FOREIGN  TRADE

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posited  in  the  treasury  of  the  factory,  and  the  cargo  might
be  sold  to  the  factory's  member  of  the  Co-Hong  and  to  no
one  else.  Outside  these  limitations  there  was  no  compulsion ­
  ;  the  importer  could  hold  for  a  better  market,
or  he  could  send  his  goods  back  whence  they  came  (thereby
materially  reducing  the  space  available  for  tea),  but  he
need  not  sell  unless  he  wished.  For  export  cargo  the  main
staple  was  tea,  which  was  almost  invariably  contracted
for  a  year  ahead  ;  here  again  the  foreign  trader  had  his
option  :  he  could  fix  both  quantity  and  price  at  time  of
contracting,  or  he  could  fix  the  quantity  only,  leaving  the
price  to  be  settled  according  to  the  rates  ruling  for  quality
on  the  opening  of  next  season’s  tea  market.  Shipments  of
silk  could  not  exceed  a  certain  limit  (140  piculs  =  167  cwt.)
for  any  one  ship—except  on  paying  for  the  privilege,
not  according  to  a  tariff,  but  enough  to  secure  the  permit.
“  Chow-chow  ”  cargo  (as  it  was  then  termed,  the  “  muck
and  truck  ”  of  to-day’s  jargon,  “  sundries  ”  other  than
tea  and  silk)  could  be  shipped  apparently  without  special
limit,  but  a  special  permit—paid  for—was  required  for
shipments  of  bullion.  When  the  export  cargo,  taken  down
in  privileged  lighters,  was  duly  laden  on  board,  the  Co-Hong
  obtained  the  “  Grand  Chop  ”  or  clearance  permit
■—paid  for  ;  provided  with  which  the  ship  could  proceed
to  sea.  This  was  a  system  which  worked  without  friction.
Every  one  was  pleased  :  the  foreign  merchant  enjoyed
bis  practical  monopoly,  and  had  nothing  of  the  extortion
thrust  under  his  eyes,  while  the  annoyances  of  his  daily  life
were  as  nothing  to  the  prospects  of  rapid  fortune  ;  the  Co-Hong
  paid,  one  way  and  another,  its  millions,  but  could
recoup  itself  many  times  ;  and  the  officials  were  quite
contented.  The  best  commentary  on  its  commercial
aspect  is  the  admitted  fact  that  there  grew  up  side  by
side,  during  a  century  of  joint  working,  a  body  of  Chinese
and  of  foreign  merchants  than  whom  there  has  never,  at
any  time  or  at  any  place,  been  a  more  honorable,  with
never  a  written  contract,  with  many  an  occasion  of  help
in  time  of  difficulty,  and  with  much  sympathy  and  friendli-