thence to Chemulpo. They pass then from the importer to the Chinese merchants, and from them to the Korean wholesale buyers; these resell them in greatly diminished quantities to the pedlars and agents, who retail the goods. It would also be advisable to create consular agencies in Fusan and Won-san. Official representation at present is confined to an underpaid and understaffed Legation in Seoul, and a vice-consulate in Chemulpo. Additional employés should be interchangeable, undertaking either the vice-consular duties of the ports or the secretarial services of the Legation.
The bulk of the imports and exports, which pass through the Customs, comes from China and Japan. The means of transport are controlled by Japanese; the export trade of the country is entirely in their hands. This fact alone should appeal to British shipping interests and to ship-owners. Unfortunately, many years of prosperity have brought about great changes in the spirit of our nation, and we no longer show the enterprise and initiative which formerly distinguished us. This depreciation in the forces of the nation has promoted a corresponding depression in our trade. We are no longer the pioneers of commerce; nor have we the capacity and courage of our forefathers who fostered those interests of which we are now so neglectful in every quarter of the globe. At the dawn of the twentieth century, it is amazing to find a country, with a total foreign import and export trade exceeding two millions and a half sterling for the year 1901 and two millions and three quarters sterling for the year 1902, whose shores were visited by over ten thousand steam and sailing trading-vessels in the same period, registering an aggregate tonnage of more than two million tons, almost untouched by British merchantmen.
