Merchants' Quaint Letter to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce The Chinese press continues to give prominence to agitation concerning the proposed licensing of rice shops in the International Settlement. The following is a translation of a letter which has been addressed to the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce by the Rice Hongs' Association "The Shanghai Municipal Council, under the pretext that the price of rice is high, desires that all rice shops in the Settlement should apply to the Council for a license, and to have the shops open to inspection at any time. This has caused great excitement amongst the owners of rice shops, and, despite repeated appeals for help, their desire to have the proposed license ing cancelled has so far not been realized. Considering that rice shops do legal business, and that the nature of it cannot be compared with that of amusement resorts, it is not necessary for the Council to license them. If the Council intends to prevent the price of rice going up, it should pay strict attention to the smuggling of rice, a business in which rice shops are not concerned. They are established to supply food to the inhabitants, and their capital is in the majority of cases too small to allow of their hoarding rice for the purpose of sending it abroad. The proposed licensing will not benefit the people, but it will impair the sovereign rights of the e-entry. The Council's action is wrong, and if carried out may mean that in future other businesses will be licensed. The General Chamber of Commerce, being the senior institution, is asked to communicate with the Municipal Council and ask them to comply with the wishes of the public by cancelling their proposal to issue these licenses."
Rice shops in the Settlements threaten to "strike" if no heed is taken by the Council of their di-mand for the cancellation of the proposed new regulations requir-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.