Chapter IV: Part 4

Russia's principal business is AGRICULTURE. More than one half her whole internal trade is agricultural. Her agricultural products are one and one half times greater than the products of her manufactures and ten times greater than her mining products or her imports. And though her production of grain per acre is the lowest in all Europe except Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and her total production of all food products per acre by far the lowest in Europe (not more than one third that of Spain, which is next lowest), yet she manages to export a larger quantity of GRAIN than any other country in Europe, France only sometimes excepted. Russia's export of grain for some years past has averaged 266,000,000 bushels a year. Her export of WHEAT alone has averaged 94,000,000 bushels a year, or considerably more than a fifth of the total wheat export of the world. The explanation of this enormous export of wheat from so poor a country is that three fourths of the people live on rye. Among the peasants wheat bread is practically unknown, and nothing could be more pathetic than the hard rye lumps which passed as bread during the last famine. Other agricultural exports (besides grain) are flax, hemp, oil-seed cake, linseed and grass seed, butter, eggs, wool, hides, and hogs' bristles. Wood, lumber, and timber are also extensively exported. England is Russia's best customer. The amount of England's annual importation of the above products (including grain) exceeds $112,000,000.

RUSSIA'S MINERAL WEALTH

In MINERALS Russia is enormously wealthy, but the mining lands are not diffused throughout the empire but confined to definite areas. Nor can they be said to be energetically worked. The great gold-fields of the Ural mountains would not pay expenses as worked at present were they not supplied with convict labour. Owing to the heavy import duty which is imposed on pig-iron nearly all the iron now needed for the IRON manufactures of the empire is obtained at home, but this amounts to only 46 pounds per inhabitant, as against 810 pounds per inhabitant used in Britain. COAL is very abundant, especially in the valley of the Donetz, but fire-wood is so plentiful for domestic purposes, and water power so plentiful for heavy manufactures, that the amount of coal mined in all Russia is only one twelfth that mined in Germany, and only one twenty-fourth that mined in Britain. Over 2,250,000 tons of coal are imported despite very heavy protective duties. There is one mineral product, however, in which Russia excels all other European countries. This is PETROLEUM. The oil-springs on the Caspian Sea produce an annual yield of crude petroleum of an average value of $15,000,000. The value of the petroleum and petroleum products exported in 1896 was over $22,000,000.

RUSSIA'S TRADE AND MANUFACTURES

Despite Russia's resources in farm products and in minerals, yet, owing to the ignorance and degradation of her people, she is a poor country, and her exports are always more than her imports. Her total wealth per inhabitant is only $305, as against $780 per inhabitant for Germany, $1260 for France, and $1510 for Great Britain and Ireland. Her total foreign trade is only $5 per inhabitant, whereas the foreign trade of her neighbour, Germany, is $35 per inhabitant. Her total internal trade is only $50 per inhabitant, whereas even in Greece the internal trade is $65 per inhabitant, while in Germany it is $130 per inhabitant, and in the United States $215 per inhabitant. The reason of all this is the lack of energy and industry in the people. Their earnings per inhabitant average only 12 cents a day. Another reason is the lack of modern labour-saving devices. Comparing inhabitant with inhabitant, Russia has only one sixth of the steam power which Germany has. One half of all the manufactures of the country are produced domestically--that is, without motive power or machinery. No industry in Russia is fully up to the needs of the people when judged by the standards of other countries. For example, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, only two pounds of raw wool per inhabitant are consumed in Russia's woollen manufactures, as against seven pounds consumed in Germany, and the total annual value of all manufactures is only $20 per inhabitant, as against $56 in Germany, and $88 in Britain. Notwithstanding these unfavourable comparisons, the factory industries of Russia are making progress. In seventy years the textile factories have increased fivefold and in thirty years twofold. In sixty years the cotton-manufacturing industry has increased sevenfold, and in fifteen years twofold. Until recently Russia exported wool. Now she imports more wool than she exports. Ninety years ago in Russia iron was dearer than bread, and the peasants used wooden plough-shares and left their horses unshod. Now the consumption of hardware, though still per inhabitant the smallest in Europe, is yet in the aggregate the fourth in Europe, although even so it is only two ninths what it is in Britain. Beet-root sugar-making is also a new industry, and 500,000 tons are made annually, the number of sugar works being 235. The beet-root crop of the country amounts to nearly 6,000,000 tons annually. But the consumption of sugar per inhabitant is only seven pounds annually, as against eighteen pounds per inhabitant in Germany. A universal industry throughout Russia is TANNING, and Russia leather, with its fragrant birch-oil odour, is a highly prized commodity the world over. But the amount manufactured is only 114,000 tons yearly, and the quantity exported is inconsiderable.

RUSSIA'S RAILWAYS AND NAVIGABLE RIVERS

The most characteristic physical feature of European Russia is its _flatness_. In consequence its rivers are almost all navigable, and, as the most important of them are interconnected by canals, the facilities for transportation which they afford are very considerable. Altogether the length of inland navigation thus afforded amounts to nearly 47,000 miles. This abundance of navigation facilities has retarded the growth of railways, but there are already 25,756 miles of finished railway in European Russia alone. The total length of railway in all Russia built and in building is 34,849 miles. The most important railway enterprise in the empire is the Trans-Siberian Railway, which will afford through communication from the Baltic to the Pacific. The shortest possible distance between these two bodies of water is 4500 miles. The length of the railway will be 4950 miles, and its cost, it is supposed, will be $120,000,000. It is to be completed by 1905.

