The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-27

Stole WOmnn and Sold Her.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Oct. 90
Especial Correspondence of the United
Associated Presses.)-Tol1io, Oct. TO-
The Shanghai chamber of commerce
has addressed to the corps diplomatique
in Pekin a most able, and at the same
time liberal. dispatch, in which China 5
need of obtaining a larger customs
revenue is fully recognized. The cham
Der frankly expresses its consent that
tine scale of import duties should be in
creased, but urges, by cogent reason
irg, that duties upon exports should
be either abolished altogether, or
largely reduced.
Information has now been published
showing the ideas entertained by the
Chinese authorities as to the tax that
ought to be imposed upon goods manu-
featured in China. In a report ad-
dressed to the throne by the ministers
of the Tsung-Li Yamen, they urge that,
while leaving to viceroyS and govern
ors of provinces the business of deter
mining the transit dues and other local
imports on raw products on their way
from the place of production to the
factories, such products, after manu-
facture in China, whether by Chinese
or by foreigners, should be taxed to
the extent OF 10 per cent in all; that is
to say, per cent by way of export
duty, and 5 per cent to cover duties on
transit from the manufactures to their
destination.
RAW COTTON.
In the case of raw cotton, no informa-
ton is as yet obtainable about the
likin or 1oti-shui levied at the place of
production and ON transit to a factory.
But, of course, if the viceroys and gov
errors are left to fix these charges at
will, they can easily choke the
manufacturing industry, should they
be so disposed. At any rate, if the
yarns, in order to emerge from the
mill, have to pay tax of 10 per cent.
the prospects of the mill owners will
be greatly impaired. The Shanghai
chamber of commerce has protested
strongly against these proposals of the
Tsung-Li-Yamen. The position taken
by the chamber is that raw cotton
should be exempted from all taxation
at the place of production or en- route
for the mill, and that to clear it for
sale In the interior, the manufacturer
should be required to pay only the
amount levied on imported yarn; that
is to say, a fixed sum including import
duty and transit dues to any market in
China Certainly all this discussion is
somewhat belated, in view of the fact
that the building of four cotton mills
is already nearly completed in Shang
hal.
The cotton spinning mills erected in
Shanghai are intended to manufacture
yarns of sizes and counts. such as
have not been shipped from England
or Europe for 20 years. The demand
for these particular yarns has hitherto
been supplied by India, Japan and
Chinese domestic labor. The field in
China is said to be enormous, and in
addition to the four mills now in course
of erection, 200 spindles more are con-
tempIated.
IS ALARMING.
An alarming state of affairs has been
disclosed among a section of Japan's
business men. Several of the Toxic
dealers in cotton piece goods had been
for some time getting their notes freely
discounted by the banks when the
latter, having their suspicious aroused
by the precautionary action on the part
of the Bank of Japan, refused to dis
count any new bills or renew the old.
The result is that about IL commission
merchants are threatened with bank
ruptcy, their liabilities aggregating
nearly 100000 yen. There is some
apprehension of a panic, but probably
compromise will be effected.
The population of China has always
been a mooted question. Formerly
400, O00,O coo was the number confidently
stated, but during recent years doubts
have been entertained whether 22o 400
900 would not be nearer the mark. FROM
Investigations lately conducted it APP
pears that in 1741 an imperial edict was
issued to the governors OF all the
provinces throughout the empire re-
quiring them to collect and forward
records of the population from year to
wear. The order was not continuously
obeyed, but its immediate results, as
stated in memorial from the board of
revenue in 1886, show that the popula-
ton in 1741 amounted to 300, 25O,00 in
13 provinces. If to these the remain
ing provinces be added, a total closely
approximating 400,00o,0O0 is obtained.
Thus it may henceforth be assumed
that the latter figure is well within
the truth.
STATE EXPENDITURES.
The new Japanese ministry has sue
ceeded in arranging that the state ex-
penditures for the next official year
april 1, 1897, to March 81, 1889 shall
be brought within the limits of the
revenue, that is to say, 10000 900 yen.
The estimates originally sent in by the
various departments of state were
found to aggregate 245,0000O0, and it
was the difficulty of making ends meet
under these circumstances that caused
the resignation of the late minister of
finance. The retrenchments required
TO bring 245, 900, 900 down to $4,000, 600
for the present cabinet intends to have
a surplus revenue of 5000, 000-do not
present any features of special inter-
est to foreigners. Relatively speaking,
the largest reduction has been effected
in the case of the Formosan appropri-
atoms These were originally fixed at
%. 900. 900 yen, including 100000 for rail-
way construction. The latter amount
has been excised, private enterprises
having been entrusted with the work
or railway extensions, and further eco
Monies having been applied, and the
total appropriation now stands at 49,
000, 900. Considering that the revenue
derived by Japan from the island
barely exceeds 5000, 600, it appears that
her new domain is to be costly ap
pendage for some years to come.
JUSTICE IN CHINA.
AS an Illustration of the popular ad-
ministration of justice in China. the
case of a man that stole a farmers
wife at a place some 300 miles inland