The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-29

failures. bat the year has been. generally
speaking. q fairly good though anxious
one Trade was 50 brisk during the first
SIX months of 1903 and revived 50 strongly
toward the close that. contrary to all eT-
peCtatlGuS. the value OF the foreign trade
was well up to the average of late years.
although naturally falling short of such
an exceptional year of 1891.
At NIuchwaUS. such astonishing prog
Tt5S was shown previous to the disturb
&I1cCS that Il rapid recovery may he look
Cd for. Tieutsin may possibly be adverse
" aHected Tor some little time. but Il is
Just as likely that the profits Of the mill
iaiE occupation and the wide distribution
OF boarded wealth which has taken place
VIII lead 10 an early increase of trade
! there Personal experience is more per
SuaSive than ADVICE, and the Chinese Gov
tT1ment VIII probably be more disposed
to regard with favor the extension Of
railways since the ardUous journey Of the
court to Hsi-an, to which place supplies
came very slowly and suffered consider
ably IN bulk on the road Famine. too.
mas come under their immediate notice.
them without hope of the relief which
railways could have brought Whatever
changes may result from the events of
1925. Whatever establishments may take
place III the share Of the trade taken by
ZACH country ii may be confidently expect
| cd that the foreign commerce Of China, as
4 whole. Will continue the expansion
which was SO marked in 1893.
The net value Of the import trade was
2fl. 0IU423 haikwan taefs tS152 ITSE52J It
WIS not to De expected that under such
UnidyoTable circumstances the figures OF
the previous record year would be reach
ed, but II VIII probably come as a sur
prise that 1855. which beat all former
years, should have been exceeded In
porters of cotton goods have passed
| through very anxious crisis, but dis
aster was ayeTted by another short cot
ton crop in America.
The goods which arrived in the spring
were imported at EXCHANGED prices and
although on the breaking out Of the
trouble in the north the spring purchases
for the autunea market were stopped
there were large stocks which could not
/ be placed and which would have shown
a heavy loss had the price of cotton
fallen Ine banks assisted importers. the
short cotton crop saved the situation and
the demand which arose late i the year,
especially for the YangtZe ports. effected
satisfactory clearances. With the ex-
CepLipn OF Jeans all heavy goods felt the
disturbance in their principal markets in
/ the north. though Dutch and Indian drills
and indian shectings showed small i'm
| prcFemCnt English cotton yarn EEL away
| again. and the importation declined to
| 4.lZ2.1s5 pounds-Iess than half what it
! was ten years ago. Indian yarn only
amounted to II 200 pounds. q great de-
/ crease on previous years. The principal
/ feature Of the trade was the Increased
! demand for printed dyed goods. Cotton
! prints rose to 96S.S2S pieces, printed twiIIs
/ TO 5S-9l9 pieces. cotton hastings to 1.2l6, $50
pieces. EClVetS and yeIVeteCns were in
/ greater demand.
/ The value Of the wooden goods was in
! excess of that Of 1898, though nearly all
( the principal staples fell below the i'm
/ port Of 1893. CamIets long els. hastings.
( and especially blankets were imported in
excess of 1898, but Spanish stripes and
/ Italian cloth fell off
/ Metals were about equal in value to
! the 1893 total. but with the exception Of
/ iron plates, tin and tin plates, quantities
I did not compare favcrabIy- This trade
[ seems Ee no progress Among SIM
/ dries, brass buttons. candles. flour
needles, silk piece goods. soap. and UNI
1 bTeilaS, all exceeded the quantities i'm
ported il 1883 American kerosene oil fell
from ty.l2iSS9 gallons 10 54.sI1II2 gallons.
Russian from =. IIG to = 79S. 15T gallons
while SumatTa Oil rose from II g33.z to
l5-z-=.l55 gallons zTbeTa was an increase
N the import Of coal which amounted to
S54-l5S tons The value of sUndrics vas
! rather II excess Of that Of 1893.
The value OF the exports was eStimat-
ed at $ll4sS8.959-a heavy falling off as
compared with the figures for 1883. but
only some 1900 taels below those Of 1898
This result may, under the circumstances
be regarded as satisfactory and unex-
pected- Raw cotton, in consequence Of
the short crop in America WIS exported
80 the extent OF 81 81 90 pounds. but this
Is not likely to be a permanent feature
Of the export trade Hemp. hides, horns.
uutgaIs. oils. straw braid and taIi0w
were all exported in greater quantities.
SeSaTGuTn seeds made 4 large advance.
while rush hats more than doubled. There
vas, Of course, a heavy failing off in the
exports from NiuchwaOg and Tieutsin
T and beans and bean cake, with wool, show
decreases: but with the exception of these
two ports, the trade was not much af-
feCreC by the political situation.
IN the United States, II was believed
that the Boxer troubles would interfere
with the tea export, and the closing Of
/ the Tieutsin route TO Russian buyers
threw a quantity Of common teas on the
market at low prices. Spectators there
fore bought largely for America, where
the markets have been overstocked.
The year was disastrous for the silk
trade. AntiCipations OF the consumption
which would result from the Paris ex-
hibition were not fully realized, and over
/ production in Europe and America caus-
! ed a weak demand and low prices This
was the more disappointing because the
! crop was a good one. The competition Of
Japan was severely felt. II is estimated
that one-third OF the production Of the
Chinese steam failures remains uuS0ld,
and there seems no prospect Of an imne-
date Improvement in the market.
The recorded movements OF gold and
silver bullion between China and foreign
countries show net import Of gold worth
1856 SIS, and net import Of silver to the
value OF $II,I29, 202. These figures repre-
sent only such movements Of bullion as
came under the notice Of the customs
There was an enormous import of silver
in the shape Of British. French, and Mex
lean dollars. brought by the military au-
taOrities in ManchUTia. dollars are said
to be ousting sycee as currency.