American Geographical Society

Regional Political Economy of ChinaChina: Wirtschaftspolitische Landeskunde by Friedrich OtteReview by: Frederick K. MorrisGeographical Review, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan., 1929), pp. 170-172Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/208090 .

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I70 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

REGIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHINA

FRIEDRICH OTTE. China: Wirtschaftspolitische Landeskunde. vii and III pp.; map, diagrs., bibliogr. Petermanns Mitt. Erganzungsheft No. I94, I927.

Dr. Otte first served in the Chinese tax administration and, after the World War,

was called to the Chair of Economics in the National University at Peking. He

divides his book into three parts: A. China's government and finance; B. Pro-

duction; C. Intercourse. Government and finance is disposed of in twenty-nine

pages, but even that brevity permits the author to put together many well chosen

facts, so that the chapter is distinctly serviceable to the uninformed. Part B is devoted to "Production" under the headings, Farming, Forestry,

Fishery, and Industry. The land-tenure systems are discussed, together with the influence of modern transportation by rail and ship, the development of Manchuria,

and the importance of regions of excess production. The regional distribution of

farm products is considered, but unfortunately without reference to the natural

physiographic subdivisions of the land. The opium problem is discussed clearly and

fairly in a short special chapter. The chapter on forestry deals with the regional distribution of woods, with the

thriftless deforestation of the land, and with the attempts which have been made, chiefly by foreigners, to restore woodlands and to teach their importance. Dr. Otte

does not consider the changes of climate, which are probably partially responsible fbr the reduction of forests. The chapter on fishery includes an especially instructive analysis of the laws regulating the rights to fish in Chinese waters.

Dr. Otte offers a brief, honest analysis of the growing industrial enterprises in

China. Rooted in the favorable combination of abundant raw material and a vast

population whose capacity for skillful labor is unquestioned, and with large markets

at home and abroad, China's industries should have grown faster than they have.

English, Japanese, Germans, French, and Americans have aided and encouraged

industry in China by means of teaching, organization, investment of capital, and

even the invention of special machinery. Very slowly the Chinese have responded, hindered by their backward methods of financing, by the dullness which is miscalled

conservatism, by the direct interference of the lawless civil wars, and by the dis-

turbances among the masses which strikes and propaganda have developed. Never-

theless industries are multiplying and have an important future, especially with

Chinese capital. A brief, excellent review of the distribution of industries shows that

while some are advancing rapidly, like the vegetable-oil factories and the cotton-

textile industries, others, such as the silk industry and the making of brick tea, have

gone backward. Old as the use of metals is in China, the Chinese are the last important people to

adopt European methods of winning ore and smelting metals. The author discusses

the mines of China, showing her wealth in excellent coals, her comparative poverty in iron, copper, silver, and lead, the importance of her tin and antimony, and the

possibility of a modest future for her tungsten. Part C, " Intercourse, " includes chapters on roads and waterways, railroads, post,

telegraphy and airplanes, trade, currency, and banking. Roads he dismisses, as

every one must in considering the problems of China today, with a glance at their

history and a word about the influence of the motor car. Probably no land of con-

siderable size and wealth has received the motor car so grudgingly and responded to

its introduction with so few good highways as China. Harbors are subdivided conveniently, but artificially, into junk harbors and steamei

harbors, delta harbors being mentioned as a class. The improvements which have

been achieved, almost wholly by foreigners, have alone made possible the develop- ment of China's modern trade with the world. He considers harbor after harbor,

noting the fundamental structure of each and the improvements that have been

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS I7I

made. Tables of shipping are given, estimating the rank of the several seaports, as well as the total tonnage and number of ships of the chief trading nationalities.

He gives a brief review of the history of railroad building in China since I 876, when the first short road was built by the English in the hope that the Chinese would recognize the value of railroads: but the government tore up the road. Not until after the war with Japan was serious railroad building attempted. The period of concessions and "spheres of influence" between I895 and I9II witnesses the greatest advance in railroad building. Since then but few additions have been made. The subsequent history of the roads is mainly one of changing policies, controls, and indebtedness. I cannot follow Dr. Otte in his opinion that the reasons for China's failure to build railroads, especially in the south, are "chiefly geographical." The line connecting Canton with Changsha would not have to overcome as great topo- graphic barriers as did the line from Peking to Paotow, which was built by Chinese engineers. The true reasons are a complex of politics, finance, and capacities.

The author justly points out the immense opportunities for airplane development in China, which should be encouraged, not only because railroads are difficult to build through some of the topographic barriers, but more because the chief food lands of China are isolated structural basins in which excellent landing floors are offered. The airplane swiftly passes the intervening barriers-the ranges, rivers, dissected plateaus, and desert basins. The chief difficulty to be overcome is offered by the dullness and suspicion of Chinese officials. I think that quite too much blame has been laid by most writers upon the obstructiveness of a superstitious folk. It was not the folk who tore up the first railroad, but the governing officials. If airplane services were installed and demonstrated, they would accept their benefits gladly. The matter rests with the new government.

