Conditions in 1929, In his report on economic contions in China up to September, HM, J. Brett, Sir Harry Fox, (Commercial Counsellor to the Legation at Peking), says "as Mr. Micawber remarked to Mrs. Micawber, China' is 'a very remarkable gauntry." In spite of all the disturbances of civil war, in spite of industrial unrest, lack of transport and. excess of taxation, China's trade was greater in the year under review than ever before. The figures of the import trade were undoubtedly swelled by the heavy purchases made by—merchants anxious to get goods in before the new duties came into force on February 1; but Sir Harry Fox understands that even without this artificial increase the import figures would have been larger than for the year before, and at any rate the export figures were unaffected by 'Since his report was written there has been a widespread outbreak of civil war, which in. the South is still in progress without any. signs' of coming to an end in the'near future, These disturbances may invalidate to some extent the greater hopefulness that Sir Harry Fox finds cause to express in his report as compared with his reports previous years, but there was civil war during the greater part of the period under review.
One foundation for this hopafulness seems to be a slight improve-ament in the National Government's to financial obligations—ster of Finance took over the direct administration of the Salt Gabelle, and its revenue was used to pay quota due for services of the Anglo-French, the Crisp, and the Hukuang Loans—but Sir Harry Fox notes that domestic loans run Zar more smoothly than the liquidation of foreign obligations, and new internal loans were from time to time issued on the security of the Increased Customs revenue, regardless of the priority of the older foreign loans. Greater cause for hopefulness is to be found in the administration of railways and roads.
Sun Fo, Minister of ways, has laboured to rescue railways from the clutches of the Tuchuns, and most of the main es were by September running some approach to regularity, Railway arations axe gradually los ing the appearance of terned camps, eneral And thole subordinates are longer' able" to. commandeer Tocomotives and. rolling-stock at. will or ialocate trate whenever it sults their convenience, and. though, fonly natural after the persistent mise handling which loconvotives and roll-Sng-arock have boon, subje. some years past, trains Breakdowns of frequent and cart by no. means. comfortable to-travel in, one can at Toast start on' railway Journey In China to-ay with some reasonable hope, of firriving "at-one's destinatlon—which
The improvement in roads is even ago.
certainly could not do a year
more marked. The Chinese people, though apathetic as ever in the matter of river conservancy, sud~ denly were taken with an enthusiasm for roads and motor-cars.
Reports from all party of China toil of the construction of new rouds Under ofeial and municipal auspices, rouds which are levelling. the. ind. entirely changing the face Chinese. cities, roads" roubing slong the banks of rivers, winding in ind "out" of villages, even over mountain passes fonds" are wel conatrcte Bre bad or at, least indifferent, mere roperly metalled and d mud tracks which become impassable
thow they form a network of, come rove as Lieto. Goes von, and even Dut they wil
munications in, around, and between Chinese towns "and. villages which gnable, the Chinese merchant and
Andew yours go, snd. 50 ce some farmer to make Journeys unheard of ay' towans conponsating for the ports Omnibuses, locally constructed
snaking their appearance all over the chasnn imported from abroad, are country, more especially" in" North One, Where n yeah oF two 0 Gram nnd threes. and. trucks and ivate molorears were imported
possibly in dozens, motor fre now being, imported into Ghina literally in hundreds, Promising as this may be, the next few pages of the report make gloomy reading for British indusry. As in almost every report sued by the Department of Over-eas Trade, a lamentable parallel is Irawn. between the energy and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.