Syria. The "educations" are finished on the plains and the yellow races of France show good results.

China. It is now quite certain that the export crop will reach 55,000, possibly 60,000, bales. Though this is a falling off of from 20,000 to 25,000 bales compared with abundant years, when the exports reach 80,000 bales, it is still a large increase over last year, when the shipments fell short of 45,000 bales, and wholly unexpected from previous reports which signaled the prevalence of disease.

Japan. The average export crop, which for several years was 20,000 bales, reached 28,700 bales for the season of 1882-'83, and 30,000 bales for that of 1883-84. The latest telegrams give the latter figures for this season (1884-'85), but it is believed the interior consumption will be much greater the present year, reducing thus the usual shipments.

THE RAW SILK MARKET OF EUROPE.

Business, which has been very dull for more than a fortnight, was even worse the past week, and the silk markets of Europe show little sign of improvement.

Two causes are given as contributing to this state of affairs; first, the rarity and paucity of orders placed with manufacturers; and, second, the unexpected news of a good China crop. This latter event, joined to the hitherto fair promises of an abundant European harvest, has produced temporary discouragement. The unfavorable news of the past few days concerning the French and Italian crops will probably change this feeling, and should the output in reality fall short, consid ering the greatly reduced stocks on hand everywhere, the very reverse of the present depression will be sure to occur.

The Lyons, Milan, and London silk markets meanwhile show no apparent prospect of recovery, prices remaining at the same low figures as given in my previous dispatches. It is even pretended in some quarters that silk, never so low as at present, will still further decline. I do not share these views. In spite of the present calm and apparent or pretended discouragement, it is my opinion, from six years close observation, that the general situation is much exaggerated. This exaggeration periodically occurs, and always happens just on the eve of the harvest. It is the pessimistic moment in the silk world, and particularly so with the reeler, the throwster, and the fabricant against the unhappy rearer. Buyers of cocoons at this juncture set afloat every imaginable rumor in order to affect the price and secure stock at the very lowest margin.

I do not think the present prices of silk will go lower; on the contrary, it is my conviction that in the very near future there will be very considerable advances.

BENJAMIN F. PEIXOTTO,

Consul.

Lyons, June 3, 1884.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE,

PERSIAN CARPETS AND RUGS.

REPORT BY CONSUL-GENERAL BENJAMIN, OF TEHERAN.

I have the honor to submit herewith some remarks upon the carpet manufacture and trade of Persia, which forms one of the most important features of its industries and commerce.

It is doubtless generally known that the Persian carpets and rugs are not in the ordinary sense of the term manufactured; that is, they are not produced by any regular and complicated machinery, such as is capable of repeating the same design ad libitum. The weaving of these fabrics rather suggest large needlework, in which the worker, conscious of his innate sense of the beautiful, allows a lively fancy to guide the ready fingers, and is satisfied with irregularities in the detail sometimes, provided the general effect is agreeable and artistic.

The carpets of Persia are rarely of large size, and they are woven chiefly by the women and children of the peasantry in the villages. A countryman will thus have a rug made in his own house, and when it is done he takes it to the neighboring city and sells it for what he can get after long bargaining. The rooms of the peasantry are small, and this doubtless has something to do with regulating the size of most of the rugs in the Persian market. But a large house in Manchester, which has several branch houses in Persia, has entered so largely into the practice of ordering carpets for the foreign market that for several years the average size of Persian carpets exported to Europe has been larger than the sizes preferred by Persians. This firm has not only paid two or three kraus more than the usual price a square yard, but it has established the practice of making advances to the workmen. This has enabled the latter to erect special rooms of large size, where carpets can be made especially suited for European buyers. The volume of the trade is doubtless increased by the course adopted by this house, while it may be questioned whether the special qualities of design instinctively followed by the exquisite æsthetic perceptions of the Persians may not lose a certain spontaneity and beauty which constitutes the most prominent features of all Persian work of originality and merit. Most of the carpets made for this house are made in the province of Irak, and especially in the city of Sultanabad, but the carpets of Persia are woven in almost every province of the empire. At the same time there has gradually grown up a system or classification in the making of these fabrics which is quite remarkable, when one considers that they are manufactured without concerted action or the aid of capital, excepting, of course, the above-mentioned practice of ad

vances.

