The shipping also is largely in the hands of the Japanese. In 1903, their share in the Korean shipping was as follows:[[30]]—
| Vessels | Tonnage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Korean | 25 | per cent. | 9+ | per cent. |
| Japanese | 61+ | 78+ | ||
| Russian | 2+ | 9+ | ||
| Others | 11+ | 4– | ||
Turning to Manchuria, it is found that Japan controlled in 1902 more than 44 per cent. of the shipping tonnage,[[31]] besides 40 per cent. of the direct import trade and over 90 per cent. of the export trade, as is shown below:[[32]]—
| Exports | (Japan) | Imports | (Japan) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,080,345l. | ( 970,663l.) | 635,085l. | (247,624l.) |
| 1902 | 1,130,429l. | (1,041,395l.) | 695,020l. | (280,843l.) |
| Average five years, 1896–99 and 1891 | 965,553l. | ( 880,917l.) | 433,811l. | (131,143l.) |
at Niu-chwang, which was then the only important port in Manchuria open to foreign trade under the ordinary customs rules.[[33]]
In this connection, it should be remembered that both the Korean and Manchurian trade are of recent origin. Niu-chwang was opened as a treaty port in 1858, but its commercial importance may be said to date from 1899. Korea’s foreign trade did not begin till 1884, and it exceeded 10,000,000 yen for the first time in 1895. The rapid growth of the trade of these places has been largely due to the increasing trade activity of Japan. In the case of Niu-chwang, it is true the development of its import trade has been as much owing to the energy of the Americans as to that of the Japanese, but its export business would be meagre, and would consequently reduce the imports also, but for Japanese activity. The recent increase in the production of millet in Manchuria, for instance, may be said to be entirely due to Japanese trade at Niu-chwang. Of the three staple products of Western Manchuria, tall millet is consumed by the natives, and beans are partly consumed and partly exported, while millet is cultivated purely for the purpose of exportation. It began to be exported to Korea in August, 1901, and to Japan in 1902. Since the latter year, Japan’s demand for millet has steadily increased, and has caused a considerable rise in its price at Niu-chwang. The cultivation of millet, therefore, is a pure gain that has been created by the trade relations of Manchuria with Japan.[[34]] Far more important than millet as articles for exportation are beans and bean-cakes. The entire trade conditions at Niu-chwang may be said to depend upon the amount of the sale of these articles. The more they are sold, the greater is the importing capacity of the people of Manchuria. The nation which buys beans and bean-cakes in the largest quantities naturally commands the greatest facility in pushing their imports into Niu-chwang. The exportation of these goods doubled during the ten years between 1889 and 1898, while the amount of the bean production in Manchuria for 1900 was estimated at between 1,930,000 and 2,450,000 koku. Both the production and the exportation must now be much greater. The increase was due in the main to the growing demand in Japan for beans and bean-cakes, as witness the following ratios of exports to China and Japan from Niu-chwang:—
| Beans | Bean-cakes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To China | To Japan | To China | To Japan | |
| 1889 | 98.0% | 2.0% | 95.8% | 4.2% |
| 1893 | 67.5% | 32.5% | 68.3% | 31.7% |
| 1897 | 60.7% | 39.3% | 50.2% | 49.8% |
In 1903, the ratios must have been much greater for Japan than for China. The increasing demand for these products has induced many Chinese to migrate from Shan-tung to Southern and Western Manchuria and cultivate beans.[[35]] As regards the Korean trade, the following table will speak for itself:—
| Korean trade in merchandise | Korean export of gold | Total | Japan-Korea trade | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 19,041,000 | yen | 2,034,000 | yen | 21,075,000 | yen | 14,061,000 | yen |
| 1898 | 17,527,000 | 2,375,000 | 19,902,000 | 10,641,000 | ||||
| 1899 | 15,225,000 | 2,933,000 | 18,158,000 | 11,972,000 | ||||
| 1900 | 20,380,000 | 3,633,000 | 24,013,000 | 18,759,000 | ||||
| 1901 | 23,158,000 | 4,993,000 | 28,151,000 | 21,425,000 | ||||
| 1902 | (22,280,000) | 5,064,000 | (27,344,000) | 18,512,000 | ||||
| 1903 | 27,679,000 | 5,456,000 | 33,135,000 | 20,676,000 | ||||
If we examine the causes of the growth of individual open ports in Korea, nothing can be plainer than that it has almost entirely resulted from the increasing trade relations between Korea and Japan. It is needless to mention Fusan, for its trade is nearly synonymous with its Japanese trade. Kunsan was opened on May 1, 1899, and its population was only 300 till two years ago, but the great demand by Japan for the rice coming through this port has already tended to enlarge the number of its inhabitants up to 2000 or more.[[36]] Similar remarks may be made of Mokpo, Chinnampo, and other ports.[[37]] Most conspicuous, however, is the case of Chemulpo. In 1883, when it was opened as a treaty port, it contained only a few fishers’ houses, but now it holds a population of 15,000, and occupies a position in Korea similar to that of Shanghai in China. Of the inhabitants of the ports, 8000, or more than a half, are Japanese. Streams of Koreans also have flowed hither from inland towns, for there the officials oppress people, while here they are so constantly viewed by the foreigners that undue exactions are impossible.[[38]] We have already noted the important fact that Korea and Manchuria on the one hand and Japan on the other exchange, not wares of luxury, but useful and necessary articles. We have now come to another equally important fact, that the growth of the Manchurian and Korean trade depends largely upon the commercial activity of Japan. From these considerations, it would seem safe to say that the trade interests of the three countries are largely common, for the more Korea and Manchuria export to Japan, the greater will be their purchasing power of Japanese goods, and, also, the larger the exportation from Japan to Manchuria and Korea, the more readily they will dispose of their products to her. On the one hand, Korea and Manchuria encourage the growth of Japan’s manufacture, and supply her with food and manure; on the other hand, the economic development and prosperity of Korea and Manchuria must be largely determined by the increasing demand for their products by Japan, and the easy supply of their wants from Japan. The future growth of the three nations, then, must in a large measure depend upon the intimate progress, of their trade interests, which, therefore, not only are common, but should be increasingly common. If the history of the past suggests the probable development in the future, there is every reason to believe that, with reformed systems of currency and improved and extended cultivation of land and means of transportation, the trade of Manchuria and Korea will show a tremendous increase, and then the community of interest between them and Japan will be most profound.