Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-09-27

diminished purchases of cotton pieces in
China last year. From the British con
sular reports from sixteen of the princi-
pal treaty ports find that the imports
of white and grey shrrtings and L.
cloths fell from lG.459,l14 pieces in 1892
to | | ,12I,5S5 in 1888 These figures do
not cover the entire trade of China, and
Mr.. Kopsch, Statistical Secretary of the
Imperial Maritime Customs, gives the
diminution in these three leading artl-
cles as 3,175,O0O pieces. Mr.. kopsch's
statistics exclude imports from silver
using countries, and so we may take
them as fairly representing the loss sus-
tanned by gold-basis manufacturers in
China in "A single year. That loss is sem
satlona enough and it seems to show
beyond doubt that if English manufac-
turers desire to maintain their trade with
China at its old magnitude in point of
bulk they must be content with smaller
return in point of money. Directly they
attempt to obtain better prices down
drops the quantity of goods sold. To
all appearance the attempt to force up
prices has failed, if we are to Judge by
the values in the Board of Trade returns
for the first half of this year. In the
six months China took from us POI ,954,-
! 100 yards of cotton piece goods of all
| descriptions. Oh Il lOldl value VI z,DDi -
753 which works out at an average of
22l pence per yard. In the correspond
ing half of 1893 similar calculation
gives the average value at $50 pence per
yard. The difference Of roughly a farth.
| ING per yard was equivalent on the 255
million yards to over E2G5,510. 1t would
be mistake to lay much stress on fig
ures obtained by Jumping together all
classes of cotton pieces in this way, but,
making all due allowance for the rough
and ready method, the result Is certainly
striking Illustration of the sacrifices
which leading industry has to undergo
in maintaining its hold in Chinese mar
liets.
But, 1t may be asked, is 1t certain that
the contraction in the importation of
European, chiefly English, goods into
China is due to the fall in exchange: In
reply. | will cite the evidence of num-
Der of our cOnsuis whose reports are
virtually unanimous. But, first, 1t may
be well to quote pointed passage from
the 1893 report of Mr.. Kopsch, of the
Imperial Chinese Customs, of whose
figures | have already made use. Mr..
Kopsch writes ITO the observer in the
East it seems ineXplicabe that the gold
currency countries, while striving to eX-
tend their trade, should resOlutely ignore
the fact, so clearly demonstrated by the
decline in the demand for piece goods,
that to the millions in China the tael or
ounce of silver is still tael of undi-
unfinished purchasing power. whether the
sterling value be Is. or IS. and that SO
soon as the discredlted taei fails to buy
the same quantity of foreign goods as
heretofore the consumer ceases to be a
customer and will supply his own wants
by manufacturing textiles from home
grown materials " To the point raised
in the last clause ! shall return later
meantime il is enough to say that Mr.
Kopsch speaks with authority. Consul
Warren of Iankow, attributes the "sud-
den COLLAPSED of cotton imports almost
entirely to 1.-THE steady fall in exchange
native dealers refusing to give the higher
prices which importers were obliged tC
ask" Consul Allen testiies from Che
foo that The English manufacturer "cau
not afford TO sell at the rate in silver
which used to pay him Il profit and the
Chinese customer cannot afford to buy
aS much As he did and so trade must di
minsh." Consul Mansfield of FoochoN
opines that "the fall in silver will, If i
continues, speedily handicap Manchester
out of the market Such quotation:
might be multiplied indefinitely, fo
each consul reiterates the same opinion
in some shape or form. Many of then
refer to the extent TO which native anC
japanese competition is Ousting EnglisI
goods. but that is department of tn,
inquiry which will be dealt with separ
atelv. The opinion of trained observers
on the specimen who have no interes
in misrepresenting facts and tendencle
and whose reports are made to Il govern
ment which has little desire to be put il
possession of such unpalatablc truths
is unanimously that British goods ar,
losing ground in China solely because o
the fall in exchange.