PART I. The Food Industry

The Food Industry

The food industry should be treated under the following headings:

a. The Production of Food. b. The Storage and Transportation of Food. c. The Preparation and Preservation of Food. d. The Distribution and Exportation of Food.

a. The Production of Food

Human foods are derived from three sources: the land, the sea and the air. By far the most important and greatest in quantity consumed is aerial food of which oxygen is the most vital element. But this aerial food is abundantly provided by nature, and no human labor is needed for its production except that which is occasionally needed for the airman and the submariner. So this food is free to all. It is not necessary for us to discuss it here. The production of food from the sea which I have already touched upon when I dealt with the construction of fishing harbors and the building of fishing crafts, will also be left out here. It is the specific industries in the production of food from land, which need foreign help that are to be discussed here.

China is an agricultural country. About four-fifths of its population is occupied in the work of producing food. The Chinese farmer is very skillful in intensive cultivation. He can make the land yield to its utmost capacity. But vast tracts of arable lands are lying waste in thickly populated districts for one cause or other. Some are due to lack of water, some to too much of it and some to the "dog in the manger" system,--the holding up of arable land by speculators and land sharks for higher rents and prices.

The land of the eighteen provinces alone is at present supporting a population of four hundred millions. Yet there is still room for development which can make this same area of land yield more food if the waste land be brought under cultivation, and the already cultivated land be improved by modern machinery and scientific methods. The farmers must be protected and encouraged by liberal land laws by which they can duly reap the fruits of their own labor.

In regard to the production of food in our international development scheme, two necessary undertakings should be carried out which will be profitable at the same time.

(1) A scientific survey of the land.

(2) The establishment of factories for manufacturing agricultural machinery and implements.

(1) A scientific survey of the land. China has never been scientifically surveyed and mapped out. The administration of land is in the most chaotic state and the taxation of land is in great confusion, thus causing great hardships on the poor peasants and farmers. So, under any circumstance, the survey of land is the first duty of the government to execute. But this could not be done without foreign help, owing to lack of funds and experts. Therefore, I suggest that this work be taken up by an international organization. This organization should provide the expenses of the work by a loan, and should carry out the work with the required number of experts and equipment. How much will be the expenses for the survey and what is the amount of time required and how large an organization is sufficient to carry on the work, and whether aerial survey by aeroplanes be practical for this work are questions which I shall leave to experts to decide.

When the topographical survey is going on a geological survey may be carried out at the same time so as to economize expenses. When the survey work is done and the land of each province is minutely mapped out, we shall be able to readjust the taxation of the already cultivated and improved land. As regards the waste and uncultivated lands we shall be able to determine whether they are suitable for agriculture, for pasture, for forestry, or for mining. In this way, we can estimate their value and lease them out to the users for whatever production that is most suitable. The surplus tax of the cultivated land and the proceeds of waste land will be for the payment of the interest and principal of the foreign loan. Besides the eighteen provinces, we have a vast extent of agricultural and pastural lands in Manchuria, Mongolia, and Sinkiang, and a vast extent of pastural land in Tibet and Kokonor. They will have to be developed by extensive cultivation under the colonization scheme, which is alluded to in the first program.

(2) The establishment of factories for manufacturing agricultural machinery and implements. When the waste land is reclaimed, cultivated land improved and waste labor set to work on the land, the demands for agricultural machinery and implements will be very great. As we have cheap labor and plenty of iron and coal, it is better and cheaper for us to manufacture than to import the implements and machinery. For this purpose, much capital should be invested, and factories should be put up in industrial centers or in the neighborhood of iron and coal fields, where labor and material could be easily found.

b. The Storage and Transportation of Food

The most important foodstuff to be stored and transported is grain. Under the present Chinese method, the storage of grain is most wasteful for if kept in large quantities it is often destroyed by insects or damaged by weather. It is only in small quantities and by great and constant care that grains can be preserved for a certain period of time. And the transportation of grains is also most expensive for the work is mostly done on man's shoulders. When the grains reach the waterway it is carried in a most makeshift way, without the least semblance of system. If the method of storing and transporting of grain be improved, a great economic saving could be accomplished. I propose that a chain of grain elevators be built all over the country and a special transport fleet be equipped all along the waterways by this International Development Organization. What will be the capital for this project and where the elevators should be situated have yet to be investigated by experts.

