A wonderful tin mine has been worked for many years at Kuo Chao, in the southeast corner of Yunnan province, the tin being exported through Mengtsu. It used to seek Hongkong via the Red River and Haiphong and sometimes via Nanning, the West River and Canton. The costly narrow gage railway which the French have run from Haiphong to Yunnan now catches nearly all of this product. There is much complaint regarding rates, which are based “on all the traffic will bear,” and it is proposed by the Chinese to build a railway to Nanning, and send the tin the remainder of the way by junk and launch. This rich mine produces about 15,000,000 pounds a year, valued at nearly $6,000,000, and now that German machinery and German experts have been introduced by the Chinese miners, a greater and a purer product will result. Until recently the product had to be resmelted at Hongkong. Of course, great as this product is, the Straits Settlements still lead in tin mining. There are 30,000 miners (mostly boys, on account of the narrow unhealthy shafts) at Kuo Chao, and owners, miners, smelters, porters and the government representatives all have their compulsory labor unions. This protection of labor must be copied in all countries, the government forcing the laborer to protect himself, and making the industry share in the cost of government supervision. Charcoal is used as fuel at the clay smelters, and the bellows are hand-worked. As is well known, Southern China is cursed with white ants and humidity. The former eat the wooden beams, and the latter rusts iron beams. Ceilings have to be perforated to admit air and light between the floors so as to keep down the ravages of the white ant. However, Southern China is copying Hongkong’s example and risking metal beams and ceilings, the trouble being to find a suitable protective paint. China has graphite, lead for oxides, carbon, silica, and oils in abundance, and she will in time manufacture her own protective paints, but we shall supply the machinery. Brass hardware is used instead of iron on account of the humidity. The important copper mines of Yunnan were worked as a Manchu monopoly. Hunan is perhaps the next richest province, with Szechuen, Shansi and Kweichou following, although every province has copper. Nickel mines exist in Yunnan, Kwangsi and other southern provinces.