During she past summer the writer has been attempting to pick up the threads in Great Britain which were dropped six years ago. He has visited various industrial centres in order to see the new things of the workshops of England, and one result of his inquiries, is optimism concerning the old country" which is still "the workshop of the world." With a bundle of notes put together from other parts of the country, he has run down to the seaside for reflexions; but even in Southsea he cannot get away from ocular evidence of China and applied science. Within 24 hours of arrival "ab the Southsea sev-side resort he noticed three Chinese amahs on the front. And irom breakfast to dinner time, two aeroplanes rise up and swoop down on to the common in front of the hotel, carrying passengers at a guinea a trip.
Britain has changed greatly during the last six years. In the workshops, men are earning wages undreamt of by those of us who stood at the bench 20 years ago. In 1900 a mechanic was paid 37 shillings for a 54 hour week! Today he receives three times the wages for a shorter week. There is an extraordinary demand for men with a scientific training, young subalterns have been receiving £350 a year in France and Germany, and perhaps it is not surprising that the offer of a house and £400 a. year (with a maximum' of two-shilling dollar, or a certain $4,000, a year) has failed to attract any of these young officers who are engineers, to leave the old country for Hongkong. It is noticeable that the Shanghai Municipality has wisely been offering improved salaries to the technical staff; the demand for men with a scientific training just now exceeds the supply. It is imperative to remember that a young draughtsman in London who, in pre-war days. was paid £3 a week, now obtains £10 for shorter hours {ux Devevopment oF Cuina.
These facts are mentioned because the development of the vast natural resources of China, is the big problem before the world to-day. Only by the aid of applied science can that be done. In the early days of the Britons, in China, tea and silk were the great exports. To-day, and yesterday, cottons and woollens were the imports. During the war iron ore was exported and tin came down from Yunnan for Europe. Machinery and accessories have been finding a way into China. That sort of thing will increase very much in the near future.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.