Shanghai Correspondent of "Financial News" Criticises Som¢ of Conclusions of Yangtze Commercial Mission Shanghai, November 14.—In August last a mission of enquiry, headed by Mr. H. J, Brett, the Act ing Commercial Counsellor of HAC Legation, and including representa tives of most of the leading British houses in China, left Shanghai for an extended tour of the Yangtze River. The mission was formed at the request of His Majesty's Mini ter: it was conveyed in the steamer Kiawo, and was escorted by the Royal Navy during its cruise above Hankow.
Mr. Brett has written a most! lucid account of this melancholy Odyssey. iis memorandum, which is marked confidential, has since been published almost' in its entirely in the local Press, so that. there can be no objection to discussing it fully.
The object of the *Kinwo expedition was "to study existing conditions and to suggest any remedial measures of a reasonable and practicable nature," in addi to which two subsidiary questions were considered: (a) the advisibility of reopening the evacuated ports (Changsha, Ichang aad Chungking), and (b) the extent to. which the decay of British trade could fairly be attributed to the. recent agreement for the rendition of the British Concession at that port, Of Chinkiang, Nanking, Wuba ud Kiukiang, Mr. Brett writes thut it is "difficult to speak in tem perature terms of the conditions under which British (and, indeed, all foreign) trade is at present bo-ing conducted at these ports." At all four of these ports, the memorandum states, extortionate and irregular taxation by the local authorities bid fair to destroy all possibility of trade, Conditions in Changsha were found to be somewhat more favour able, but Hunan hag been 50 thoroughly looted by—successive armies of occupation that bustness, except on the most restricted scale, in scarcely possible.
At Chungking conditions appeared to be on a sounder basis than at the ether ports. Communist activity had been sternly repressed by the local Government, and, with its wppenrance, anti-foreign feeling had also vanished, Further, fs transacted on a ile is, and the Government has hitherto refrained from ro-sorting to the fatal expedient of the printing prose, Trade, however, is handicapped by heavy and irregular while the unstable politi tion in the Province hi confidence. Communications with the interior are "hazardous and river ports has Jeft_me- with no clear and definite idea as to existing difficulties can be surmounted... The conclusion to which Ihave been forced is that the handicaps under. which British (and, indeed, all foreign) trade are suffering are mainly due to general conditions arising from the politi cal situation, and that little hope can be felt of any substantial improvement until there is a moderate. ly stable and efficient administra. tion."
He is careful to point out that heroic remedies, instancing foreign intervention, were outside the scope of his instructions, and feels confidence that partial measures would have any widespread effect.
In this last statement the Acting Commercial Counsellor will fad himself at variance with a consider able body of opinion, That partial measures are not inefficacious ly proved by the fact that but for the Naval patrol of the river, there could have been no British shipping operating" between Shanghai and Hankow.
While admitting that a strong case could be made out for the "6: nunciation or substantial amendment of the (Hankow) Concession Agreement," Mr, Brett presents what it is to be feared is the offic cial view of the effects on British trade of the surrender of our Cone cession in January. He considers that as a large proportion of Bute ish firms have their factories and godowns outside the Concession aren, "the change in the status of the Concession can obviously have no very direct bearing on the loss of trad This statement can hardly go une challenged. Whether Great Britain has, or has not, a Concession is of small moment. That Great Britain had and gave it up to a mob, made a vast difference to our p-eutige, Great Britain, as a Power, could certainly not have contested Ube oe. cupation of the Wu-Han ities by the Nationalist forces, but its weak ness in giving up the Hankow Can~ cession played into the hands of Chen Administration, With the Concession still Bute fish, the power of the British banks alone might have stemmed the flood of "Nationalist" paper currency which is the sreatnst stumbling block to trade in Han:
kow. Had the occupation of the Concession been resisted, the "Nationalist" Government would never have dated to have institute ed the financial and administrative measures it did, both in the Conces sion' ahd without, Conclusions:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.