CONDITIONS IN PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES. Ti
both in Ching and Japan.! For the years 1907 to 1912 the value of
this cotton trade increased from about $1,400,000 to $4,660,000 for
Kwantung; from $1,560,000 to $3,630,000 for Northern China: and
from $480,000 to $1,280,000 for Manchuria.
In Manchuria proximity to the market and increased facilities for
transportation have favored the Japanese piece-goods trade in competition
 with American and English goods. The opening of Antung as a
port of entry and the arrangement effected by the J apanese Government
 with the inspector general of customs, whereby a special
reduction of one-third the customs duty is allowed on all goods
entering Manchuria by way of Antung, have aided Japan, as practically
 all the merchandise so entering is of Japanese origin. In
North Manchuria a similar reduction is granted on goods carried
by the Russian Railway? But the possession of the South Manchuria
 Railway is said to have been the greatest factor in extending
the Japanese trade. This line is under the sole control of the Japanese
and is a semiofficial concern.
Practically all the American cotton goods exported to China are
first shipped to Shanghai and then distributed through Chinese dealors
 in the north and Manchuria. So long as American sheetings and
drills predominated in thé market this method was satisfactory, but
since the Japanese have entered the field, Americans have been at a
disadvantage in being so far from the market.*
Japanese Combinations.—While transportation has been a large
factor in the success of the Japanese, two combinations among the
Japanese manufacturers and exporters of cotton goods operating in
Manchuria have also greatly facilitated the efforts of the Japanese to
sxtend their export trade in Manchuria.
Tee CorroN FaBric Export SYNDICATE.&gt;—This organization,
formed in 1906, was composed of the leading Japanese spinning and
weaving companies. Its selling agent was the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha,
Japan’s largest commercial concern in Manchuria. The syndicate
was enabled on a Government guaranty to borrow money at 4 and 43
per cent per annum on four months’ sight drafts, thereby greatly aiding
 the merchants in a business way. It also received special rates
for its members from steamship lines to Manchuria and special facilities
 for transportation of syndicate goods over the South Manchuria
Railway. The mills in this assqciation, it is stated, agreed they
would together ship 1,000 bales of cloth a month to Manchuria, and
would sell it cheaper than the American sheeting and drill in order

i Ralph M. Odell, Cotton Goods in China, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Cornmerce, Special Agents
Jeries, No. 107, 1916, p. 106.
*B8pecial Agents Series, No. 86, 1914, p. 133.
3 National Review, Shanghai, July 17, 1915, p. 50.
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Special Agents Series, No. 107, 1916, p. 111,
+ Sometimes referred to as the Cotton Cloth Export Association, the Manchuria Export Guild, or Export
Suild.