CHINA. Area and Population. The following table gives a statement of the area and population of the whole of the Chinese Empire according to the latest estimates: According to official data, the population of the 18 provinces of China Proper and Formosa was 413,000,000 in 1842; other estimates then gave 350,000,000. The Island of Formosa was ceded to Japan on May 8, 1895. The formal transfer was effected on June 2, 1895. The total number of foreigners resident in the open ports of China was 10,855 at the end of 1896. Among them were 4,362 British subjects, 1,439 Americans, 852 Japanese, 933 Frenchmen, 870 Germans, 871 Portuguese, 410 Spaniards, and 407 Swedes and Norwegians, all other nationalities being represented by very few members. About one-half of the total number of foreigners resided at Shanghai. Fiscal Affairs. No general statement of revenue and expenditure is made public, but the following estimate, made by Consul Jamieson, of Shanghai, taken from the "Statesman's Year Book," is shown below. The amounts are stated in thousands of taels: The receipts from the foreign customs alone are made public. They amounted to 7,872,257 haikwan taels, or £2,331,677 (ex. 68.), in 1864, and, gradually increasing, have risen to 23,518,021 haik wan taels (including 6,197,906 taels, opium Likin), or £5,781,513 (ex. 4s. 11d.), in 1891; to 22,689,054 haikwan taels (including 5,667,007 taels, opium Likin), or £4,939,596 (ex. 48. 44d.), in 1892; and to 21,989,300 haikwan taels (including 5,362,733 tuels, opium Likin), or £4,329,143 (ex. 3s. 114d.), in 1893; and to 22,523,605 haikwan taels (including 5,050,303 taels, opium Likin), or £3,601,430 (ex. 3s. 23 d.), in 1894; 21,385,000 haikwan taels in 1895 (including 4,104,145 taels, opium Likin), or £3.497,402 (ex. 3s. 64d.); in 1896, to 2,579,366 baik wan taels (including 3,919,759 taels, opium Likin), or £3,763,227 (ex. 3s. 4d.). The expenditure of the Government is mainly for the army. The existing debt of China has arisen almost entirely out of the recent war with Japan. In December, 1894, a foreign silver loan of £1,635,000 was raised at 7 per cent., and in February, 1895, a gold loan of £3,000,000, both on the security of the customs revenue, while other advances, on the same security, amounting to over £2,000,000 were obtained from local banks and foreign syndicates. Internal loans were also obtained amounting to nearly £5,000,000. Thus the total debt was increased to about £13,000,000, The war indemnity to be paid to Japan amounts to 200,000,000 kuping, or Imperial Treasury, taels' (1 kuping tael = 1.096 Shanghai tael), and the compensation for the retrocession of the Leao-tong peninsula to 30,000,000 taels, together equivalent to about £40,000,000, so that the total debt of China now reaches the sum of £53,000,000. Industries. China is essentially an agricultural country, but no data as to areas or crops exist. Wheat, barley, maize, and millet, and other cereals, are chiefly cultivated in the north, and rice in the south. Sugar is cultivated in the south provinces. Opium has become a crop of increasing importance. Tea is cultivated exclusively in the west and south, in Fu-Chien, Hû-pei, Hû-Nan, Chiang-hsi, ChehChiang, An-hui, Kuangtung, and Sze-ch'wan, The culture of silk is equally important with that of tea. The best and the most silk comes from Kuangtung, Sze-cb'wan, and Cheh-Chiang. China may be regarded as one of the first coal countries of the world. The coal mines at Kaip'ing, Northern Chili, under foreign supervision, have been very productive: at Hankow coal mines have also been worked. There are also considerable stores of iron and copper remaining to be worked. 1880. 1890. 1892. 1893. Commerce. The imports (less re-exports) and exports, in haikwan taels, are shown as follows: Exports. Imports. 79,293,500 127.093,500 135,101,200 151,362,800 Exports. Year. 87,144,480 1895. 102,583,500 1896. 116,632,300 1897. Imports. 161,102,900 128,104,500 The cession of Formosa in a degree affects the figures for 1895, 1896, and 1897, in comparisons with former years. The trade with the principal countries is shown as follows, in thousands of haikwan taels: The total imports and exports for 1897 were distributed as follows in taels: Hong Kong, 150,528,109; Great Britain. 52,960,816; Europe, continental, without Russia, 34,443,925; United States, 30,268,708; British India, 21,114,114; Japan, 39,191,022; Macao, 9,409,192; other countries, 28,414,097. Total, 366,329,983. The chief imports and exports are shown as follows, in thousands of haikwan taels: Opium.. -Exports 1895. 1896. Tea.. 32,450 30,157 Cotton goods. Raw cotton.. 569 5,363 Straw braid.. Metal. 