Oct. 20.
Tue increased charges announced by the Chinese Post Office to come into force as soon as the foreign post offices are withdrawn have not failed to attract the serious attention of business men both foreign and Chinese. The Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and the British Chamber of Commerce fave both considered the new tariff and we understand that they are sending strong representations against it to the Directorate-General of Posts in Peking. May we hope that other similar organization will follow suit and that without delay? The new charges are due to become operative on November 1 and once in force we may be perfectly sure that they will never be altered—unless in an upward direction. The burden they will impose on all business will be extremely serious. At the present rate of exchange a letter abroad will be charged not fourpence-half-penny, as a correspondent calculated the other day, but fivepence. Registration also will cost fivepence, an unheard of sum. The expenses of postage within the country will be even more distressing and the effect of the additional parcel post rates may prove well nigh destructive. An immense mass of samples is sent about the country by Chinese dealers: it is a necessary part of their trade. Even as things are to-day: their profits are not large.
Not only is the Post Office proposing to raise its charges. The Chinese Telegraph Administration announces a tremendous increase as from November 1. It: is conceivable that the C.P.O. may be able to offer some defence of its conduct. But there is no visible or tenable excuse whatever for any further charge for a telegraph service which is already equally bad and extortionate. In justice to the telegraph administration, the military authorities are _probably the main culprits. They continually load the wires with wordy, unnecessary messages which must travel free and must take precedence of all other communications: and we do not doubt that their financial exactions are responsible for the double charges levied for sending a telegram from one province to another, even if it be only a mile or two across the frontier.
The same gentlemen
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.