Dealing with the improve mer of the Haiho channels by the Haiho River Conervancy, the Chairman said that the "sigualled depth of the Taku Bar inereas-
during the past year. This is by from 82" to 10) Taku, Datam far the greatest depth recorded and... it may safely ed that at. spring tides in the months of July-Ausust-September this year there will be from 10°0"
90° signalled on the bar; 18° will be normal and it will be only on yare occasions that vessels drawing 10 feet cannot erots the subject of the Chambers? anxious inquiries in 1914 of the Government as to when the Taku. Wireless station would be com. pleted, the Chairman inferred there was as yet no reply. He said "This is one more example of Soyercign Rights with no regard to Sovereign Obligations. At Present, in order to communicate With ships nearing the Bar it is necessary to telegraph to Dairen or Chefoo to wireless from there. ta PIEceaoODS crests.
Chairman dealt at length with the repudiation, last autumn, by dealers and Tsans, of forward contracts for raw cotton. 285,000) jeuls were contracted for, 148,000 foreign firms, 100,000 by Japanese and. 45,000 by local mills, at} prices ranging between Tls. 97 and 'Tle, 28 2 picul. Shortly after the) earthquake in' Japan, Japanese] began buying frantically to. re: place destroyed goods, especially! for quilts and clothing.. This, and] the bad crop, reports in America, drove the prices up to. Tis: 48. "This temptation," declared the chairman, "was too much for. the greed of the unscrupulous dellers and sans. Cotton destined for foreign firms, who had, in good faith, bought and sold, was diverted to Japanese buyers." During October the Committee of the Chamber approached the Consular body, asking them to bring the} seriousness of the matter to the attention of the Civil Governor.
"Tu the meantime," sid Mr. Peters, ''the cotton' dealers tried by every meand, such as using false chops, exchanging and destroying transit passes at the last customs barrier, "to keep the cotton away from the legitimate buyers." The Committee had many meet: ible with the Civil Governor and: the Police Administrator, General the] Yang L-teb, and although appeared to be giving very active tieadlock tight up we the pidaid of December. "(When you remem.
right up to sha iaiddle
bor," the Chairman wear ea, "that contracts mostly called for October-Novemober-December shipment You can imagine the Sufleved by exporters." "Byential-Yang Lteh cbtaiaed a premissd fom the sang to deliver up 00" "yor ent. of the contracts, either in cash or in. cargo, tha foalncica to be. subject to negotia: tions. In this connexion Yang teh suggested a levy of five maco er pica! should be made on all cotton coming into Tentain there:
to create a fund which would be used to reimburse' Josece 08 defaulted contracts. "A" spec'ad committee "of this Chamber,"
scheme which was, atlan the Chairman, "drow up" Erresordiuery alcoring, December 3}, 1033, tranmifed to the Ben'or Conta (was, however, "nO support by the' whole trading -community was dropped."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.