Tu making these extreme efforts to protect their province, the junk operators insist that they are protected by the agreement of last year, which reserved to them all wood ai] and several other types of cargo. The agreement expired, however, on May 8 of this year and it did not, moreover, apply to foreign-owned steam vessels, the. understanding having been reached between the junk guild and_ the owners of some of the Chinese steamships, who now also give notice of their intention to carry the cargo previously reserved. None of the steamship owners have thus far indicated any intention of wishing to make further restrictive agreements with the junk owners.
Resistance of this character has been predicted by observers of upper river conditions for a considerable time. The junkmen aAave. been forced to relinquish bit by bit the choicest parts of the upper river trade to the more efficient, economi al and safe steam vessels, until at present they face a complete withdrawal from the field as the only alternative to vigorous and extreme action. Not only the junkmen themselves are affected but thousands of others, (carpenters, cargo carriers, nail makers, supply-men) face unemployment if the junks retire.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.