statistics]
CHINA 27 or other of these all Manchus and all the descendants of the entrance to the Canton river. These are supplied with heavy members of other nationalities are yet enrolled. They form the armament from the Krupp and Armstrong factories, but the garrihulk of the population of the ‘1 Tartar city ” of Peking. Each adult sons share the weakness common to all Chinese military establishmale is by birth entitled to be enrolled as a soldier, and by virtue ments. of his enrolment has a right to draw rations—i. e., his allowance of Production and Industry: Minerals.—The Chinese Government the tribute rice, whether on active service or not. Detachments has hitherto shown a great repugnance to permitting foreign comfrom one or other of the banners were also stationed as garrisons panies to work minerals in any part of the country. As a consein the chief provincial centres, as at Canton, Poochow, and Hang- quence very little is known of the actual resources of the empire, chow, &c., and their descendants still occupy the same position. which, however, are believed to be very great. A Bureau of Mines, They are, like their kinsmen in Peking, entitled to draw a however, has been created with a view to granting concessions, pittance from the provincial taxes as rations. Both in the capital and probably much progress will be made in the near future. and in the provinces the Manchu garrisons are exempt from the Goal.—This mineral is worked on foreign principles at only one jurisdiction of the local authorities, and are justiciable only before place, viz., the Kaiping collieries in the north-east of the province their own officers. As a fighting force the Manchu garrisons both of Chihli. The mines are connected with the seaport of Taku by in the capital and in the provinces have long become quite effete. a railway. The coal is a soft bituminous coal with a large proIn the capital, however, the elite of the Manchu soldiery have portion of dust. The output is about 1,500,000 tons per annum. been formed into a special corps termed the Peking Field Force. A mine has also been opened in the province of Hupeh, about 60 Its nominal strength is 20,000, the men are armed and drilled after miles below Hankow, and near the Yangtse, in connexion with the European fashion, and fairly well paid. There are other corps the iron-works recently erected by the viceroy of that province. of picked Manchus better paid and better armed than the ordinary Numerous small mines have been worked for a long period by the soldier, and it is computed that the Manchu army in or near natives in the province of Hunan. There are two principal local Peking could muster 75,000, all more or less efficient. The second fields, in this province, one lying in the basin of the Lui river and organization is termed the army of the Green Standard, being the yielding anthracite, and the other in the basin of the Siang river Chinese provincial forces. The nominal strength is from 20,000 yielding bituminous coal. Both rivers drain into the Yangtse, and to 30,000 for each province, or about 500,000 in all ; the actual there is thus an easy outlet by water to Hankow. The quality of strength is about one-third of this. They are enrolled for the the coal, however, is inferior, as the stratification has been much purpose of keeping the peace within their own province, and disturbed, and the coal seams have been in consequence crushed resemble a militia or local constabulary rather than a national and broken. No statistics of the output are obtainable, but it is army. They are distributed in small camps or garrisons in the estimated to be over 300,000 tons per annum—mostly destined for principal towns, and the most serious duty they are likely to be local, consumption. The largest coal-field in China lies in the called on to perform is that of putting down a local rebellion. province of Shansi. Coal and iron have here been worked by the The bulk of each provincial army is under the command of a natives from time immemorial, but owing to the difficulty of general-in-chief, but certain brigades are under the orders of the transport they have attained only a limited local circulation. The governor and the governor-general. They are generally poorly whole of southern Shansi, extending over 30,000 square miles, paid and equally badly drilled and armed. As a fighting force is one vast coal-field, and contains, according to the estimate of they are of no practical account. Baron von Richthofen, enough coal to last the world at the present The only real fighting force which China possesses is made up rate of consumption for several thousand years. The coal seams, of certain special corps which are not provided for in the constitu- which are from 20 to 36 feet in thickness, rest conformably on tion, and which consequently used to be termed yung, “braves ” or a substructure of limestone. The stratification is throughout irregulars, but which have now acquired various distinctive names. undisturbed and practically horizontal. As the limestone bed is They are enlisted for service generally, and have all had some raised some 2000 feet above the neighbouring plain the coal seams smattering of foreign drill. They are also fairly well paid and crop out in all directions. Mining is thus carried on by adits armed. Since the Japanese war these corps have been quartered driven into the face of the formation, rendering the mining of the near Peking and Tientsin, and are generally spoken of as the army coal extremely easy. The coal-field is divided into two by a of the North. They are now grouped in five divisions under the mountain range of ancient granitic formation running north-east command of Generalissimo Jung Lu, and are supposed to number and south-west, termed the Hoshan. It is of anterior date to the 75,000 men. In addition to these the Government could count on limestone and coal formations, and has not affected the uniformity 20,000 men more who are now scattered in garrisons in Manchuria. of the stratification, but it has this peculiarity, that the coal on Navy.