20th May. Yup mail yesterday brought us out Mr. ©. 'l. Gardner's Report on. the Trade of Amoy for the year 1896, and a very able and exhaustive report it is, Merchants and manufacturers cannot complain of the want of government assistance when they can buy a report like this, occupying 82 closely-printed pages, for twopence-halfpenny. There is so much in it that we can only give a_sketch of it in the space at our disposal. Mr. Gardner begins by saying that there is not much prospect of the trade of Amoy expanding or contracting. 'I'he decay of the tea industry is made up for by the number of Chinese who return from British colonies to spend their earnings in their native land; while there are six conditions which check the development of trade. hose are: (1) the oppression of inland taxation with the dilatory method of examination prevailing at
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.