The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-30 00:00:00

LETTERS ifßoAr

(Froinf4 Ibiza' Correspondent.}
SHANGHAI, OCT. 17.
REASONS ALLEGED FOR THE PAUCITY OF BRITISH
EXPORTS,
The reasons u4ually alleged are-1, that the Chinese
I,re not easily induced to adopt foreign fashions ; 2,
that the Chinese are a manufacturing people; 3, the dis-
turbances caused by the rebtlliou ; 4, the exac:ions of
the Chinese Custom-houses.

All these difficulties exist, but they are individually
much over-estimated, and they are in the aggregate
quite insufficient to account for the phenomenon.
Ist, That the Chinese are not easily induced to adopt
foreign Lishious. This is true only to a very partial
extent. You can't wake a China woman wear a Crau-
bourne-street bonnet, nor a Coolie wear a pair of Stuart
plaid trousers ; they are even so bigoted as to nnisider
chat their narrow cottons, 10 inches broad, are more
conveniently made into the'm garments ttan your wide
"mgcloths. They do not like your flimsy cottons ; I
have seen them take thera between their fists, and rub
the dressingout. At Ni.ngpo the Chinese can buy the
best gray shirtin
gs ac 56. a-yard, and they yet prefer to
pay ?d. a-yard
for y
horsie-mace cotton cloth not quite the
width. But this is not because they are insensible to the
superior fineness of the English texture ; it is because
home-madethey a nnot
cloth
hrids
i)-4fo
thbruicye thethe sßubristtiasnbeemaatnedriawl.ill
last The
a Chinaman for at least two years.- The British calico
washed in Chinese fashion, by beating between stones,
would wear out in six weeks. Depend upon it that a
Chinaman is of all human creatures the most shrewdin
all matters of economy ; provide him with a cheaper and
eetter thing than he can make at home and he will buy
it. But you must give him what he wants. If Yung
A'Lung, the tailor of Caiiton, were to send a circular to
the Deputy-L;,eutenants of England, telling them that
he had sent to Englar.d rich mandarin dresses much
handsomer than the stiff clothes which they wear on
grand occasions, and inviting them to go to Court a la
Chinoise, we should scarcely think that Yung A'Lung
had made a wise or profitable consignment. Yung
A'Lung is not such a fool. lie sends us cheap gold lace
of the proper width and quality. Surely Manchester can
produce a piece of strong thick cotton cloth 10 or 12
inches wide and put it down at Shanghai at less than
dd. a yard?
At this moment narrow thick calicoes, which one of
tLe Hong Kong houses hal toe wit to order from Eng-
land, are selling at very remunerative prices. There
is also some trade doing in cotton brocades, made in
imitation of the Chinese silk brocade.', of the
same flowered pattern, and dyed to the same
colours. These are laid down at Shanghai at 3i
taels ; they there readily fetch 5 taels ; and I am
told that the Chinese merchants find a ready market for
them up in the tea country at 13 taels. No doubt if the
mandarins find this out there will be a tremendous
squeeze upon the Chinaman's profit of 8 taels somewhere.
But it is a mistake to suppose that the Chinese are not
foudof Western fashions. In going through the house of
the richest merchant in Ningpo I was surprised to notice
that, except in the servants' rooms, there was not a bit
of Ningpo furniture in the house. The furniture was all
of Chinese manufacture, but it was of simple fashion,
without a mandarin, or a dragon, or a piece of inlaid
ivory about it. An English knife is a most acceptable
present to a Chinaman, and a telescope is a treasure to
covet through a life. He loves cherry brandy and de-
lights in champagne, and many a Shantung man comes
out smart on New Year's-day in a camlet coat (of Chinese
fashion) and brass buttons from Birmingham. But why
insist upon a Chinaman changing his habits to become
your customer? Every morning throughout the Chinese
empire there are 300,000,000 of blue cotton breeches
drawn over human legs. Men, women, and children alike
wear them. They are loose and shapeless. There are not
five different patterns and five different sizes all through
the empire. My Coolie says that his cost him 200 cash,
hut that he is obliged to have a thick quilted pair in the
winter, which cost him 1,000 cash. Here is scope for
Manchester energy 1
2. The Chinese are a manufacturing people—This is
not true in the sense in which it is used. Of course, they
obtain a produce by hand labour, and so did Adam when
he delved and Eve when she spun. But in a competitive
sense the Chinese have no manufactures. Their hand.

loom is a miserable thing. Their shuttles pass to and
fro at a very languid pace. They can produce small re-
sults ,ith great ingenuity. There is a working weaver
who imitates with wonderful art ell our English ribands
and fringes, and who is kept in constant employ by Eu-
ropean ladies to match English fabrics. English ladies
who wear out their father's horses and carriages and the
patience of politeshopmen in matching twopenny ribands
f,r dear country friends would find him invaluable. But
he could not produce 20 yards of silk at any reasonable
price.
China is not a manufacturing nation, whatever she may
become when her intercourse with the West is perfect and
her enormous coalfields opened. She has at present a
happier destiny than the factory and the forge.