The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” FRIDAY, AUGUST 26th, 1921. UNDEVELOPED CHINA.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 August 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “The West Coast Times.” FRIDAY, AUGUST 26th, 1921. UNDEVELOPED CHINA.

An interesting account is furnished by the Chinese Government Bureau of Economic Information on the subject of lack of development in China, faking as an indication of the untapped commercial sources of China the remote city of Sanyua.nhsien on the northwestern border of the Republic, it is pointed out that there are hundreds of similar localities, differing in local i characteristics, but all alike in wasted or unexploited economic wealth. Sanyuanhsien is about a week’s j <urney ! from the nearest railway station. Ir is ' a large commercial centre, and is situated on a busy trade route. Its only means of communication with th ( . outside world is over roads which are en- . tirely unsurfaced and never repaired, 1 and which are traversed by Jaden eami els and slow-moving carts, drawn by mules or oxen. The soil in the district i is rich and fertile, and although methods of cultivation are primitive, two abundant harvests are gathered every year, in spring and autumn. Coal also seems to he abundant, hut) the region has not been examined or tested by experts. Few foreigners other than missionaries, have visited th<> place, and of course exterritorial conditions, which 1 luce all foreigners unddr their respective consular jurisdictions and limit their places of residence to treaty oorts, prevent foreign settlements in the reigh bourhood. Foreign articles which are cheap and easy of transportation are much in demand, notwithstanding the absence of representatives of foreign firms. Cottrtn goads, for example, may be purchased anywhere in the list-riot, and there is a regular trade in hosiery,

gloves, underwear, pieeegoods, thread etc,, as well as in satins, felt hats, nmltrellas, docks etc. Cotton and silk are produced abundantly, and, given nicdcrn machinery and modern management Sanyuanhsien might easily become an important manufacturing centre, which, with intelligently directed labour, suitable transportation, and security against molestation en route, would rival some of the cst entrepots. As It is, it remains to all but the Tew thousand who happen to live there, a mere name on the map. Such conditions might be applied to almost any of China’s inland towns and villages. The richest country in natural resources, China, is the poorest in material comforts. The wants of fFe people are few and their pleasures limited. When the resources are developed higher standards of living will create new demands for more modern conveniences ,aiul there will he a call for electricity, water-works, mining and manufacturing machinery of all sorts, to sav nothing of the demands which will arise for the multifarious forms of conveyance and locomotion. The labour of the land is abundant, cheap, and when handled properly, exceedingly pliable. Manual labour is generally hired through a. native agent, known as the No 1. who provides gangs of workmen for a stipulated price, and pays the men himself. In commercial transactions a somewhat similar procedure is adopted. The No 1, in the ease, is known as the compradore. He is the go-between for the foreign merchant and his clients. Even when the foreign merchant understands the language, no departure is made from the usual custom, for no alien can gauge the financial standing of the native firms. Th t > compradore guarantees the purchaser, and enforces payment, as well as the delivery of goods on contract. It is by methods such as these that the hundreds of Sanyuanlislens in China, are gradually being developed.