P £ 1N DIX.
APPENDIX
B- interpreters to government and others ? Nothing is more natural, therefore, than
that our exportation of copper from Japan should have b'ecotne a burden to that
“ ..class of people, and that their complaints contributéd: to the' restrictions to which
f4. we. are now subject. There is .no doubt, that if the Japanese co(iM<’keep up the
44 communication without allowing us a single chest of copper, they would willingly
44 grant us six thousand tahils as a gratification, óver aûd above the stipulated price
44 for' onr cargo,” i
In' considering the reforms to he introduced into the management of the trade
10 future, the first point which attracted attention-was a better- c'àlêülation of the coin*
with reference to the intrinsic value, and a calculation’ being liiade upon a new basis,
allowed a higher price to be paid for the'Cqppef than before. It was estimated,
that if the Dutch co lJl annuaUy próèine twenty thoh'ssm'cf pïAnls öflcopper at twenty
tahils, tho Japan trade would ctitl be'lucrative^ allotting the profits on the outward- bound cargoes to be merely sufficient for the support of the factory. -
- But in order to purchase and to-pay forisuch à quantity of copper, the Governor
General observes, “• it is necessary that government should strictly comply with thé
“ requisitions from. Japan, because our failures- therein have brought us' irito' -sich
j@ discredit with thé Japanese, that they do not any longeriplacfe confidence in our
® prömisCsi. We' have 'passed- oür word- from--year "to year, that the quality and
V the quantity of our merchandize should be better assorted; wlttfeut evér-attending
<é't& ft; Eveniat this moment, the supply differs-stf’Vdry much from the quantity
® fèqiiired, that it will be extremely difficult to convince the Japanese that they shall fp be better sèrved-in future ; and still it most be done', because if- #e wish to obtain
the trUlue of eight hundred or four hundred thousand1 ïaMM of -co'pi5èÊf''“a!nnuaIly,
44 besides camphor and other articles, different measures in list bé'.y'esorted-tôî' We
44 are hardly able-, at present, to supply óne-third of that amount and löad" the ships
44 with eóarsé goods. >
c*4 We have no doubt-but other productions of Japan might also be procured at a
44 cheaper rate than at present.- Camphor may be purchased in abundance at thirty
4£ taHMs-thepikul, and it is probable the same could still hè obtained’on more favorable
44 terms, if we advert- to ivhat it cost formerly ; in which"’càsè it would become a
44 profitable remittance to Holland, and render óhé hundred pèr cèât; or thereabouts.
44 The white copper (tutenague) has -béen tendered to its at sixteen tahils- per pikul,
44 but has not been accepted, the price being considered too high. If, however, we
44 can dispose-of it merely at the same price as the yellow copper (brass)j which yields
44 according to the price current before us 41 43 f. per 1001b.', it will not only be
44 acceptable, hut even render à reasonable profit of fifty per cent.
44 Iron was formerly imported here from Japan, and might perhaps be procured
44 at a moderate- price, which for the sake-'of the small distance between ùs and
44 that country would be very desirable.*
« Sulphur
* “ In. 1637 th© Japanese iron was purchased at two- Spanish dollars, and sold a t Batavia for five and a
w half Spanish dollars the pikul. On account of the smallness of the profit, an annual requisition was made for
“ one thousand pikuls only,”
' xxiil
44 Sulphur was’also, declined in account of its being charged too high; yet
“ ft might still become an article worth lattention, especially if it were -purified id
tf Japan. And,who. knows ho'w -many.other valuable productiofis1:might, be drawn.
(f feom that extensive coantrjctgbesidieisvthoseialrqadyiiffieqtioned, and which would be
“ very acceptable, inam^cononijiesl as well-as a mercantile.point}ofi.view'? ” * <■-
The foJlow4hg-faets, are-collected; from the? consideration's :at‘this- time. ■
..Thatin former times the eonimerce-of foreign-nations«^Japamainounted to ten.mil-'
lions of florins,’ and since then for.many year&toiJ,150,Odjworins,.of which the/phiheses
share was two-thirds and. tbei-Dutch :one-third; and 'it was • consequently presumed,,
that in so extensive a country, as* Japan,merchandize nugra^fflft- be disposed %f-to the'
value of one million, especially if it was paid for in the productions of -the countey.n^
Thatsdlie.of the causes of the' decline of' theitsade was'the conduct of' the ©ompany’si
servants, and the extent to which the priVate^-trad'e ofrSttfliVidnalS »as- carried; The'
directors ofi the trade a t Japan, bad fafeefl- selC6t4<l from a very inferior class of'society,,
and the-peculations on1 over-weight of the copper, fee. formed the * sMqfectslof, a;
regular complaint made, by the Japaneseuoftlie.Dutch goveraffiento-'ii'
vrThat the, trade of.ihe. Chinese «to Japan--hadi been, reduced’ frahTu eighty-fto twenty
junks in the year, the number, then allowed.
I-n concluding) his valuable and) ipteresting*ynemoir, the Baron • Van. Imhoff. declares
it to ibeiiihisi'fifm.helifefj that Japan-Was, iiiji<eVer^.^espect, what it had been-
formerly-^'Jhatl the .sanjetiquaiitity of merchandize- might-hfe 'disposed4 of-thfere’,hs'im
former times, and: that :return¥<ofbeqp41LvalUe might b'e ,obtained; that although the.
profits should be lgss a t present, there cotild'lSe ho reason to relinquish that tradfe^s
that the means of the Dutch- were Gertainly inferior at- th a t moment-to what they had
been, yet thatif they adhered to-the measuresproposed (namely^ fclear’dcgouhtg,-correctness
and honesty of. conduct, and a good assortment of cai-go’es)} which were easy
and,c.o.illd?liot expose them to any risknc danger, they might hope for a fcivoii'rahlfc'istiie«
In. the. course of all these deliberations,, the DutchSe'effi^io'haivfeicdrioluded that the
jfdebasemenjhjfi the coin was resorted to bylihe 'Japanese, solely with'jtBfSMvJfew of;aflect-
ipg tlieir trade, and never.-to have reflected-that so important a*cbange in tHfe* intrinsic
yalu.C of the standard coin of the -country, might have been occasioned by political
causes, of far greater magnitude to the ■ J apanese than the paltry gain to Be "obtained’
on the traffic of the Dutch cargoes, i litas most-probable that the empire of Japan,» 'at
the- periods when-.these ohanges took, place, wished to check tho exportation- of'the
prpeious metals of the country. In the first instance, ■ we perceive-a prohibition against
the exportation of silver- The loss--of this metal'was first-fell; heeguse'the" principal
exports were at first made in this coin; tbut it is nevef hinted that this prohibition was
occasioned by any desire to takbun-ujidue advantage Dutch’’!' on the contrary^
this measure svas not found to.sffect. the -Batch trade af all. The-'s'anif cafisds1, however,
which first led to a.probibitidB-regardihg^SilVefj’l'O'pefated afterwards in an equal
degree,with respect,to gold-; and it is easy to account for the rise in the- value of- this
From Japan was formerly-exported timber,, wliea«, rice, ambergris, raw-silk, cotton, &c.”.—Imhoj/'.
Japan Trade.