| OCR Text |
Show AMERICAN TRADE WITH CHIMA. The Chinese Minister to this country has begun a systematic effort to have the restriction laws against his countrymen coun-trymen coming into the United Slates, modified. He attempted to have Congress liberalize them by enactment, but this failed. Then he tried to have them eased up by Department construction, con-struction, but this also failed. He Is now engaged In an effort to get up a Mill .factory case to take to the Federal courts, with a view to having the Supreme Su-preme Court pass upon these laws. In an attack upon their alleged constitutionality. constitu-tionality. In view of this agitation, and the threat that accompanies It, of trade boycott If no relief is to be had, it Is of Interest to Inquire what that trade amounts to. A recent official sheet gives a general understanding of It. According Ac-cording to the annual publication of the Chinese customs authorities. Just received by the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor, La-bor, the forelsn trade of China during the calendar year 190::. aggregated CS3.-000,000 CS3.-000,000 kalkwan taels, as against 541,-000,000 541,-000,000 for the calendar year 1903. The value of the halkwan tnel, as computed by the Director of the Mint on January 1st of each year, was 70.3 cents In 1900; 77.1 cents In 1901; 68 cents In 1902; D9.4 cents In 1903, and 6S.S cents In 1904. So that, If the value computed by the Dl-rorim- of the Mint is general commer cial value, the apparent Increase in taels was not at all an Increase In value, the difference In exchange covering cov-ering almost precisely the nominal gain. China's commerce with the United States during 1904 was the largest on record. 56,250,000 halkwan taels, as compared com-pared with 55,000.000 taels in 1902. the previous high record of Chinese trade with this country. In this case the gain was partly real, the difference in exchange not being enough to account for all of the increase. The United States supplied of shirtings, sheetings, and other plain fabrics of cotton, 3.703,-548 3.703,-548 pieces the past year, a considerable decrease compared with the year before, be-fore, partly because of the high prices of cotton and the consequent shutting down of the mills, and partly because of the closing of the Manchurlan market. mar-ket. The Imports of flour Increased from 766.324 to 937,946 plculs, the plcul being 133 1-3 pounds. Kerosene oil Is the chief gainer In China's Imports, the total import having hav-ing risen from 84.99S.335 gallons In 1903 to the enormous figure of 156,891,235 gallons gal-lons In 1904. To the total import of the two years, 1903 and 1904, American oil contributed 37 and 43 per cent, Russian 6 and 21 per cent, and Sumatra 47 and 35 per cent, respectively. Borneo oil, under that name. Is much reduced, and California oil has made Its first appearance. appear-ance. And here is the general statement of the Chinese Import trade, and the part this country has in it, expressed In halkwan taels: Total net Imports from Imports into the United China, States. 1900 211.070.422 16.724.493 268.302,918 23.K.V"i 1902 315,363.905 80.138.713 1&03 326 739.133 25.871 ITS K04 344.060.608 29.180.946 That shows that the people of this country are rather more than holding their own In the proportionate increase, but If the Chinamen want to make this exclusion business a matter of commercial commer-cial reciprocity (which the American people at present decidedly do not), they will have to do a good deal better than that |
