Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-27
The ASIATIC TRADE
GREAT CHANGES TAKING PLACE
IN PACIFIC COMMERCE.
Increase in the Number Of Regular
and Tramp Steamers Between
the West and East.

/ tne Oh racine ocean commerce., 10
be followed fast by still greater. Is rapidly
becoming manifest. Increasing production
In our own Pacific states requires oriental
| markets, and Is finding them. Railroad
| development both in America and in Asia.
and increasing use Of steam on the ocean,
are effectfng great changes in the courses OF
| the trade Of all countries In touch with the
| Pacific. More than fifty steamships now
| sail regularly from the ports Of California,
| Oregon and Washington to ports in Asia or
| in the great Pacific Islands, and of tramp
| steamers and sail vessels continually grow
! ing feet. Between ports of British Column
bia and ports of Asia. Australia and New
Zealand there Is similar movement. 1t IN
c1udeS not only the local commerce between
! countries that border the greatest Of
| oceans. but carries also a heavy trade
! from the orient by railway across America
/ to our eastern states. and even to Europe.
| from west to east over the Atlantic.
Everything favors the growth OF this
| commerce to very large proportions. There
| Is promise of development of an inteTna-
tional commerce the Pacific which. W tn
| on the Atlantic. For the active theater
of the worlds new effort Is now eastern
| Asia and western America. The two hemi-
| spheres. heretofore scarcely at all In COM
munication except across the Atlantic, are
now rapidly developing an intercourse over
| the Pacific. which is to effect large trans
1OFmatlOn, OF At ledSt u DeCOLhc q 6iShs
additional factor, in the commerce of the
world.
Certain Obstacles.
But there are obstacles to the realization
| Of these results in the fullness that might
be supposed chief of which is in the social
and economic condition of oriental peo-
pies. Though nearly one-half the popula-
ton of the world is In those countries. the
vast majority are very poor. and can buy
| for consumption only small quantities.. IN
| proportion to the products taken Dy less
numerous but more prosperous races else
where. Doubtless the condition or these
masses will improve through contact with
races For 1t Is chiefly through the inter-
course of different races with one an
other that progress has been mace py
any during the course Of human history;
and oriental countries, shut up TIL recently
| against the whole outer world. have no
| opportunity for agitation and change
| through introduction OF new FORCES among
them. But their isolation and seciusion
are now being broken down rapidly. ana
pressure of other nations upon the orient
bids fair soon to effect great transforma-
ton.
Profits to the Pacific States
Pint in spite Of these obstacles, details OF
! the growth of commerce between the ports
| of our Pacific states and those OF the orient
present very interesting features and very
| important results. No other portion OF the
United States secures so large proportion
Of the profits Of oriental trade as rams a., 70
| the Pacific coast. The reasons for TINS dis-
tribution Of the trade are plain. bIlenJ
| stated they are these: proximity ana al.
| tendant cheap freight to the markets pc
yond the Pacific; large productlon o, +, hou
| and lumber: and lastly, comparatively
| sparse population in these states, "nlch
| consumes at home so insignificant pro-
portion of their products that the SURPLUS
for export Is much larger. proper ,t, .io n1n;taS
| than from any other part or the onlteo
States of equal population Our RACINE
ports not only carry on an immense pusi
ness with the orient in the Distribution ol
our own products, but incidentally the
business originating in these Pacific states
| has an important bearing on the trace
from all other portions OF the Ohl,eu
! States Our -four and lumber tIaue 49,
| the orient has reached proportions SO SIedt
| that one or other of these commodities
| holds a very important place on the mani
fest of every steamer sailing from any on ,
of the north Pacific ports; ah st f n9 stesmers
sailing from California. with an aDun-
dance of offerings of these TWO con.inou
ties the basis of cargo for large stean1 Yer
4. a,ways available, and the shipper 1ar-
tbar iniand-indeed, as far away as the
Atlantic slope-can always secure spa aoo
for other goods. to the amount Oh llon o ~"
tn < 600 tons, when 1t would not De coh'e e
ient for him to ship an entire cargo 1oi
ntoh - wnuld be necessary to make spe-
WIN nrranpements. with the probable re-
auirement Of higher freight rates
Advantage Of the Shipper.
great advantage enjoyed by the racine
coast shipper In dealing with the orient
ues in the comparatively close proximity
NJ this great field of trade beyond the "a
cif1c Even before sailing craft hao peei
superseded largely by steamers our e&-
porters were making an energetic canvass
of the field and attempting to gain 1oot-
hold AS an illustration OF the tnoTous hiies"
- th,s effort a Portland expert In markets
was dispatched to the orient where ne re-
matned two years. In the course OF "hlch
he visited not only every portion OF the iar
cast that was at all likely to oHer mar
Lot for American flour, but penetrated far
into the interior of China. Manchuria ana
Siberia for the purpose OF deter iiil!ins
what the possibilities OF wheat Proouctioii
in those countries might be. Leaders III the
flour and lumber business now have rep
| resentatives continually In eastern coun-
tries with the result that they have very
full knowledge Of the field they are work
ing in They find that the only limit to the
expansion of their trade Is the purchasing
power of the people, and this Is a imita.
ton which 1t will require years or eHort
and a revolution of the social, Industrial.
and mercantile systems Of those countries
to remove But in all of them the introduce
tion of modern methods Is causing visible
improvement.
The Lumber Traffic.
An example is presented In the figures
of the lumber traffic. Ten years ago the
entire shipment of lumber from our
north Pacific states to China and Japan
was less than 100000 feet. Five years
ago it had increased to 100000. and in
the year 1908 to more than 100000 The
elaborate preparations for war by Japan
and Russia during the latter part of last
year and the opening months of the pres
ent one created an abnormal demand for
wheat and flour. though the trade In
these staples had previously shown steady
gains of highly satisfactory proportions
During the shipping season of 1867
our Pacific coast ports shipped to the ORR
ent 1.030,621 barrels of flour; during the
shipping season of 1923 (six years
later) the -four shipments reached a total
| of 2.438640 barrels; and so rapid has been
the recent growth that during the half
year ended February / 1904. the markets of
the orient have taken 2,523 Al barrels from
our Pacific ports alone. Besides lumber,