PREFACE.
to New'chu'ang, Chefoo, Taiwan (Formosa), Swatow, Hainan, and three ports on the Yangtsze-Kiang. Though the British Consuls have long ceased to be the only mediums of communication between foreigners and the local Chinese authorities, British interests are still very powerful, and in some cases the British communities are self-governing.
Although the whole of the Treaty Ports, numbering upwards of forty, hare not been dealt with separately, the most important have been selected, and they are sufficient for our purpose since they receive the bulk of the trade of the minor ports. This is especially true of Canton in its relation to the other Treaty Ports on the West River, and of Shanghai in relation to some of the smaller ports lying along the banks of the Yangtsze-Kiang.
The wide distances which divide the ports, and the peculiar conditions which prevail in them have rendered the task of the compilers one of no little difficulty. The foreign settlements are occupied by representatives of different nationalities answerable to their own Consuls, subject to the laws of their own countries, and, in many instances, organised into independent local governing communities, so that, though they form collectively one homogeneous whole, they are, in actual fact, a congeries of separate and distinct units. But neither trouble nor expense has been spared in the attempt to cover the ground adequately and secure full and trustworthy information in every direction. As in previous works, the services of acknowledged experts have been enlisted wherever possible. The historical sections have been written from original materials preserved at the India Office, the British Museum, and other national institutions. In Hongkong much valued assistance has been freely rendered by the heads of the various Government departments, and the Editor is especially indebted to H.E. Sir F. J. D. Lugard, K.C.M.G., C.B., D.S.O., the Governor, and the Hon. Mr. F. H. May, C.M.G., the Colonial Secretary, who have given all the encouragement that lay in their power to the enterprise. In Shanghai the Municipal Authorities have shown every courtesy, and in the various Treaty Ports the British Consular Officers, the Customs Officers, and the Municipal Secretaries, have placed the compilers under an obligation which is gratefully acknowledged.
Obviously a work of this magnitude cannot be produced except at very considerable cost. As the publishers do not ask for any Government subsidy, because of the restrictions which it might impose upon them, this cost has to be met in part by receipts from the sale of copies and in part by revenue from the insertion of commercial photographs. The publishers venture to think that this fact furnishes no ground for adverse criticism. The principle is that adopted by the highest class of newspapers and magazines all over the world. Moreover, it is claimed that these photographs add to, rather than detract from, the value of the book. They serve to show the manifold interests of the country, and, with the accompanying descriptive letterpress, which is independently written by members of the staff from personal observation, they constitute a picturesque and useful feature that is not without interest to the general reader and student of economics, while it is of undoubted value to business men throughout the British Empire.