The carpet industry of Persia is divisible into three leading classes, the large-sized and the small carpets or rugs and the ghilems, to which may be added a fourth, consisting of the umads or felt carpets. Most of the carpets intended for covering floors, of whatever size, are produced in the central province of Irak, and chiefly at the city of Sultanabad, and in the districts of Sarravend and Garrouste and Malahir. These carpets go by the generic term pharaghan. They are more solid and massive than other Persian carpets, capable for long use and fitted for apartments of size. For ten years past these pharaghan_fabrics have been exported in large and increasing quantities. Large Persian

carpets which deviate from the usual oblong shape are made to order, and cost 3 to 4 kraus a square yard above the average expense. This is partly owing to the increased difficulties of weaving such dimensions with the simple appliances in use and the size of the rooms in the houses of the peasantry.

Besides the pharaghan carpets, floors are also carpeted sometimes with fabrics from Kerwanshab, Hawadan, and the district of Lauristan. Also for this purpose the carpets of Mech-Kabad, in Khorassen, are available, although of inferior texture to the pharaghan. The carpets of Kerwan have also the texture fitted to the rough usage required in covering floors; but while perhaps of superior quality to the pharaghan, they are always small and proportionately more expensive.

The Persian carpet par excellence is the rug. The Persians use these in preference to large sizes. First covering the earth floor with a hasseer or matting of split reeds, they lay over it numerous rugs, which completely conceal the mat. This arrangement, when composed of rugs of harmonious designs, is very rich, while the cost is actually less than if one large carpet were employed instead.

In

The varieties or distinct classes of Persian rugs are numerous. some classes, like the Turkowan, there is general similarity of design, although no two rugs are altogether identical. But in other classes, such as the rugs of Kerwan, Dyochegan, or Kurdistan, there is endless variety in design and texture.

A point to be considered in this connection is the fact that while the small carpets of Persia go under the general designation of rugs it would be a serious mistake to consider them all as merely carpets of small size intended to be trod on by heavy shoes. In the first place, Persians when at home take off their shoes, and thus a carpet of fine, delicate woof and design will last for ages and actually improve with use such as this. In the second place, a large proportion of the rugs of Persia, and especially the finer grades, are never intended to be laid on the floor, but to cover divans or tables or to hang as tapestries and portieres.

This explains the extreme fineness of texture and velvety surface which many of these rugs display, and also accounts for the fringe at the ends. Some of the rugs of Kerwan are almost as fine as cashmere shawls. The designs of these rugs were formerly of a large pattern with a general ground of red, white, or some other uniform tint, with borders and details of minute tracery harmonizing with rather than disturbing the general effect. These patterns are unquestionably of higher artistic importance, exhibiting a quality designated by artists as breadth. At present, while there is apparently no difference in texture, there is an evident tendency towards smaller designs, which lose much of the effect unless seen with close inspection. Perhaps this is only the result of a reaction from long-established custom, and it must be conceded that the modern designs of Persian rugs are more popular with the average European and American buyer.

The colors formerly employed in the rugs of Persia were imperishable. Rugs one hundred years old show no deterioration in tint, but rather a softness such as old paintings assume. The introduction of aniline dyes at one time threatened to ruin the manufacture of textile fabrics in Persia, but the law against the employment of aniline dyes enacted by the Persian Government is enforced with some rigor. The Turkoman rugs, in some respects unsurpassed for texture and peculiar beauty of design, are unfortunately not made within the Shal's dominions, but over the border, although they are included among the classes of Per

sian rugs, because the Turkomans were until recently subject to Persia. The Turkoman carpet weavers show a serious disposition to use aniline dyes as the prevailing color of the Turkoman rugs is red. This is especially to be deplored. The fraud, for it can be hardly called by a lesser term in connection with elegant fabrics, can be detected when the eye is in doubt by the application of a wet cloth to the suspected tint.

There is one species of rug which appears to be peculiar to this region in the texture, which suggests knitted rather than woven work. This species of rug is called ghileem. The pattern is identical on both sides, allowing the use of either side, which practically doubles the use. Many of these ghileems are made in the province of Kurdistan. The colors are at once firm and brilliant and the designs often of extraordinary beauty. The lightness and flexibility of these carpets qualify them for portieres, table and sofa covers, and at the same time render them easy for transportation. In consequence large quantities have been exported and found favor in Europe. The ghileems of Shûster are preferable for portieres. Considering their beauty their cost is comparatively moderate. The Garrouste ghileems are well suited for curtain hangings. Those of Lauristan and Zerend, near Teheran, are preferable for carpetings, while the ghileems of Kermanshah excel perhaps for the originality and beauty of their patterns.