7,189 9,083 Clothing.. Chinaware and pottery... The imports for 1897 were, in taels: Opium, 27,901.056; cottons, 78,663,280; woolens, 4,838,105; textiles not classed, 408,849; metals, 8,146,608; others, 82,875,727. Total, 202.826,625. Exports were: Raw cotton, 7,393.456; clothing, 2,177,690; silks, 55,250,660; teas, 29,216,546; sugar, 1,777,460; others, 67,685,546. Total, 163,501,358. The status of American cottons and the kerosene industry is illustrated by the following table, showing the imports of all merchandise which expressly names the country of its origin for the twelve months ended December 31, 1897, and for the same period of 1896: The imports of cotton goods from the United States for the year 1898 amounted to 115,492,797 yards, against 140,121,035 yards in 1897. From the United Kingdom they were, in 1898, 445,182,100 yards, against 542,814,000 yards in 1897 (including Hong Kong). The following table shows the net value of the import trade of the Yangtze-Kiang : 64,351,581 24,814,147 87,221.052 27,679,162 81,587,124 31,493,395 Total...... H. taels 10,521,180 3,946,122 14,536,842 4,613,194 12,323,055 4,756,805 The value of the exports in the same three years from the Yangtze ports was as follows: The following is a list of the treaty ports and ports of call in China, showing the date of opening the custom-houses, the estimated population, and the total foreign trade in 1897 in each of said local ities. (Prepared by Charles Denby, Minister to China.) Port. Year. Total Foreign TradePopulation. Hk. Taels. *Not opened. + Under this same convention, goods are allowed to land at the following places (ports of call) on the Yangtze River: Tatung, Nganching, Hukou, Wusueh, Luchikou, Shashih (made a treaty port by the treaty with Japan, April 17, 1895). The imports into the United States and exports from the United States were as follows: 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. Imports into U. S... $20,488,291 $20,636,535 $17,135,028 $20,545,829 $22,023,004 $20,403,862 $20,326,388 Exports from U. S..... 5,663,497 3,900,457 5,862,426 3,603,840 6,921,933 11,924,433 9,992,894 The principal exports to the United States for the year ending June 30, 1896, were: Chemicals, drugs, dyes, etc., $814,555, of which opium, for smoking, was $729,126; hats, bonnets, hoods, materials for, $917,843; hides and skins, other than furs, $580,030; furs, and manufactures of, $514,146; matting, $668,813; rice, rice meal, etc., $367,705; silk, unmanufactured, $6,678,726; silk, manufactures of, $269,355; sugars (above 16 D. S.), $902,943; tea, $6,966,766; wool, unmanufactured, $1,600,842. The principal imports from the United States were: Cotton cloths, $3,854,146; oils, mineral, refined, $2,166,978; tobacco, manufactures of, $192,138. In 1897, cotton cloths, $7,438,203; oils, mineral, refined, $3,371,937. Shipping, Railroads. (See Index.) Money. The sole official coinage and the monetary unit of China is the copper cash, of which about 1,600-1,700 1 haikwan tael, and about 22=1 penny. The silver sycee is the usual medium of exchange. Large payments are made by weight of silver bullion, the standard being the liang, or tuel, which varies at different places. The haikwan (or customs) tael, being one tael weight of pure silver, was equal in 1896 to 3s. 4.3d., or 5.95 haikwan taels to a pound sterling." By an Imperial decree, issued during 1890, the silver dollar coined at the new Canton mint is made current all over the Empire. It is of the same value as the Mexican and United States silver dollars, and as the Japanese silver yen. Foreign coins are looked upon but as bullion, and usually taken by weight, except at the treaty ports. NOTE. For further information on money and banking see "Year Book," Volume I, pages 67 and 68; also the "History of Banking in All Nations," Volume IV, page 547, issued by "The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin." *Not opened. Under the same article, the following ports on the West River were also made ports of call: Kungmoon, Kumchuck, Shiuhing, Tahking. JAPAN. Area and Population. The area and population of the six divisions, as returned January 1, 1895, were as follows: The number of foreigners in 1895 was 8,246, of whom 3,642 were Chinese, 1,878 English, 1,022 Americans, 493 Germans, 391 French, 127 Portuguese, 80 Dutch, 222 Russians, and 391 others. In 1888, the population numbered 39,607,234. Fiscal Affairs. The following are the Imperial revenues and expenditures, the amounts for the years 1892-93 to 1894-95 being present accounts, 1895-96 and 1896-97 revised estimates, and 1897-98 budget estimates: The national debt at the end of 1896 stood as follows: Consolidated bonds, 172,061,700 yen; war bonds, 121,421,935 yen; 5 per cent. pension bonds, 30,036,120 yen; currency redemption bonds, 22,000,000 yen; naval bonds, 16,950,000 yen; railway bonds, 6,000,000 yen; old public schools (no interest), 5,486,862 yen; insurrection expenses bonds, 4,000,000 yen; foreign debt, 233,753 yen; total, 377,189,870 yen. Loans to be raised in 1897: Public undertakings loan, 59,280,600 yen; consolidated bonds, 2,502,250 yen; railway bonds, 5,327,350 yen. There is also Government paper to be taken into account, amounting to 9,480,000 yen, making the total of Japan's national debt in round numbers 454,000,000 yen. Agriculture. The land is cultivated chiefly by peasant proprietors. The land was officially in 1894 thus: Publie land, used for Government purposes, 9,675 acres; forests, 2,885,776; open field, 1,412,179 acres; miscellaneous (1893-94), 17,420 acres; total, 4,325,050 acres. Private land: Under cultivation, 1,235,917; homesteads, 93,365 forests, 1,789,438; open fields, 262,774; miscellaneous, 6,718; total, 3,388,212 acres. The public lands include only those surveyed, and the private only those taxed. The following are some agricultural statistics: |