Certain Jap American and British bankers have been grimly determined to have their unsecured Joans to China funded on an increas-
vision auch as now under adequate Customs Service, quite number of years, and have been pulling every wire in our several home Governments to ensure that when the conference came into being, thin funding scheme should be its one primary and fundamental motif to which everything else, including the interests of foreign—traders, missionaries and residents at Lai 4m China, should be subordinated and sacrificed, if need be. In London, recently, the writer found everyone simply stuffed with banker's propaganda to the effect that the reason that the Chinese were proving 20 ob-Retionably anti-foreign was that they were disappointed and hurt by. the. postponement of the Tariff Conference, promised in Washington in. 1922, Those who were most energetic in spreading this absurd nonsense were quite frank in admitting that it was nonsense and also cheerfully willing to confess that it made little headway with anyone who know China, while Doasting that it was making an impression in Government circles England and was making a particularly deep impression in America where the British bankers' America, At a time when China had no Government worth mentioning, when some of the most influential Chinese provincials protested loudly against a conference, and when every articulate foreigner of sound Judgment in the country was loudly protesting that such a conference ould do nothing but harm to their interests, our various Governments solemnly accepted China's invitation to attend the conference, fulfil the Washington pledge as a reward for China's failure to fulfil we know not how many pledges—all to please the consortium banks of the great Powers.
The Service of the Debt secured debt would, if agreed upon, be dependent upon the increased revenue to be derived from a 124 per cent. import duty, luxury surtaxes and the like. Roughly China has squandered foreign moneys amounting to something over Max, '$500,000,000 and has pledged her: elf for native unsecured loans total. Uing nearly $800,000,000 more The. whole unsecured indebtedness amounts to about _$800,000,000. Many of Toans have been is. sued at fairly high rates of interest, which certainly would not be paid under a funding scheme. It is doubt-fol whether the Powers would be content. with less than 7 per cent. all, round or whether, the interest be brought below this without throwing a tremendous number of exploiters, her industries are being systematically obliterated by war Jand exactions such as have lately }been put upon the Shantung people. Chaos renders the growth of trade impossible and foreign policy, breaking down discipline and promoting chaos through conciliation, is ruin-ade and encouraging such enterprises as the boycott. China's wealth has its limits, like that of every other country and since there is no promise whatever of an improvement in political conditions and therefore lees and lees hope for both domestic and foreign trade, the most likely result of the in: Jereased tariff is that it will fore the Chinese people to lower thei standard of living and therefore reduce their foreign buying, oc-Jonsioning a loss in trade for which the Increased tariff would by no means be a compensation. If the foreign supervised collectorate were lever abolished the Customs would immediately go the way of the Salt, ry Chinese knows, and all bonds secured on" Customs revenue would be utterly worthless, In addition to these conditions, tone now discovers in the Chinese press that only $30,000,000 per annum of the hoped—for increase in revenue is to be set apart for the service of the funded unsecured Joans, which would be guaranteeing an interest upon them of about 3,075 per cent. with 70 provision for amortization. We also learn that $70,000,000 at least is annually' to be given the provinces, as a first claim upon the increased revenue, to compensate them for the loss of likin, while another $20,000,000 is to go to compensate them for th loss of the native customs, so-called. There Intter expenditures would commence in 1929 when Chin: according to Dr. C.T. Wang's promise, abolishes likin, A Fond Delusi We all know that likin will not' be abolished except in mame and form, but this will be no good reason in the sight of the province why they should not demand from the revenue $90,000,000 or why the Peking of that day will not misappropriate it in their name. Granting therefore a miserable $30,000,000 for the service of the guided unsecured debt, the surplus in 1929, The service of the funded un- with China steadily going down the grade and the students already interpreting tariff autotomy mean that the foreign element in the Customs collectorate is to be booted out, will have th amount to $120,00,000, to be derived solely from the increased revenue. In a well ordered China and with the Powers showing some disposition to insist upon discipline order and the protection of the foreign trader in Ching, this might be easy.
ings are going, it looks very! decidedly like @ deluded fancy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.