The annual meeting of members of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce was held at the offices on Tuesday afternoon. 'There were present Messrs. J. G. Purdon (Purdon & Ca.) (in the chair), H. R. Hear (Alfred Dent & Ca.). J. Bois (Butterfield & Swire), F. Anderson bert & Ca.), D. M. Moses (D. Sassoon, us & Ca.), J. Graham' (Nippon Yusen Kaisha), J. Macgregor (Jardine, Matheson Ca.), W. H. Talbot ink of China, Japan, and the Straits, La.), C. J. Dudgeon (Care & Ca.), H. A. Ritchie (P. & O. S.
Ca. La.), J. M. Young (Rodewald Ca.) C. Thurg (Iveson & Ca.), J. Chapsal (Messageries Maritimes Cie.), and Drummond Hay (Secretary).
Mr. Drummond Hay, having read the notice convening the meeting, The Chairman said—The Minutes of the general meeting are on the table, and as they have been printed and circulated, unless anybody wishes them read, we will not read them. The Report and Statement of Accounts have been in your hands for some time, They are very full and leave me not much to say with regard to them. Taking the accounts first, for the first time for some little while what-I may call the unsupplemented income of the Chashber has been rather more than the expenses, resulting in a credit balance of Tis, 334. That: of course is owing to the doing away with the circular, and also the reduction of the salary of the Secretary. We have taken new quarters in Kiukiang Road from Ist July next at Tis, 240 per annum, which will give a saving of Tls. 160, and therefore if the receipts are the same' next year we ought to look for somewhere about Tls. 600 to the good, and it is probable therefore, that the incoming committee with reduce the subscription to Ts. 30, instead of Ts, 40, and that this will induce some new members to come in. There is one item in the expenses that I wish to point out and that is the statistics of tea and silk, as we have some doubt as to whether they"should be discontinued. The Committee thought they would leave the matter to the general meeting to decide, as the circular may be of some use to members, so that after the accounts have been passed, I shall take the sense of the meeting, whether these statistics shall be continued or not, It would mean a saving of about Tls. 75 ayeer. That is all T have to say about the accounts, except to thank Mr, Scott for auditing'them. With regard to the append dix, it is very full, and there is not much toadd. Of course, as you are aware, owing to our perseverance we have succeeded in getting the wreck of the Peking removed from the Bonham Pass. We have not been so fortunate us to stop the Telegraphic Convention, which. has been ratified. 1 think there is a general impression hero that China belongs to the Telegraphic Union. "I can say that is not 90, The correspondence on the other matter, the Woosung Bar, is very fully recorded, and in the: last letter we had from the Tuotai, the Viceroy appears to be under misapprehen. sion as to what is wanted by the Chamber, and to correct this we have written another
jows which I will read. It was as fol-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.