"The recent incident of the attack on a passenger train of the Tientsin-Pukou Railway and the seizure of a number of well-known foreign residents and business people by bandits, is merely one of the indications of the inability of the Government to contro] the country. In ordinary circumstances, I would not so openly criticize the so-called Government of China, but not only have the operations of the China Import & Export Lumber Ca., Ld., been most seriously interfered with by civil war and bandit depredations, but very heavy losses have, as a result thereof, had written off in our accounts. The time has come for plain speaking. Not only is ce-operation amongst the large business interests in China necessary, but the representatives at Peking of the Great Powers must unite to make Chinese officialdom realize that the altruistic ideals concerning China promulgate ed at the Washington Conference can no longer continue to serve as a pretext for the infringement_of treaty rights and the endangering of the lives and property of foreigners. The sincere well-wishers of China must heartily concur in the views recently expounded in a leading article in the London "Times," recommending an International Commission to investigate and report on_ the best measures for the protection of foreign interests in China, which might evolve remedies for the anarchy which menaces, with political and economic ruin, a land naturally wealthy, peaceful and law-abiding. Something must "be done in the immediate future to restore to foreigners their former security. There is but one way to do that. Tuchuns and bandits must be reminded by signs, visible and palpable, that behind foreign Notes and protestations stands the stern reality of military force.
I will now turn to the balance sheet and accounts. The report and accounts for the financial year the company, which ended
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.