In hie address to the British Chamber of Commerce at Hankow, at their recent annual meeting, the Chairman, Mr. AE. Marker, said There have been four distin: phases in local history during the year under review.
The first phase, January and February, witnessed the forcible over-running of the British Conces-Sion during the early hours of Jantary by mobs inflamed by the now proscribed Bolshevie doctrines. Whereupon, the British Govern ment, in doubt whether it had analy sed correctly the symptoms of this convulsion, decided to make of our Hankow Concession an experimental measure and appointed special representatives to draw up that hur-Hiedly. conceived, more hastily vonstructed, politically coloured, consummation, the—Chen - O'italley Agreement.
The second phase, March to May, saw the darkest hours when no ployer attempting to stem the wage Slide was safe from insult or threats of violence, when the sanctity of guished, when the who stayed behind was such as it will not be easy to forget.
Te was actually on April 18 that tthe. local Nationalist Governmant declared the notorious silver embar-to which reference is made in the Subsidiary report on Exchange and Finance, and which proved to be the root of 80 much financial woe for this unhappy provines.
Tu the third phase, June October, intoxicated with success the ranks of the Nationalist began to show signs of internal dissent sions.
The first suspicion of the inevitable disintegration was the signal to that hitherto triumphant Communist exploiter, Tang Song-chi, to effect focal "coup d'etat" which at the game time put him in a position to avenge himself on the Hunanese Communists for a family insult.
Along with a whole brood of less. er Communist offciaidom, Eugene Chen, Borodin and Madame Sun Yat-sen, one by one folded their tents and discreetly vanished. Coin ut with the disappearance of this Communist element, the stocks of silver hitherto held under seal Chinese Banks as apparent, thou very insuflcient, security for the huge Government note issue of about 300,000,000 also disappeared, Tang Song-chi's "volte face" was too violent even for this coune try of kaleidioseopie changes. His record condemned him—he proved "persona non grata" to both the rmidile and extreme parties alike.
Gonsequently, at the very outset fof the fourth' phase (October 21 witnessed the declaration of war by Nanking on Hankow), his regime fell an easy victim to the far-sighted Kuangsi Party when it decided to seek out for itself " more healthy place in the sun than Nanking, and establish a base at Hankow under the leadership of Pei Chung-hsi and Cheng Chien, Misappropriation of Present Day Taxation If present taxation was being properly administered for the people by the people, and thereby the standard and amenities of living for the masses were being ameliorated, we might well console ourselves with the thought that China's teeming millions must quickly learn to adapt themselves to the increased cost of necessities in return for the blessing of a Nationalist Government administering taxation for the peo-conciliate by paying practically any and every illicit tax, and despite genuine endeavour on the part of the Chinese Civil Authorities to keep faith.
Ca-operation With Chinese Traders The pessimist sees no bottom to the quick-sands of irresponsible taxation and perennial military insolvency; he sees his days as but! a tale that is told; for a little longer hho may turn and twist and contriv. to escape the fate-of those who have already departed, and in the turning And the twisting sacrifice still further precedent to opportunism.
But the optimist on the other hand, at least has the satisfaction of believing he knows where the trader stands, however precariously, to-day in China, and consequently is able to draw comfort from the know-edge that great perils have been known to obliterate long standing inimicabilities and quicken unity of action. With this prairie fire of irresponsible militarist-imposed taxation sweeping down upon the traders of should we not realize that our only hope for one and all, Chinese and foreign merchants alike, to rally and fight the flames?
The fiscal system of this country is, rightly or wrongly, basicly alien to our own, but Chinese history has consistently recorded that there is tacitly. recognized limit, drastic Nemesis overtakes those "who attempt to flout established custom for. implied licence, Passive resistance in this country is the only alternative to-day to. brute force, and it is not an uncom mon weapon of the excessively oppressed, and has frequently proved its efficacy.
Having no one to look to but ourselves, believing that irresponsible taxation will guzzle with ever increasing appetite on the trader's vitals, so lofig as there is no effeetive hand lifted in defence, the sooner we merchants, we Chambers of Gommerce, Chinese and Foreign alike, unite in a common movement to bring the "de facto" local Tax Authorities to reason, the sooner hall cease looking on at the diging of our own graves.
Ca-operation, nay of action must be possible outside of a mad-house we traders can only be genuinely convinced that the threatened cataclysm—of unbridled tariff autonomy and our extinction cannot otherwise be averted.
If the animal kingdom can have the good senso in the face of devas. tating prairie fires to sink its ni ural antagonism, the task for us should not be insuperable.
First unite to agree as to what is fair, nay, what is generous; but, once having agreed, then do not hesitate to bring all trade to standstill if understandings are violated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.