—Since the destruction of the northern fleet by the the east side is anthracite, and that on the west side is bituminous. Japanese at the capture of Wei-hai-wei in 1895, the Chinese navy A concession to work coal and iron in certain specified districts may be said to be non-existent. It formerly consisted of two in this area has been granted to a British company, together divisions, the northern and the southern, of which the former with the right to connect the mines by railway with water naviwas by far the more formidable. The southern was under the gation, and it is expected that important developments will follow control of the viceroy of Nanking, and took no part in the on this grant. At present the mines, in default of railway facilities, Japanese war. While the northern fleet was grappling in a are practically valueless. At the pit’s mouth coal can be had for death-struggle, the southern was lying snugly in the Yangtse a shilling a ton, but as transport costs from 2|d. to 5d. per ton waters, the viceroy of Nanking apparently thinking that as the per mile, the price becomes prohibitive after a short distance. Japanese had not attacked him there was no reason why he should In spite of these drawbacks the present output must be considerrisk his ships. Since the close of the war an attempt has been able, considering the great area and the number of openings that made to restore the northern fleet, which now consists of five are being worked, but it is impossible to state it with any degree small cruisers and a few torpedo boats. The southern squadron of accuracy. There are various other sources of coal-supply, such consists of seven small cruisers, old-fashioned, and four torpedo as the western hills near Peking, many parts of Szechuen, and boats. The viceroys of Foochow and Canton possess a few gun- some districts in Shantung and Kwangtung, which, however, do boats meant to repress piracy, but of no fighting value. not call for detailed notice. It may, indeed, be said generally that Arsenals and Dockyards.—Since the loss of Port Arthur, China there is hardly a province which does not possess coal mines more possesses no dockyard except a small one at Foochow, which can- or less valuable—the one drawback to their development being not dock vessels over 3000 tons. Many years ago the Chinese the absence of railways. Government established at Foochow a shipbuilding yard, placing Iron.—Iron ore of various qualities is found almost as widely it in the hands of French engineers. Training schools both for diffused as coal. The districts where it is most worked at present languages and practical navigation were at the same time organized, lie within the coal-field of Shansi, viz., at Tse-chou-fu and Ping-tingand a training ship was procured and put under the command of chou. The ore is a mixture of clay iron ore and spathic ore, a British naval officer. Some twenty-five or thirty small vessels together with limonite and hematite. It is found abundantly in were built in the course of as many years, but gradually the whole irregular deposits in the Coal Measures, and is easily smelted by organization was allowed to fall into decay. Except for petty the natives in crucibles laid in open furnaces. This region suprepairs this establishment is valueless to the Chinese Government. plies nearly the whole of north China with the iron required for Well-equipped arsenals have been established at Shanghai and at agricultural and domestic use. The out-turn must be very conTientsin, but as they are both placed up shallow rivers they are siderable, but no data are available for forming an accurate useless for naval repairs. Both are capable of turning out heavy estimate. The province of Szechuen also yields an abundance of guns, and also rifles and ammunition in large quantities. There iron ores of various kinds. They are worked by the natives in are also military arsenals at Nanking, Wuchang, Canton, and numerous places, but always on a small scale and for local conChengtu, besides smaller establishments at other provincial centres. sumption only. The ores occur in the Coal Measures, predominant Forts.—A great number of forts and batteries have been erected among them being a clay iron ore. Hunan, Fuhkien, Chekiang, along the coast and at the entrance to the principal rivers. and Shantung all furnish iron ores, but only a petty industry is Chief among these, now that the Taku forts formerly commanding carried on at any one place. the entrance to Tientsin have been demolished, are the Kiangyin Of other minerals copper comes next in importance. It is forts commanding the entrance to the Yangtse, the Min forts at found chiefly in the provinces of Kweichow and Yunnan, where a the entrance of the Foochow river, and the Bogue forts at the rich belt of copper-bearing ores is found running east and west