Under guidance of English, German, and French experts a very efficient national postal system has grown up, which since 19I7 has paid a profit to the Chinese govern- ment. The effective service, however, has been seriously injured since 1925 by pro- gressive dismissal of trained European and American experts, by strikes among the employees, and by interference of the military demagogues.

The chapter on trade is devoted chiefly to conditions affecting import and export. Formerly most of the firms were European, American, and Japanese; but Chinese companies are growing up. Difficulties due to language and custom which have hitherto compelled Europeans to deal through, intermediaries (the "comprador" system) are being diminished by the spread of the English language among the Chinese, by attempts to simplify the written Chinese language, and by the adoption of western methods of doing business.

The advance toward tariff autonomy was mightily aided by the Washington Conference of I922 and by the tariff conference of 1925 in Peking. Both of these events are in accord with the rising sense of nationalism, but the Chinese themselves have made little constructive contribution toward tariff autonomy, aside from a vigorous propaganda.

The talent of the Chinese for trade and finance is as undoubted as their talent for art. After the war with Japan foreign banking firms grew rapidly in the treaty ports, and their strong encouraging influence upon the development of Chinese railroads, factories, and commerce is still felt. The larger Chinese banks have been organized chiefly after English models; there is a National Bank of China, and nearly every province has its official bank.

At the close of the paper tables and diagrams are presented. The first table gives the areas of the several provinces with their total population in ig9o and in 1922.

Suich statistics, however, convey little idea of realities. For example, I read that Shansi province contains 212,000 square kilometers and has I i,080,000 people. Actually the vast majority of them dwell in the graben basins of Pingyang, Taiyuan, and Tatung, while the broad upland of the Shansi Highland is very sparsely inhabited.

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I72 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

The paper is without bias, is condensed to the utmost, and is crowded with care- fully sifted information. It can be used with profit by teachers of geography, and by others who need a rapid review of present-day conditions in China.

FREDERICK K. MORRIS

SOME RECENT GULF STREAM STUDIES

V. I. PETTERSSON. etude de la Statistique Hydrographique du Bulletin Atlantique du Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer. 17 PP.; map, diagrs. Svenska Hydrogr.-Biol. Komm. Skrifter, Hydrografi i (N. S.), 1926.

OTTO PETTERSSON. Der Golfstrom und der Atlantische Strom. 7 pp.; maps. Ibid., Hydrografi 4 (N. S.), 1927.

C. E. P. BROOKS. Effect of Fluctuations of the Gulf Stream on the Distribution of Pressure over the Eastern North Atlantic and Western Europe. 36 pp.; diagrs. British Meteorol. Office Geophys. Memoirs No. 34, 1927.

J. W. SANDSTROM. Uber eine eigentUmliche Zweideutigkeit beim meteorologischen Einfluss des Golfstromes. Map,diagr. Gerlands Beitrdge zur Geophysik, Vol. 15,

1926, pp. 67-70.

J. W. SANDSTR6M. Uber den Einfluss des Golfstromes auf die Wintertemperatur inEuropa. Diagrs. Meteorol. Zeitschr., Vol. 43, 1926, PP. 401-41I, Brunswick.

The northerly flow of the waters in the great current system that goes under the name of the Gurf Stream transfers a considerable quantity of heat from lower to higher latitudes, which is reflected in the climatic features of northwestern Europe.

Fluctuations in the flow of the Gulf Stream are known to occur. What climatic effects do such fluctuations bring in their train? Furthermore, since it is a long circuit that the waters of this current must traverse from the place of origin of the Gulf Stream in the subtropical regions to the coasts of northwestern Europe-one that

takes many months to complete-how long a period intervenes between fluctuations in the Gulf Stream and the resultant climatic effects in northwestern Europe? It is

to these questions, in one form or another, that the studies here under review address

themselves. In his " ltude de la Statistique Hydrographique " Dr. Vilhelm Pettersson examines

five areas in the North Atlantic, for which data on the temperature of the surface waters for the fourteen-year period 1900-1914 are at hand, with a view to determining whether any relation exists between changes in the temperature of the sea and meteorological conditions in the neighboring land areas. He finds that the variations in the yearly values of the air temperature at Madeira show a close relation to the

variations in the yearly values of the surface temperature of the surrounding ocean.

A like comparison between the air temperature at Bermuda and the surface tempera- ture of the Gulf Stream in the same latitude shows no correlation to exist between

them. Examining the surface temperature of the water in the Gulf Stream proper, that is,

the current south of the fortieth parallel of latitude, Pettersson finds variations in the values from year to year. These variations are small, almost without exception less

than one degree centigrade; but they are quite definite and appear throughout the region from the Bahamas to Cape Hatteras. And, while the variation of a degree or two in the annual temperature of the Gulf Stream may appear insignificant, the

effect of this variation in the colder regions toward which the Gulf Stream bears its

freight of warm water may be of importance. On comparing the variations in the

yearly temperatures of the Gulf Stream proper with the like variations in temperature of the waters north of the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, that is with the waters of the

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