RUSSIA'S CITIES AND TOWNS

ST. PETERSBURG (with suburbs 1,267,000), the capital of Russia, is, like most European capitals, an important trade centre as well as the seat of government. Its manufactures are general and numerous, but the chief ones are those concerned in making munitions of war. Until 1885 St. Petersburg was not a seaport, but in that year a canal was built which now permits vessels drawing twenty-two feet of water to enter its docks. Its harbour, however, is closed with ice from November to May. Near St. Petersburg is REVAL, the chief cotton port of Russia. The raw cotton importation of Russia averages about $60,000,000 annually, most of which comes direct from the United States. MOSCOW (988,000), the ancient capital of Russia, is also a great manufacturing city, but its principal importance is derived from the fact that it is the great centre of the internal trade of Russia. WARSAW (615,000), the capital of Polish Russia, is a great railway centre, and the principal entrepôt of railway traffic between Russia and the rest of Europe. LÓDZ (315,000), also in Polish Russia, is the great cotton-manufacturing centre of the empire. ODESSA (405,000) is the chief seaport of Russia. It has an immense export trade in grain, tallow, iron, linseed, wood, hides, cordage, sailcloth, tar, and beef. RIGA (283,000), the chief port of Russia on the Baltic, has a large export trade with England in characteristic Russian produce. KIEFF (249,000) is the centre of the Russian sugar-refining industry. ASTRAKHAN (113,000), on the Volga delta, is noted for its sturgeon fisheries, and its export of caviare, amounting, it is said, to $1,500,000 yearly. TULA (111,000) is the Sheffield of Russia. Even in 1828 there were 600 cutlery establishments in Tula, but the manufacture was then principally domestic. It is now a city of factories, for it stands on a large coal and iron field. NIJNI-NOVGOROD (99,000) is noted for its fair, an Asiatic institution which modern civilisation will no doubt soon disestablish. Once a year merchants to the number of 200,000 come to Nijni-Novgorod from all over Russia, and even from India and China, to exchange their wares. The value of the exchange sometimes amounts to $100,000,000. ORENBURG (73,000), on the Ural, is the terminal depot of the caravan trade of Asiatic Russia. ARCHANGEL (25,000), on the White Sea, is the chief emporium of trade in the north, with exports of characteristic northern produce. BAKU, on the Caspian Sea, is the chief seat of the petroleum industry of Russia. All the towns and cities above named have grown enormously during the last twenty years.

VI. THE TRADE FEATURES OF INDIA

INDIA'S PAST AND PRESENT COMPARED

To the student of civilisation India is one of the most interesting countries in the world. It has always been one of the most fertile and populous regions of the globe. For centuries it was thought to be one of the richest. In consequence it has, time and time again, been the scene of invasion, conquest, and spoliation. But its riches never consisted so much in natural treasure as in the savings of an industrious and frugal people. Since the year 1600 European nations have had much to do with India, especially England, France, Portugal, and Holland. During the last 140 years, however, England has been the dominant power there. Whatever may be said as to the motive of England's interference in India's affairs in the first place, it can only be said that the present influence of England in India is immensely beneficial to the country. India's prosperity on the whole is now comparable with that of any civilised nation on the globe. And a people that once, because of repeated conquest and spoliation, had lost all sense of honour and self-respect, are now, under the benign influence of peace, law, order, and security, rapidly becoming honourable, self-reliant, and enterprising, and ambitious to possess all the rights and privileges of modern civilisation.

INDIA'S SIZE AND POPULATION

India is a much larger and more populous country than most people think it to be. In shape it is somewhat like a huge kite, each of whose diameters is over 2000 miles long, or more than the distance across the Atlantic from Ireland to Newfoundland. Its TERRITORY is about 1,700,000 square miles. Of this area, over 1,000,000 square miles, a territory considerably greater than the territory of all the states of Europe (including the British Isles) except Russia, is directly under British control. The remainder is indirectly under British control. The POPULATION is 308,000,000, of which 236,000,000 are directly under British control and 72,000,000 indirectly so. This population is made up of people who speak seventy-eight different languages, of which twenty languages are spoken by not less than 1,000,000 persons each.

INDIA'S GREAT FERTILITY

India owes much of its fertility to the fact that its soil is constantly being replenished by alluvium brought down from its high mountains by its immense rivers. The valleys of the Indus (1800 miles long), the Ganges (1600 miles long), and the Brahmapootra (1500 miles long) include an area of 1,125,000 square miles, a part of which, the Indus-Ganges plain, consists of a great stretch of alluvial soil whose fertility is as rich as that of any portion of the globe. One hundred and eighty millions of people live in this plain. So finely pulverised is its soil that for a distance of almost 2000 miles not even a pebble can be found in it. And so fertile is it that there are some agricultural districts in the plain where the population exceeds 900 to the square mile. In that part of the plain which the Ganges waters, 60,000,000 of people find support on the soil by agriculture, at a density of over 700 persons to the square mile, which is 140 persons more to the square mile than the density of Belgium, the most thickly populated country in Europe.

INDIA'S IRRIGATION CANALS AND RIVER EMBANKMENTS

But, fertile as is the soil of India, and propitious to agricultural industry as is its climate generally, its climate is not always favourable. It suffers periodically from excess of drought. As a consequence artificial irrigation has to be resorted to, or much of this fertile country would oftentimes be a desert. In British India alone 28,000 miles of irrigation canals are under the control of the government, 14,000 of which have been constructed by the present (British) government--works of vast dimensions and the highest engineering skill. Altogether 28,000,000 acres in British India are dependent for their necessary supply of moisture upon general irrigation, and 8,000,000 upon irrigation canals. Were it not for these irrigation canals, 2,000,000 acres in Scinde (northwestern India) would be a perpetual desert, for Scinde is almost wholly rainless. On the other hand, in a great part of India the rainfall is excessive. Some districts indeed are the wettest on the globe. In Assam, for example (which is also one of the hottest places in India), the rainfall is 600 inches yearly, and it has been 650. As a consequence rivers in India often overflow their banks. Therefore to protect the country on the lower river reaches from floods the British government has built over 1500 miles of embankments.

