Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1888, Part I

No. 210.
Mr. Denby to Mr. Bayard.

Legation of the United States,
Peking, June 1, 1888. (Received July 21.)

No. 647.]

Sir: I am sending the Department, under separate cover, the Customs Gazette, embracing the quarter ending the 31st of March, 1888.

From the figures presented the total collections at the treaty ports for the perio dunder review have been: 4,349,668, 4.8.2, Haikuan taels, against 3,106,872, 6.1.2, in 1887; or say, United States gold, $5,219,602 and $3,728,247, respectively.

Of the principal American imports the showing is not discouraging, though there appears a decrease in kerosene oil at Shanghai, the chief place of import, for the quarter, of 1,159,075 gallons, as against the same period last year; still this should not be taken as an intimation of a falling off in the consumption, as I learn that the stock on hand at the beginning of the year amounted to over 5,000,000 gallons.

The total importation of all kinds of American piece goods at the same port was 427,610 pieces, as against 274,590 pieces for the same quarter of 1887, showing an increase of 153,020 pieces.

From the statistics of the American import trade with Corea an improvement is noticeable. Kerosene shows an increase for the quarter of 26,920 gallons as compared with the importation for same period of 1887, and in piece goods the excess is 900 pieces.

I have, etc.,

Charles Denby.