Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Newchwang
NEWCHWANG.
By Reg. Bate, F.R.G.S.
HIS, the most northern of the Treaty ports, officially named Yingkow, but erroneously called Newchwang by Europeans, was officially opened to Western trade in the year 1861. The first foreign ship to enter the river was British, and arrived in 1859, and the first merchant to establish himself at the port was an Englishman named Henry E. Bush, the founder of the present-day firm of Bush Bros.
In pre-treaty days it would seem that no European traveller visited this port, the nearest approach being that of Gutzlaff, who got as far as Chin Chow Fu in his enterprising voyage of discovery "along the coast of China to Mautchou Tartary," in 1831, and he gives some account of the junk trade between this port and the southern ports.
The port had practically no trade prior to 1840. At that date it took the place of Tien Chuang Tai, still a considerable mart, twenty miles or so higher up the river, which had supplanted Newchwang proper some time in the latter half of the eighteenth century. These changes were caused by the shallowing of the river, which has shifted its course considerably in recent times. For example, in 1865 Tien Chuang Tai was forty miles distant by river from this port, whereas to-day it is but twenty miles away.
For the first thirty years after the port was opened no conspicuous events occurred, but a very fair foreign trade sprang up at once, the foreign merchants' interest being chiefly confined to the carrying of the merchandise inwards and outwards in foreign bottoms. The year 1890 was marked by a very substantial growth of trade, and the ten years between 1892 and 1901 were remarkable for a series of mercantile developments perhaps unparalleled in the history of the China trade. From a commercial standpoint, Newchwang has become one of the most important of the Treaty ports. The total net value of its trade in 1906 was Tls. 44,482,001, as compared with Tls. 61,752,905 in 1905, and Tls. 41,517,878 in 1904. The decline in 1906 may be attributed in part to lack of facilities on the railways, which were under military control; to obstacles to free access to the interior; and to over-trading whilst the Russo-Japanese war was in progress.
The mud village of the sixties has thus grown into a rich and populous town with many shops, houses, and temples. The tall chimneys of the bean-cake factories and the numerous foreign residences on the river bank fronting the anchorage give the place a busy modern appearance. This rapid commercial progress has been brought about by economic and political causes, and is due largely to the Government encouraging immigration from Shantung. The political factors in the case are the wars between China and Japan, the Boxer outbreak, and the Russo-Japanese campaign, all of which brought Newchwang to the ken of the Western world; the subsequent railway developments; and the high wages offered by those who opened up the country. The population is estimated at 60,000. To this total in 1906 foreigners contributed 7,699, the Japanese alone accounting for 7,408.
In the province (Fengtien) nearly every variety of ore has been found, but very little is worked on modern lines or with machinery. All Manchuria and Mongolia draw their supplies of salt from this neighbourhood. The salt is obtained in enormous quantities by sun evaporation of sea-water along the coast of this province, especially to the south and west of the port, and is a Government monopoly.
The soil is especially suitable for the production of till millet, spiked millet, maize, wheat, and barley. The animal products are pigs' bristles, bees-wax, young deer horns (supposed to be possessed of wonderful medicinal properties), and a great variety of furs.
The principal imports are British, American, and Japanese piece goods, Indian and Japanese cotton-yarn, metals, gunny and hemp bags, coal, American and Australian flour, Japanese matches, seaweed, sugar, and tobacco, for all of which there is a fair market, although at the present time trade is suffering from the depression directly resulting from the Russo-Japanese War.
The principal exports are beans, bean-oil, and bean-cake, which may be said to represent 90 per cent. of the export trade; castor oil, sesamum seed, wild silk, and skins and furs. A fair trade is also done in the export of native medicines and dried prawns and shrimps, which are esteemed by the natives as great delicacies. The carrying trade is almost entirely in the hands of British and Japanese ships, China doing very little except through the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company. Business is carried on by British, German, American, and Japanese firms. The largest trade at the present time is in the hands of the Japanese, who have their own Settlement, with special extra-territorial privileges that other powers do not possess.
Great Britain, France, America, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and Russia have each a consular representative at the port.
The climate is excellent; for though the cold in winter is somewhat severe, it being no uncommon thing for the thermometer to fall to 15 or 20 degrees, the air is dry and bracing, thus enabling the cold to be borne easily. The barometer averages 30 inches during the winter months. Strong southerly breezes, accompanied by dust, are the characteristics of the spring, which is the most unpleasant part of the year. The summer is not hot, and there is an absence of humidity. The average maximum readings for June, July, and August are 78·9°, 83·6°, and 82·1°. The average rainfall is 22 inches, two-thirds of which occur between June and September.
Newchwang's future is open to vast possibilities. The ice-bound state of the river for four months of the year, and its treacherous bed constitute grave dangers to the port's welfare, which are accentuated by the opening of Chinwangtao and Dalny to international trade. But, on the other hand, the port is very fortunately situated in regard to railways, for it is served by the Imperial Railways of North China and by the South Manchuria Railway, the former on the right and the latter on the left bank of the Yalu River. The South Manchuria Railway Company have decided to extend their line into the business portion of the port with the result that in a short time the facilities for dealing with cargo destined for the interior will be very greatly increased. Both the above-mentioned railway systems are in direct communication with Mukden, the Japanese line proceeding northwards from Mukden to Chang Chun or Kuan Chen Tze, where it meets the Russian railway system, thus making a connection by rail between this port and Calais.
Such is Newchwang of to-day, the premier gateway to the three great Manchurian provinces.
BUSH BROTHERS.
To those who reside in North China, the firm of Bush Bros., is almost a household name. Established in 1861, the firm can claim to be the pioneers of British trade in Manchuria. The founder, Henry E. Bush, who was the first agent in Yokohama for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, has now retired to live in comfort at Blackheath, and the task of conducting a gigantic business has been thrown on the shoulders of his eldest son, Mr. Harry A. Bush.
Even at the present day, when many large British companies are operating up and down the China coast, this business, carried on entirely by one man, more than retains its place. Besides holding valuable agencies, such, for example, as those for the Pacific Mail, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company; International Sleeping Car Company; Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and Ransomes, Sims, & Jefferies (Ipswich), the firm are the managers of the Yuen Lai Bean Mill (and their interest in bean mills claims much of their time), and are one of the largest, if not the largest, importers of piece goods to Manchuria. During the recent war they undertook a considerable portion of the transport of the Japanese Army.
It is to the keen foresight of Mr. Harry A. Bush and his assistants that Britain's foothold in Manchurian mining matters is due. The Cathay Mines, though still in their infancy, promise to be one of the finest and most prosperous workings in existence.
Mr. Harry A. Hush was born at Shanghai in 1865, and was educated at Bognor College and at Cheltenham. In 1868 he entered his father's firm in Newchwang, and in 1883 was taken into partnership. He was awarded gold medals by Field Marshal Oyama and Baron Kodoma for services rendered to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. He is fond of sport, especially racing and skating, and is a member of the Thatched House Club, London.
BANDINEL & CO.
An extensive business as import and export merchants and shipping agents is carried on by this firm, which was established in 1881, by Mr. William Bandinel. Among the agencies held by the firm are those of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the Hamburg-Amerika Linie, and other steamship companies, besides several of the more prominent insurance companies. Mr. F. W. Farmer, who took over the business in 1907, has resided in Newchwang practically all his life, and is Consul for the Netherlands, and Vice-Consul for Norway.