INDIA'S MINERAL RESOURCES

At one time India was famed for its wealth in precious minerals and precious stones. Poets often celebrated its golden resources. But its wealth in this respect was always fabulous rather than real. India is in reality poor in minerals. It has a good deal of iron--iron of the choicest quality. It has also a good deal of coal, but its coal is poor, owing to its superabundance of ash. It has also a little copper and tin. It has gold-mines that are worked. Diamonds, too, are found in southern India, and numerously so. The celebrated Koh-i-nur (280 carats) was an Indian product. But neither diamond-hunting nor gold-mining is any longer a profitable industry in India. The principal mineral industry of India is salt-mining, pursued in the Punjaub, where there are solid cliffs of pure salt. Owing to the fact that the people of India are mostly vegetarians (250,000,000 of Hindoos would rather die than eat flesh), salt is a necessary article of diet and a universal commodity. Its production, therefore, is controlled by the government as a means of raising revenue.

INDIA'S WONDERFUL AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES

The real wealth of India lies in the luxuriance and economic value of its VEGETATION. As a consequence the principal industry is AGRICULTURE. Only one tenth of the people live in towns. Two thirds of the adult males in the country are engaged wholly in tilling the soil. Every sort of agricultural product known to commerce is raised in India; for from the high levels on the mountain sides to the low levels on the coasts the vegetation of the whole world is produced within its borders. Even in WHEAT India competes in the world's markets with countries like Russia and Argentina. In 1896 British India had 19,000,000 acres of wheat under cultivation, and (though a dearth year) an exportation of $4,000,000. In 1892 the exportation was $25,000,000. The district known as the Central Provinces of India has become one of the most important wheat areas in the world. But the principal agricultural product of India is RICE. British India alone has 70,000,000 acres of rice under cultivation, and an annual exportation of $60,000,000. In all the coast regions rice is grown universally, and also in the lower parts of the river plains, especially in the Ganges valley. It is the staple food of the people everywhere except on the higher levels. On the higher levels millet and maize (corn) are the staple foods. The next important agricultural product of India is COTTON, of which $47,000,000 worth in the raw state is exported annually, besides what is used at home. The American civil war was the great cause of the starting of the cotton-growing industry in India. The next important agricultural product is JUTE, of which the export in the raw state is about $35,000,000. No country in the world can compete with India in the production of this fibre, for jute is very exhaustive of the soil, and in the Ganges valley, where it is principally raised, the soil is annually replenished by alluvium. A fifth great agricultural product is TEA, in which India now leads the world. England uses twice as much India tea as China tea, the reason being that India teas are produced with all the economic care of a high-class English or American manufactured product. The value of the tea export of India is about $27,000,000. Other chief agricultural products are OPIUM (which is a government monopoly), oil seeds, hides, and skins, INDIGO (in which India excels the world, the value of the export being $14,000,000), COFFEE (the best grown anywhere--except perhaps that of Arabia and Java--though the bean is sometimes injured in transit), raw wool, lac (for dyeing), cinchona or Peruvian bark (which since it has been raised in India, has greatly reduced the price of quinine), raw silk, raw sugar, tobacco, and spices. Spices are produced abundantly in India, but their quality is not equal to East Indian spices. Also the cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco of India, though produced plentifully, are inferior in quality to those of the United States. Nor are the wheat and corn of India so good as the wheat and corn of the United States and Canada. Improved cultivation will, however, in time improve the quality of all these products. Of exports of natural products not agricultural the principal are WOOD (chiefly TEAK, the most valuable timber known for ship-building, and sal, a most valuable wood for carpentry) and saltpetre.

INDIA'S GROWING MANUFACTURES

Though India is now chiefly an agricultural country her people from time immemorial have been adepts in manufacturing. The domestic textile manufactures and the domestic metal manufactures of India were for ages among the most beautiful and ingenious in the world. These DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES are principally pursued in small villages, of which there are over half a million in India. But under the influences of modern civilisation introduced by British rule, the domestic industries of the country are now giving way to FACTORY INDUSTRIES. These have already become well established, and are rapidly increasing in number and importance. The stability of India as a nation is now so well assured that capital can be had there as cheaply as in England or the United States. Besides, co-operative or joint-stock enterprises are becoming common. The Indian people, with their natural aptitude for weaving, make the best of textile operatives, and India bids fair soon to become a formidable rival of Western nations in TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. In twenty years the cotton spindles have increased sixfold. In ten years the COTTON OUTPUT has increased twofold. Bombay has become one of the greatest cotton centres in the world, a sort of Liverpool and Manchester combined. It has practically shut the doors of India to English manufactured cottons of the cheaper grades. Bombay manufactured cotton is even sent to England in immense quantities, but the principal export is to China. The total export of Indian manufactured cotton is $23,000,000. Another important modern manufacture is that of JUTE. The jute factories of Bengal are now competing with those of Scotland, and the total export is $17,500,000. A similar development is expected in iron manufactures, for already iron-smelting has begun. But, notwithstanding these developments, India still remains a tremendous market for the manufactured goods of England, especially in cottons and hardware and machinery. The value of the annual cotton importation from England is $100,000,000, equal to the total of England's exportation of goods of every sort to the United States. The value of the annual hardware and machinery importation from England is $35,000,000.

