'A cory of the detailed prospectus of the Trust and Loan Company of China, Japan and the Straits, Limited, has at last reached Shanghai, and it is well for the comfort of the officials of the Hongkong Bank here that it did not 88 reach Shanghai before.
There was eagerness enough displayed to make application for shares on the skeleton prospectus that was telegraphed out from home; but if this full document had been in the possession of Shanghai, the rush to subscribe would have overwhelmed the bank. The directors' names were telegraphed, and it will be remembered that they are the representatives of some of the leading American, English and German firms in the China trade, with a late partner in David Sassoons', and one of the shrewdest of that staff of the Hongkong Bank who have built it up to its present goodly proportions. No one should be better advised than these meu as to the actual position and pro-heer of affairs in China, and it is therefore of the first interest to us to read the view they take of the position. The cynic might say that this was a 69 clear instance of distance lending enchantment to the view: the Chinese Times, writing at Tientsin, the very centre of affairs, tells us that there has been no progress in China, but rather retrogression, and that "it is three years since we were told in a somewhat oracular and even menacing manner that China was awakening; but of a genuine awakening it is difficult to perceive any certain symptoms while this prospectus, published under the auspices of some of the leading men connected with the empire, opens with the encouraging assurance that "recent events in China are expected to lead to important changes in that country and toa new era of commercial prosperity. Not only should a fresh impetus be iven to trade generally, but the intro-auction of capital into China, which must necessarily follow, will cause such a development of its vast natural resources as can searcely be over-estimated." The fact, we take it, is that both statements are true. Our northern contemporary was writing under the disappointment caused by the temporary check to railway construction, a check which we may be certain is only temporary. As we remarked when considering his article, the tide continues to rise, though the waves alternately advance and recede. The Chinese Times, when it wrote, had its eye, as it tells us indeed, on a receding wave. Mr. Betts, in the portion of his lecture recently published, remarks on the great advances of companies for all kinds of public which "have been made by the Chinese government in scientific. pursuits, although those pursuits have been followed chiefly for warlike purposes the value of railways for military purposes will become more and more evident to the Chinese government, and their construction will not be so long delayed as the pessimists fear.
Up to the receipt of this detailed prospectus the exact objects of the new company have been a matter of guesswork. The Hongkong papers, the wish being no doubt partly Either to the thought, have hailed it as likely to come to the assistance of the holders of securities on which the existing banks are not disposed to make advances, Here the opinion was more generally entertained, looking at the limited extent of the proposed paid-up capital of the company, that it would more probably direct its energies to promoting and financing other companies. It actually proposes to do all these things. It " will enter upon a new and extensive field for the investment of capital, and its resources should findemploymentoutside of the operations which have hitherto been undertaken by the existing banks and local insurance offices in China, Japan and the Straits. These, from the nature of their constitution, have been unable to avail themselves of many profitable and sound investments that are offered in those countries. The company will be able to take branches of business hitherto neglected, and thus supply a demand for new capital which has long been felt and is daily increasing." It might occur to some one to ask how it is that the China firms that have members on the board of the new company have allowed their agents here to neglect these branches of business hitherto. Although the company's paid-up capital is small, it will take up money in Great Britain at low rates, which it will employ at the high rates of interest here; and we have some data to guide us in considering the probable profit to be made from this source, in the recently-published prospectus of the Imperial and Foreign Investment and Agency Corporation, Limited, of which Mr. Frederick D, Sassoon is a director, and many old China hands are founders, and which is proposing to issue its four per cent. debentures at par. In'addition to the Joanbusiness, the new company intends to assist in the foundation and development.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.