Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

Rice Planting in Uruguay.-Minister Finch transmits from Montevideo, under date of, May 30, 1899, the following letter published in a local paper, showing the surprising yield of rice in the department of Rivera:

The first planting of rice by Mr. Juan Lemos was 11⁄2 kilograms (3.3 pounds), which yielded 150 kilograms (331 pounds), a profit of 100 to 1. A sample of the rice has been inspected and is pronounced to be of the best quality. Encouraged by this splendid result, Mr. Lemos will extend his plantations next year. If the enthusiasm for national production spreads, the department of Rivera will, from its soil and climatic conditions, become one of the richest in the country.

Coal Trade of Montevideo.-Minister Finch writes from Montevideo, May 30, 1899, that the shipments to Montevideo of coal during the first quarter of the year 1899 amounted to 75,610,672 kilograms (74,416 tons).

Dominican Duties Payable in Gold.-The Department has received a report from Consul-General Maxwell, dated Santo Domingo, June 24, 1899, to the effect that the Dominican Congress has passed an act making the import duties payable in United States gold or in the current money of the Republic at the rate of $6 for $1 gold; formerly, the rate was two for one. The act takes effect July 1, 1899.

Municipal Taxes in Madagascar.-Consul Gibbs, of Tamatave, under date of May 3, 1899, says:

Referring to my report dated February 3 last, relative to the temporary putting into execution of the regulations for the formation of an “octroi de mer" in the colony of Madagascar,* I have to state that a decree of the governor-general has repealed this law by instructions from the French Minister of Colonies. The decrees establishing a municipal tax on goods imported into Tamatave, Majunga, Vatomandry, Diego-Saurez, and Mananzary will continue to be enforced without interruption.

United States Trade with Mauritius.-Consul Campbell writes from Port Louis, May 13, 1899, that American commerce has contributed largely to the customs duties of the colony for the quarter ended March 31, 1899. The customs receipts for the first three

*See CONSULAR REPORTS No. 226 (July, 1899), p. 527.

months of 1898 amounted to 170,000 rupees ($52,700),* and during the same period of this year to 300,000 rupees ($93,000). United States trade with the island has contributed to the above the amount of 87,206 rupees ($27,033) in export duties alone.

Exhibition in Constantinople.-Consul-General Dickinson, of Constantinople, under date of June 17, 1899, transmits the following clipping from the Oriental Advertiser, of that city:

AN AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION IN CONSTANTINOPLE.

With the object of encouraging agricultural enterprise as much as possible, the Imperial Government has decided to organize a permanent agricultural exhibition in Constantinople. It will be installed in the premises of the Yildiz Relief Exhibition, which is empty at present, but which will be reopened in the month of August. The new exhibition will contain two sections-one for cultivated plants and the other for domestic animals. Agricultural implements of the latest American and other inventions will also be exhibited. The use of such machinery and implements will be taught to agriculturists by Americans who will be specially engaged by the Government.

An imperial iradé commands the Ministry of Agriculture to lay before the Council of Ministers all measures that are likely to lead to the progress of agriculture and the improvement of the breed of cattle.

Art Exhibition in Antwerp.-Consul-General Lincoln writes from Antwerp, under date of June 9, 1899, that an exhibition of the works of Van Dyck is to be held in that city beginning with August I 2. There will be a loan collection from various galleries in Europe, and the event will be celebrated by a festival. The programme of the festival, transmitted by Mr. Lincoln, has been filed for reference in the Department of State.

Consular Reports Transmitted to Other Departments.-The following reports from consular officers (originals or copies) have been transmitted since the date of the last report to other Departments for publication or for other action thereon:

[blocks in formation]

FOREIGN REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS.

New Openings for Trade in Russia.—The following is summarized from the British Trade Journal, London, July 1, 1899:

The industrial, mining, and commercial development of Russia is progressing more rapidly than agriculture and attracting, year by year, a larger amount of capital and energy. Still, the agricultural interests maintain a degree of importance in the national life that may be estimated by the fact that not more than 5 per cent of the Russian people are even now wholly dependent upon industry in any of its forms for their livelihood.