INDIA'S EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL TRADE

The total yearly value of the EXPORTS of India amounts to the enormous sum of $350,000,000, more than a third of the total exportation of the United States for the banner year 1897.[2] Of this England receives about one half. The total yearly value of the IMPORTS of India (exclusive of bullion) amounts to $255,000,000, which is considerably more than a third of the total importation of the United States. Of this England sends out about two thirds. (India is therefore England's best customer, although from the United States England purchases vastly more.) Of the internal trade of India no statistics are available, but with the rapid advances in modern conveniences for doing business which the country is adopting, the internal trade is also enormously increasing. Already 20,290 miles of railway are built and opened, and 13,000 miles of canals and canalised river navigation. Railways are rapidly being constructed in every part of the country. Over 31,000 miles of metalled roads for highways and 106,000 of unmetalled roads are now maintained by the government as public works. There are 38,000 miles of telegraph routes. The government highways and canals as well as the railways are all splendidly engineered and solidly built works. The greatness of India is only just beginning.

FOOTNOTE:

[2] The total exports of the United States for the years 1898 and 1899 have exceeded $1,200,000,000, each year. In the year 1897 they were about $1,050,000,000.

INDIA'S CITIES AND TOWNS

CALCUTTA (862,000) is the capital of the empire of India and the second city in the British Empire. Although situated on an arm of the delta of the Ganges, eighty miles inland, Calcutta is an immense seaport, but its sea-going privileges can be maintained only by great engineering works, because of the silt which the Ganges is constantly bringing down and depositing in its seaward channels. Calcutta enjoys almost a monopoly of the whole trade of the Ganges and Brahmapootra valleys, and until the building of the Suez Canal it had almost a monopoly of the outward trade of the whole Hindustan peninsula. Its total trade is even yet very large, aggregating for outward and inward business together about $700,000,000 per annum, a sum which can be appreciated from the fact that it is about equal to the total import trade of the whole of the United States. BOMBAY (822,000), the second city of the Indian Empire, owes its eminence to three things: (1) the opening of the Suez Canal, which has made it the port of India nearest England; (2) the starting of the cotton-growing industry in India, owing to the American civil war (the cotton-growing district of India is adjacent to Bombay); and (3) the development of the railway system of India, which is making Bombay rather than Calcutta the natural ocean outlet for the trade of the country. MADRAS (453,000), the third city of India, is also the third seaport. But it has no natural harbour, and its shore is surf-beaten and for months together exposed to the full fury of the northeast monsoons. An artificial harbour, however, has recently been built. Besides the cities above mentioned there is one (HYDERABAD) with a population of over 400,000; there are two (LUCKNOW and BENARES) with a population of over 150,000 each, and eleven more with a population of over 100,000 each. There are besides forty-seven towns with a population more than 50,000 each, and over a thousand towns with a population of about 10,000 each.

VII. THE TRADE FEATURES OF CHINA

THE VASTNESS OF CHINA'S AREA AND POPULATION

China, to the student of commerce, is the most interesting country on the globe. The reason for this is that its area is so large, its population so vast, and its chances for development so magnificent. The total area of the empire, according to late estimates, is 4,218,401 square miles. Other estimates make it 4,468,470 square miles. The greatness of this area may be understood from a few comparisons. It is about one twelfth of the total land surface of the globe. It is two and one fourth times the size of European Russia. It is almost one and one half times the total area of the United States, exclusive of Alaska. But all of this territory is not of equal commercial interest. The Chinese Empire consists of six parts: China Proper, Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet, Jungaria, and Eastern Turkestan. Because of recent treaties, which give to Russia the right to build and "control" railways in Manchuria--ostensibly for the purpose of securing for the great Russian Trans-Siberian Railway a shorter route to Vladivostok, its Pacific terminus--MANCHURIA becomes practically a RUSSIAN POSSESSION. Turkestan, Jungaria, Tibet, and Mongolia are thinly inhabited countries, scarcely semi-civilised. But the part which remains when these "dependencies" are left out of consideration--CHINA PROPER--is at once one of the largest, most thickly populated, and most fertile countries on the face of the globe, and one also of the most richly endowed in mineral products. Its area is 1,336,841 square miles. Its population is 386,000,000. Its population per square mile is not far short of 300. That is to say, its area is more than eleven times that of Great Britain and Ireland, and almost one half that of the United States, exclusive of Alaska; its population is ten times that of Great Britain and Ireland, and more than six times that of the United States; while its population per square mile is greater than that of any European or American country except Great Britain (which, however, it nearly equals), Holland, and Belgium. In fact, more than one fourth of the total population of the globe is concentrated within the boundaries of China Proper.

