The evening times., 1898-10-11

The State Department has given out an
Interesting report from United States |
Consul A Burlingame johnson, at Annoy |
on New Conditions of Trade in China |
The consul says:
Changes are now taking place in China |
more rapidly than at any previous period |
in her history. In June last the rivers /
were opened to foreign craft for the first |
time. and already from the principal
ports numerous steam launches have
been commissioned for inland traffic and
q revolution in internal trade will follow. |
Notifications In the collection of hkn
dues, which permit the breaking of bulk
and disposing of a portion Of the cargo
before the final destination is reached,
have rendered additional aid to the for
eign merchant. Chinese merchants are
beginning to realize that the increased
commercial facilities given foreigners
also result in benefit to them, and en-
courage a liberal construction of all trade
regulations.
The volume of foreign trade with
China for 1897 exceeded that of 1895 by
over q, ,OJo 900 haikwan taels. (The va .ue
a
Of United States trade in China du- ing
the year represents Is per cent of the to-
til trade OF all nations. is double that OF
Germany, and is second only TO that OF
Great Britain. This advanced position of
American trade in the empire is the re-
suit Of efforts extending over less than
decade. kerosine oil no longer holds the
first place The most valuable branch OF
American trade with China is now that
n.ray- IA II fanT ar
fabrics We're exported during the year.
equal To about Az per cent Of the total
exports OF cotton goods from the
United States The American drills
and shirtings are preferred by the
Chinese, as they are heavier and said to
be more durable. AS cotton is almost
exclusively worn by the natives, the m ar
ket here for American cotton fabrics can
easily be made equal that OF all other
foreign markets combined
The low price Of silver is drawback
20 the import trade OF China, as il Is 4
potent aid in the export trade. For in
stance the price in gold of our cotton
drills when they reach China is double,
while 10 the ordinary consumer IL re-
quires as much eNertion or as much or
his native product TO procure the silver
dollar as il did ten years ago, when the
relative value Of the metals enabled him
10 secure almost 80 per cent more in
foreign goods for his dollar. On the 9TH
er hand, the low exchange has placed an
equally heavy bounty upon exports, and
as a result the exports for 1896 were
about double the volume for 1886, and
the total for 1897 shows a still further
increase, and this, too. in spite of the
fact that the returns for 1856 included
the great tea exports from Formosa, now
transferred to Japan.
There is an unlimited market in Chi
ma for any article Of food the price Of
which can be brought within reach of
her counties millions. An article, even
little beyond the reach of the masses
still finds an ample market with other
millions of people who compose the mid
die classes. In this connection, / wish
10 call attention to the recent efforts to
introduce maize into foreign countries as
an article of food. BY improved meth
DDS corn flour is now manufactured in
the United States which, being freed
from the germ or oily portion of the
grain, does not mold OF damage in tran
sit. Hitherto, the great drawback has
been the difficulty in handling the milled
corn, as il would mold and spoil be
fore il reached its destination. With the
price Of corn -four always so per cent
less than that of wheat -four, il is possi-
BILE to find a market here for the sur
plus corn Of the Western States.
1T is always difficult 10 introduce any
new article in China. and the importation
must be gradual. The price is an impor-
tant factor, especially If the article is in
tended for food The price here in sill
yer would be double the home price, with
freight added, and would be compared
with the price of rice. Being especially
strengthening and wholesome, its intro
duction would be facilitated in proportion
TO its cheapness as compared with the
native chief article of food When wheat
flour advanced about 1-2 cents, as it did
during the Spring months, ii was threat
ened with extinction. Rice is usually
quoted at about 3 cents silver. -Four
months ago, il was almost double that
Now, ii is below that figure. Within this
range, during the course of each twelve
months, millions Of bushels of American
corn could find profitable market, il
once introduced.
The means Of introducing the corn
flour deserves special mention. The Chi
nese are slow to originate new methods
of cooking, but readily copy an idea
which pleases their fancy. The cooks, like
all artisans here, are organized into
guilds. Thousands of people eat at the
public restaurants. Whatever is served
at these restaurants will soon become a
popular dish. If a few dozen OF these
cooks were taught how to prepare corn
-four for food in some simple, inexpensive
manner, and were given the -four at ar
especially low price as an inducemenl
for them to serve IL, il would not be long
before all the cooks in that community
would be using il But unless some sys-
tematic effort is made to Introduce II, y
will never enter into the bill of fare in
China.
American canned goods are SLOWLY
gaining a foothold The difficulty en-
countered here as in other lines, lies in
the scarcity Of American merchants anI
special advertising agents, and the lach
OF a disposition on the part Of our manu-
facturers and exporters to cater 10 th'
peculiar wants Of the Chinese trade
There is a certain superior quality recog
nized in many kinds of canned goods
which reach the far Eastern marke
from the United States, but this is too
often counterbalanced by higher prices
and these prices are frequently open K
the suspicion OF having been made by