The namâds or felt carpets of Persia although produced by a process which perhaps excludes them from the list of strictly textile fabrics, may yet properly be considered in this report. The namâd is made by forming a frame of the thickness intended or excavating a place in the ground floor of the size and depth equivalent to the namâd intended. The hair is laid in this and beaten with mallets until the original disjointed mass has obtained cohesion and is reduced to the dimensions of the frame. A design of colored threads is beaten into the upper surface, sometimes quite effective. The namâd, however, is desirable less for its beauty than the complete sense of comfort which it affords. It is much thicker than other carpets, and the sensation to the tread is luxurious. No carpet has ever been manufactured that is more suitable for the comfort of a sleeping-room in winter. Of course there is a difference in the quality of these namâds, but the dearest are far cheaper than the same surface of carpets or rugs woven in the usual styles. The great weight and clumsiness of the namâds must unfortunately prevent their expor tation to any extent until the means of transport are improved. The best quality of namâd is made at Isfahân, but the most massive are produced at Yezd. One would imagine that the size of the namâd must necessarily be limited. But on the contrary the regular Persian carpets rarely equal and never exceed the dimensions of some namâds. The namâd is more often than the carpets intended to cover an entire floor, elegant rugs being laid over it in places. I have seen a namâd 75 feet long by nearly 40 wide in one piece.

There is one species of rug special to Persia often spoken of but rarely seen. I refer to the rugs made of silk. It is not uncommon to see rugs of the finer types with silken fringes and sometimes with a woof of silk in the body of the rug. But all silk rugs are rare, and rarer now than formerly. They are generally small and intended for luxury rather than use. The price is necessarily very high. The chief of the merchants of Teheran told me of one he had seen over a tomb; it was barely two square yards in size; but he said that 200 tomans or $360 would be a low price for it.

Regarding the ruling prices of Persian carpets it is impossible to give more than approximate estimates. Such matters as standard values

hardly exist in Persia. The individuality of each rug adds to the difficulty. Goods are sold for what they will bring. One day a merchant sells an article at a loss; the next day, perhaps, a lucky customer will give him a handsome profit for a similar article. He averages the profit and loss, and, if shrewd, by the end of the year manages to have the balance in his favor. But small profits are the rule, and such a thing as a fixed price is utterly unheard of.

Members of old or prominent families are often obliged to realize on carpets or embroideries or other articles, which are both rare and costly. They intrust these articles to a dellâb or peddler to sell on commission. In such cases articles worth 100 tomans are often sold for 30 to 40 tomans. As a large part of the trade in the cities is done by the dellâs this natur ally has a tendency to keep down prices.

The carpets ordered and sold by the Ziegler Company follow more uniform rates; but in all other cases it is impossible to affirm that one can ascertain more than the probable market value of Persian carpets and rugs in Persia. It may be stated, however, that a buyer experienced in Oriental ways can purchase good rugs in Persia at such rates as to leave a fair margin for good profits in America over and above the cost, transportation and duties included.

The European demand for old Persian carpets has so far fallen off as to leave but a poor market for those which are much worn or decayed. But there seems to be an increasing demand on the part of connoisseurs and amateurs for the better grades of well preserved antique rugs of Persia. Their artistic qualities are so undeniable that they must always be in fashion for almost every class of household decoration, while their texture and durability well suits them to impart an air of comfort to interiors. S. G. W. BENJAMIN.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE-GENERAL,

Teheran, April 29, 1884.

TAXATION IN PORTUGAL.

REPORT BY MINISTER FRANCIS, OF LISBON.

A general idea of taxation in Portugal may be gathered from the fol lowing carefully prepared statement:

TAXES ON PROPERTY.

Real property is taxed on the basis of income. Proprietors of houses must make declaration of rents received by them; the same course is pursued in respect of farming lands. Rental sum or value of use is estimated in cases of occupancy of premises by proprietors thereof.

The Government fixes a certain amount to be levied upon every district, and this is divided among the property owners upon the basis of income as explained. Unoccupied premises are not taxed. The aggregate of annual taxes upon real property amounts to about 13 per cent. of the income or estimated income therefrom.

TAXES ON TRADES AND INDUSTRIES.

The Kingdom is divided into six different classes of towns, and the trade and industries into eight different categories. The following table