Im the ease of monopolies 1 think it should be clear to the Chinese that besides being damaging lo us they are not in their' own. best interes in general an extension of government Aelvitles Into. direct trading. and ex-perling is very imprudent: itis quite A iflerent. thing to. government fel to nereaat of improves the quality or quantity. of mineral oF Sarieultural products, It can hardly China's advantage inthe long Fun to destroy. by" this means the treat "private organization of mes chants which for generations "hee funcUoned as 2 world-wide distributer. of" her products, 'This Certainly Was the opinion' of Sit Federick Leith-Ross, "Take for instance the case of wood all, "it te clear that: the wood all trade is one of the most promis sources of wealth for this country; it simple to deal with and capable of Immense expansion. There is at pres ent little outside competition. " If left to be handled freely it will find its own market level, but if placed in the hands of any monopoly concern, surrounded with controls and. pro: hibitions and subjected to hot-house treatment, its normal flow is sure to bbe prejudicially' affected, expense incurred and so on, ina manner which will Inevitably encourage in other countries that competition which, believe, even now does not require much encouragement to be set in motion.
Th a case of this kind it seems far better to point out the mutual interest and advantage on both sides of monopoly-free trade than to claim treaty privileges, although the latter point must of course not be lost sight of.
My sympathies are entirely with you in the matter, as they are in the case of taxation and of delays in Tegat processes. T can assure you that the Embassy in Nanking have these problems in mind. The delay Im the execution of Court orders is a complaint which is continually reach-Ing us from every side. We ore fully alive to the drawbacks of the existing system and have repeatedly drawn the attention of the Chinese authorities to the matter.
T think a good deal of the difficulty lies deep down in the different na~ anal points of view towards legal decisions, our own habit of pressing matters fo a conclusion as rapidly as possible (though even at home we Sometimes hear of the law's delays), and in China a certain hesitation the face of definition, a shrink from finality. Nevertheless it is cleat that when these delays are carried toa point at which there is failure to execute judgments, so that debtors are enabled to abscond or divest themselves of their possessions or mortgagors are given scope to use the niceties of legal procedure to escape their legitimate obligations, 9 situation arises which not only tends to destroy confidence, restrict credits and frustrate justice but which in a Great degree makes the administration of the Law look foolish in itself.
But I think certain improvements, have been introduced as a result of the representations of the commercial community and 1 feel that in this, as in many other cases, the real hope of improvement lies in the fact' that there is a demand for reform not from foreigners only but from the Chinese themselves
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.