pointed out, the ball once set 
 
165' 
 
 rolling is not so easily stopped ; and, though later on more caution was 
 shown, the rash business of the first month sufficed to ruin the prospects of 
 the whole season. 
 
 This first purchase was followed by a short pause, during which arrivals 
 came rapidly to hand, but little good was done as the departure of the 
 Pacific mail steamer on the 12th June compelled a few buyers to re-enter 
 the market, which they did at a reduction of barely 1 tael on the opening 
 settlement. Later in the month, upon a decline of about 2 taels, buying 
 became general, and before the middle of August, 60,000 half-chests, being 
 the equivalent of the whole crop of 1871, had been settled. At about this 
 date we received telegraphic advice of the unfavorable reception of the first 
 teas in New York and London, yet the demand here was not visibly affected, 
 and a large business continued to be done, ending in the total sales of 
 Pingsuey reaching the unprecedented amount, of 140,000 half-chests. The 
 result has been a loss all round of 10 to 15 cents per pound in America and 
 of 4d. to 6d. in England ; and latest reports quote the teas to be almost 
 unsaleable even at this decline. The London market, which, at the com- 
 mencement of the season, was very lightly stocked, was disorganised from 
 the beginning by the system pursued of offering the teas for sale without 
 reserve immediately on arrival, a procedure which can only be successful in 
 times of scarcity. In New York, Pingsueys have never commanded much 
 favour, and the heavy quantities shipped thither on the top of an already 
 excesMve stock could not have failed in any case to produce a heavy drop. 
 In the present season, the disaster was augmented by the wretched quality 
 of the teas themselves, which we described from the first as being the most 
 coarse and painty we have ever seen. This liberal adulteration of the teas 
 with so-called paint (a mixture of chalk and Prussian blue) has, we trust, 
 this year reached its climax, and we cannot but be gratified with the expres- 
 sions of disgust and surprise that we have noticed in the reports from home. 
 For assuredly, as long as Chinamen can find shippers willing to buy chalk 
 costing 5 taels per picul at the rate of 60 and 70 taels, the more of it they 
 will pack. We have known many teas to be rejected which, on being 
 turned out from the chests, raised a cloud of powder as though flour were 
 being bulked ; nor do we think the remedy will be reached until positive 
 orders are sent out to avoid Pingsueys for a time altogether. In the face 
 of this main drawback, the fact that Teendong leaf, a tea of execrable quality, 
 costing about 8 dollars per picul, and formerly reserved exclusively for 
 native consumption, is now a staple ingredient in the manufacture of Ping- 
 sueys, hardly deserves notice. It has simply served to increase the yield 
 from 80,000 chests in 1871 to 140,000 in 1872. 
 
 The inordinate anxiety displayed of late years by all the principal 
 shippers to be first to secure the new Teenkais has, as we have seen, gradu- 
 
168 
 
 ally advanced the period of the opening of the season from September to 
 July. The same anxiety is communicated to the Chinese, who now do not 
 hesitate to sacrifice all intrinsic worth in their teas, in one grand endeavour 
 to bring them €arly to market. Should this course ere long not be checked, 
 the Chinese will place us in a position to ship new crop teas in February, 
 forced on like their early peach-trees, which blossom at China New- Year 
 time, at the cost of an immature fruit. If the Pingsueys were over-coloured, 
 the Teenkais shewed no colour at all, and might almost be described as 
 being bleached by contrast. Hasty picking and unequal firing were shewn 
 in the variegated shades which the teas displayed in lieu of the uniform 
 greenish tinge which is the natural xiharacteristic of full mature leaf. In 
 the same way the absence of twist or. curl in the leaf, and its general irre- 
 gular appearance, confirmed the evidence of a general want of care in all 
 the processes of the manufacture, 
 
 The first of these unsatisfactory specimens reached us on the 8th July, 
 nearly a whole month sooner than in 1871. It was settled on the 13th, at 
 Tls. 47^ per picul, shewing a rise, quality compared, of 5 taels on the high 
 opening rates of the previous, season. Succeeding purchases were made at 
 Tls. 50 all round, equalling by steamer 72 cents per lb. laid down : some of 
 these teas are since reported from New York sold at 55 cents, a state of 
 markets nearly as bad as that which met the Pingsueys. These high rates 
 checked business for a time, until the teamen gave way slightly, and large 
 settlements were made in August at about Tls. 2 reduction. Arrivals now 
 continued to pour in with great rapidity, but stocks were prevented from 
 accumulating owing to the eagerness of buyers to avail themselves of each 
 small decline. ,From this time our market continued gradually to weaken 
 until November, when a fall of about five taels from opening rates was 
 reached. In December however a slight recovery occurred, which has been 
 maintained up to the close, notwithstanding that no gleam of improvement 
 has yet escaped from either of the consuming countries. It was thought 
 by some that the low prices would have ere this augmented the home 
 demand, but the deliveries appear rather to have fallen off, and nothing has 
 occurred to relieve the stagnation which our last New York advices report. 
 The benefit of free tea has yet to be shewn. 
 