c. The Preparation and Preservation of Food

Hitherto the preparation of food is entirely by hand with a few primitive implements. The preservation of food is either by salt or sun heat. Mills and cannery method are scarcely known. I suggest that a system of rice mills should be constructed in all the large cities and towns in the Yangtze Valley and South China where rice is the staple food. Flour mills should be put up in all large cities and towns north of the Yangtze Valley, where wheat, oats, and cereals other than rice are the staple food. All these mills should be under one central management so as to produce the best economic results. What amount of capital should be invested in this mill system by this international development scheme should be subjected to detailed investigation.

In regard to the preservation of food, fruits, meats and fishes should be preserved by canning or by refrigeration. If the canning industry is developed there will be created a great demand for tinplates. Therefore the establishment of tinplate factories will be necessary and also profitable. Such factories should be situated near the iron and tin fields. There are many localities in South China where tin, iron, and coal are situated near each other, thus providing ready materials for the factories. The tinplate factories and the canneries should be combined into one enterprise so as to secure best economic results.

d. The Distribution and Exportation of Food

In ordinary good years, China never lacks food. There is a common saying in China that "One year's tilling will provide three years' wants." In the richer sections of the country, the people generally reserve three or four years' food supply in order to combat a bad year. But when China is developed and organized as an economic whole, one year's food reserve should be kept in the country for the use of the local people and the surplus should be sent out to the industrial centers. As the storage and transportation of food will be under a central management so the distribution and exportation of food should be under the same charge. All surplus grains of a country district should be sent to the nearest town for storage and each town or city should store one year's food. All the staple food should be sold only at cost price to the inhabitants according to their number, by the distributing department. And the surplus food should be exported to foreign countries where it is wanted and where the highest price can be obtained by the export department under the central management. Thus the surplus food will not be wasted as hitherto under the prohibition law. The proceeds of this export will surely amount to a huge sum which will be used in the payment of the interest and principal of the foreign loan invested in this undertaking.

We cannot complete this part of the food industry without giving special consideration to the Tea and Soya industries. The former, as a beverage, is well known throughout and used by the civilized world and the latter is just beginning to be realized as an important foodstuff by the scientists and food administrators. Tea, the most healthy and delicious beverage of mankind, is produced in China. Its cultivation and preparation form one of the most important industries of the country. Once China was the only country that supplied the world with tea. Now, China's tea trade has been wrested away from her by India and Japan. But the quality of the Chinese tea is still unequalled. The Indian tea contains too much tannic acid, and the Japanese tea lacks the flavor which the Chinese tea possesses. The best tea is only obtainable in China--the native land of tea. China lost her tea trade owing to the high cost of its production. The high cost of production is caused by the inland tax as well as the export duty and by the old methods of cultivation and preparation. If the tax and duty are done away with and new methods introduced, China can recover her former position in this trade easily. In this International Development Scheme, I suggest that a system of modern factories for the preparation of tea should be established in all the tea districts, so that the tea should be prepared by machinery instead of, as hitherto, by hand. Thus the cost of production can be greatly reduced and the quality improved. As the world's demand for tea is daily increasing and will be more so by a dry United States of America, a project to supply cheaper and better tea will surely be a profitable one.

Soya bean as a meat substitute was discovered by the Chinese and used by the Chinese and the Japanese as a staple food for many thousands of years. As meat shortage has been keenly felt in carnivorous countries at present, a solution must be found to relieve it. For this reason I suggest that in this International Development Scheme we should introduce this artificial meat, milk, butter and cheese to Europe and America, by establishing a system of soya bean factories in all the large cities of those countries, so as to provide cheap nitrogenous food to the western people. Modern factories should also be established in China to replace those old and expensive methods of production by hand, so as to procure better economic results as well as to produce better commodities.