Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/463

CHINA 451 regard for character in the fulfilment of their obligations which extensive commercial en- gagements usually produce. The inland com- merce of China is undoubtedly of stupendous dimensions. It has been asserted that there is a greater amount of tonnage belonging to the Chinese than to all other nations combined. Myriads of freight boats are constantly plying upon the gigantic network of natural and arti- ficial water communications. To obtain accu- rate statistical tables on the value of the inland commerce is impossible. The principal articles of export are tea, raw silk and silk goods, straw goods, mats, porcelain and lacquered ware, fire crackers, fans, sweetmeats, rattan, grass cloth, vegetable tallow, pictures, and others which singly form only trifling items in the trade, while their aggregate value is considerable. The principal articles of import are opium, longcloths, domestics and sheetings, ginseng, tin, lead, iron in the form of bars, rods, and hoops, woollen goods, and petroleum. Tripang, birds' nests, sharks' fins, and fish maws are imported as articles of food from the Indian archipelago; precious stones and pearls from India or central Asia. Rhinoceros horns are brought from Bur m ah and Sumatra. Gold and silver thread is largely imported for em- broidery. The importation of metals has steadily increased with the enlargement of the trade. Fine furs are chiefly brought from Mantchooria and Siberia. Among the most salable articles of foreign manufacture are umbrellas, needles, clocks and watches, cheap jewelry, telescopes, cutlery, snuff, corks, glass ware, lamps, and chandeliers. Up to 1842 Canton was the only port open to Europeans, and the intercourse was carried on through mercantile companies who had a monopoly of the trade. Since then four other ports, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai, have been made available to Europeans and Americans, and nine additional ports were added to the list by the treaties negotiated at Tientsin in June, 1858. Steamers and sailing vessels belonging to foreigners are admitted to the coasting trade and upon the Yangtse river, but they are al- lowed to visit only the ports named in the trea- ties. Foreigners can acquire land and houses at the ports, and may travel in the interior for purposes of pleasure or for trade, but must use the conveyances of the country. Produce may be brought from the interior by paying at the port of destination a duty which is equal to one half the duty upon exportation. This half duty is a commutation of the native levies exacted in the several provinces, and comprises a part of the provincial revenue. Foreign mer- chandise may be sent into the interior under a similar system. Opium can be brought to the ports by foreigners, but cannot be transported into the interior by them or by their agents, and after leaving the ports is subject to such duties as the authorities may see fit to impose. All duties upon goods or produce imported or exported by foreigners are fixed by treaty stipu- lations between China and foreign powers, and cannot be varied without the consent of the latter. Foreigners are exempted from the juris- diction of the Chinese government and made subject to the functionaries of their respective states, but may be arrested by the native au- thorities. At most of the ports districts are set apart for their residence, and they are per- mitted to establish their own regulations for the police, sanitary, and other control of their settlements. Shanghai is considered by its resi- dents a "model settlement." It supports a considerable police force, and maintains order among about 5,000 foreign and 70,000 native residents. It has many of the attributes of a free city. The telegraph has been completed to Shanghai by two routes, via India and Singa- pore, and via Siberia and Japan. Some short local lines are working in the foreign settle- ment at Shanghai, and their operations are be- coming familiar to the Chinese, who are evin- cing a disposition to introduce them through- out the empire. No foreign machinery has been used in the mines of China, and their processes of extracting ores and of smelting and working them are rude. The revenues derived from the trade conducted in foreign bottoms are collected by customs authorities, consisting of foreigners and natives, the former controlling. This system was introduced at Shanghai in 1855, as a means of checking the corruption of the native customs officers, and has extended to all the ports where foreigners are concerned. Mr. Robert Hart is at the head of the whole system, and is credited with being an adviser of the government in all its affairs with western states. That official de- serves credit for having so managed his trust as to consult the rights of people of all na- tionalities, and to build up one of the most efficient customs establishments in the world. The establishment of lighthouses on the coast is chiefly due to Mr. Hart. His subordinates at the ports have been carefully chosen, and their annual contributions to the fund of informa- tion regarding their several districts are print- ed at the expense of the customs department. The matter printed already amounts to a con- siderable mass. Medical officers are employed at the several customs agencies, and their re- ports are also published. There are no char- tered banks in China. Private banks are nu- merous. Insurance companies are unknown among the natives, but foreign companies at the open ports receive support from the native merchants. Paper money, formerly issued in immense quantities, is now almost unknown as a general circulating medium, excepting in the northern provinces. Loan offices and pawn- brokers' shops are numerous. The legal inter- est allowed on small loans is 3 per cent, per month, but among business men 10 or 15 per cent, per annum is the usual rate. The mone- tary system is arranged on the principle of weight, and the foreign names tael, mace, can- dareen, and cash are applied to the divisions,