288

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
W  oollenswere  imported  in  1867  of  avalué  of  Tls.7,391,236»
constituting  10  per  cent,  of  all  foreign  imports.  In  1905
the  value  was  Tls.4,414,713,  being  less  than  1  per  cent,
of  all  imports.  Those  Chinese  who  can  afford  woollens
prefer  silks  and  furs,  and  the  wearers  of  sheep-skins  and
cotton-wadded  garments  cannot  afford  woollens  ;  while
the  demands  of  fashion  are  met  by  cotton  imitations.
Metals  were  valued  in  1867  at  Tls.1,630,351,  a  little
over  2  per  cent,  of  all  imports,  and  in  1905  at  Tls.46,318,231,
being  10  per  cent,  of  the  whole  ;  but  this  requires  some
explanation.  The  import  of  copper  in  1867  was  Ii,i5°
piculs,  valued  at  Tls.198,017,  and  in  1905  was  985,287
piculs,  valued  at  Tls.31,762,337  :  almost  the  entire  import
in  the  latter  year  was  for  the  mints  of  China,  which  were
then  engaged  in  wild  orgies  of  issues  of  copper  token
coinage.  Lead  (57,780  and  143,652  piculs)  is  chiefly  wanted
for  packing  tea,  and  tin  (31,758  and  54,193  piculs)  chiefly
for  making  tin-foil  and  those  paper  simulacra  of  silver
bullion  which  are  offered  so  profusely  in  religious  worship,
specially  at  the  ancestral  tombs.  Tinned  plates  in  1867
amounted  to  1,744  piculs,  and  in  1905  to  182,188  piculs,
in  addition  to  a  considerable  quantity  of  second-hand  plate
coming  as  lining  to  cases  containing  piece-goods,  kerosene
oil,  and  other  commodities,  every  foot  of  which  is  utilised
in  this  land  of  poverty  and  thrift,  and  the  quantity
which  is  estimated  at  not  less  than  500,000  piculs  a  year.
The  consumption  of  iron  and  steel  is  in  all  countries  the
index  of  industrial  progress  ;  the  import  into  China  in  1867
was  117,381  piculs  (7,000  tons)  ;  in  1905  this  had  increased
to  2,713,113  piculs  (161,500  tons).  This  is  satisfactory,  but
another  indication  of  the  poverty  and  thrift  of  the  people
is  found  in  the  fact  that  of  the  import  of  1905  close  on  a  had
(1,323,593  piculs)  consisted  of  old  iron,  plate  cuttings,
etc.,  the  discards  of  Western  markets,  coming  mainly  from
England.
Sundries,  i.e.  all  goods  other  than  opium,  cottons,
woollens,  and  metals,  were  valued  in  1867  at  Tls.  13,636,37^'
just  under  20  per  cent,  of  the  whole  ;  in  1905  their  value