CHINA A COUNTRY OF GREAT TRADE POSSIBILITIES

The great commercial nations of the world are now all trying to get shares of the trade of this VAST AND POPULOUS COUNTRY. For not only is China (Proper) large and populous, but it is also wealthy, for its inhabitants are both industrious and frugal, and, besides, as compared with the people of European countries they have been greatly spared the disastrous commerce-destroying effects of war, both foreign and internecine. Centuries ago the Chinese had made great progress toward civilisation. Their skill in the manufacturing arts, and in agriculture and horticulture, was for ages superior to that of Western nations. But, unfortunately for their advancement, they are conservative, self-conceited, and averse to improvement, especially if they have to learn improvement of others. As yet they have almost wholly ignored the ideas and methods of modern Western civilisation. They have scarcely any railways, but few steamships, almost no steam-power manufactories, and no telephones. The only modern improvement which they have made much use of is the telegraph. Some years ago (in 1876) a European company secured the privilege of building a short railway from Shanghai, but it was scarcely built before the government got fearful of its influence and bought it up and stopped its running. But the Chinese people are not averse to foreign trade; on the contrary, they are rather fond of it. If only the thing could happen in China that happened in Japan--that is to say, if only the government could fall into the hands of rulers who were open-minded to improvement and inclined to be progressive--the rush that China would make toward civilisation and the adoption of modern trade methods and modern processes of manufacture would be startling.

CHINA'S FOREIGN TRADE

At present the foreign trade of China is largely in the hands of the English. In the year 1896 the foreign export trade of China amounted to $167,000,000. Of this amount $132,500,000 was with Great Britain and her dependencies; $10,000,000 with the United States; something over $8,000,000 with the continent of Europe exclusive of Russia, and less than $2,000,000 with Russia. In the same year the foreign import trade of China was $102,500,000, of which $56,000,000 was with Great Britain and her dependencies; a little over $9,000,000 with the United States; $15,000,000 with the continent of Europe exclusive of Russia, and $12,500,000 with Russia. (The rest of her trade was principally with Japan.) The policy of the government of China has always been to prevent or restrict foreign trade; and even to-day foreign trade can be carried on in only twenty-six Chinese ports--the so-called "TREATY PORTS." The policy of Great Britain has been to secure by treaty as large a privilege of trading with China as possible; then to throw open the privilege to the world, but to follow it up with such commercial activity on her own part as would secure to her the lion's share of the resulting trade. Of the twenty-six ports now by treaty open to the world for trade, twenty-three have been secured by Great Britain and three by Japan.

CHINA'S EXPORTS, IMPORTS, AND RESOURCES

China's principal exports are TEA and SILK, tea constituting about one third and silk (principally raw silk) fully one half of her total export trade. Other principal exports are sugar, STRAW BRAID (one twentieth of her total exportation), hides, paper, chinaware, and pottery. Her principal imports are OPIUM and COTTON GOODS, opium constituting a fifth, and cotton goods considerably more than a half, of her total import trade. Other principal imports are woollen goods, metal goods and machinery, coal, and kerosene oil. A considerable importation is also made of raw cotton. But if China only had the blessing of an enlightened and progressive government this disposition of exports and imports would not long continue. China's resources of COAL are among the finest and certainly among the largest in the whole world. Her coal-fields, indeed, are estimated to be twenty times as great as those of all Europe combined. Much of this coal, too, is of the purest quality, and much of it very accessible to the miner. And near her coal-fields are vast deposits of some of the richest IRON ORES in the world. Again, a great portion of the soil of China is extremely fertile. There are indeed two regions, one of "RED SOIL" and another, much vaster, of "YELLOW SOIL," that are among the most fertile in the world. It is because of the extent and fertility of the yellow soil of China that "yellow" is the imperial colour, and the emperor called the "yellow lord." The climate, too, of China permits almost the whole range of useful vegetable products to be raised. The growth of COTTON is already very great, because for seven centuries cotton has been the staple cloth for the clothing of the people. And already it is being manufactured by modern machinery. But both the growth of cotton and its manufacture by modern methods would be enormously increased if only facilities for internal transportation existed, and freedom from unjust taxation could be secured. If, in short, China only had railways and a good and enlightened system of government her progress and prosperity would soon make the Western world envious. But her government is not only stupidly unprogressive, it is also disastrously wasteful. About seventy per cent. of the whole revenue of the country is lost to the public use through the malfeasance of officials. And only about 85 miles of railway have as yet been opened, although it must be said that 200 or 250 miles more are under construction.

POSSIBILITIES OF INCREASED FOREIGN TRADE WITH CHINA

There are, however, even now several ways in which foreign trade with China may be increased. Two of these are the supplying her people with WOOLLEN GOODS, and the supplying them with WHEAT and FLOUR. The winters of a great part of China are so cool that warm garments are necessary. At present these are made principally of padded cotton. Owing to the density of the population pasturage is scarce, and sheep are almost unknown. For an indefinite time, therefore, there will be a demand for woollen goods in China, a demand that will constantly increase as the superior convenience of woollen garments over garments of padded cotton becomes more and more known to the people. And though rice is now the staple food of the people even of all classes, the wealthy classes are fond of wheat bread and obtain it when possible. But the agriculture of the country does not permit of the profitable growth of wheat and flour, and wheat if used must be imported.

