Dec. 30.
Leaving Shanghai, the British Economic Mission has proceeded to northern China at a moment when the attention of its members may well be concentrated on one phase of trading conditions in that part of the world. The Mission cannot but help noting that for the first time in history a British Commercial Secretary has taken up his duties in the wealthy provinces of Manchuria, and were the members to inquire why no such official functioned there previously, their next question would be as to whether the portion of the British official services in China devoted exclusively to the furtherance of trade is adequate, Probably as business men who have bes trading with the far corners_of the earth for years, the firs' point to occur to them would d= that the British merchant at al! times has shown his special genius for business by being left alone from official action or interference. In a general way this is still perfectly true to-day, but another set of circumstances has arisen where it would seem that the enterprise of the individual should be assisted by some government organization—certainly not one to take part it the definite sale of any article but in the quest of information as to what articles are likely to meet a ready market in this part of the world with its widely diversified needs. It is only necessary to take the present state of trade and its possibiltties for the future, to look at the extent of the territory to covered, to see what other coun: tries are doing to realize how inadequate is what might be called the official British com mercial intelligence service.
While naturally no official pronouncements from the Mission are to be expected until it reaches Home, it is highly probable that its members interes:- ed in the textile trade have realized that to compete in bulk lines with the cheap labour of Japan is impossible. Then there is the fact that it is not only that Japan is competing with Lancashire in the China market, but that factories in China are competing with Lancashire other parts of the world. Cloth manufactured in Shanghai is taking the place of the fabrics from Britain which were formerly sold in many parts of Africa: the same cloth has already reached Constantinople, and is making its way up the Danube. In spite of this the Customs figures show that British trade with China has been more or less holding its dwn in recent years, but it has been in a class of goods other. than textiles. It is obvious that machinery is pi ing a more important part and is likely to do so increasingly la coming years, but there are other manufactures which were there men on the spot to ascertain the needs of the Chinese a great deal might be done. The local consul does his best in this respect, but the merest inquiry into his labours will show how little time he has had for such important work. Within recent months the public has witnessed the spectacle of consuls travelling far from home to aid in the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.