Trade in Shanghai
After the failure of the wild speculation in property and buildingsconnected with the increase of Chinese population during the TaipingRebellion， the business of Shanghai developed on a sounder basis， andwe find from statistics that commerce made satisfactory progress.
In 1874 the gross imports were valued at Tls. 52，902，102， andthe gross exports at Tls. 43，764，978， whereas in 1864 the imports hadbeen Tls. 30，522，183.
The absence at that time of deep water ports in the North madeShanghai the distributing centre for North China as well as for theYangtze basin.
The foreign residents began to realize Shanghai"s possibilitiesand to plan for its further development， and the Shanghai MunicipalCouncil became more active in regard to public works. Many newroads were made and The Bund， Bubbling Well Road and some otherswere planted with trees. Broadway was extended and a road was builtfar as the Yangtszepoo Creek， only stopping there for want of a bridge.
Founding of China Merchants S. N. Co.
An American company， known as the Shanghai Steam Navigationcompany， for traffic on the Yangtze， had been formed in 1867 byRussell and company. The Chinese merchants saw the importance ofShanghai as a port and in order to secure a large share in its shipping，the China Merchants Steam Navigation company was founded in187 2 by the initiative of Li Hung-chang. The old P. and O. steamer“Aden” was bought， and for the first time the Chinese flag wasflown over a merchant steamer. In 1877 the fleet and property of theShanghai Steam Navigation company was purchased by the “ChinaMerchants，“ for the sum of Tls. 2，000，000， but the fact that manyofficials were connected with the company prevented it from becominga prosperous enterprise， and from realizing its great opportunity.
Need of Harbour ImprovementTrade was the life of Shanghai， and anything interfering with agood harbourage for ships was fatal to its further development.
The accessibility of the harbour in Shanghai was rendered difficultby the shallow water over the outer and inner Woosung Bars. Theseare formed by the tidal Whangpoo River emptying itself into the tidalestuary of the Yangtze River. The low water depth of the river barvaried different month of the year from 6 feet to l3 feet 6 inches andwas in the midst of a crossing that cut diagonally from one bank to theother of the Whangpoo River.
Conference with Mr. Robert HartIn 1863 when Mr. Robert Hart， Inspector-General of Customs，was in Shanghai， a deputation， representing the leading shipping firms，put before him the importance of conserving the Whangpoo and ofdredging the Woosung Bar， so as to allow the entrance of the largerships then being des-patched to China. He agreed to lay the matterbefore the Chinese Government. To all requests the answer of theChinese Government was “No，” and the Chinese Ministers maintainedan attitude “even more obstructive than the obstruction of the Bar.”
It is well to remember that in the early days， the Chinese sometimesreferred to the bar as a heaven-sent barrier intended to prevent warvessels of heavy draught and ironclads from entering the harbour.
Appeal to Sir Thomas WadeAfter the lapse of a year， Mr. F. B. Johnson， the Chairman of theChamber of commerce， reopened the subject by a memorable despatchto Sir Thomas F. Wade， the British Minister， in which he asked that incase the Chinese Government would do nothing about the matter， itshould grant such additional powers as would enable the Rate-payers ofShanghai， by means of special taxes upon native and foreign shippingentering the port， and by taxes upon land and property， to provide forthe conserving of the river and the dredging of the bar. Sir ThomasWade seems never to have replied to this communication， and we mayinfer that his attitude was also unfavourable.
Opinion of Mr. Rober HartMr. Robert Hart， in 1875 ， published in a memorandum theresult of his deliberations in regard to the advisability of dredgingthe Woosung Bar. His opinion is worth quoting at length， for it isan excellent example of the fallibility of human reasoning and thedifficulty of prophesying the future.
“The trade consequent on opening the Yangtze River has so farbeen diverted into a false channel by the vested rights or money spentin Shanghai. This agency is in turn counteracted by the opening ofthe Suez Canal， through which steamers have begun to pass， makingLondon and Hankow their termini…Teas will be shipped at Hankowand Kiukiang， and Shanghai silks and Ningpo teas at Chinkiang. Theywill be the return cargoes of the steamers which carry what China maycontinue to demand from Europe. In twenty years time Chinkiangwill have taken the place of Shanghai as a semi-terminus and transshipmentport…Thus looked at， as it affects and is affected by naturaland artificial agencies now at work at the mouth of the Yangtze， thequestion of the Woosung Bar is seen to mean that dredging theremay possibly be nothing more than a means of making the last daysof Shanghai a little more comfortable than they would otherwise be;it will not prolong or avert the commercial death of the place， but itwill make a show of vitality during its declining years more possible.
Given the natural and commercial agencies at work， it may be takenfor granted that—certainly for ten， or perhaps twenty or thirty yearsto come， the commercial status and foreign community of Shanghaiwill be such as to make it worth while to prevent the river from beingblocked up at any one point—for instance by the Woosung Bar.