THE PRINCIPAL TRADING CITIES OF CHINA

The cities of China are large and numerous. PEKING (1,500,000?), the capital, is not open to foreign trade. In fact, it has no trade of any sort, and derives its whole importance from being the seat of government. But TIENTSIN (750,000), the port of Peking, and an important "treaty port," has a large trade, both foreign and local. Tientsin and Peking are connected by rail, and since the Russian government has obtained the right of connecting Peking with the Trans-Siberian Railway, it is more than likely that in time Tientsin will become a terminus of that railway. Of "treaty ports" other than Tientsin the principal are Shanghai, Hankow, Foochow, Hangchow, Amoy, and Canton. SHANGHAI (405,000) exceeds all other ports of China put together in the amount of its foreign trade. Its foreign trade is, indeed, almost three fifths of that of the whole empire. And of the total number of foreigners residing in China (in 1896 said to be 10,855, of whom 4362 were British subjects and 1439 Americans) about one half reside in Shanghai. Shanghai is, indeed, the New York of China, and if railways were only built from it (as has been proposed) to the capital, Peking, and up the Yang-tse-kiang to Hankow, and by way of the coast cities to Canton, China would begin a new era in her career. HANKOW (800,000), on the Yang-tse-kiang, about 700 miles from its mouth, is the chief emporium of the tea-producing area of China. Ocean-going steamships ascend the river to Hankow for their cargoes. FOOCHOW (650,900) also has a great tea export trade. HANGCHOW (700,000), one of the most beautiful cities in China, is also the chief city for the manufacture of silks, and of gold and silver ware, lacquered ware, and fans. AMOY (100,000) has the best harbour in China and an immense import trade, ranking in that respect next after Shanghai. CANTON (2,000,000?) is the largest city in the Chinese Empire. A considerable portion of its inhabitants live in boats. Of these "house-boats" there are said to be 40,000. The foreign trade of Canton is next to that of Shanghai. Once it was superior, now it is much inferior. Its manufactures, however, are still important and include silk, cotton, glass, porcelain, paper, sugar, lacquered ware, and ivory goods and metal goods. NANKING (150,000), once the capital of China and once the largest city in the world, is now comparatively a small city. Although a treaty port, its commerce is not important. It was once famous for its beautiful tower of porcelain, 200 feet high, but that is now destroyed. There are many other large cities in China.

HONGKONG

HONGKONG (245,000) is a small island belonging to Great Britain situated in the mouth of the Canton River, seventy-five miles from the city of Canton. Its population is made up principally of Chinese, who have been attracted there by its trade privileges. The British population is only 13,000, even including the garrison of 2800. Almost the whole population reside in the capital, VICTORIA, for the island itself is a barren rock. Forty-four per cent. of the total foreign trade of China passes through Hongkong. Its harbour is one of the finest in the world. It has magnificent docks. Its port is entirely free, and there is even no custom-house. It is calculated that the foreign trade transacted by its merchants amounts to $100,000,000 a year, exclusive of what passes through its port without breaking bulk. The whole of the vast export trade of China in silk and tea is largely handled by Hongkong firms. Other commodities of which Hongkong is the chief trade centre for China are opium, flour, salt, earthenware, oil, cotton, and cotton goods and woollen goods, which it imports from other countries and exports to China; and sugar, rice, amber, sandal-wood, ivory, and betel, which it imports from China and exports to other countries. Its trade is not confined to Great Britain, but includes France, Germany, the United States, and all other trading nations. But of course Great Britain has the greatest share.

VIII. THE TRADE FEATURES OF JAPAN

JAPAN THE GREAT BRITAIN OF ASIA

Japan consists of a group of islands situated to the east of the continent of Asia, somewhat as the British Isles are situated to the west of the continent of Europe. But the Japan islands are of volcanic origin and are very numerous. There are said to be 4223 of them. However, there are only four that are of important size, and it is these that are usually thought of when Japan is spoken of. The area of these four islands is 147,655 miles, which is almost a fourth more than that of Great Britain and Ireland. The population (census of 1895) is 42,270,620, which is 4,000,000 more than that of Great Britain and Ireland. The population per square mile is 286, which, though large, is not quite so large as that of Great Britain. If, however, we do not take into consideration the northern island (Yezo), which is still partly inhabited by uncivilised aborigines, the population per square mile is 375, which is considerably in excess of that of both China and Great Britain and Ireland, though still considerably less than that of England alone. The above statistics do not include the island of Formosa (area 13,500 miles, population almost 2,000,000), which was transferred from China to Japan in 1895, at the close of the late Chino-Japanese war.

JAPAN'S WONDERFUL TRANSFORMATION

The significant thing about Japan is the rapidity with which it has become transformed from a semi-civilised nation into one of the great nations of the modern world. Until the year 1868 Japan was an unprogressive, unenlightened country of the usual Asiatic type, scarcely differing in any way from an inland province of China of to-day. In that year a revolution took place which put the whole power of the empire into the hands of the present Mikado, or Emperor. Immediately Japan began to assimilate Western ideas of civilisation and to adopt Western methods of trade, commerce, manufacture, government, and education. Until 1889 the government remained an absolute monarchy. In that year the Mikado voluntarily promulgated a constitution by which a legislative Parliament, or "Imperial Diet," and an executive Cabinet of State Ministers were instituted, so that the government of Japan is now as "constitutional" as that of Germany or Great Britain. The government is in other ways thoroughly modern. Education, for example, is almost as well looked after as in Germany or New England. There are 220 kindergartens established, 97 technical schools, and 49 normal schools for the training of teachers (one being for the training of high-school teachers), besides elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, special schools (1263 of these), and universities. The University of Tokio is an imperial institution, supported entirely by the government, with colleges in law, science, medicine, literature, engineering, and agriculture. Education, between the ages of six and fourteen, is compulsory. The army, too, is wholly a modern affair. It consists of 285,000 men, and an idea of its modernness may be gathered from the fact that an important part of its organisation is its training schools and colleges. Even the non-commissioned officers are specially trained and educated. Altogether the students in the military schools and colleges of Japan number 2400. The navy, too, as is well known, is both modern and efficient. It consists of 5 battleships and 15 high-class cruisers, besides 46 other vessels,--torpedo craft, gunboats, convoy ships, etc.,--and it is intended to build an immense fleet of 19 battleships and cruisers, and 100 torpedo craft in addition.

