Vigorous Protest by Chinese Merchants Against New Levy?
One Company Being Ruined Local Chinese coal merchants are vigorously protesting against a proclamation which has been issued by the Commissioner of Finance for Kiangsu Province announcing that, as from to-day, a special tax will be enforced on coal. This tax will amount to two cents for every. picul or $0.336 per ton.
Members of the Coal Guild, la addition to sending letters to the authorities demanding. that the order shall be rescinded, have pointed a deputation to go to Nai ing to interview the financial.authorities and request that the tax shall not be enforced. It ly daub! ful, however, whether the autho ties will pay any heed to their protest.
'A leading coal merchant informed a representative of the "North China Daily News," yesterday, that the situation was an impossible one, The coal industry was being throttled and the situation was indeed a gloomy one, in spite of the fact that the authorities hi made promises to get the indust fon its feet once more. This promise had not been fulfilled, nor was anything being done towards its fulfilment. Indeed, on the contrary, the new tax which the Kiangsu ial Government was calling naught all promises of the Nationalist Government thorities, for, instead of alleviating the situation, the Kiangsu authorities were aggravating it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.