 The Moyune crop was equally bad and equally dear. The first chop 
 was settled in the beginning of August, and before the end of that month 
 about 30,000 packages were bought, at prices ranging from 40 to 46 taels 
 all round. Among these was scarcely a single chop that could be honestly 
 classed as fine, not even the very best parcels being free from inferior leaf. 
 This mixing of the leaf is entirely destroying the individuality of the Moy- 
 unes, the old custom of each district packing its own produce having fallen 
 into entire disuse. Buying as we do in chops containing many different 
 
169 
 
 grades, teamen succeed in forcing on us a certain proportion of inferior tea 
 in each purchase, -which, had we the power of selection, we should certainly 
 reject. As business is now ' conducted here, the task of a tea inspector is 
 almost a hopeless one, and it would seem that no radical remedy will be 
 found, but in the superintendence of the manufacture by foreign buyers 
 themselves on the spot. This plan has been carried out with success in 
 India and Japan, and should also succeed here, could Chinese obstructive- 
 ness be once overcome. The crop of so-called Moyunes was a large one, as 
 will be seen by the Table below. 
 
 The Fychows commenced to arrive in July, and were sought for with 
 unprecedented eagerness. The Teas from this district had been of excep- 
 tionally good quality in 1871, and having sold here comparatively cheap 
 had given in most cases a good result. For this reason they were in 
 universal demand, and although they proved to be wretchedly poor both in 
 style and hquor, the price was driven up to a level with the Moyunes. The 
 opening quotations ranged from 40 to 44 taels, being about 12 per cent 
 higher than those of the previous year. The yield of pure Fychow was a 
 small one, the bulk of the leaf from this district having been carried over 
 to Teenkai for sale, where it was employed to swell the quantity of the 
 indigenous leaf. The Fychows are never a delicate tea in the best years, 
 but in the present season, as soon as the fresh odour of the fire left them, 
 they developed a rankness and insipidity such as we have never before 
 met with. 
 
 The Shanghai packed teas appeared in great force this year. Unlike 
 the bulk of the crop, these teas displayed evidence of unusual care in their 
 preparation and, except from the slight mixture of Japan leaf, which a 
 careful examination disclosed, could hardly be detected from true country 
 tea. They met accordingly with exceptional favor, and the first chop, 
 brought to market in the middle of July, realised no less than 45 taels. 
 This absurd figure created great excitement amongst our local tea hongs, 
 and set them firing all the teas they could possibly lay their hands on, 
 regardless of cost. The result has been a supply of 38,000 packages from 
 this source, against 24,000 packages in 1871, and a very severe loss to the 
 teamen on all but their earliest packings. We hear indeed of some hongs 
 having suffered so severely that they will be forced to discontinue the trade 
 altogether. We are glad to know that the reception of these teas at Home 
 has been as bad as could possibly have been wished for. 
 
 The subjoined statistics shew how great has been the increase in 
 the production of Green Tea, and the preceding account warns us how 
 urgently a firm stand is called for against the progressive deterioration 
 in which such an increase, when unchecked by lower prices, inevitably 
 results. By the haste at the commencement of each season to secure the 
 
170 
 
 new teas at extreme prices, regardless of their quality, we lose our standard 
 of value and mislead as well ourselves as the Chinese. Both have suffered 
 this season severely in consequence. Let us hope that in the coming season, 
 the burden of loss, if any, will be shifted on to the shoulders of the pro- 
 ducer, who has recently been receiving an advance of no less than ^00 per 
 cent over the prices of ten years back. Each year fresh soil is laid under 
 contribution by the grower to increase the quantity, but no pains are taken 
 to improve the quality of the crop. It is for us to encourage him to bestow 
 more care on the cultivation and to lead him to beware of jeopardizing the 
 high position among tea-producing countries which China now enjoys. 
 
 The yield of the season amounts to 33,000,000 lbs., against a total of 
 27,000,000 lbs. last year and 26,000,000 lbs. only in 1870. The bulk of 
 this large increase has gone to London, the competition of buyers for that 
 market having formed a special feature in the past season's business, they 
 having taken one-third of the whole crop. 
 
 1872. 1871. 1870. 
 
 Export of Green Tea to London 11,000,000 7,000,000 6,000,000 
 
 ., „ „ to New York and Canada 22,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 
 
 Xbs. 33,000,000 27,000,000 26,000,000 
 
 The following rough table of the sources whence the crop has been 
 derived shews how great is becoming the increase in the production of the 
 inferior districts. 
 
 1872. 1871. 1870. 
 
 Teenkai 8,000,000 8,000,000 7,000,000 
 
 Moyime ...- 12,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000 
 
 Fychow and Taiping 4,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 
 
 Pingsuey 7,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 
 
 Shanghai 2,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 
 
 lbs. 33,000,000 27,000,000 26,000,000 
 We conclude by a table of the total season's export, shewing that 
 three-fifths of the crop was this season shipped to London by steam. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF TEAS BY ROUTES. 
 
 Routes. 
 
 Great Britain. 
 
 North America. 
 
 
 Black. 
 
 Ch-een. 
 
 Black 
 
 Qreen. 
 
 Tj „., t in 30 vessels to London ... ) 
 uy &au j jj^ 22 , , to N. America ( 
 ,, Suez Canal steamers (of all kinds) 
 „ P. M. S. S. via San Francisco 
 
 29,121,000 
 35,260,000 
 
 1,700,000 
 8,138,000 
 
 693,000 
 
 204,000 
 311,000 
 
 14,932,000 
 
 4,452,000 
 2,475,000 
 
 
 64,381,000 
 
 9,838,000 
 
 1,208,000 
 
 21,859,000 
 
SHANGHAI: 
 PEINTED AT THE " NOETH-CHINA HEEALD " OFFICE. 
 
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