JAPAN'S AGRICULTURE

Japan being of volcanic origin, much of its soil is unfit for cultivation. The total productive area amounts to less than thirty per cent., and even of this only a small portion is capable of being tilled by modern methods. At present only twelve per cent. of the whole surface of the country is devoted to agriculture, even including pasturing. There is, however, but little pasturing, and the principal implement of cultivation is the spade. The modern plough is unknown. But manure (principally domestic manure and fish refuse) is very generously used, and by this means the returns are abundant. The principal food crop is RICE. Other food crops are wheat, barley, and the soya bean, but these not numerously so. The principal cultivated products for purposes of commerce are the mulberry tree (for supporting the silkworm), the tea plant, the lacquer tree, and the camphor tree. Rice also is grown for export as well as for home consumption, and COTTON is very largely grown for home manufacture. No milk, butter, or cheese is produced, scarcely any meat, no wood, and scarcely any leather. (For boots and shoes paper is used instead of leather.) Of cattle there are only 1,000,000, as compared with 10,000,000 in the British Isles, although the population of Japan is considerably the greater. Of horses there are 1,500,000, and the raising of horses is much encouraged by the government, but principally for military purposes. Horses, indeed, are but little employed. In cities, for purposes of carriage and cartage, men are used instead of horses. Even in rural districts horses are unknown for farming purposes, and not even the hand-cart or wheelbarrow is used. Everything is carried. Fruit is much raised,--oranges, apples, walnuts, plums, peaches, and grapes,--but Japanese fruits are of very inferior quality. FLOWERS are raised everywhere in great variety and in great abundance, and the chrysanthemum is the emblem of the country and is used on postage stamps.

JAPAN'S MANUFACTURES: THEIR FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

The future of Japan depends upon its MANUFACTURES, but these also are not without their difficulties. The mineral wealth of the country is very great, principally in COAL and IRON. On the northern island alone (Yezo) the coal deposits are two thirds those of all Great Britain. Unfortunately, however, owing to the mountainous character of the country, railways in Japan are difficult to construct, and the transportation of coal or of ore is difficult and expensive. As the coal deposits and iron deposits are not near together charcoal has been used for smelting purposes. Iron, therefore, so far, has not been produced profitably, and its production has decreased. But silver is mined abundantly, and also KAOLIN, or the raw material used in the manufacture of the beautiful porcelain of the country. Copper and antimony are also large articles of export. The principal manufactures of Japan as yet are the TEXTILES, especially SILK and COTTON. In these modern methods are used, although so far the productions of the native domestic looms are superior to those of the factory looms. The production of textiles by machinery has increased fourfold in ten years, and now amounts to about $40,000,000 annually. This, however, is not a large amount, being less than the textile production of any important state in Europe, even Switzerland, or Sweden and Norway, and is only one twentieth that of the United States. Until recently the factory owner in Japan has had the advantage of cheap labour. But the Japanese artisan is also becoming "modernised," and is now demanding higher wages, and enforcing his demand by "strikes." And for all their deftness in domestic manufacture Japanese workmen are not yet as skilful in machine labour as British or American workmen. It follows, therefore, that textile manufacturing in Japan, especially the manufacture of cotton and wool, is not yet out of its tentative or probationary stage. But Japan, having the advantage of an extensive home market for cotton goods (like the Chinese, the Japanese common people wear cotton garments all the year round, in winter padding them for warmth), and having the raw material at her own door (she already grows a large proportion of all the raw cotton she needs), and having, too, an abundance of coal at hand, must needs become a great cotton-manufacturing country. The same conditions hold with regard to the possibilities of Japan's silk manufactures.

POSSIBILITIES OF INCREASED FOREIGN TRADE WITH JAPAN

As in the case of China, the possibilities of increased trade with Japan lie principally in WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES and in BREADSTUFFS. In addition there is a fair chance of increased trade in metal manufactures. The use of woollen garments in Japan in winter is extending even to the middle and working classes. And inasmuch as the country does not raise sheep, and is, indeed, not well able to raise sheep, such woollen clothing, woollen cloth, or raw wool as is used must be imported. Hitherto the woollen manufactures which have been established in the country have not been very successful, and the probability is that Japan's import trade in woollen clothing and woollen cloths will increase year by year. Similarly, from the fact that the agriculture of the country is not adapted to the growth of wheat, nor seems ever likely to be so adapted, and also from the fact that both the higher and the middle classes of Japan are rapidly adopting European and American habits of living, it is very probable that the importation of wheat and wheat flour into Japan will also continue to increase year by year. And from the difficulty there is of smelting iron cheaply it is probable that the importation of iron and iron goods (which in raw iron, iron and steel rails, iron small wares and nails, spinning and other machinery, and steel ships, already amounts to $8,000,000 a year) is likewise likely to increase greatly year by year also.

JAPAN'S MODERN TRADE FACILITIES

Owing to the irregular conformation of the surface of the country, good roads in Japan can scarcely be said to exist. But 20,000 miles of roads have been built, of which the state maintains about one fourth. There are also 2505 miles of railway, of which the state owns and maintains about one fourth also. There are 11,720 miles of telegraph routes, with 37,000 miles of wire; 520 miles of telephone routes, with 6347 miles of wire; and 387 miles of submarine cable routes, with 1481 miles of wire. The country also has a merchant navy of 827 steam vessels of modern type and 702 sailing-vessels of modern type, besides 668 native craft. Owing to the irregular and rocky nature of the coast-line and the great number of small islands which exist, numerous lighthouses are needed; but Japan's lighthouse system is one of the best in the world.

