872

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

October 23, 1914.

to bring in foreign capital with which to develop China’s
mining industry as an international enterprise.

The new regulations came into force on the day of
their promulgation—namely, March 11 of this year.
The mines in operation at the time are allowed a grace
of six months—that is to say, they will be charged the
former rate of taxes until September 11, and the new
rate after that date. It is provided, however, t1 at the
concerns that carry on. their work by introducing foreign
loans, their contract antedating the regulations, will be
allowed to be governed by the old law. It is assumable
that this proviso has been inserted in order to protect
the American oil contract.

China’s Mining Administration.

The Chinese Government has established the mining
superintendence offices in several places of importance,
with the object of effecting reforms and giving new
impetus to the mining industry. There are eight such
offices, the entire country being divided into eight
mining divisions. The first division covers Chilih Jehol,
Shantung, Shansi, and Honan provinces; the second the
provinces of Mukden, Kirin, and Amur; the third those
of Anhui, Kiangsu, and Chekiang; the fourth those of
Hupeh, Hunan, and Kiangsi; the fifth those of Shensi,
Kansu, and Sinkiang; the sixth those of Kwantung,
Kwansi, and Fukien; the seventh those of Yunnan and
Kwaichow; and the eighth the province of Szechuan.

The first division is very extensive in area, and is
exceedingly rich in minerals. Here the number of
people applying for opening mines is increasing, this
being a new phenomenon since the late revolution, and
one that promises well for great development of the
industry in the future. Within this division are found
the famous Peking-Hankow, the Tientsin-Pukou, the
Peking-Kalgan, the Pien-Lo, and the Cheng-Ta rail-
ways, offering great facilities for the transportation of
mining outputs, besides furnishing opportunities to carry
out thorough investigations into mining products along
their lines. There are, for instance, collieries in Kailuan
Yihsien which are all very promising.

The second division abounds in gold and coal mines.
Of the former, the mines that boast of their output both
in quantity and quality are Hoho, Kuulumaho, Heiho,
and Toluho. These mines are all situated between Kirin
and the Amur River. As for collieries, the Fushun and
Pienchihu coal mines are found in the Mukden district.
Besides these gold and coal mines, the region is supplied
with promising iron deposits. The region is traversed
by the Kirin-Changchun, the Chinese-Eastern, the South
Manchuria, and Peking-Mukden railways, all offering
great carrying facilities.

In the third division,. Anhui Province is the richest
in minerals, principally coals and iron, as is well known.
Nor are the other provinces less favoured with these
natural resources. They are traversed by the Shanghai-
Nanking, the Hangchow-Ningpo, and the Tientsin-
Pukow railways, that offer great facilities for mining
investigation and transportation. Of the local mines,
the best known are the Likou iron mountain and the
Tungkuanshan iron mine.

In the fourth division are found the famous Tayeh
iron mine in Hupeh, and the Pinghsiang colliery in
Kiangsi. The antimony mine in Hunan is also well
known. There are also other deposits to be found in
great abundance in this division, and the number of
mining applicants within it alone since the revolution
is now counted by the thousand. The division is not
yet, however, well supplied with railway facilities, as it
possesses only the Pinghsiang-Changsha, the Tayeh, and
the Nanchang-Kiukiang railways. When the Kiangsi,
the Ninghsiang, the Yuehhan, and the Chuanhan rail-
ways are all laid, the local mining industry will see
sudden and extensive development.

The seventh division is exceedingly rich in mineral
products, and may rival the three eastern provinces in
that respect. The Yunnan copper mines are the best
in China, while the zine mines there are equally famous,
furnishing the principal source of revenue for the
province. The local people have made considerable
progress in their mining ideas, and many of them,
especially since the opening of the Yunnan Railway,
have been engaged in trade with foreigners in mine
products. The best known mines in Kweichow
Province are those for iron and quicksilver in Tsingchi
and Tungjen, and that for silver in Pematung. They
are looked upon as valuable assets by foreigners. But
as they are situated in places without communication
facilities, and as the natives lack capital, these mines
are being worked only by a few people on very small
scales. I feel convinced, however, that there will be a
great rush for these minerals on the completion of the
Tien-Shu (Yunnan-Szuchuan) and the Tien-Mien
(Yunnan-Burma) railways, and the day is fast approach-
ing for the opening up of the inexhaustible resources of
the province.

