to a certain extent, to neutralise it; but as they pass away its serious character gradually forces itself into view. As Hongkong advanced year by year into importance, the effect on Macao of the rivalry of that rising port was veiled by the lucrative coolie traffic carried on from Macao; by the contraband trade in opium, which, though shared by Hongkong, continued, as it had before the cession of that island, to make Macao its centre; by the fact that, owing chiefly to the Hoppo's procedure, Macao became the headquarters of the west coast trade; and by the enormous profits derived by Macao from the establishment of the lotteries on the result of the Chinese literary and military examinations known as the "Weising." These sources of gain have been swept away one after the other. In 1875, after an existence of a quarter of a century, during which time enormous fortunes had been amassed from the 500,000 Chinese estimated to have been sent from Macao beyond the seas, the coolie traffic was finally extinguished. In 1876 the opening of Kiungchow, followed, a year later, by the opening of Pakhoi, as Treaty ports, dealt a serious blow to the virtual monopoly previously enjoyed by Macao of the west coast traffic, and, by substituting the safe and rapid steamer for the slow and unwieldy junk, transferred a considerable portion of that trade to Hongkong. In 1885 Macao's monopoly of the Weising lottery came to an end. Though fully sensible of the serious harm, moral and financial, worked by this form of gambling to the people of this province, China had through long years steadfastly set her face, as one of the principles of her government, against any compromise with legalised gambling, whether as a source of revenue or not, and had summarily cashiered the Governor-General Ying Han when, in 1874, he sanctioned the establishment of this lottery at Canton. Experience during the following ten years showed beyond doubt, however, that so long as the headquarters of the lottery continued in Macao (that is in the province itself), prohibitions, no matter how strict, and a preventive service, no matter how numerous, were insufficient to prevent the surreptitious introduction of tickets in great numbers, and that to allow things to continue as they then were meant simply the constant drain of money from Kwangtung into Macao. In 1885, therefore, a reluctant consent was given to the establishment of the lottery in China, with the result that the sum the monopolist in Macao was willing to pay the Portuguese treasury for his privileges at once fell from $353,000 to $36,000 a year. In 1887 a heavy blow was dealt to smuggling by the Convention between China and Portugal which led to the establishment of this office; and how large an interest the smuggling of opium from Macao, was may be gathered from the fact that the Harbour Master, in his report upon the trade of that port for the year 1882 (published in the Boletin da Provincia of December 5, 1884), estimated the value of the crude opium re-shipped to China at $3,597,029, consisting of declared shipments valued at $1,633,952 (presumably by junk, but of which much, certainly, was smuggled), and secret shipments valued at $1,963,077 (representing, presumably, what was smuggled in small boats and by armed gangs overland). This Convention tended undoubtedly to the well-being of the community, by eliminating from it a most unruly and turbulent class who had derived a livelihood by systematically breaking the laws of China. On the other hand, the closing of many sources of large profit which resulted from the occurrences above-mentioned, coupled with the gradual extinction of the tea trade before the competition of Indian and Ceylon leaf, has diminished the wealth of Macao, and consequently its purchasing powers. Several other causes, such as increasing taxes, tend to the same result. At present the capital of Macao cannot bear comparison with that of Hongkong; and, as the natural tendency of trade is to gravitate to the most important centre, it will inevitably abandon Macao for Hongkong, unless the smaller cost of living gives the former an appreciable advantage over the latter. Macao has decidedly enjoyed this advantage in the past, but is now rapidly losing it, as, to meet the ever-increasing demand from Portugal, caused by her financial position, new imposts are being constantly introduced. The acquisition of Tonkin by France has deprived Macao of the trade which formerly existed with that country, and it is now centred in Hongkong, steamers having taken the place of junks.