JAPAN'S FOREIGN TRADE

Japan has a foreign trade of $60,000,000 annually in exports and $86,000,000 annually in imports. Of the export trade the principal part, running from a fourth to a third, is with the United States. The next largest part is with France, the next with Hongkong, the next with China, and the next with Great Britain. But Great Britain's direct share is not more than a twelfth. Of the import trade the principal part, almost one third, is with Great Britain. The United States' share is about a twelfth, and that of France about one twenty-fifth. The principal exports are RAW SILK (about one third of the whole), SILK GOODS (about one tenth of the whole), TEA, coal, copper, rice, and matches. The export of matches amounts to $2,500,000 annually. Characteristic exports, though they do not figure largely in the total amount, are floor rugs, lacquered ware, porcelain ware, fans, umbrellas, bronze ware, repoussé work, paper ware and papier-mâché, fibre carpets, and camphor. There is also a large export of fish, shellfish, cuttlefish, edible seaweed, and mushrooms to China and other Asiatic countries. The chief import is RAW COTTON (almost one fifth of the whole). Other important imports are sugar (although she raises almost 100,000,000 pounds of sugar herself annually), cotton yarn, cotton goods, woollen cloths, flannels and blankets, kerosene oil, watches, and articles of iron and steel as above enumerated. The fishing industry is a very important one and over 2,500,000 people are engaged in it. The number of fishing-boats is about 400,000. The fish trade, which includes seaweed, is (when not for home consumption) principally with China.

JAPAN'S SPECIAL TRADE CENTRES

The foreign commerce of Japan, like that of China, is allowed to be carried on only at certain ports, called "treaty ports," of which there are nineteen, the principal being Yokohama, Osaka, Nagasaki, Hakodate, Niigata, and Kobe. The two principal cities, not treaty ports, are Tokio and Kioto. TOKIO (1,300,000) is the capital and chief centre of the political, commercial, and literary activity of the empire. In many respects Tokio is a "modern" city. Its educational features are excellent. Its sanitation also is good. KIOTO (340,000) was formerly the capital, but after the revolution of 1868 it was superseded in this respect by Tokio. YOKOHAMA (170,000), distant from Tokio eighteen miles, is the chief place of the empire for foreign trade. Its foreign trade, indeed, is more than half that of the whole empire, being about $75,000,000 annually. OSAKA (487,000) is in respect to population the second city of the empire, but its foreign trade is not large and is carried on principally at HIOGO, a port near it. NIIGATA (50,000) is the only treaty port on the west side of Japan, the surf caused by the winter monsoon making the flat west coast of the country very dangerous for shipping for half the year. Other important ports are KOBE (161,000) and NAGASAKI (72,000). NAGOYA (215,000) is an important inland town.

IX. THE TRADE FEATURES OF AFRICA

AFRICA FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

Within a period of about fifteen years the continent of Africa has been the scene of a vast partition. At the beginning of that period the amount of African territory that was subject to European control was comparatively small. The British were firmly established in South Africa, and had possessions along the coasts elsewhere principally in the west. The French were firmly established in Algeria and in Senegal. The Portuguese had their ancient settlements in Mozambique and Lower Guinea. Morocco on the northwest and Abyssinia in the northeast were more or less well-established governments that were independent. Egypt in the extreme northeast, with tributary possessions extending along the Nile into the far interior of the continent, was also a more or less well-established government that possessed a quasi-independence, though it was nominally dependent upon Turkey. But elsewhere, except in a few other places controlled by European authority, the whole continent may be described as having been in its original state of savagery or semi-savagery. No government existed anywhere that was either beneficent or stable. The slave-traffic abounded everywhere.

EUROPEAN SPHERES OF INFLUENCE IN AFRICA

The European governments that had possessions in Africa were all doing their best to suppress the slave-traffic. But they could not take very salutary steps in this direction without exercising authority beyond the territorial limits they were supposed to occupy. Gradually, for these reasons, and also for the reason that they were all anxious to extend their commercial dealings in Africa, they began to exercise authority beyond their old-time territorial limits. In this way began the establishment on the part of European nations of what are known as "spheres of influence" in Africa. At first England and France were the only nations that were at all active in establishing these spheres of influence. Later on Germany and Italy and other nations began to establish them also. Beginning, therefore, with the years 1883 and 1884 there has been a general establishment and gradual extension of these spheres until now the whole continent has been practically parcelled out among a few European powers.

THE GREAT PARTITION OF AFRICA

The ancient empire of Morocco still exists in an independent state. Abyssinia, though Italy attempted to subjugate it, is again also independent. The little republic of Liberia is nominally independent. Some territory in the very heart of the Sahara or Great Desert is yet in its aboriginal independence. But elsewhere, throughout the whole continent, Africa is either British, or French, or German, or Belgian, or Portuguese, or Italian. Spain's holding is not worth mentioning. Italy's holding also is scarcely worth mentioning. Portugal's holding has not been increased in the recent "scramble"--only made more definite. France's holding, however, has been enormously increased, and is now the largest (3,300,000 square miles), although much of the French area is barren desert, and much of the rest of it uninhabitable by white people. Great Britain's holding also has been greatly increased, but not nearly so much so as it would have been if in the earlier years of the scramble the British government had not been singularly blind to the actions of other governments in the matter. Germany, too, has got a substantial holding (925,000 square miles). The Kongo Free State, which, though nominally independent, is practically under the suzerainty of Belgium, and must look to Belgium for the funds with which to promote its development, is also a substantial possession, being a little less than Germany's holding--900,000 square miles.

GREAT BRITAIN IN AFRICA