EXPORT OF TEA AND SILK FROM CHINA,
Showing the State of the Trade before, during, and after the Occupation of the producing Districts by the Ti-pings.
[From the following Figures the Effect of their Presence upon Commerce may be judged.]
Total Exports during the Five Years immediately preceding the Outbreak of the Ti-ping Revolution.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | |
| Pounds. | Bales. | ||
| Year | 1845-1846 | 57,580,000 | 18,600 |
| " | 1846-1847 | 53,360,000 | 19,000 |
| " | 1847-1848 | 47,690,000 | 21,377 |
| " | 1848-1849 | 47,240,000 | 17,228 |
| " | 1849-1850 | 53,960,000 | 16,134 |
Remarks. These returns are quoted by Col. Sykes, M.P., in his pamphlet on "The Progress of Trade with China, 1833-1860," and are copied from the Friend of China, which journal, then established at Canton, published a tabular form, showing the total exports (exclusive of Ningpo) from all Treaty Ports, 1843 to 1858.
Total Exports during the First Three Years of the Revolution, while the Ti-pings were steadily progressing northward.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | |
| Pounds. | Bales. | ||
| Year | 1850-1851 | 64,020,000 | 22,143 |
| " | 1851-1852 | 65,130,000 | 23,040 |
| " | 1852-1853 | 72,900,000 | 25,571 |
Remarks. It will be seen that the progress of the rebellion did not interfere with trade, which continued steadily increasing.
Total Exports from date of Capture of Nankin, and many producing Districts, by the Ti-pings, to 1859.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | |
| Pounds. | Bales. | ||
| Year | 1853-1854 | 77,210,000 | 61,984 |
| " | 1854-1855 | 86,500,000 | 51,486 |
| " | 1855-1856 | 91,930,000 | 50,489 |
| " | 1856-1857 | 61,460,000 | 74,215 |
| " | 1857-1858 | 76,740,000 | 60,736 |
Remarks. It will be seen that the exports, although to a certain extent coming from, or passing through, Ti-ping territory, continued regularly increasing, especially in the case of the silk trade.
Total Exports during the Two Years preceding the Capture, of the entire Silk, and about half of the Tea, Districts.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | |
| Pounds. | Bales. | ||
| Year | 1858-1859 | 65,789,792 | 81,136 |
| " | 1859-1860 | 85,938,493 | 69,137 |
Remarks. These returns are carefully copied from the bi-monthly issues of The China Overland Trade Report.
Total Exports during the entire Occupation of the Silk Districts.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | |
| Pounds. | Bales. | ||
| Year | 1860-1861 | 87,220,754 | 88,754 |
| " | 1861-1862 | 107,351,649 | 73,322 |
| " | 1862-1863 | 118,692,138 | 83,264 |
Remarks. The Ti-pings captured Soo-chow, the capital of the silk districts (and shortly after the whole of that valuable country), in the month of May, 1860. It will be seen that, instead of injuring the silk trade, at the termination of the next business year season 1860-61, commencing June 1, 1860, and ending 31st May, 1861 they had increased it to 88,754 bales, the greatest number ever exported from China in one year; to 73,322, season 1861-62; and 83,264, season 1862-63; whilst the export of tea, mostly from regions in their possession, was raised from 66,000,000 pounds in 1860, to 119,000,000 in 1863! These figures cover the period of entire occupation of the silk districts by the Ti-pings, and their occupation of the tea districts of Fy-chow, Taeping-hien, and others in the provinces of Ngan-whui, Che-kiang, Kiang-si, and Kiang-su, and extend to the end of May, 1863.
Total Exports since the Ti-pings have been driven from the Silk Districts.
| Date of Export. | Tea. | Raw Silk. | ||
| Pounds. | Bales. | |||
| Year | 1863-1864 | 119,689,238 | 46,863 | |
| " | 1864-1865 | 121,236,870 | 41,128 | |
Remarks. These returns prove, better than any history or argument, who were the devastators of the former Ti-ping territory. While the revolutionists held and governed the valuable silk districts, that article was produced and exported in larger quantities than had ever been known before. After the British had made the producing districts the theatre of the war, and finally succeeded in driving the Ti-pings out, the supply of silk at once fell to half the export during the Ti-ping dominion, and the second year after to still less.