Trouble appears to be threatened in the salt trade of the Yangtze Valley, and if one of the Chinese: salt officials succeeds in reintroducing a practice formerly in vogue—as it is reported he intends to do—a strike among merchants engaged in the transportation of the commodity will take place. Should this occur, the provinces of Kiangsi, Anhui, Hunan and Hupeh will be affected.
A statement of the trouble has been given to us, and from this account it appears that the present intention is to revive a bureau which occasioned much loss to salt merchants in the past, and for the removal of which Sir Reginald Gamble himself is said to have been largely responsible. The merchants engaged in the transportation of salt from Yangchow were apparently in the old days compelled to deposit a portion of the purchase money, probably against documents, with an institution called the Bureau of Salt Producing and Transporting Merchants. The allegation is made that instead of paying this money immediately to the producers, the Bureau retained it for indefinite periods, putting it out to interest in Chinese banks. Further, the complaint is made, these banks were not all of a conspicuous financial soundness, but the high rate of interest was presumably the prevailing factor in deciding where the money should be deposited. Loss by bankruptcy among these banks is said to have been occasioned to the salt merchants and producers, while more serious allegations are also made, against the officials, The statement of the case says that when the matter was brought to the notice of Sir Reginald Gamble he advised the dissolution of this Bureau and the establishment in its place of a purely commercial institution for the necessary handling of documents, a work formerly caryled out by the old Bureau. This was done, and a body known as the General Association of Salt Producing, Transporting and Consuming Mer. chants was established.
The old Bureau was.wmder the control of the Lianghuei Salt Commissioner, and it is now stated that the new Commissioner at Lianghuei has proposed its revival. This report has occasioned the gravest concern atong the salt merchants, and they announce that if this 's done, a general strike will be called, cutting off the provinces of Kiangsi. Anhui, Hunan and Hupeh from their usual supplies. The gravity this action, should it be taken, cannot be over-rated, as not only would " salt famine in the provinces mentioned result, but the revenue returns of the Salt Gabelle would be adversely affected.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.