The eighth division, or Szechuan, is a province which
is reputed to possess so vast and inexhaustible a store
of wealth as to be equal to that of the rest of China.
The province is a very extensive one, bordering on Tibet
and Tsinghai on the west, and is a granary of natural
resources. The gold mine in Chinshachiang, and the
copper mine at Yachou, are only too well known. Then
throughout the province coals of the most excellent
quality are found in many places. It hardy need be
said that the Szechuan-Hankow Railway, when com-
pleted, would greatly advance the cause of mining indus-
try in the province. Further, the province is favoured
with navigable streams which offer great facilities for
transporting mine outputs, especially as it possesses
channels connecting with the Yangtze, whereby great
industrial development may be expected in the future.
Already there is a steamship company running a regular
service between I-Chang and Chung-Ching, with two
ships called the “ Shutung ” and the “ Shuhang.”
When, therefore, all its waterways are developed, and
when also the Szechuan-Hankow Railway is completed,

it will become easy to tap the great wealth of the pro-
vince that offers the principal source of revenue for
China, thus paving the way for the financial readjust-
ment of the country.

Mining Funds Needed.

How rich is the interior of China in minerals has
been already described. The only trouble is that China
is without funds with which to dig and turn them into
marketable products. Consequently the capitalists of
different foreign countries are most zealous in offering
China the needed funds.

The loans made for such purposes, in late years are
called the “ business loans,” in contra-distinction
to the “ political loans ” furnished by the Powers.
The number of “ business loans ” negotiated or
still in course of negotiation has run up to dozens
daily since the establishment of the new revolutionised
Government, and provisional contracts have been signed
in hundreds of cases. But careful enquiries show that
it is only occasionally that the expected objects have
been attained in this connection, and it would appear
to be no exaggeration to say that in by far the greatest
number of cases the funds obtained have been expended
for purposes other than those originally aimed at, so
that practically in none of them is there anything to
show in their business progress. Especially few are
mining loans that have been concluded finally.

It must be remembered that though generally adroit
in launching an undertaking, the Chinese are a people
very poor in bringing it to a final success. The number
of native industrial companies promoted in China in the
last dozen or more years has, indeed, been very great,
but extremely few of them live to-day to show any
favourable financial results. All these modern com-
panies in China start with plants of the latest and most
approved type, employing foreign experts, who are
generally assisted by Chinese newly returned from
abroad with a store of scientific knowledge. But, as a
rule, they seldom reap profits from their enterprise. It
is not that the experts are incompetent, nor that their
outputs are of an inferior quality. For all that they are
overtaken by deficits that interfere with their work, and
by contracting loan after loan they sink lower and lower
into the quagmire of debts, with no hope of ever getting
out of it. It is the same with all. In their despera-
tion the promoters abandon their work, and in many
cases officers run away.

The truth is that the Chinese are adept imitators. The
moment they see the advanced state of things in the
business worlds of Europe and America they think they,
must have it themselves. With wonderful promptitude
of decision and forward spirit, they go at it with such
activity as often astonishes the more civilised people—
activity that no one expects from a people who are said
to be only awakening from their long sleep. In con-
trast to this, however, they turn their march backward
soon after the establishment of the thing they have pro-
moted, as losses begin to appear in their books, until
they find themselves in heaps of ruin.

There is another thing peculiar to China of which
foreign investors should be fully informed. It is an
established custom in that country that a new company
must pay dividends to its shareholders from the first
year of its existence, and this forms invariably a clause

Fig. 1.—“ Safuse ” Distribution Board.

