Mostly, the s our representative spoke, were of pinion that unless "united action taken soon by the Powers to cause the cancellation of an imposition which isin direct con tra vention to. Treaty provisions, atiers would delft on and drift on, other matters have drifted on, China in recent years, til it war really too late to do anything, and shipowners, would, be faced with the alternatives of paying regularly the Rep HUNANESE Troors, Haxkow. comparatively huge dues now in force, or of curtailing or abandoning altogether their services to Shang hai. One man was. very frank the respect. He stated that if the present rate of tonnage dues were fed to remain in operation indefinitely, many shipowners, who already find that their services to Shanghai are already close to the! Mhorderline which divides the econ ome from the uneconomic, would cut out Shanghai altogether for some ships. The loss in dues which this eventually would bring about, and the other big losses to the part, fand to Chinese expecially, which would result from fewer ships calling. here, would not only offset to a large extent the increased revenue accruing from the illegal dues, but would sooner or later, but inevitable, prove a definite bar to the progress of Shanghai as a rear port, which is of even more moment to the Chinese than to the foreigners, Tu the ease of the constin and small companies, the same pr>- Jeedure has been adopted as in re-leard to the ocean-going ships—poyment and protest. The impost port owing to seizures of ships by the military and the fear of certain ports where condi Chinese shipping are either doubtfal or definitely unset
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.