The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-08-02

dealings with the foreigner was nuSncnJcu
during the same period. As to commerce
with japan, we learn that very little change
| has occurred since 1872, the whole quantity
| Of goods entered and cleared in that year
being about fifty and II half millions,
/ against nearly nfty-onc million dollars
In 1876 But 1t is significant fact
that except in the last mentioned twelve
months when the silk market underwent
extraordinary fluctuations. owing To- the
doubtful prospects " the French crop. the
imports have for some time outvalucd the
exports and the drainage " the precious
metals TO meet the deficit has steadily in
creased II the wealth Of nations Is pro-
uortioncd to the amount ~ their surplus
products available for exchange, these sta
tistics would Indicate that China Is rich
and Japan poor country.
If we mark the several quotas assigned TO
the different purvcyors and customers of
Nlina and the distribution Of the carrying
trade, we shall obtain some interesting
facts. We find that the United Kingdom,
with ts colonies, absorhs four-lifths Of the
combined export aud import trade, and
alone ~ all the countries dealing with the
treaty ports shows balance in its favor.
HIS II lIlfllltlllt flliEll Nll'll NfflilNlNl
that the main staples 81 import into China,
namely opium,appraiscdin is7jat is,ooo.oOo,
aud cotton or woollcn goods, which
figured at Sl0.OO0.0oO, are chiefly derived
from British sources Russia, on the other
hand. appears to close her years account
with deficit Of some $jOOo,OOO: but we
may bear in mind that large part OF her
traffic, taking place by land. moro easily cs-
capcs the control Of the Chinese Custom
Houses, which furnish these data As for
the rest " the European continent,
which has little 10 ullor to the Middle
Empire. the aggregate sales are COM
putcd at one million dollnr, while
the purchases Of Chinese wares repre-
sent an outlay Of eleven millions. The
part assigned 10 the United States in the
| interchange of wares with China supply
and consumption taken together was. nj the
datc Of the last accessible statistics. about
six and Il third per cent. or only twice as
much rs the share of Japan But although
this country holds but modest place among
| the purvcyors or customers Of the treaty
| ports, II eugrusscs no inGunsidcrablc portion
of the carrying trade. Thus in a recent year
tonnage of 3,200OOO was covered Ivy the
| ish colors The decline of the French mcr-
chant navy is signally attcstcd by the fact
that IN the same twclvcmonth only 10000
tons or about onc-scvcntieth of the whole
traffic was credited to French hulls.
The documents emanntlng from the Jap
ancsc Custom Houses throw no light on the
place Of origin or ultimate destination Of
merchandise. As 10 one item, however,
Japanese tea it is known that no demand
whatever exists except In the United States.
and we may assume, therefore, that
the entire outflow Of this commodity,
which amounted in 1875 to two-iifths
OF the exports, came To American
consignces. From tabulaicd state
ment of the flags under which mcr-
chandise Is transported To and from
Japan. we learn that out Of an aggregate
tonnage of G51.o0o nearly one-half belonged
to Great Britain. At the same time 2J7.o0O
tons were credited To the United States.
These are the figures for 1876. and they show
| that the traffic with Japan has suffered n son
sblc dminution. Two years cartier 800 ships,
with a capacity of 100000 tons, and in 1873,
81 vessels, gagged at 9ji0O tons, entered
the Japanese ports. According to VI. GEORGE
BoUsQUET, one of the most compctcn, au-
thoritics on these questions. no material
improvement in the traffic with Japan can
be- expected. The European houses at lo-
kohama have accumulated immense stocks,
altogether out Of proportion To- the dc-
mand, while the surplus of native
products available for exchange Is
small, and in his judgment, not in
crcasing. On the other hand. a signal
expansion of the trlde with China may be-
looked for II the treaty Of Che-iuu, con-
cludcd after laborious negotiations shall be
faithfully carried ont. That treaty sub
stantially supprcssc- the excessive aud
arbitrary dutio, levied ON internal trans
port which have heretofore cut oil in large
measure the access Of European products
to those central and southern provinces
which constitute the richest and most pop
ulous regions of the empire.