1

Fig. 2.—Fuse-carrier.



of the articles of association. Some concerns which
fail to realise a profit have to contract a high interest
loan in order to pay dividends in full. It is this practice
that compels companies to contract loan after loan until
they are plunged into a helpless state. Furthermore,
when a new company is established, it is from the start
tied down to a system of commission paying. In every
purchase as well as in every sale of the company a com-
mission goes with it, which is therefore counted into
every payment and receipt, thus occasioning the need
of an unnecessarily large amount of capital.

I have heard of a company that was established with
a capital of 1,000,000 yen, of which, however, the
actual amount employed for its business purposes
amounted to only some 600,000 yen, while the remain-
ing 400,000 yen or so went to line the pockets of its
officers and employees! For these reasons I should
emphasise the importance for those who invest money
in China to secure the full control of the finances of the
undertaking concerned.

Anglo-Japanese Alliance in China.

China abounding in mines, as already stated, the need
of the hour is to recover their deposits and convert them
into money. Everywhere you go in China, you find the
earth replete with natural wealth, and it will be the
easiest thing for China to become a great mining country
if only proper methods are used in operating those mines.

The operation must needs depend on the ramification
of the railway. With the arteries of railway completed,
accompanied by the development of her mining industry,
China will be out of her financial dangers without her
independence being injured in any way. I believe,
then, that the great work of laying railways in China,
and of opening her mines, should be proceeded with
boldly and determinedly before attempting her adminis-
trative reforms. These two great undertakings, if
properly achieved, would lift China from her present
impecuniosity and would lay for her a solid foundation
on which to build her great wealth and strength.
Whether or not China is in a position to raise the needed
funds herself, a glance into her history will" tell. I
think there is only one answer to the question, and that
is that China is in no way qualified to do so. It
follows, then, that the Powers friendly to China are
called upon to help her by advancing money to carry
out these great undertakings. How, then, may
foreigners feel safe of their investments and be sure of
the success of undertakings they may get interested in?
I answer, let there be an Anglo-Japanese economic
alliance in China. It should be most strongly hoped
that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance may be extended to
all the important business undertakings in China, and
that the allied peoples may work together, sharing their
responsibilities as their interests, with open hearts, and
no suspicions to interfere with their mutual trust. The
British capitalists may do their part by furnishing
funds, of which they possess an abundant supply, and
the Japanese may engage in the work of exploitation
and of superintending the Chinese, so that the money
may be invested with profit, without any fear of losses.
Thus may the allies work together for the progress of
China and for the permanent peace of Eastern Asia on
the one hand, and on the other endeavour to promote
the interests as well as the friendship of the allies, so
as to perpetuate the great usefulness of the Alliance.
The concerns may be international partnerships or pure
Chinese companies. The form is immaterial, what is
important being that the undertakings stand on the firm
foundation of British capital, and their ins and outs are
strictly supervised and controlled by Japanese manage-
ment. The present proposal is the utilisation by the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance of the peculiar advantage that
the Japanese possess as a people of the same race and
literature as the Chinese.

A NEW TYPE OF SAFETY FUSE.

The accompanying cuts show a new patent fuse that
has just been placed on the market by Messrs. Donovan
and Company, of 47, Cornwall-street, Birmingham, to
meet the Home Office requirements. Each unit
consists of a massive English porcelain base into which
the clips and terminals are recessed, the recesses being

closed by unbreakable covers suitably slotted to receive
the fuse carrier contact blades. A suitable recess at
the back of the base is provided for the busbar, with
the result that whether the fuse is used as a single or
multiple unit, it is impossible for the operator to come
into accidental contact with any live metal part.

The fuse carrier consists of a solid mass of English
porcelain, so designed that the contact cannot be inserted
in the clip while the fingers are in contact with the
knife-blade connection, and as all other contacts are
completely enclosed, shock while inserting or withdraw-
ing a fuse (even on short circuit) is absolutely impos-
sible. The fuse wire passes through an asbestos tube
which, while preventing the scattering of hot metal,
affords free escape for all gases.

No screws are tapped into the porcelain, consequently
the construction is particularly robust. All binding
screws are easily accessible, and the fuse can be easily'
and quickly renewed. Details of the construction are
shown in fig. 2.