Drawing upon her own resources for labor, food, and raw material, industrial Russia is affected by the peculiar social and economic conditions of the districts from which these supplies are obtained. The great majority of the Russian peasants are occupied on their farms for the summer half of the year; but during the winter months, when agricultural work is impossible, they flock to the industrial centers in search of occupation. The rate of industrial wages falls, therefore, from 25 to 50 per cent, and, in consequence, many factories are partly or altogether closed from April until October, working, however, at high pressure from October until April. The machinery employed has in these cases to accomplish in six months what, under more normal conditions, would have been spread over the entire year. Another fact to be borne in mind is that a great part of this machinery must be worked by half-skilled labor and must often require considerable modifications. Since the emancipation of the serfs, the peasant population has vastly increased and they are more and more dependent upon the proceeds of their labor upon the landowners' estates. This abundance of cheap labor, of course, affects the demand for agricultural machinery. There has been a tendency of late years for the peasantry to form associations, or "artels," purchasing agricultural implements of various kinds, and making special contracts for plowing, sowing, or reaping a certain number of acres, afterwards thrashing and storing the corn. They are aided by the zemstva and various local bodies with loans at a low rate of interest for this purpose. This has created a demand for special implements the price of which is not beyond the reach of the peasants, and of such simple construction as to be suitable for districts in which technical skill, either for working or repairing the machine, is absolutely unobtainable. In general, agricultural implements must, both in price and in the form of their construction, be within reach of the peasantry. This trade is almost exclusively in the hands of German and Belgian manufacturers. They also supply the demand for appliances of many kinds used in drying and preserving vegetables and fruits, tools for cleaning them, knives of a special form for cutting them into the shape desired, and stoves for drying them to the exact degree required. The severity of the Russian winters renders the whole Russian people dependent upon dried or preserved vegetables and fruits for more than half the year. At this moment, Russian dried vegetables are equal to those of Germany in every way.

Many Belgian and German firms have adopted a system which might be advantageously followed by others. Working models of agricultural implements suitable 185

No. 228-13.

for peasant use, but in their complete form beyond their reach on account of their price and the difficulty of transport, are sent to the country bazaar. Agents supply the absolutely essential parts in iron or steel, leaving the peasants to construct the whole machine in wood; full instructions, accompanied by drawings, are supplied with the parts sold, and in many instances cut-out paper patterns are given of the exact size of the portions which the peasants have to construct for themselves. The machines made in this way are, of course, inferior to what would have been sent out by regular manufacturers, but they are within the peasants' purchasing power, and often hundreds of parts of machines and implements are sold in this way in districts within which in a complete state they would have found no purchasers.

on

The cheapness of labor in the rural districts is forcing the landowning class to the development of new industries. Spinning and weaving factories are erected or many estates, sometimes worked by the peasantry upon the cooperative system, in conjunction with the proprietor. In the same way an immense number of other industries are springing up, such as shoemaking, saddlery, tailoring, furniture and cabinet making, the production of small objects in metal, such as locks, candlesticks, traps, etc. Cutlery is a very important branch of trade, while the manufacture of the national samovar is almost exclusively in the hands of the peasants. All over Russia woolen stocking and glove knitting is now carried on with the use of simple and inexpensive machines, largely imported from abroad. All these trades call for an immense variety of subsidiary products of all kinds. The village industries are warmly supported by the zemstva and the local governments.

Importers of Russian rural produce, who should arrange to purchase that produce direct from the producer, would certainly meet with the hearty cooperation of the zemstva in developing the importation of British machinery and appliances, as such imports would really be paid for by the agricultural and country products which the peasants are able to sell.