A cause, however, which probably contributes more than any of those already enumerated to the decadence of Macao as a centre of commerce is the rapid silting of the approaches to the port, due to the large amount of detritus carried down by the waters of the Pearl and West Rivers, between the mouths of which Macao is situated. Repeated appeals have been made to the Home Government by the Macao authorities for permission to employ the funds in hand for dredging purposes, but, so far, without success. The evil, however, is rapidly increasing, and must be dealt with in the near future, if Macao is to remain a port at all. Chinese merchants aver that, owing to the annually decreasing depth of water in the outer anchorage, the trade formerly enjoyed by Macao with the Chao Chow Prefecture has been diverted to Hongkong. Finally, native traders maintain that the absence of banks which would advance on a junk's cargo as soon as it reached port militate strongly againgst Macao's trade. As soon as a junk arrives at Kongmoon banks are ready to make advances against the cargo, which enable the consignees to expedite the vessel's discharge and to purchase return cargo at once, with the result that a larger number of voyages can be made in the year and capital turned over more frequently. In consequence, a larger portion of the west coast trade tends each year to leave Macao in favour of Kongmoon.
Macao's future prospect is, therefore, not a bright one. First and foremost, if Macao is to remain a port of any importance whatever, it is necessary that Portugal should permit the Colony to undertake the dredging of the approaches to the port. The next most important step would appear to be the establishment of a bonded warehouse, in which goods could be placed on arrival under the charge of responsible persons, so that the banks might be induced to make on them advances necessary to expedite the movement of shipping. As a third step, less taxation and fewer monopolies would tend to give a healthy impetus to trade. These monopolies, such as those on kerosene, on samshu distilled from rice, on salt, &c., are managed by Chinese who pay fixed sums for the privilege and make large profits for themselves. They certainly increase the cost of living in Macao and keep down competition—the soul of trade; but they bring in necessary revenue, and as a good portion of it is spent on making improvements, such as sanitation, new roads, &c., the system has its advantages.
It has been argued that the construction of a railway from Fatshan to Macao would do much to restore the ancient glory of Macao, and, with this object in view, a concession was obtained in 1902 from the Chinese for the construction of a line connecting these two places. A convention was accordingly drawn up at Shanghai in November, 1904, providing that the shares in the concession were to be held half by Chinese and half by Portuguese subjects. Such a railway, if it were not too heavily handicapped at the outset by the large outlay of capital required to provide the bridges to cross the net-work of creeks and rivers in the delta should be successful, and would certainly prove of great advantage to the traders and travelling public in the many large towns of the district that it would traverse. It is not so clear where the benefit to Macao would come in. Until the approaches to its ports are in a condition to permit at least coasting vessels to enter and lie at anchor afloat and in safety, the Colony must be content to remain, so far as trade is concerned, a mere warehouse, subsidiary to Hongkong, and it cannot hope, under present conditions, to attract capital or to resume its ancient position as an emporium having its own import and export traffic directly with the rest of the world.
The principal foreign imports from Macao into China are: Opium, cotton goods, woollen goods, metals, raw Indian cotton, Japanese matches, kerosene oil, and rice.
The principal exports from China into Macao are: Eggs, palm-leaf fans, mats, pigs, poultry, silk piece goods, sugar, tobacco leaf, and timber.
The total tonnage—entries and clearances—of junks passing the Lappa Stations has averaged annually during the last decade 870,000 tons; and the value of this trade Hk. Tls. 16,000,000. The revenue collected on behalf of the Chinese Government during the same period amounted to about Hk. Tls. 400,000 a year.
DR. A. P. LELLO.
Dr. Alfredo Pinto Lello, Colonial Secretary to the Government of Macao, was born in 1864 at Fontes, in the district of Villa Real, Portugal. From 1890 to 1892 he was Colonial Secretary of the province of Mozambique, and Acting-Governor of the District of Lorenzo Marques. He was transferred to Macao in 1893.
COUNT DE SENNA FERNANDES.
Count de Senna Fernandes, the Consul for Siam, in Macao, is a native of the Portuguese Settlement. Born in 1867 he received an excellent education at St. George's College, Weybridge, Surrey, and, at the age of twenty, returned to the place of his birth with the most pleasant memories of his stay in England, and well equipped for the responsibilities of later life. Besides having the supervision of certain commercial interests, he became the intermediary between the Chinese and Portuguese Governments. In recognition of his public services he has been made a Commander of the Legion de Conception, and decorated with the Order of the Crown of Siam.
MR. A. P. DE MIRANDA GUEDES.
Mr. A. P. de Miranda Guedes, Director of Public Works and Superintendent of the Fire
