Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen Guest of Honour at Dinner of British Chamber of Commerce LARGE gathering of members of the Hankow British Chamber of Commerce welcomed Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen at a dinner given in his honour on March 14 at the Hankow Club. Included among the guests were Mr. G. S. Moss, H. M. Consul-General; Mr. H. A. F. B, Archer, and Rear-Admiral L. G. E. Crabbe.
In rising to welcome Sir Hughe, Mr, W. Bowling, the Chairman of the Chamber, made the following speech On behalf of the British Chamber of Commerce and of the British erchanta; o¢- nts port it gives Wury rear pleasure to welcome you, Sir as the frst Ambassador of His Majesty to. visit. Hankow. We all now that since your arrival in this country your time has been dally occupied In dealing with the concerns fof the British communities in China. This must often be a troublesome business and we are, therefore, the more grateful to you that you have made the time and opportunity so soon after your arrival to undertake personal tour of mid-China, to sec Something of the Interior of this great country.
"You will, Sir, 1 fancy, see much {to Interest you in Hankow. We can boast very little for our scenery, but Hankow is a great mercantile' and shipping centre. and Jealous of its entrepot trade, This. however, has of, {9 our regret, fuldtle' the prom= Ise' of earller years when it pired, and with food reason, to Aevelop into the Chicago of China.
It Ig one of the throe great ities situated at the confluence of two rear rivers, and the junction of the railway now Wapplly uniting North and' South China. " Until recently Hankow was the terminus of but one rollway, but as we understand we are thonly to. be Joined by bridges to the. sister cities of Hanyang and Wuchang. we earnestly hope that no delay will occur In extending the port limits to open both these cities necess of international shipping. thereby fostering the development of the port of Wuhan as a central and International trade-mart with full freedom for shipping In the extended ort.
"This, Sir, is a long sighted objective which' we' hope you may someday help Hankow to reach.
The restoration to Hankow of the prosperity, which is her due, is an alt Important matter, and 1' would suggest that. commencement might be made with the abolition of interport dulles which have Tong been a terious handicap to internal trade anda legitimate complaint of all Shipping Companies. Water-borne trate coming under the cognizance of the Maritime Customs has to pay this levy whereas cargo handled by other craft and the railways does not.
An examination of the roulations governing payment of these duties Will show that they. press unfairly upon the merchant trading from cetablished commercial centres that he is placed at a, disadvantage compared with a competitor handling fargo outside of them: the former has to bear the burden of this levy—the latter escapes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.