As competition has grown in this country, so have the foreigners re-Tinquished little by little the safeguards the early pioneers were careful to institute, so that trade should run along smoothly from, both points of view.
If that were not so, we should' net now be hearing so muck about the need of standardization—of contracts, and there would be far leas risk' of trading than there ix, Indeed, it appears to me that the very practices that were in vogue far away back, even in the days fof the East India Company, might imitated with profit to-day by the Chamber of Commerce. Oi course, I know that I shall be told that what held good in that day' would not necessarily hold good to-day, that times have changed, tht jeconomie and financial conditions are altogether different, that in those days there was a gigantic monopoly that was easy to work, that international competition now offers numerous difficulties that!
non-existent chen. All of h are known to me.
But I Jeontend that Chinese human has not changed, nor have trading practices. It is the foreigner who has changed his ways. Competition has now become so keen that the foreigners themselves do not pull together as they should, Competition is undeniably good for trade, but not that kind of com-Pa'ition which induces a man to take outside riska and practices and themselves form a dangerous precedent for all traders. The first man who cancelled a contract in China no doubt thought he was doing a good turn to his Chi lieut, and may have been doing so—but what a precedent he established!
T turn to "The Chinese," written by John Francis Davis (late His Majesty's Superintendent in China)
1838. He knew what he was talking about, red Hot money obligations fontiacted. by" thes them to dereleners! Eem to foreigner okinition proved' alert The solid gunrantes of Locking backwards, it seems to me, moreover, that there is more danger of the "heads I win, tails you lose" policy that are_now running th by. In the old days—indeed, since the days of their early dawn upon this planet—this policy has always been in vogue. But the progeniones, to incur ver debts EheThgual Chinese rate of {0'or 33 of these failed for over a ion dollars, another the following year did the same thing, and took the hong merchants six years 4o clear the two million dollar debts. But the point is that they' did it, though the eyes of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.