Arizona republican., 1899-07-12
THE TRADE OF CHINA
lis Increasing Importance 10
 inc United States.
Interesting Figures From fhe An nual Review of inc Statistical Secretary of Customs Showing
 inc V aIfiY of ChIna'S Commerce..

ment of state the annual review of | Chinese trade furnished by the sta
 tistical secretary of customs, MT
 Taylor. He submits a report Of trade
 conditions during the calendar year
 1898, saying it is done with the ob-
 ject of emphasizing the importance of
 American interests in that vast em- pire.
 Were any proof needed of the vii taHty of China's foreign trade.'' said
 Mir Taylor, "the figures for 1898
 would supply it. Various parts of
 the country were disturbed by spo-
 radio rebellions of sufficient gravity | to check business; the Yellow river
 once more burst its banks and flooded enormous tracts; an ominous war
 cloud during the greater part of the year made importers cautious; the po- litical situation was full of menace;
 and in SeCtember, the news from
 Pekin completely disorganized the trade of the northern ports. In spite
 of these adverse circumstances the
 value of the import trade surpasses all previous records, while the value
 of tEe export traiGia exceeded that of every past year with the exception of 1897. The total volume of trade was
 valued at 36S, ,616,4S3 haikwan taels 1 ($225, ,S19, ,S39), which is the highest on record. It is gratifying to know that
 on the whole the trade yielded satis-
 factory results to those interested" In speaking of the value of the trade
 in cotton dress goods. the report states that Dutch sheetings have disappear ed, as they cannot keep pace in price
 and quality with these from the
 United States. Japanese sheetings also show an immense decline, said to be due to inequality of texture, which handicaps them in competition with American goods Manchester
 can no longer compete with the
 United States in the importation of drills, jeans and sheetings, ewing to the lower price at which the latter can land these goods in China.
 White and refined sugars con- tinues the report, are all being bought more freely, which, as indicat- ing increased ability to purchase lux uries, may be taken as a sign of pros perity.'
 Some gratifying facts respecting American participation in Chfna's l trade are stated.
 Of non-Asiatic countries or di- visions, the United States stands alone in the column Of gains over 1S97 | It exceeded by ever 12,OOO,OOO taels | the value Of it's sales in 1895, while | Great Britain has lost quite 10000 | 900 taels iii value since 1S96 The | value oe the United States sales ex- | ceeded by $4171, ,934 the combined | sales of all Europe and all the Rus | sias. The average value of the haik- | wan tael in 1898 was 694 cents. As nearly as can be computed from the | customs returns the balance in trade | of 1898 was over 5,OOO,OOO haikwan | taels in Americas favor. Consul Fow- Ter states that the methods of reck- oning trade are very misleading.
 The customs method of reckoning | trade is to credit to the ship the mer- chandise she carries; thus, steamer flying the British flag and carrying say, nothing but American imports, will be credited to the British flag. The only tables giving percentages Of trade, etc, are based upon the share taken by each nationality in the carrying trade with foreign countries and between the treaty ports of China Tables made on such a basis do America great injustice
 In conclusion, the report says: The net value of foreign imports hay ing increased by 12,173, ,2S9 haikwan taeis over that of 1896, it is gratifying to learn that the customs reports show s that the imports from the United ( tates increased from 1929, ,S53 haik- ' wan taels in 1896 to IT, ,163,312 haikwan ( taels in 1898, or a gain of 5,233, ,459 t [ ,0OO. 900 taels of the total increase for I for all the rest of the world; and as | 0ur trade is underestimated by one- .hird, there can be little doubt that at f east 50 per cent of the increased trade f ,f China is due to the purchases from T he United States. C
 The exports to the United States n 1897 were valued at 17,S2S, 4O6 i laikwan taeIs; in 1898, at 11,986,77 laikwan taels; decrease as compared l with 1897 of 5.S41 .635 haikwan taeIs, a while our imports increased by ',3S4,- O4 haikwan taels. No ether country { made so large a decrease in it's pur- V