Gold in the Philippines.-From the London and China Telegraph, London, July 10, 1899, the following is taken:

Filipinos have proved about as indifferent to the mineral wealth of their islands as the Boer farmers of the Transvaal to the riches lying beneath the surface of the ground. Consequently, the Philippines present a tempting enough field to British enterprise, which, indeed, has already struck root in the islands—notably on the shores of Paracele Bay, in Luzon, where with skilled labor and modern methods it has given an earnest of what may be expected in the future. Paracele gold is well known in Manila, but few Manilese even know where Paracele is, and fewer still have ever visited the place.

To the question, "How is it that so little is known of Philippine gold?" the simple answer is that hitherto there has been no official control of the output, and, strange to say, no tax upon it. The miners live in isolated districts and villages, with rare communication between them; and the universal man of business is the omnipresent Chinaman, who knows much better than to swagger over the volume of his gold trade. But, apart from Paracele-which may be said to be the Ballarat, if not the Klondike, of the Philippines-gold is also found in many other islands of the group-in Cebu, Mindoro, Panaon; whilst Mindanao itself is the center of a considerable trade in alluvial gold. The most serious impediment to mining in the Philippines is the utter absence of practicable roads; but this is a drawback that does not apply to Paracele, the headquarters of British gold enterprise in the Philippines (the Philippine Minerals Syndicate), as the reefs are close to the sea, and heavy

machinery can be taken in sea-going vessels to within 1,000 yards of where it is wanted. Hitherto, the mining laws and regulations obtaining in the Philippines were those that were in force in Spain-the unit of mining concession being a parallelogram 300 meters by 200 meters, or a superficial area of about 15 acres. But there is reason to believe that under American dominion the conditions of mining will be made much more favorable, and that Luzon will become an important center in the gold industry of the world.

Irrigation in the Sudan.-The London Times of June 16, 1899,

says:

Sir W. E. Garstin has presented a copious and interesting note as the result of his recent visit to the Sudan. Describing how the main stream of the Nile loses itself in the immense swamp area lying between Shambeh and Lake No, he suggests, if the summer water supply is to be increased, that the lost river should be formed into a river again by confining the water to one main artery, thus preventing the immense loss from evaporation in the swamps, a loss approximately estimated at 386 cubic meters per second. The swamp area when drained would provide an immense basin available as an escape for any excess water, besides providing Egypt with the much-needed power of controlling the Nile in flood. With canal and basin irrigation applied to the Blue Nile, Sennar and the southern portion of Khartum province might become one of the finest wheat-producing areas in the world, and, by means of the proposed railway connecting Abu-Harraz, Gedaref, and Kassala with the Red Sea, might compete successfully with India. But the scarcity of population, the cost of transport, and the unhealthiness of the country are serious obstacles to any large outlay upon public works.

Between Khartum and Berber the upper Egypt irrigation system, by a series of large basins on either side of the river, might be introduced gradually and be extended as the population returned to this now desolate region. Meanwhile, pump

ing stations here and on the Blue Nile would materially assist the return of prosperity.

The note insists on the necessity that all important irrigation schemes over the entire area watered by the Nile and its tributaries should be referred to Cairo, as otherwise Egypt might some day be in the same position for water supply as if the Sudan were held by an unfriendly power.

The vast forests extending from the upper part of the Blue Nile to Abyssinia, as also in Bahr-el-Ghazal province, are an undeveloped source of wealth, but are being felled wastefully, and it is recommended that an Indian forestry officer should be appointed to examine them scientifically. The belt adjacent to the river is becoming reduced as the gum trees and other valuable trees are being felled for fuel.

Progress must be very slow, and for a long time the administration of the Sudan will constitute a heavy drain on the Egyptian treasury. One of the main difficulties is the depopulation. A generation will probably be required to restore the population to even moderate limits, and possibly half a century will pass before it becomes as dense as it was prior to Muhammed Ali's invasion in 1820. Another difficulty is the extreme unhealthiness of the climate south of Khartum, with the indolent character of the natives, whose wants are extremely few and who, accustomed to having all cultivation and manual labor performed by black slaves, are not very likely soon to change their nature.

« ElőzőTovább »