To the Editor of the Iiferonly, tout stow it begins for 400K 'a8 if British: property maysiiftervili regarded as worthy of-attention 4y Better tate than never, and snow thata-stert'has been made in. jo. totting' the interests of bondholders mog railway that is-heavily indebted to "British investors, perhaps itis Rot too' much to: hope for thatattention "will be-given to. the -preservation éf what still remains "of the physical assets-of other railways to™British interests, 'And if rallways: are to-be' protest "why not the holders of bonds secured on the Salt Revenue? Here is a case in which the most flagrant breaches of a loan contract entered into with the approval of the-British Government have been tolerated for (Betty, the same means as has been years, while it is -posithle by -ex-adopted at "Nanking—namely by naval action—to'protect the interests of "bondholders and incidentally to avert the collapse "of "the "Silt Administration, which is understoott be on its last legs, The'Reorgantsation Loan cent provides that -all duty colletted "on salt "shall be deposited "by - the foreign to the repre. sentatives of the bondholders. "Yet every day of the year cargoes sot salt for the supply of the vast Populations of Anhui, Hupeh, 'Kiatigel and Hunan are-shopped out of the port of Iching, botter: known as Shiherhwei, opposite to Chinkiang. the duty on which has not been: deposited with foreign banks, but-has been seized by whatever'.warlord temporarily occupies Yangchow, Where the duty is collected, Such cargoes, shipped in open de-,|fiance of the terms of the. Loan Agreement, pass literally under th noses of the war vessels of the three nations that are interested in the Loan Agreement, namely, Great Britain, France and Japan, but no tempt is made to turn ther [Meanwhile we learn from that the reserve funds at the dis of the Salt Administration are sufficient to pay the interest on the Hukuang Bonds due in Juno, while there will be nothing at all to meet the coupons Anglo-French and other loans secured on the salt revenue only, Worse! The Salt Gublle is about to collapse for lack of funds to pay {ts star and it would oom that thin splendid organ, the work of Str Richard Dane and an example of what foreigners can doin organizing a Chine: ducing department, to go to the Word of protest on the part of the agents of the bond-holders, de. the foreign banks, or assistance from the foreign Governments, Once the highly-trained, "experienced and loyal staff of thio unique organization is permitted to be dispel especially the handful of foreigners which is its backbone, the difficulties of restoring the Salt Gabelle will be needlessly enhanced, and the service which could afford the basis for the other loans China will inevitably need once she has secured responsible Government, will be non-existent, So far "as can be seen at this moment, there is no hope whatever that from Chinese sources will come any effort to avert the low to China's credit that failure to meet the interest on the coupons falling due next month will deliver. Whatever funds are received respect of these cargoes of salt which daily pass under the noses of the men-of-war of the interested nations, will go to the prolongation of the disastrous wars that are ruining: China and the Chinese as well as the legitimate interests of thousanda
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.