The native merchants of the interior of China appear to be keen traders; but, probably, it would be necessary for foreigners, in their first intercourse with them, to do their business through the established hongs, who are united in powerful guilds, resembling those so general in Europe, a few centuries ago, with a similar reputation of tyranny over all smaller dealers, and a tenacity in everything affecting their own privileges. Nearly all the important branches of trade in the interior are now under the control of these guilds, or associated hongs, who are responsible to the authorities for the duties leviable, with a power of regulating particular trades recognised by the Government.
“Hongs” or guilds.
Chinese bankers.
It is curious to find in distant parts of the world, so remote, indeed, that the inhabitants know nothing of any portion of the globe beyond the confines of China, nor, with rare exceptions, have ever heard of any country but their own, the same rules for the regulation of commerce as were general throughout Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries;[406] even their banking system having much resemblance to that of Europe. In China, the custom prevails of making large deductions from the weight or nominal price of goods, for cash payments; the ordinary credit, according to ancient habit, being from six to twelve months, or even more. Negotiation of drafts is managed by bankers, mostly by Shansi men, who profess relationship with every important place in China, as the Lombards once did in Europe.
Prior to the Tae Ping rebellion, Hankow claimed to have a complete, and, by all accounts, a wealthy banking system, the smallest of the banks, called Yin-hongs, having subscribed capitals of many thousands, while the Shansi exchange-houses (Piaw Hoo) counted their wealth by hundreds of thousands. At that time, a great deal of the spare capital of the north found its way to this city, where it was lent at rates not greatly in excess of those now current in England; but, during the rebellion, the Shansi exchange houses withdrew their capital, while the mandarins made such heavy levies on the smaller banks, that most of these establishments were closed, and “cash shops” were, for some time, the only medium of banking operations. These, however, have now assumed more important functions than that of mere exchange, and two of them have become, though still retaining the name of cash shops, banking establishments of considerable importance. These banks frequently make the necessary advances to the growers of the teas produced in such abundance in this district, though the bulk of the capital employed in this now vast trade is provided by the English and American merchants, many of whom have houses at Hankow.
River and coasting trade of China.
Though the most valuable portions of the trade between Hankow and the sea-coast is now conducted by steamers, native sailing-craft of various sorts are still the only means of water transport, on the upper Yang-tse, which is navigable for vessels drawing not more than eight feet of water as far as Ichang, 363 miles above Hankow. As many as 800 of these vessels, averaging about 50 tons each,[407] have been counted at one time in the harbour of Shansi alone. Their crews, like the boatmen of the Nile, are a special class of men, trained to the service, whose forefathers, through many generations, have followed a similar calling. They are a hardy race, and manage their rude craft with considerable adroitness. Besides these, lorchas, under various foreign flags, running in competition with the steamers, find profitable employment in the conveyance of bulky and low-priced produce and merchandise between Shanghai and Hankow, while the river below the latter place is still frequented by large fleets of native vessels, independently of the crafts engaged in the salt trade, which make the short voyage to places above Ching-Kiang; sea-going junks also find their way up to Taiping and Woohoo.[408]
Soon after the opening of the trade to foreigners, the sea-going junks employed in the trade of the coast were opposed by small sailing-vessels from other nations, more especially from Germany and the northern ports of Europe. Many brigs, schooners, and barques, of from 150 to 400 tons, were also sent from England to engage in the trade, but these, as well as the sea-going junks, are now in turn being displaced by steamers which traverse almost every part of the Chinese seas, as far as Japan, where some of them run in connection with the great English and American lines, and ere long they will, no doubt, cover the more remote inland waters of the Empire.
Japanese line of steamers.
But the Japanese, as well as the Chinese, have now various merchant steamers under their own flag; they have, also, their iron-clads, the first of which was built by Hall, of Aberdeen; and they own the Stonewall (originally built in England for the Confederate States), which they used to advantage in their civil war of 1868-69. Their first steamer of any kind was the Emperor yacht, presented to them by Lord Elgin on the occasion of making the commercial treaty in 1858-59. Unlike their great neighbours, the Chinese, who were slow to adopt European customs, and who for ages preferred their clumsy junks to the finest sailing-vessels of the East India Company, the Japanese have, since 1859, become owners of steamers with astonishing rapidity; a fact the more noteworthy, that, though their country presents many inducements to maritime pursuits, their native population do not seem at any period of their history to have been a maritime people. Indeed, they were not encouraged by their laws to become so. On the contrary, they were restricted to both form and size in the construction of their junks, with the object, it is presumed, of preventing their leaving Japan for foreign countries; hence these vessels are, as a rule, the rudest of sea-going craft. Invariably rigged with a single mast, and one great square sail which reefs down, curtailed, when required, by the lowering of the yard; they are, however, sometimes to be found encountering, in these unwieldy craft, heavy gales, and at unexpected distances from home.[409]