Feb, 12.
Serious thought, it is known, has in the past two or three years been devoted by British merchants to the feasibility of promoting their trade in China by the establishment of wha might be described as branch factories here, or for certain industries assembling plants. This is, of course, no new id as witness cotton, shipbuilding, engineering, tobacco and other industries which British enterprise has established,—but whether the most recent ideas of the extension of such works have been carried to any length in dealing with capital and industry at Home is a matter which is dificult of ascertainment. "Likewise how far the point hax impinged upon the British Economic Mission as to the way in which British industry at Home could be helped stich measures cannot yet be gauged, and will doubtless not be' apparent until their report has been. made public. At a time, however, when much propaganda is being put about for the goods of other nations—and tone must never underrate the effects of such work—it' would be useful: were it shown that British. enterprise had a full realization of the possibilities here, especially the possibilities of China as an exporting manufacturing: country. It is, -of course, well-known that one firm, at least, has long since realized this possibility, and its
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.