The morning call., 1893-11-25
THE TRADE OF EASTERN ASIA.

The trade tables of Japan for 1892 nave
been made up; they exhibit a steady
though slow increase of foreign commerce.
The total commercial movement of 1892
exceeded that of 1891 by about S20.000,0 600.
but fluctuations in the market value of
the yen or dollar confuse the returns. In
1892 the yen was only worth II cents in
British or American exchange; in 1891 it
was worth so cents. The effects of the
fall in the gold prices of silver were wide
spread.
Japan's best customer for her surplus
products continues to be the United
States. Out of q total expectation OF
S63. $50, 900 nearly half, or S27. .460. 600. came
to this country. These exports consisted
mainly of tea and silk shipped from Yoko-
hama to San Francisco. The other articles
are small odds and ends-S600,00 worth Of
curios. and, oddly enough, mushrooms
and oranges. One is surprised not to find
coal or rice on the list Next to the United
States France is Japan's best customer.
with an import line of S13,o00,0O0 and
China. including Hong Kong, follows with
nearly as large a line. England only takes
50. 700, 600 of Japanese goods. Her tea she
gets from China and Ceylon and her silk
from her own colony of British India. But
when we turn to Japan's importations the
proportions are reversed. Japan imports
$50, 900, 600 of foreign goods. OF these less
than a third, or S14, 10000, comes from
Great Britain and about as much from
China and Hong-Kong. The United States
and Germany find a market for about
81. 900. 600 each. The importations are
very varied, but the heaviest articles after
raw cotton. which comes from India and
China, are textiles and hardware. which
are supplied by Great Britain, and sugar,
which is probably imported from Manila
and the islands. The Japanese are estab-
fishing cotton factories in many towns /;
the manufacture Of cotton cloth promises
to become so active that the kingdom will
presently become independent of foreign
goods. A curious item in the import re-
turns is diminution in the importations
of American -four.
China appears 10 be following the ex-
ample of Japan and developing her foreign
trade. The balance Of trade, which used
TO be uniformly in favor of China, is now
turning to the other end of the scale.
While this is true of the general trade of
China with the outside, the reverse is the
States. That remains against US more
than two to one. The Chinese newspaper.
Hupao. accounts for the increasing i'm
port trade by saying that taste has arisen
for foreign inventions. and while the
upper classes are spending money on
steamers. arms, telegraphs, railroads, cleo
tric lights and machinery, the average
Chinaman is buying matches, kerosene,
foreign cottons and wooens. blankets,
clocks and watches, glasses, lamps and
other articles of foreign house furniture,
and the ladies are purchasers of foreign
pins, needles, hair pins and earrings. The
Chinese journalist deplores the effect of
the new taste on Chinese industries. but
he admits that China will benefit by it in
the end.
Among other recent changes in China is
the partial abandonment of the likin or
octroi system. This was adopted at the
time of the Taeping rebellion as a financial
measure, and it supplied the Government
with funds which 1T could not we'll have
obtained from any other source. After the
suppression of the rebellion, the Govern
ment at Peking promised to abolish the
likin. But it did nothing of the kind,
although IL was manifest that a large pro-
porton-it is reckoned one-half-of the
receipts from likin never reached the
public treasury. being absorbed by the
mandarins who were collectors. The lkln
has operated as restraint on internal
trade. At the entrance of every district
or city goods have had to be unpacked and
delayed for several days while the COL
lector of likin was appraising them for
duty. Foreign ministers and merchants
have protested. but in vain. The Board
of Commerce at Peking replied, with some
show Of reason, that as the English would
not allow China to make her own tariffs.
she ought to be allowed to tax imports
somewhere in proportion to her necessi-
ties. Now it seems that the Government
at Peking shows willingness to abolish
the small likin stations, leaving only a few
large stations which yield considerable
revenue.