ore, and Columbo.
The western mind has long looked upon China as given over to hopeless
inertia and stagnation, but China has awakened at last. In one year the
importation of illuminating oil rose 50 per cent., of window glass 58 per
cent., of matches 23 per cent., and needles 20 per cent. In six years the
tonnage of vessels discharging in Chinese ports rose by one-third. While
these lines are going through the press Li Hung Chang is in Europe
negotiating for a loan of 400,000,000 francs to be expended in internal
improvements, and he gives the weight of his very high authority to the
statement that China is no longer opposed to the introduction of railways.
Consul-General Jernigan reports to the Department of State that the
prospectus of a new industry is now before the public at his station,
Shanghai. It is called the Shanghai Oil Mill Company, and purposes to
manufacture oil from cotton seed. It is the logical result of the cotton
mills at Shanghai, and the consequent stimulus given to the cultivation of
cotton in China. Since 1890 there have been forty-five new manufacturing
plants established in Shanghai. They are all in successful operation,
especially the cotton factories, in which large capital is invested. He
adds:
"The area suitable for cultivation of cotton in China is almost as
limitless as the supply of labor, and labor being very cheap,
there can be no doubt that China will soon be one of the great
cotton-producing countries of the world, and that this product,
produced and manufactured in China, will command serious
consideration in all calculations with reference to the cotton
market. It will not be safe to discount the cotton of China
because it now grades low, for it is certain to improve. At
present it is estimated there are 3,000,000 tons of cotton seed,
equal to 90,000,000 gallons of oil, now yearly lost to commerce
which would find a ready market. The company will start with a
capital of 250,000 Mexican dollars. One company has already
ordered its machinery from the United States."
The population of the Chinese Empire is estimated at 400,000,000, but Li
Hung Chang declares, and experienced western observers confirm it, that
the country with modern improvements could sustain more than twice its
present population in a very high state of comfort.
Of all the popular errors, however, the greatest is that of regarding
India as an overpopulate
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